By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
UPPER TOWNSHIP – Student athletes are missing the start of their spring seasons. More than that, they’re missing their teammates.
Statewide COVID-19 restrictions are forcing students to stay at home and study online to keep them from catching and/or spreading the coronavirus. In tandem with that, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is not allowing students to practice together or with their coaches.
“It does really stink not being able to with all the girls on the team because obviously we have great camaraderie. We push each other in practice,” Ocean City High School senior Casey McLees, of Upper Township, said. She runs distance for the spring track team and also competes on winter track and cross country.
Eve Chiarello, a senior on the OCHS crew team, said, “It’s really strange because, especially with crew, we spend so much time with each other because our practices are so long on the water. Not being able to see each other has been hard.”
During the winter the team trains indoors and on ergometers (rowing machines), but “now that it’s springtime and we aren’t able to be together, it’s like the same training going on in the winter. Just us. Instead of it being a team effort, it’s put more on the individual,” Chiarello said.
“It’s really hard not being able to be out on the field every day with my teammates,” said OCHS senior and Upper Township resident Abbey Fenton, the goalie on the girls lacrosse team. She also was the goalie on the state champion girls soccer team in the fall and a starter on the South Jersey champion basketball team in the winter.
“Not only are we missing out on time to develop our lacrosse skills with practice and games,” Fenton said, “but we don’t have the opportunity to all bond together face to face. The situation we are in is new for everyone. We are trying to take it one day at a time with hopes that we will be able to all get back out there together soon.”
The one positive aspect is they are still able to connect with their teammates and coaches, albeit at a distance.
“We keep in touch over our phones, talking and texting and all that, keeping each other updated about how our training is going,” McLees said.
“Not only do we text each other all the time but we have team Zoom calls two times a week where we catch up with each other,” Fenton said. (Zoom allows for online video conferencing.) “We use these calls to connect as a team and talk about different lacrosse concepts, so that when we are able to get back on the field we are ready to go.
“It is definitely a different experience only being able to see my teammates over a phone or computer screen,” she said.
“We talk to each other every day and talk about the workouts and if we have any new ideas or suggestions for the workouts, we’ll often work together (via social media) and send them to the coaches,” Chiarello said. “Even though we are separate, we are definitely keeping in contact.”
The athletes are continuing to work out to keep in shape, getting regimens from their coaches.
“My coaches have been sending us workouts so we’re all doing the same thing but in different locations,” McLees said, noting she is running by herself near her home in Upper Township. It’s not her favorite option.
“Everyone prefers being with each other in person,” McLees said. “It does stink when you’re stuck in the house all the time. And I’m trying to make the most of it, doing training other than running. Trying to do yoga to get my mind off of sitting in the house or watching TV when I’m not doing my homework.” She also does strength training in her basement.
Chiarello, who is headed to the University of Pennsylvania in the fall and plans to row for the Penn crew team, said the OCHS crew booster club is helping the rowers by lending them ergs so they can do workouts at home. She and her teammates follow regimens posted online by their coaches.
That doesn’t help ease the fact the spring rowing season is slipping away.
“It’s been pretty hard especially because as seniors there are so many of us on the crew team and we have worked very hard for the past four years to build up the program for this season,” Chiarello said. “We have already lost pretty much all of our races that have been cancelled for the spring. It’s been kind of frustrating to keep training for something that we don’t know if we’re going to be able to compete, but we all just have to keep our heads up and working hard, because most of us are going to continue to row in the future in college so we want to be able to stay in shape and be ready for that.”
Fenton, who will be playing lacrosse at Cabrini College, said she is working out regularly.
“Each day I do some type of workout to keep me in shape and then I will work in some footwork and stick drills to keep my lacrosse skills sharp,” Fenton said. “A lot of the time my mom will go out in the yard with me where we have a goal and shoot for a couple of hours. It is important that I continue to practice seeing game-like shots so that when we do get the opportunity to play I am prepared.”
All three athletes said they hope to get in at least a partial season and are sad they are missing this time during their senior years.
“There is so many things that you look forward to when it’s your senior season, whether it’s senior night or being the leaders of the team,” Fenton said. “With lacrosse being my favorite sport I was really looking forward to having my best season yet, but I am trying to keep a positive outlook and make the most out of it that I can.”
“It seems like the NJSIAA is trying their best to have whatever they can of a season,” McLees, who will be running winter and spring track and fall cross country for La Salle University, said. “That is why they aren’t saying anything about any final decisions. I think they’re holding on to see how the virus progresses so we can hopefully have those sectional and state meets at the end of the season.”
Speaking a sentiment echoed by her fellow OCHS athletes, Fenton said, “The thing that I miss the most about not being able to practice with my teammates is the fun of building that true team connection,” she added. “Being with the same people each and every day allows us to build friendships and unbreakable bonds.”