Despite the global pandemic, some Geneseo club and varsity sports teams have been able to get back to practicing. Men’s and women’s club Ultimate Frisbee teams, Snail and Escargot, respectively, are part of this group.
Both teams have had some struggles with recruitment and with their adjustments to COVID-19, but in spite of this, neither team has lost their spirits. Even with competitions grinded to a halt, Ultimate Frisbee has been doing their best to have fun during practice.
Women’s team captain Isabella Higgins explained the new practice protocol.
“So, well, at least in terms of the school, we've had to go through a lot of event proposal forms, meeting with people in S.A. to make sure that our plan is up to snuff,” Higgins said. “Every day we fill out attendance sheets and we take temperatures and we have hand sanitizer … There's a lot of things that the school has implemented, but I think everyone's just happy to be able to have a chance to play even with the new guidelines.”
Escargot practices on Letchworth Field and has been running many practice drills as normal, except with the addition of new COVID-19 protocols. Snail practices on the field by the Merritt Athletic Center and runs similar drills to the women’s team.
Both teams seemed to be happy to be playing again, with players constantly encouraging each other. Ultimate Frisbee is a combination of soccer and football and is very quick paced with a lot of running, so masks have been an adjustment for them.
“Everyone’s out here trying to have fun, that’s why the masks haven’t been as big a deal, everyone wants to have fun and play, so it’s been better than we expected,” said.
Social distancing has proved a little difficult for the team as well, but they’ve taken this in stride too as men’s team captain Anthony Prato added, “practice has been kind of different because there is a lot of physicality involved, so we’ve been spacing out and it’s worked well so far, but other than that it’s been more or less the same.”
Team members must wear masks at all times during practice, with the exception of taking a quick water break or a moment to catch their breath. Prato made it clear that the team is willing to do whatever it takes to both follow the rules and ensure the team has a chance to stay together and practice.
“Anything we got to do to play is fine by us, and it’s annoying, but it's an adjustment we’ve made and over time we’ll get used to it,” Prato said.
The largest concern for the team right now is once the weather no longer permits them to go outside. Indoor spaces to practice are always hard to come by, but with Kuhl Gym being renovated, it makes things even more difficult. Both teams are also unsure of the status of competitions for the spring but are practicing to be prepared if competitions start up again.
“They canceled all tournaments for the fall, so absolutely no competition this fall. We don't know what will happen in the spring yet. That just depends on where we're at then,” Higgins said.
The other current concern for both teams is recruitment as they have gotten about half as many new people as they have in the past.
“[Recruitment has] definitely been slow. I think part of that is also just because there are a lot fewer people on campus as well. Generally, we would have about maybe 20 new people at the very beginning for the girls team alone,” Higgins said. “We’ve had 10 new people, which is actually pretty good.”
In the face of all this adversity, the Snail and Escargot teams have pushed on and supported one another. The team that got their namesake from slow and easily movable creatures has been just the opposite as they’ve continued at a rapid pace in the face of a tide of change.