After three grueling days of practice, filled with drills and intense competition, the Fieldston Boys Varsity Tennis Team found out their season had been canceled.
Boys varsity tennis felt the utter disappointment of having their season be canceled along with every other spring sports team. Fall athletes face a similar struggle, as there are many uncertainties surrounding a potential return to school.
“It seems that every day there is a new revelation about what you can and can not do. Whatever you had planned and decided the day before is now out the window ––that has been one of the toughest things to deal with–– the unknown,” said Gus Ornstein, Fieldston’s Athletic Director.
As soon as Ornstein, along with his fellow independent school Athletic Directors, heard about the school closure, they promptly began planning possible arrangements for the spring season.
But with our world-changing so quickly, coaches were given little time to transition from their usual in person, competitive, team-building and sweat-inducing practices to giving directions from a screen.
How might sports, the singular school activity that must be done in-person, shift online? The coaches and athletes got creative as they began a new type of season.
In the Spring, coaches held practice twice a week for one-hour at a time, although it varied for different teams.
“Although the coaches and athletic staff did their best to give us a great season, online practice simply isn’t the same as the excitement and energy of in-person games,” Girls Varsity Lacrosse goalie Cameron Kohls said. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the athletic department rallied well given their dire circumstances.
“I believe the coaches did as much as they could in such an awkward and new format, but I think overall we were still able to learn and were still able to work on our camaraderie in the online format,” said Josh Sugarman, member of the Fieldston Boys Varsity Lacrosse Team.
The boys varsity lacrosse coaches held practice twice a week for about two months. They brought in professional players to speak to certain skills and watched highlight tapes in an attempt to soak up every bit of technique, while players were away from the field.
However, as many athletes have stated: watching isn’t as good as playing. Sugarman has been partaking in socially distanced practices with a teammate of his and believes it could function as a better alternative than virtual practices.
Even with social distancing measures “we are still able to get a physical workout and work on our skills and our understanding of each other on the field,” Sugarman said.
The physical workout is the one aspect of every sport that online practice was not able to capture to a great degree. Student athletes were tasked with discipline and self-reliance as they became the ones responsible for their fitness, and for many of them, it was their first time ever.
“I’ve realized that in times like this you need to discipline yourself because there’s no one there to pick you up. There’s no sports, no school, so you need to have inner strength,” said Willow Becker, a member of Fieldston Girls Varsity Lacrosse.
Inner strength, along with resilience, were a constant theme throughout this year, especially on the Fieldston Boys Varsity Tennis (BVT) team.
It was even so important that Fieldston Varsity Tennis Coach Dean Chavooshian spent the season discussing it. Chavooshian devoted his practices to talking about mental toughness in the game of tennis.
“It is well known that 51% of this game in tennis is between your ears, so to understand that and go through that, was meaningful for me as a coach to show what I know about the subject and have [the players] benefit from it,” Chavooshian said.
This approach of delving into the mental aspects of the game quickly resonated with the players. Reading passages from books such as The Inner Game, “we could get the team to strategize more, thinking about gaming aspects more,” said Ryuichi Nitta, BVT player.
Apart from Fieldston, other high schools are also faced with a similar issue. Come fall and we aren’t able to return, Baseball Team Leader at the Carolina Day School Nate Roberson said, “teams should be able to hold workouts and/or practices so that players are able to stay in shape. With safety precautions of course.”
Similar to Roberson, Ornstein is cautiously optimistic about the Fall season.
“The largest challenge is going to be the ability to comply with whatever restrictions and limitations are put in place,” Ornstein said.
In the meantime, student athletes will continue to stay in shape by self-motivation and find unique ways to practice their sport.
“I would take this opportunity to revisit the fundamentals of the game so that we learn proper [technique],” Chavooshian said. “And then like everything, it builds from there.”
Although he may be an expert in tennis, those words of advice translate to every sport. With the extended break from the field, it’s only natural that skills might be rusty. “It’s almost like learning how to ride a bike again,” Chavooshian said. However, understanding the mechanics of the game and fundamental techniques will make the transition back to sports much easier.
With a season for the history books and an unknown future ahead, young athletes are eager to reunite with their teammates.
Becker said, “I’m definitely looking forward to being a part of a team again and the feeling you get after you’ve worked really hard and pushed.”
Sugarman also looks forward to seeing his hard work shine through, seeing his teammates, “and hopefully get[ting] a championship.”
Only time will tell, and whether we return in-person, online, or a combination of the two is unbeknownst to us; however, confidence can be placed in Athletics Directors around the country working to help us return to school sports.
“Let’s all try to stay as positive as possible and hope that things continue to progress so that we will have a Fall season and return to sports,” Ornstein said.
