The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) fall sports teams are having to adapt to having virtual spring seasons.
Fall sports teams are taking the time in the spring to really focus on the foundation of team chemistry so that come time to play in the fall, the teams are locked in and focused.
Like every collegiate athletic team in the country, the CMU women’s soccer and volleyball teams are having to train and communicate using apps like GroupMe or Zoom to have meetings with coaches and stay in touch with teammates.
“We have communicated through the GroupMe app with our coaches and teammates to get updates on our season next fall and for our fitness packet during this time off. We also are meeting about every other week on Zoom to talk and catch up,” Sophomore forward, Kristen Capan, said.
The Maverick women’s soccer team is coming off of a season where they went 8-7-2 overall with new Head Coach Dani Thurman.
“The spring is time to develop more individual skill growth while still working on the team aspects,” Thurman said. “The change for the spring for women’s soccer was a huge focus on school and grades because that’s the most important thing and being able to adapt to the online setting.”
Coaches and players have had individual meetings to make sure that they know that everyone is always there for you during these times. Coaches have assigned virtual team workouts to keep the players active and ready for August, but also to keep their minds off the current circumstances.
The CMU women’s soccer team is not worried about how this will affect the chemistry of the team when they come back together in the fall because of how close the team has become over past seasons.
“It definitely helps, for sure, that the team has been together for a couple of years. A lot of the players are roommates and great friends so it won’t feel like we took a step back as a team,” Junior midfielder, Taylor Jones, said.
Another fall sport that is getting affected by there being no preseason is the women’s volleyball team. The volleyball team went 17-10 last season and graduated two of their main offensive options.
The team has a handful of freshmen coming into the program this fall, so coaches have been in contact with them to make sure they are prepared to be a part of the Maverick family.
“We are trying to stay in touch as well, let them know the expectations of the program. If campus opens for visits we would like to get them back to continue to build those relationships,” Head Coach Dave Flemming said.
The volleyball team has made sure that they have had meetings with their coaches where everyone makes sure that they are doing okay and discuss goals that they have. The team also started what senior setter, Ara Norwood, called a team hangout over zoom where they all pop in a check on each other when they can.
“Usually communication happens every day and seeing each other is something we do 2-3 times a week,” Norwood said. “ We started the hangout with just the team because we all missed talking and seeing each other after going everyday with seeing each other for a few hours.”
The team is making efforts to keep in contact daily making the chemistry that they had on and off of the volleyball court stringer as a team.
“The strength of our team has always been how close we are where everybody is very close with each other so while we can’t be together in person and physically play and practice together, mentally we are keeping track and maintaining a good as can be, off-court relationship/friendship,” Norwood said.
Both the women’s soccer and volleyball teams are not taking for granted the friendships and teammates they have made while at CMU and are looking forward to getting back with their teammates.
