{"id":2005,"date":"2021-12-15T16:30:03","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T16:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/sweatmag\/?p=2005"},"modified":"2021-12-15T18:23:31","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T18:23:31","slug":"injecting-victory-back-into-varsity-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/injecting-victory-back-into-varsity-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Injecting Victory Back Into Varsity Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Daniel Lonic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By: Daniel Lonic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year 2020 ushered students to virtual learning, though student-athletes weren\u2019t as fortunate. They were left longing for motivation from team huddles and turf under their cleats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ontario college sports have made their long-awaited return and competition has been reignited, with the addition of a few expected bumps along the road. Far from a return to business as usual, select sports never got to see the light of day in Fall 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all schools, full vaccinations were a mandatory requirement for anyone associated with the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association, including students, coaches and officials. From there some colleges set their own health and safety rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Algonquin College did not participate in any fall sports at all. The student association did not want to charge athletics fees for a still undetermined season. This left many students sidelined as neighboring schools and friends wiped the sweat from their foreheads in-game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of the girls refused to watch any of the videos and refused to watch the championship tournament,\u201d said Dan Gauthier, head coach for the Algonquin Wolves women\u2019s rugby sevens team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wolves were the championship team of 2019, making it difficult for them to watch others compete for the title they weren\u2019t granted a chance to reclaim. Becoming two-time rugby sevens champions would have made history for Algonquin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had some girls who got together and watched it together and just [said], \u2018Oh, we could have beat them.\u2019 \u2018Oh, that would have been a close game.\u2019 \u2018I would\u2019ve really loved to play,\u2019\u201d Gauthier echoed the cries of his team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With rugby sevens announced to return this 2022 season, Gauthier is feeling optimistic about a fresh start. Algonquin rebranded from being the thunders to the wolves, solidifying a clean slate. Gauthier told the upcoming team, \u201cThe easiest spot to be remembered in history is on page one.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite most of the 2019 champions parting ways from the sport throughout the three-year-long hiatus, Gauthier is confident he\u2019ll be seeing a handful of those familiar faces come next year. \u201cWhat\u2019s old is new again,\u201d as he described it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s volleyball is one of the two sports returning this January at Algonquin, alongside basketball. Head coach of the team, Everton Senior, acknowledges the persisting unpredictability of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c… Are things going to get worse? The season can still be canceled. If it’s not canceled, are we going to be able to have any fans in the stands? Right now, it’s looking like no \u2014 just all these different challenges that are thrown in front of you at all times. We’re operating on a very reduced budget, so we haven’t been able to do any tournaments,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school prohibits any outsiders from entering, meaning that inviting other schools over for scrimmages is out of the question, and families are unable to come to see the athletes in action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team had just played their first scrimmage within a full gym when they spoke with Sweat, whereas before then, they were practicing in small-scale community centres. Everton noted that the team was practically against the walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ongoing battle for college athletes to stay in the game is learning and adhering to all the new rules. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Aquino has been the head coach for the Humber Hawks men\u2019s soccer team since 2013. In comparison to his past years of coaching, Aquino notes that the most detrimental difference this season is the hindrance of communication \u2014 often during times where it was most essential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou couldn’t even sometimes go into change rooms to have pre-game discussions\u2026\u201d Aquino said. \u201cSo that’s where it [mandates] made it a real challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dBecause you’re trying to communicate messages to the team, may it be for practices, for games, for tournaments, for whatever the preparation required, in a very different time \u2014 a COVID time \u2014 which had many restrictions placed upon us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the season starting off later than usual, this cut into the time that would be spent focusing on team-building exercises. Where the squad would typically be taken to a training resort, staff needed to redeliver that experience in a way that aligned with the newly-placed limitations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Albeit being presented with unfamiliar obstacles, Aquino proudly stated the team adjusted smoothly once they got into the groove of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think our group adapted well, adapted quickly and understood what they needed to do under the new guidelines. We tried to deliver the best possible environment, the best possible program under the current conditions \u2026\u201d he said. \u201cAs players, they were able to basically put forth a product that ultimately resulted in a gold medal win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all schools running athletics overnight stays and traveling were cut down. This led to fewer training days and games throughout the season overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Confederation College in Thunder Bay, a school still studying predominantly remotely, there was a decline of athletes when tryouts began. Thunderhawks cross country running team head coach Paul Inkila provides workouts that accommodate his team\u2019s situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause many team members were not on campus as much as usual, attendance at practices was slightly down. But athletes are given the workout schedule and do the work on their own if they cannot attend,\u201d said Inkila. \u201cIt did affect the overall team atmosphere somewhat, as it was rare to have full practice attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-year-long absence of varsity sports comes with its own hardship. Witnessing the graduation of many students who may have wished to play more seasons and who had intentions of joining a team when applying to their colleges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy heart goes out to some of those athletes who were coming off of a really good season \u2014 that 2019\/2020 season \u2014 and looking forward to working on some of those things over the off-season and never got a chance to work on it, much less put it into action for that season. And then they’ve graduated,\u201d said Naomi Mullings, head coach for the Centennial Colts women\u2019s basketball team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen’s basketball is definitely going through a time where we need to help keep our female basketball players playing, and I think in some cases we’re doing a really good job and keeping them playing, but we’re seeing at the younger age that they’re just not playing basketball as much or for as long,\u201d Mullings said.

This is Mullings\u2019 first year as head coach for Centennial and she voiced her desire for a full roster of 14. Currently, the team contains eight players. Having less than half of a full roster leaves the Colts with little wiggle room for injuries and substitution if they were to enter the season as is. Likewise, playing out a typical five-v-five-match during practice is out of their capabilities unless coaches fill the gaps. Mullings said this slightly hindered some of the Colts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 and its accompanying restrictions surely were unique curveballs for Mullings but are an adjustment nonetheless. After all, making adjustments is what she has been doing for 20 years as a coach.

\u201cI think you have to stay positive,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just went through the first pandemic in our lifetime \u2026 So if I can instill a positive mindset through basketball, then let\u2019s do that. If you can have a positive mindset, playing basketball with all the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of basketball games, then you should be able to take that to regular everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Daniel Lonic The year 2020 ushered students to virtual learning, though student-athletes weren\u2019t as fortunate. They were left longing for motivation from team huddles and turf under their cleats.  In Ontario college sports have made their long-awaited return and competition has been reignited, with the addition of a few expected bumps along the road. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[221,223,6,76,220,222],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy.jpg",1498,998,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-160x160.jpg",160,160,true],"medium":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-640x426.jpg",640,426,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-768x512.jpg",696,464,true],"large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-1280x853.jpg",696,464,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy.jpg",1498,998,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy.jpg",1498,998,false],"td_150x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-150x100.jpg",150,100,true],"td_218x150":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_300x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"td_324x400":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-324x400.jpg",324,400,true],"td_485x360":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-485x360.jpg",485,360,true],"td_696x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-696x464.jpg",696,464,true],"td_1068x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy-1068x712.jpg",1068,712,true],"td_1920x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2021\/12\/IMG_5989-copy.jpg",1498,998,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"sweatmag","author_link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/author\/sweatmag\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By: Daniel Lonic The year 2020 ushered students to virtual learning, though student-athletes weren\u2019t as fortunate. They were left longing for motivation from team huddles and turf under their cleats.  In Ontario college sports have made their long-awaited return and competition has been reignited, with the addition of a few expected bumps along the road.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2005"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2027,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2005\/revisions\/2027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/sweatmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}