CAMPUS LINCOLN STATUE DEBATE WILL HAVE GENERATIONAL EFFECT

SPORTS Men’s Rowing: Team faces challenges due to postponed season

Due to COVID-19, UW men’s rowing team faces obstacles after postponed fall season, depriving seniors of farewell season

by Alyssa Huglen Sports Writer

The University of Wisconsin men’s rowing team is finding ways to overcome adversity as a result of having its fall 2020 season postponed.

The conversation of COVID-19’s effect on collegiate sports has primarily centered around college football, regularly dismissing how less mainstream sports programs are dealing with the Big Ten’s decision. UW men’s rowing is one of these programs. Drawing attention to the postponement’s effect is something Head Coach Chris Clark said is incredibly important.

“It is easy to forget that the vast majority of college athletes are in sports like rowing that don’t get a lot of attention,” Clark said. “For people that aren’t really aware of athletics, they have no idea how impactful college sports are on a kid. They don’t see how much it changes your life.”

The team is not new to dealing with coronavirus-related cancellations, already experiencing a compromised spring season earlier this year. March 13, the team and staff abruptly canceled their Friday afternoon practice, instead gathering for a farewell meeting and departing back home. Clark said this experience was unprecedented in his time as head coach.

“This was the first time for me since 1992 that I didn’t have a racing season I was involved with,” Clark said. “For me, personally, it was bizarre.”

Beyond coaching staff, seniors on the team were deprived of the final season of their rowing careers. Assistant Coach Beau Hoopman said this loss was quite a blow to those graduating in spring.

“They didn’t get their final say on their career, and they kinda just went off into the real world without any finality to their rowing careers,” Hoopman said. “You feel for those guys.”

Months later, an Aug. 11 statement released by the Big Ten created additional hurdles for the rowing program as it was announced the Big Ten would be postponing the fall season. Clark said this decision was not a surprise to him.

“We’re watching football, and we realized if football’s not doing it, we’re not doing it. Not just rowing, any other sport,” Clark said. “So once football looked like it was going down the tubes for at least the near future, we figured we were as well.”

As a result of the prolonged off-season, a major concern for the program is the team’s inexperience. Limited contact this summer has furthered the problem with out-of-season rules prohibiting coaching and practices at the facility.

Unfortunately, this means a number of the team’s current sophomores still have no rowing experience whatsoever. Hoopman said targeting this problem is the biggest priority for UW men’s rowing.

“If we can control having practice and getting the guys some experience, that’s what we wanna do. We’re not worried so much about not having a legit racing season at this point,” Hoopman said.

Identifying as a “development program,” Clark said he and his staff pride themselves on finding the team’s hidden gems. The program looks to build up experience and skills this fall while modifying practices to follow pandemicrelated guidelines.

The team begins practices this week, focusing on running as well as developing rowing skills in single and pair boats at remote rowing sites. Every rower also gets tested for the virus weekly. Despite having to rework fall plans, Clark said the team looks as promising as ever.

“The makeup of the people we have is starting to resemble what we had in years’ past when we were pretty good,” Clark said.

The coaching staff has also altered their techniques with recruiting potential walk-ons at UW. In past summers, team representatives have visited Union South during student orientation to speak with incoming freshmen. This method has proved successful for maintaining the program’s impressive participation, as walk-ons make up well over two-thirds of incoming numbers every year.

The team has now shifted to online resources as a way of contacting participants. This summer, men’s rowing sent an online questionnaire to all incoming freshmen via email to spark potential interest. With freshmen having persevered through lots this year, Clark said he is encouraged by their resiliency and how it has translated to their level of interest in the program.

“I’ve already been really impressed with how many are excited about rowing,” Clark said.

The program has also taken time to analyze the postponement’s effect on finances. At least half of the budget is not being spent this year due to lack of need for travel and equipment. In regard to funding the team, Coach Clark said he hopes UW Athletics can develop a system similar to many of his team’s opponents.

“The Ivy Leagues, which are a lot of our competitors, have endowments that pay for their entire programs,” Clark said. “I think that’s a great way to go, and we should be moving in that direction.”

Despite the drastic changes thrust upon men’s rowing this fall, Clark said he is ultimately supportive of the Big Ten’s decision.

“The Big Ten did exactly what they needed to do. They had all the information, and I’m part of that team, so I support it 100%,” Clark said. “There’s no other option.”

Coach Hoopman said he also agrees with there not being a season right now.

“From our perspective, it’s viable not to do it. We don’t need to put anybody’s life at risk to watch a game,” Hoopman said.

Clark said he is also impressed with how UW Athletics has navigated this situation.

