A comprehensive look at how Canadian and American student-athletes have adapted to and been affected by COVID-19 regulations in their sports.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to alter the course of our daily life as we have had to adapt to new normals: mask-wearing, reduced capacity in buildings, and the constant flux of being in lockdown and being reopened. However, a neglected conversation is how student-athletes have been impacted by the pandemic. 

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the immediate shutdown of all varsity sports across Canada and the United States in 2020. With no word regarding whether varsity sports would return for the 2020 season, many varsity athletes continued to train under new COVID guidelines. Unfortunately, for varsity athletes in Canada, USports cancelled all sports for the remainder of the 2020 season. The United States, however, reinstated their 2020 season in the division II conference of the NCAA. 

To understand which new rules and restrictions were made in light of the pandemic and how they have affected student-athletes performance in school and in play, the Herald reached out to two student-athletes from Canada and the United States: Mikayla Ford from the University of Toronto Women’s Soccer program and Indiana Rotondo from the Mars Hill University (located in North Carolina) Basketball program.   

Adapting to new normals 

Mikayla Ford highlighted the difficulty of training with a mask, reduced numbers at practices, loss of extra facilities, and the inability to find a consistent pattern as restrictions in Toronto fluctuate. She found the experience of adapting to these new normals difficult. When asked how much the pandemic has impacted her and her sport, she said, “So much. All summer play was cancelled, which means we didn’t have a summer season. Our winter practices were also cut short because of the shutdown. With new restrictions, we had to do our workouts and practices in the dome or under the bleachers with our masks on, which was very difficult.” 

However, in speaking to Indiana, his experience with COVID and adapting to new normals was quite different. Indiana explained how gym access was limited throughout the season, making it difficult to train. Adapting to this new normal was not easy and it progressively got worse from there: he contracted COVID-19. When asked about how the pandemic has impacted his sport, he said, “We were lucky enough to play; but I haven’t been cleared yet to play because of COVID and post-COVID effects.” He further explained that playing basketball during a pandemic, after contracting the virus, made him question if it was worth it to continue to play basketball and risk his health again.   

Academics   

While training during the pandemic has been difficult, Mikayla and Indiana also talked about their experience at school. 

Mikayla explained that COVID and the inability to play soccer allowed her to take on more academic-related activities. However, she noted how difficult it was to destress after hours of lecture. She said, “Not having that stress relief from regular practice and social interaction really took a toll on me mentally.” Soccer alleviated the stress of busy school days, but the pandemic took that away from her. She now has to find a new way to destress. 

While Mikayla speaks about the difficulty of finding a consistent distressing pattern during the pandemic, Indiana, on the contrary, found his working habits to be the exact same. When asked how the pandemic has affected school, he said, “It really hasn’t. My study habits are still the same, not much has changed.”   

Looking forward 

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the way varsity athletes play their sports. The enforced restrictions have made it difficult for them to train and find a consistent pattern. Despite the difficulties 2020 brought, many varsity athletes are hopeful that the 2021 season will resume.  Mikayla said the Women’s Soccer program expects to play in the fall. She said, “All in all, the team is going full speed ahead and is expecting to start the 2021 season strong.” Mikayla and Indiana highlighted the difficulties of playing varsity sports during a pandemic. However, because of the pandemic, they were able to focus solely on school and their future goals: getting into their Master’s programs. Despite the hardships they encountered in  2020, they are hopeful for what the future brings.