CUA Athletes Find Alternative Ways to Stay Active
Image courtesy of The Catholic University of America
By Katie Hoban
COVID-19 has affected everyone across the world, especially in the United States. With the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases globally, the United States has shut down non-essential businesses, in-office work hours, and in-person classes at universities. The virus also led to the NCAA cancelling the rest of the winter season and the upcoming spring games and championships for all three divisions.
These cancellations and restrictions have not stopped the CUA Cardinals from preparing themselves for the next competitive year. Coaches and teams have sent out workout plans that athletes can do from home, and some athletes have taken the initiative to virtually meet every so often with their team.
“Right now we’re doing a team workout challenge,” stated Elizabeth Dew, a sophomore accounting major on the women’s softball team, “So we split up into five teams and send in our scores, and she tallies them, and it has gotten pretty competitive.”
Cancellations meant the end to a sport for some senior athletes. The women’s lacrosse team, however, has found an alternative.
“We’re doing an alumni game in the fall to give our seniors a proper sendoff,” stated sophomore Emily Tremblay.
The football team has also been keeping up with workout regimens, getting ready for summer training. With the fall season just around the corner, sophomore Gabriel Aparicio had much to say about this upcoming season.
“Our workouts are a lot of bodyweight workouts and agility,” stated Appa. “We’re super excited about the season, we’ve got a lot of returning starters, and we’re all super excited to compete to fall.”
Some teams at CUA have taken isolated workouts to the next level, creating challenges and competitions to encourage teammates to keep up their workouts. Sophomore David Angelo is a point guard on the men’s basketball team and had a lot to say about the exciting things Coach Aron Kelly has been doing to keep up the morale.
“A fun thing our coach has done is send out a pushup plan and the first one who can get 70 consecutive pushups gets a nice pullover,” stated Angelo. “Our coach has been doing some fun player interviews on social media too.”
Although many teams have created bodyweight workout plans, this is not the case for all teams. The men’s and women’s crew teams rely on time in the water to fulfill workouts, and in order to perform well, they rely on one another to stay accountable for their health.
“Coaches did everything they could to get everyone an erg. For people that don’t have ergs, we also are on Strava and app to trap workouts on fitness trackers such as Apple watches and Fitbits,” stated junior Matthew Toppi. “As a captain, we try to keep in contact with the team as much as possible.”
When asked if missing out on the spring season would hurt their chances to compete in the fall, Toppi answered with a positive remark.
“I think that this time is a blessing in disguise. If we capitalize on it, we will be able to get a lot faster and train better than we ever have, especially as a new varsity team .”
