Staying Connected and Prepared for Collegiate Athletic Competitions During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 
“Drastic times call for drastic measures”—Hippocrates. The COVID-19 pandemic has had vast and lasting impacts on virtually every aspect of life. Without question, the sports world today looks very different than it looked a year ago. Professional sports leagues adapted to the pandemic by implementing bubbles and strict testing protocols (Dove et al., 2020), but college sports have been slower to adapt. All spring college athletes lost a full season of competition when National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) leagues canceled sporting events in March 2020 and the same thing happened for some fall and winter athletes. With many gyms and other training facilities closed due to the regional lockdown regulations due to the pandemic around the country, it is difficult for college athletes to train on their own and be physically prepared for a collegiate season. More importantly, being separated from teammates has long term impacts on team culture and both mental and physical health. The question remains: how do college athletes stay connected with teammates and prepare for competitions despite being spread out across the country or even the world?
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