Being a Good Sport During Corona

By Paige Barlow

While we are all affected by COVID-19 in some way, everyone is impacted differently. For student-athletes on campus, this means all Cornell University sports teams’ fall seasons are cancelled. There are no practices, no games, no team training sessions, nor any activities for sports teams at this time. As a result, I thought it would be best to gain insight on what it's like being an athlete during this time.

Every student I interviewed agreed that there are no formal practices right now. Currently, the only practices are those created by the players themselves. If players decide to meet up with some of their teammates, they go in small groups, remain distanced, and wear masks the whole time. “We've had to wear masks,” Franco Alonso ’23 said, a member of Cornell’s Men’s Baseball Team. “If I want to get a group of four or so people, we have to wear a mask even if we are living in the same house.” All teams want to be sure they are following  Cornell and New York State guidelines. 

Another athlete, who prefers to remain anonymous claimed, “We haven't done any sort of training but we might try to do some eventually in the next few weeks. The time frame is completely up in the air with COVID and our limitations with Cornell and New York State.” Similar to the baseball team, this athlete’s team faces strict regulations. Despite being in their off-season, normally this team would still be practicing everyday, year-round in addition to weekend scrimmages.

When asked if this made them nervous for next season, most athletes expressed that they were not worried for their future performance. They explained that while they can’t fully practice, everyone is in this together, and no single athlete is facing the pandemic alone. One concern, however, is the fact that Cornell is not a school heavily reliant on sport related money. Since sport events aren’t as profitable at Cornell, athletes at Cornell worry it could cut some sport teams altogether.

In the end, most athletes miss playing the game and spending time with their teammates. “I think it’s been hard because your season is something that you work for all year-round,” another student said. “Not playing any games against other teams is disheartening because it's something we all train and wait for.” A sophomore on Cornell’s Women’s Squash Team went on to explain, “It’s really important to find ways to workout and keep your body healthy. There’s never going to be another time in our college career that we aren’t going to be able to play the sport we love everyday. So, we should take this time to explore other interests and find other ways of having fun.” While athletes at Cornell may not be able to play the sports they love, they are nonetheless finding other ways of making the most of their time on campus and appreciating the fun moments they still have.