“I’m proud of not just our guys but the entire athletics department. Believe me, I know from talking to other institutions how well and unbelievable Wisconsin Athletics has handled the entire thing,” Clark said.

The team looks to make the most of resources and time available in hopes for a regular spring season. In spite of the challenges being faced, Coach Clark said he is confident in the work being done by his program and realizes the impact this experience will have on his rowers.

“We’re communicating with the team a lot more and everybody seems to be motivated,” Clark said. “In the long run, these kids are gonna be really prepared for life.”

Photo · The UW men’s rowing team has been forced to overcome a series of challenges due to COVID-19 cancellations.

UW women’s volleyball team is optimistic after fall season cancellation Coach Kelly Sheffield, senior setter Sydney Hilley speak to makeup, mindset of 2020 Badger volleyball club following 2019 success

by Zach Lutz Sports Editor

In the face of complete chaos and uncertainty, perhaps no collegiate sports program is better equipped to handle the cancellation of a fall season quite like the University of Wisconsin volleyball team.

In 2019, Badger volleyball reached their second national championship under Head Coach Kelly Sheffield, and their third in the program’s 46-year run. Ultimately, the Badgers fell to Stanford in the final, but with a lot of returning talent and a core group of seniors, these women were poised to come back stronger than ever this fall.

In fact, according to way-too-early power rankings after the conclusion of the 2019 season, the Badgers were ranked No. 1 ahead of the 2020 campaign. While the official volleyball rankings never surfaced before this fall season was canceled, it was safe to assume the Badgers would be a team to beat — maybe the team to beat.

One might assume the cancellation of the fall season would mess with the mojo of such a touted team. While the sour taste of championship defeat may linger in the mouths of many returning players, the fire and the hunger brought on by that defeat could be exhausted during a long drought without play and a future full of unknowns as to when play could resume.

As it turns out, these assumptions couldn’t be more wrong. From the moment the decision was handed down by the Big Ten Conference, the Badger volleyball team was clear about how it would deal with the matter.

“We were expecting the decision,” Coach Sheffield said. “It just added clarity to move forward, and to do it together. We immediately called a meeting in the Field House, I saw a lot of head nods as I was telling them. And then a couple players spoke up and said, ‘Hey this doesn’t change anything, we still have great things to accomplish. Let’s stay together and stay positive.’ There was a lot of leadership and passion in the moment. We were ready to move forward right away.”

For All-American setter and UW senior Sydney Hilley, this is an opportunity to be optimistic and continue the desire to get better.

“Even though we were disappointed we didn’t get to play this fall, we can make up for missed practices from the spring now,” Hilley said. “We can train with each other and be that much more prepared for when the season does finally happen.”

The squad wasted no time taking this mentality into practice. The first practice following the decision to cancel the fall season was one of the most energetic and cutthroat he had ever been a part of, Coach Sheffield said.

“They just went at each other for two hours,” Coach Sheffield said. “They have motivation coming out of all their pores.”

That practice is by no means an exhaustion of pent up energy and frustration but a tangible spark which speaks to the makeup of the team moving forward during this time of limbo.

There is no question the 2020 Wisconsin volleyball team possesses immense talent and potential to achieve wonderful things on the court, but performance and talent are only a couple of the necessary ingredients. Hilley notes that their chemistry throughout the entire roster is proof of their willingness to persevere through this patch of uncertainty and that it’s never been stronger than right now.

“Our entire program has done a really good job,” Hilley said. “Our captains did a great job making sure we stayed in the loop. Our coaches have also been very involved. We had a book club meeting where we could just talk about things not related to pandemic or volleyball and a documentary club where we all got together. Also coaches would call to check-in. All of our teammates and coaches genuinely care about everyone, so we have been able to stay connected throughout this whole thing.”

Beyond the strengthening of team chemistry, Coach Sheffield’s players have picked up a mindset which could not have been born without the current circumstances.

“They bought into the concept of discipline yourselves so nobody else has to,” Coach Sheffield said. “In the world of COVID, you have to discipline yourself if your goal is to stay healthy and keep the people around you healthy. You have to lead a disciplined life, make disciplined choices. I’ve been really impressed by the lifestyle they have chosen to live. Living in the unknown can be really tough. I think they have flown with that really well. They have just been really mature.”

As Coach Sheffield’s team continues to move forward toward an uncertain future, he and his players remain disciplined and unfazed by these rare circumstances. These circumstances have only made them stronger. Whether it’s this winter, spring or next fall, we will see this unit ready to take the court at some point. We just aren’t sure anyone else in the country could possibly be ready for them.

Photo · Coming off an 2019 National Championship appearance, the Wisconsin women’s volleyball team is optimistic even during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jason Chan

The Badger Herald