The question on the minds of coaches and athletic directors in the wake of the COVID-19 restrictions is how. As in, how do we keep athletes engaged and active in a time when such activity is limited?
Totino-Grace Activities Director Mike Smith has some thoughts. Smith, who is also the school's head baseball coach, relayed some of the ideas he's implemented to keep his players thinking like a team when there's no baseball to be played.
"The road map is fuzzy," he said. "You haven't dealt with this before and you don't know when this will end."
The Eagles, like many, turned to the internet to bond as a team. They've shared online training videos and the coaches have had virtual meetings via Google Meets. And things have taken a light-hearted turn as well.
"We've tried to be as creative as we could. had dance contests. There's an app that makes you look like you can dance," Smith laughed, admitting that he had to go first to kick things off. "We did a 'Name That Senior', where the seniors sent us the youngest picture of each of them that had something to do with baseball and the rest of the team had to name the senior."
The Eagles also put together a virtual "Around The Horn" video. Here's the link: https://youtu.be/p0OCo8YUjjo
It wasn't all fun and games, however. Smith used the time to encourage his players to see the potential good that can come out of the current crisis.
"We had a big meeting, taking turns, going one-by-one, telling one positive thing that has come out of this. They talked about getting more family time together, having a little more time to do better in school work. One kid said he and his dad got in a lot of good fishing. Some kids, who had just turned 16, got more driving practice. They were awesome. It was a forum for people to share and learn the we're only as good as the people we communicate with in our own little circle. It blows my mind how creative they were."
