With the fall season coming to a close in mid-November, student-athletes are looking ahead to what the winter season holds and how each team will be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With recent updates from Head of School Tom Dillow, athletics will not be in person until Jan. 15 at the earliest. Interim Athletic Director Josh Balabuch added that no matter the circumstances, one way or another, there will be a winter and spring season this year. Each season will be unique in their own ways due to the restrictions of COVID-19.
The winter season has already begun with online Zoom meetings, workouts, and yoga for many winter teams. This is a way to help athletes stay engaged and in shape without having to be in person with their respected sports team. “In the fall season, we were able to slowly build to multi-hour practices and a few interscholastic competitions,” Mr. Balabuch said. “Although the winter season is starting remotely, our goal remains the same: to provide a positive athletic experience for each of the student-athletes in each of the programs.”
The swim team has started their season with team workouts and yoga, holding these meetings on Zoom once to twice a week. Girls basketball, JV and varsity, has had a meeting, and the coaches have designed workouts for each athlete to do over the course of the week.
On the question of whether any teams will play games, it’s too early to tell. “I cannot be sure if the winter season will bring any interscholastic competition or not,” Mr. Balabuch said, “but I do know that KO Athletics will do everything to keep the community healthy and safe and analyze the risk of competition.” The main goal for Mr. Dillow and Mr. Balabuch is to keep everyone on campus safe. If the Kingswood Oxford athletic department finds competitions to be safe, they will be more than willing to explore the options of games.
The schedule for the winter season is to have team fitness training and team camaraderie Zoom meetings once a week until athletes are able to practice in person around mid-January. This will allow students to make a better transition to in-person practices when the time comes. “Students will already know some of the drills and be further along in the fitness regiment,” Mr. Balabuch said. Practice will be contactless, one hour in length, largely focused on individual player development, and each player will be required to wear a mask during practices when we return in January. “We will reassess plans for athletics frequently to stay up to date on current protocols, policies, and guidelines,” Mr. Balabuch said.
Mr. Balabuch wanted to add that athletes should keep a lookout for their respected team’s Google Classroom invites and watch their email for communication from coaches. It is important that all athletes keep their heads up and seniors look forward to their last winter season as a Wyvern.
