U Sports players in limbo
Arjay Shelley is keeping fit and strong by pushing his mom’s black Subaru SUV around the parking lot at Port Moody Secondary School.
His mom Ambra sits in the driver’s seat and steers.
With no weightlifting equipment available, and no football team to train with, the defensive back for the Manitoba Bisons is doing what he can to keep in shape amid COVID-19.
“We’re doing some creative training,” Ambra Shelley said.
Training for a U Sports season that might not happen.
Arjay Shelley is one of some-20,000 studentathletes from 56 Canadian universities who are in limbo, trying to remain positive and proactive as the calendar ticks closer to what would normally be the kick-off of their Fall sport seasons, but now look in doubt.
“It’s hard for the young athletes to be keeping their motivation up without their team and their group and trying to find ways to work out when there’s not a lot available right now, and just trying to find a way to keep a positive mindset through this,” mom Ambra said. Patience sometimes feels at a premium.
“The off-season feels like forever anyways, and now it’s just even longer,” Shelley said.
Shelley tries to remain disciplined. He gets out of bed early. He’s helping a neighbour build a fence.
The upcoming season would be the Canada West all-star’s CFL draft year, something he’s had his sights on practically since he started playing football at the age of six. He isn’t sure if he would return to Winnipeg if the season was cancelled, or stay home in Port Moody, B.C., take classes and work part time.
Shelley’s teammate, quarterback Des Catellier, had hoped to impress scouts at this year’s CFL draft combine, but the event scheduled for late-March was among the countless sports events cancelled amid coronavirus fears.
“One more year (of university eligibility) to put it out in the field, and then try and sign somewhere after that,” Catellier said.
What if one more year doesn’t happen?
“Oh man, to be honest, I haven’t thought about that much,” Catellier said, with obvious frustration. “I’ve been treating it like: we’re gonna have a season, we’re gonna have a season, we’re gonna have a season.
“That would very, very hard, honestly. This stretch of time is already the longest I’ve gone without playing football. To whole ‘nother year, no games, it’d be tough.”
Several Canadian universities, including Manitoba, McGill, the University of Ottawa and the University of British Columbia have already announced plans to offer primarily online classes for the Fall semester.
“What does that mean overall for students, especially for international students?” Windsor men’s basketball coach Chris Cheng wondered. “Are they still allowed to live on campus? Is food services still provided it for them? And so what capacity?”
There are plenty of questions. Can athletes still gather on campus if there are no in-person classes? And can there even be sports if in-person classes can’t happen?
Ambra Shelley’s optimism about a football season is fading.