By Emily Glory Peters
After an agonizing wait, 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ is thrilled to welcome the , its intercollegiate womenβs athletic team comprised of students from Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, and 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪs, back to the field this fall. Together with her staff and coaches, CMS Athletics Director Erica Jasper has been busy making preparations to ensure the team is as safe as possible.
βItβs really been a combination of planning, collaboration with the other campuses, and education for our coaches, staff, and student-athletes,β says Jasper, noting that theyβll be hosting team-specific educational sessions upon the studentsβ return to campus. In accordance with guidance from state and county public health officials, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the NCAA, Jasper will also be introducing a few changes to help meet and exceed safety protocols.
βTeam meetings may be outdoors or via Zoom. Locker rooms will only be used for changing and showering, andΒ team travel will be masked with student-athletes and coaches physically distanced whenever possible,β she says. βWith LA County requiring masks while indoors in public spaces, itβll be a changeβbut one weβre all pretty used to at this point.β
Although in-person activities did stop as of March 2020, training and conditioning did not. CMS coaches rose to the creative challenge, offering synchronous and asynchronous workouts, film review, and strategy sessions to student-athletes via Zoom.
I canβt wait to see our amazing scholar-leader-athletes do what they do bestβcompete.
Due to their dedication, as health conditions improved, many 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ and fellow CMS athletes had opportunities to compete independently at home. Those who could not still managed to gain academic distinction elsewhereβsuch as the Athenas of the CMS and teams who earned All-Academic Team honors from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, respectively.
Notwithstanding these fantastic achievements, Jasper notes, nothing compares to being back on campus to train side-by-side once more. With help from increased safety protocols, sheβs confident training and competition will be relatively βnormalββsomething the entire college community is hungry for.
βOne of the most powerful things about being a college athlete is representing something larger than yourself, andΒ thereβs nothing better than putting on that jersey and knowing you are representing your schoolβand in our case, multiple schools!β she says. As sporting events resume, the valor of the Athenas are sure to bring a much-needed sense of unityβeven amid the continuing pandemicβas 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ spectators cheer them on.
Adds Jasper, βI know our 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ student-athletes feel a tremendous amount of pride representing both 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ as well as CMS. I am so excited to see all of our students back on campus, and I canβt wait to see our amazing scholar-leader-athletes do what they do bestβcompete.β
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