By Mia Hildebrandt
For most sports teams, March and April are crucial months for recruiting, working on off-season projects and building chemistry within a team. Despite all the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought this off-season, the Ooks women’s basketball team is still going full steam ahead–with just a few changes.
Women’s basketball head coach Todd Warnick says they’re trying to do everything a normal off season would include, but virtually.
“Our off-season training and preparation is also impacted as we move to Zoom calls for team meetings to try to build some semblance of team chemistry,” he said. “As coaches, we design at-home workouts and driveway skill development sessions to try to continue our athlete development.”
Warnick said that most of his recruiting was completed before the pandemic and that a few prospects are still in communication via Zoom or Skype. With high school provincials and club seasons being cancelled, they have heavily relied on digital means to watch recruits because games are not being played for coaches to attend.
“One of the biggest challenges is how it has affected the way in which we physically prepare for the upcoming season.
Off-season is a great time to work on anything a player feels requires improvements to better themselves,” said women’s basketball player Carly McHarg.
With at-home workouts and modified drills, Warnick is making sure his players are staying in shape.
“I think making sure that we are physically ready to step onto the court whenever we are able to is going to be very important,” said McHarg.
“Typically, the team has summer training camps to grow team chemistry and work on skills, but now they are relying on technology and the limited access they have to equipment at home to stay in shape.”
Although this off-season has looked significantly different than past seasons the team is optimistic that their preparation at home will lead to another great season for the Ooks.
