Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Women’s Soccer Team Training to Resume Tuesday
July 31, 2020 02:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There are so-called known unknowns and unknown unknowns, and what we're dealing with as a country right now has mostly involved the unknown unknowns.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caught everyone flat-footed and while some parts of the U.S. are beginning to get their bearings, other areas are still walking through the fog.
That's what veteran West Virginia University women's soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown is trying to navigate as she readies for her 25th season at WVU.
Her team is scheduled to assemble next Monday and resume team activities on Tuesday for a season unlike anything she's ever experienced before.
"It's been so bizarre because you don't know what is going to happen every day now," she said.
Her team's spring season was abruptly canceled last March as it was preparing for a spring-break match against the Carolina Courage in Raleigh, North Carolina.
That was the last time she's seen all of them in person.
Since then, it's been Zoom calls and text messages.
The freshmen arrived in town last Friday and are currently going through the self-quarantining process before taking their COVID tests. When they receive the all-clear they can begin team activities.
"Every week it's been something different and right now with this virus I feel bad for the kids because you have to be so patient because we're dealing with so many unknowns," Izzo-Brown explained. "We are going to have to go business as usual as much as we can and see where we're at."
The final schedule has been put on hold and Izzo-Brown is not sure when it will be announced. Once again, too many unknowns with some conferences announcing delays or postponements of their fall seasons.
Some conferences such as the SEC, where Izzo-Brown's daughter Sammie is a freshman member of the Auburn women's soccer team, have already had their athletes report to campus.
Others have delayed their return.
During normal years, the players would have been on campus, enrolled in summer school and taking part in voluntary workouts to keep in shape for the season. With that not possible, Izzo-Brown said she is going to have to proceed slowly once they start team activities.
"The last thing you want to do is hurt them," she admitted. "My biggest word is patience. I know some kids I will be more frustrated with than others."
In terms of training, Izzo-Brown said there will have to be some adjustments this fall.
"We're not training our goalkeepers all at once," Izzo-Brown said. "Instead of thinking backwards we're going to have to think forward, and it's just going to be a different type of training. We don't want to put them all in the same groups, but then again they all live together so you have to be mindful of their living arrangements because they are automatically going to have those contacts at home.
"We are going to have our girls in three pods and there can't be any crossover and if there is it has got to be 6 feet apart with a mask on."
She admits her biggest concern is what they do when they leave the soccer facility.
"It's scary when you're asking 18- to 21-year-olds to be cautious every day. The contact list can just wipe you out," she said, adding, "The contact list is not a witch hunt. I'm sure there is going to be some fibbing, and I'm going to have to make sure they are aware that this is about the health and wellness of everyone."
Izzo-Brown said she is still not ready to release her team's fall schedule because of the uncertainty of the non-conference portion of the slate.
That means the team will have to focus on self-improvement until a complete schedule materializes. The virus, still spreading in some parts of the country, has put everyone's long-term plans in a holding pattern.
"I hate the word new norm, but it is what it is," Izzo-Brown said. "It's scary because nobody really knows. We're asking a lot of these kids."
West Virginia currently has one senior, Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel, on a roster comprised mostly of sophomores and juniors.
Izzo-Brown said it is her hope that Ferrer-vanGinkel can experience an uninterrupted senior season in 2020.
"It's definitely going to be a part of our motivation to get back together as a team because soccer was taken away from us in the spring, but also to make it meaningful so Stefany can walk way saying COVID didn't take away her senior year," she said.
"There is going to be some internal motivation for her, but at the end of the day it's tough to be a senior and it's tough to be a freshman during this pandemic. We've got to kind of be smart once the season is defined of what it's going to look like.
"As coaches, no matter what sport, we just want to put our best foot forward and give these kids the best experience we possibly can this year," Izzo-Brown concluded.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caught everyone flat-footed and while some parts of the U.S. are beginning to get their bearings, other areas are still walking through the fog.
That's what veteran West Virginia University women's soccer coach Nikki Izzo-Brown is trying to navigate as she readies for her 25th season at WVU.
Her team is scheduled to assemble next Monday and resume team activities on Tuesday for a season unlike anything she's ever experienced before.
"It's been so bizarre because you don't know what is going to happen every day now," she said.
Her team's spring season was abruptly canceled last March as it was preparing for a spring-break match against the Carolina Courage in Raleigh, North Carolina.
That was the last time she's seen all of them in person.
Since then, it's been Zoom calls and text messages.
The freshmen arrived in town last Friday and are currently going through the self-quarantining process before taking their COVID tests. When they receive the all-clear they can begin team activities.
"Every week it's been something different and right now with this virus I feel bad for the kids because you have to be so patient because we're dealing with so many unknowns," Izzo-Brown explained. "We are going to have to go business as usual as much as we can and see where we're at."
The final schedule has been put on hold and Izzo-Brown is not sure when it will be announced. Once again, too many unknowns with some conferences announcing delays or postponements of their fall seasons.
Some conferences such as the SEC, where Izzo-Brown's daughter Sammie is a freshman member of the Auburn women's soccer team, have already had their athletes report to campus.
Others have delayed their return.
During normal years, the players would have been on campus, enrolled in summer school and taking part in voluntary workouts to keep in shape for the season. With that not possible, Izzo-Brown said she is going to have to proceed slowly once they start team activities.
"The last thing you want to do is hurt them," she admitted. "My biggest word is patience. I know some kids I will be more frustrated with than others."
In terms of training, Izzo-Brown said there will have to be some adjustments this fall.
"We're not training our goalkeepers all at once," Izzo-Brown said. "Instead of thinking backwards we're going to have to think forward, and it's just going to be a different type of training. We don't want to put them all in the same groups, but then again they all live together so you have to be mindful of their living arrangements because they are automatically going to have those contacts at home.
"We are going to have our girls in three pods and there can't be any crossover and if there is it has got to be 6 feet apart with a mask on."
She admits her biggest concern is what they do when they leave the soccer facility.
"It's scary when you're asking 18- to 21-year-olds to be cautious every day. The contact list can just wipe you out," she said, adding, "The contact list is not a witch hunt. I'm sure there is going to be some fibbing, and I'm going to have to make sure they are aware that this is about the health and wellness of everyone."
Izzo-Brown said she is still not ready to release her team's fall schedule because of the uncertainty of the non-conference portion of the slate.
That means the team will have to focus on self-improvement until a complete schedule materializes. The virus, still spreading in some parts of the country, has put everyone's long-term plans in a holding pattern.
"I hate the word new norm, but it is what it is," Izzo-Brown said. "It's scary because nobody really knows. We're asking a lot of these kids."
West Virginia currently has one senior, Stefany Ferrer-vanGinkel, on a roster comprised mostly of sophomores and juniors.Izzo-Brown said it is her hope that Ferrer-vanGinkel can experience an uninterrupted senior season in 2020.
"It's definitely going to be a part of our motivation to get back together as a team because soccer was taken away from us in the spring, but also to make it meaningful so Stefany can walk way saying COVID didn't take away her senior year," she said.
"There is going to be some internal motivation for her, but at the end of the day it's tough to be a senior and it's tough to be a freshman during this pandemic. We've got to kind of be smart once the season is defined of what it's going to look like.
"As coaches, no matter what sport, we just want to put our best foot forward and give these kids the best experience we possibly can this year," Izzo-Brown concluded.
Players Mentioned
MF
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