Athletes are coping with pandemic difficulties
Many had to work out on their own to maintain fitness for their sports
When the coronavirus closed schools and discontinued high school sports last March, athletes had to find ways to stay motivated as they waited a year for sports to resume.
Some athletes, like runners, had to stay in shape or risk losing their previous level of attainment.
“I attended a level 2 USA Track and Field coaches certification,” said Shannon Bubar, head track and field coach at Vacaville Christian High School. “After just two weeks off there’s a reduction of 6 percent of VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen a person can utilize during intense exercise), a 19 percent reduction and a significant decrease in power after 30 to 63 days off, and a 25.7 percent reduction and a severe decrease in power after more than 63 days.”
Larry Hogue, head track and field coach at Vanden, echoed Bubar’s thoughts.
“With track you do have to condition,” he said. “Even if you go out and jog around the block once a day, at least it gets your heart rate and stamina up.”
So long-distance runners like VCS junior Laura Everett continued to train throughout the past year.
“Thankfully our girls varsity team, we’re very close,” said Everett of her cross country squad. “We’re pretty much a family instead of a team. We’re definitely bonded and I think it’s unique that even lowerclassmen and upperclassmen, we are still so close as team members… So that way we just remain motivated and we still come out every day to train even if it might not be for a season because of how much we care about the team.”
“Our kids are trying their best to stay in shape,” said Wood head track and field coach Frank Kapele. “They have been doing workouts out at Al Patch Park and I’ve seen some of my distance runners running around town.”
“Doing workouts alone is really difficult,” said Vacaville High junior standout long-distance runner Kellen Steplight. “Especially with the season not going on right now, it’s been pretty difficult because it’s hard to think of reasons to run. But… I still need to keep my training up for the duration of the spring or I’ll lose a ton of fitness going into summer and into the fall for cross country.”
But it was not just runners who needed to stay in shape during COVID.
Daniel Huges, a Vanden High junior who hopes to play both football and basketball this spring for the Vikings, has been training for both. Football conditioning began in summer and, after a break, picked up again in the fall. Hughes said he is anxious to play in competition again but remains patient.
“I want to play, but I don’t feel a rush because I’m still practicing,” he said. “I’m still playing the sport. It’s just not in season.”
Healsogoestothegym or the park to work on his shooting, dribbling and other basketball skills.
“We’ve had a unique situation where guys have been finding ways to do extra workouts outside of our official workouts on their own,” said Vanden head football coach Sean Murphy. “So he’s been doing that juggling already along with distance learning. And he does very well academically. So I don’t really foresee it being a problem for him. He’s learning a valuable life lesson of how to manage his time and that’s really important for a student-athlete.”
Vacaville High senior Maya Holman is a threesport athlete who had to decide between tennis, basketball and track and field this spring. She appears to be leaning toward track andfield.
But she kept in shape for all three this past year,
“I have a little group on the side and we go to the track by Al Patch Park and we practice there three times a week,” said the 5-foot-9 Holman. “Or we’ll also go to Andrews Park to do hill runs. And then also I did a gym membership to lift weights.”
Will C. Wood senior Kobe Rolling plans to play both baseball and soccer this spring. He plays both sports pretty much yearround, as he plays club baseball with the Admirals of Vacaville and soccer with Davis Legacy.
In a traditional sports season, high school athletes are not allowed to play club during the school season of any particular sport. But for this COVID year, the California Interscholastic Federation allowed students to play them concurrently.
Rolling has club baseball practice in the afternoon and club soccer at night. So after baseball practice, he grabs his gear
and heads immediately to soccer practice.
Wood senior Taylor Ford, who plans to play both volleyball and soccer this spring, had a tough time without competition during COVID.
“It’s been so rough,” she said. “I don’t know what to do with myself when I’m not playing sports. It’s hard, especially because you don’t get to do anything else, you’re just doing school. My friend (soccer teammate and neighbor Rebecca Smith) and I were working out at home for a while and at the beginning of quarantine before our club started we were going to the park every morning to practice soccer.”
But now with all high school sports, including indoor sports, getting the green light, the athletes who waited patiently and trained this past year will have the opportunity to fulfill their athletic dreams.