AdZU’s Varsity Athletes: Active 1y ago

AdZU’s Varsity Athletes: Active 1y ago

by James Hamoy

In what seems to be the longest off-season for student-athletes, have any of you given thought as to what our well-coordinated classmates have been up to these days? Anyone who’s ever come into contact with a student-athlete knows that varsity players spend a hefty amount of time in school. In addition to a full day of mental exertion, athletes stick around for four to five more hours to engage in rigorous training. A regular school day usually ends at 10:00 pm for student-athletes, clocking in at about 14 hours of being in an upright position and miraculously doing the same thing over again the next day. It’s safe to assume that by now everyone has a general understanding of what a typical day in the life of a varsity athlete looks like. The word “hell” comes to mind. But at this point, you might be wondering: what did it feel like for our more able-bodied friends to have gone from an active lifestyle to being a couch potato like the rest of us for the past year? For incoming BS Accountancy senior and varsity volleyball player, Genevieve Chua, it’s been one hell of a dry spell. In what appeared to be a seemingly short and very welcome suspension of classes, Genevieve hadn’t been able to so much as touch a volleyball for nearly a month. When it became apparent that COVID-19 had only begun rearing its ugly head, Chua finally took matters into her own hands in January of this year. She has made a habit of inviting friends from different teams over and hosting (socially distanced) games at her home volleyball court. Before then, AdZU’s very own star “setter” hadn’t seen any action since the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) Regional Games in December 2019. Before Miss ‘Rona hit the catwalk, the school’s women’s varsity teams had been gearing up for the Mindanao Peace Games (MPG) which typically takes place in October. Unfortunately, the 2020 MPG never got to see the light of day. A fate shared by the Jesuit Athletic Meet, a sports competition among Jesuit schools that only happens every two years. And let’s not forget about the humble yet surprisingly competitive local meets. It seems that for Genevieve Chua, these days volleyball has become less of a competitive sport and more of a recreational activity. In their weekly volleyball games, Chua and her high-leaping, ball-spiking friends have so far forgone the training and get right to the first serve. To the untrained eye, it sounds like a good deal. There’s no question that our female athlete relishes the fact of not having to undergo the daily physical strain of a four-hour training session but Chua finds that there is something amiss and that the quality of their games is largely affected without it. Things are NOT looking up, not in this country anyway but Chua is looking forward to the prospect of being able to travel once again for major sporting events and to being back in training. Many of us believe that student-athletes stay in shape because of their training, which Genevieve has come to replace with a semi-regular cardio workout with a modest yoga mat as her only equipment. But what kept her physically and mentally strong this past however long it has been-was playing volleyball. This is a sentiment that is certainly common to all varsity athletes, regardless of the sport they play. It follows then that you can take the student out of the school but you can’t keep the athlete off the court.