Photo courtesy of Boys’ Varsity Soccer Instagram
During this remote period in September, sports teams have found innovative ways to stay connected and maintain fitness, whether through Zoom or CoachMePlus — an app offering sport-specific training programs. To welcome new students joining teams, captains have also hosted introductory meetings to imitate the start of a normal season.
For the past few weeks, Girls’ Varsity Volleyball has been convening over Zoom for group workouts every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, as well as organizing weekend calls for team bonding activities. Co-captain Morgann Skoda ’22 said, “I’m devastated that we can’t get together and meet each other. However, virtual calls keep us on our toes. We are constantly trying to discover new ways to best engage everyone through Zoom.”
In order to increase fitness levels to those of a normal season, the team’s captains have held everyone accountable by hosting mandatory workouts. Without being physically together, the team tried to develop workouts that specifically target the muscles used in volleyball. Their workout last week, for example, included intense HIIT intervals, core-focused exercises, and a team wall-sit. By developing their own workouts, the team can imitate the normal training plan. In spite of these successes, “it’s definitely been a challenge to maintain high energy while staring at your teammates through a computer screen during group workouts and calls,” said co-captain Ella Sklar ’22.
Boys’ Varsity Soccer has also remained determined to bond as a team and train rigorously. Similar to girls’ volleyball, “We do workouts on Zoom two to three times a week, with some asynchronous workouts mixed in,” said co-captain Allen Zheng ’21. To keep things interesting, Zheng said, “Our coaches have done a good job mixing [the workouts] up. For example, we just did one where we were split up into three breakout rooms and had a competition to see what group could do the most reps in 30 minutes.” In order to integrate new athletes into the team, Boys’ Soccer has also hosted “team bonding meetings led by the captains, where we talk and watch film to help everybody get to know each other a little better even though we aren’t on campus,” according to Zheng.
Though many students will be back on campus in October and sport teams will finally be able to meet in person, student athletes will still have to adapt to social-distancing requirements.
