Covid-19 vs. Division III Basketball
By: Tucker Beland
Tags: Student Athlete, California, College Basketball

December 14, 2020

Nothing is certain in the sports world and now more than ever organizations are facing more uncertainty than ever before with the Covid-19 taking control of many aspects of our daily lives. Programs across the country have been shut down, seasons canceled, fans kept out of stadiums all in efforts to get back to playing sports. Following the culture shocking events that occurred in March, fans are just as excited to see any sort of game on the television screen. But in the sport world, this change has affected things much more dramatically than what we just see on a screen.

For many of the smaller schools across the U.S. many athletes are left on their couch with sometimes no interaction with the teams that they are used to having as their family while at college. Now this is not the case for every smaller program as much, as that depends on what government regulations are in place at the time. Programs in states such as California have already canceled the 2020–2021 basketball seasons, unless of course it is division one.

Where there is not enough effort being put forth to get players back on the court, it is the smaller schools where athletes are participating in sports on either minimal or no scholarships that are being affected a large amount. Now let us look at Claremont McKenna College, a private division three school with less than 1,500 students in the outskirts of Los Angeles. This college is located in one of the tightest locked down counties in California due to its high population density.

Sam Johnson, a junior center on the Claremont McKenna basketball team is one of the thousands of collegiate student athletes who was ripped of the opportunity to play this season. Now he may not be a division one athlete looking to go pro, that does not mean losing this season was not detrimental to him and his teammates. Playing basketball has been apart of his life since he was in his youth. Sports have been proven to be beneficial for students in academics to stay active and relieve some of the stress from rigorous schoolwork. This outlet was stripped from him and when asked about it.

Johnson said “ I would look forward to playing every day and going to practice because it was a break from school. I would get to break away from everything and be able to do something that I am passionate about and enjoy. It is really hard not being able to take that time to break away from my classes.”

He also mentioned how he missed being able to clear his mind on the basketball court and maintaining relationships with his team members and coaches. This decrease of basketball may have added more time for him to focus on academics, but the motivation to do schoolwork took a massive toll mentally for him.

Not only does not having the season effect these athletes mentally, but also physically. With California gyms closed and team activities being few and far between, athletes are required to do workouts by themselves, often without proper equipment. To go from having the facilities necessary to compete at a college level, to only being able to work with what you have at home is a difficult transition to try and keep your mind and body sharp. The CMC basketball team is attempting to combat this by having group position workouts three times a week consisting of wall sits, push-ups, and other workouts that do not require equipment. Players also must communicate with coaches what it is that they are personally doing to stay active during this trying time. Virtual film sessions are also conducted twice a week to keep the players mentally sharp for what hopes to be the 2021–2022 season. On the bright side of not having a season during these film sessions, it has allowed the team to focus more on how they can improve internally compared to scouting the team(s) they are playing that week.

Johnson also noted “I am way more out of shape being I can’t train at the level I should be, not having gyms open in California and even harder when I am home in Michigan and can’t train outside in the snow.”

As far as next seasons success what happens in the next six months will be crucial. Notably September is looked at as a point in the year to keep an eye on, as this is when division three schools can start prepping for the upcoming season. Being that the freshman class was not able to play this season, the team will have theoretically two recruitment classes who have never played a college game before making the film sessions even more important. Not to mention the lack of chemistry since the team is missing the majority of the social interaction they would normally have to bond as a unit.

With many health regulations sure to come for the 2021–2022 season, players are going to have to make the decision if they are willing to sacrifice to some extent their freedoms for the season to happen safely. Johnson’s belief was that if there are in person classes, he thinks they should be able to play being that athletics was a major reason why they chose to attend the college. He went on to say however that he would not be willing to play if it affected his ability to do things outside of basketball such as not being able to see friends or study with students outside of the basketball team.

When asked if he would be willing to get a vaccine once released if it affected the eligibility of the athlete, Johnson responded “It could be an issue with other players, personally I would not have an issue if a vaccine was mandated in order to play.”

Now it is understandable that these big institutions can safely run their athletic programs with high quantities of testing or being able to have their players isolated from the rest of campus being that they bring in so much revenue from T.V. contracts, advertising, alumni donations, just to name a few. However in states like California specially in the Los Angeles area where regulations are so strict, why these big schools bend the rules and workout, travel, and play games. Money talks so much in the industry that schools like UCLA and USC put pressure on policies makers. This is to prevent losing more money but also recruits, alumni support, and other intangible benefits these teams get from playing.

This is the frustration these smaller programs face across the country that are being told these regulations are there to protect them, but the power conference universities seem to find loopholes allowing them to compete when others cannot. Overall, the student athletes have little to no say what happens when they are the individuals devoting their lives to their sport.

One thing Sam wanted to make emphasis was, “At the end of the day, I just want to get back to hooping.”