COVID’s Impact on the Women’s Basketball Season

Media by Isiah Dortch.

COVID-19 has had an impact on many Fall 2020 sports, but that doesn’t stop the Greenville University Women’s Basketball team from trying to get better. Coach Mulholland and the coaching staff are making sure the team is taking precautions and following the restrictions to keep everyone safe. This includes wearing masks at all times when working out and breaking up into smaller groups to work out. The virus will affect a lot of things this season, including games and practices, but the team is willing to do anything it takes to have a season.

Media by GU Women’s Basketball.

Currently, the team is in preseason workouts, including lifting with Coach Broomfield on TeamBuildr, conditioning, and doing drills that require social distancing. Head Coach Roy Mulholland answered some questions about practices this year and how they will compare to last year’s practices. When reflecting on how this year’s practices will differ from last year’s, Coach Mulholland said, “There is definitely an impact on our preseason workouts. We are limited to the number of people we can have in the gym because we can’t have more than twelve in the gym. We have to practice social distancing and do everything with masks on. Scrimmaging will be tricky this year, but we will eventually get to a place where we can do that. However, we still can’t scrimmage for very long because we will have to keep people away from each other in terms of time. We will find out soon how the real practice is impacted, and then we will be able to make more adjustments from there.”

The next big topic in discussion is if they will have fewer games this season and if they will be able to play in championships this year. When asked about the season, Coach Mulholland answered, “We will find out in the middle of September when we will be able to play, but if I had to guess, we will start playing games the first of the year and mostly a conference only schedule. I also think there’s a good chance we will have a conference championship and an NCAA championship.”

With a lot of seasons being pushed back, there is a good chance of burnout in athletes. When keeping burnout in mind Coach Mulholland said, “Burnout is definitely something we have to pay attention to. If we don’t play ’til the first of the year, we will probably ramp up a little slower. Most of our returning athletes are used to the year-long process though. Some days we will have to go hard, but there are days we will do inner squad scrimmages. That’ll be the key for the coaching staff to find ways to prevent burnout and keep our players fresh by the time our season comes.”

There are a lot of precautions the women’s basketball team will have to take, but they are willing to do it to have a season. Some of these precautions are taking temperatures, wearing masks, and splitting into groups to work out. The coaching staff are prepared as well and are ready to take on this season. The team has worked hard all summer and is ready to get back on the court.

Media by GU Women’s Basketball.

Media by Isiah Dortch.

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