Every Chapman athlete has a different story – a story of pandemic-induced athletic heartbreak.

Maybe it’s the joy of getting back into a freshly polished gym after an eight month hiatus, just for practice to be shut down two days later. Maybe it’s a freshman, trying to learn the ins and outs of a college sport by meeting their teammates through Zoom while navigating through the maze of the college experience. Maybe it’s a senior whose final game came last fall, without them even knowing it. 

Every athlete has a story like this, a story of being impacted by the prolonged shutdown of Chapman sports back in March due to the coronavirus. That chapter isn’t closed; they’re being further affected after the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SCIAC) canceled competition for fall and winter sports through the 2020-2021 academic year. Here are some of their reactions. 

In the gym and back out again

Chapman’s women’s volleyball team, along with the men’s and women’s basketball teams, were the first squads to get a taste of indoor practices Nov. 10. But soon after, the university canceled in-person classes, thus ending their short stint indoors at the Harold Hutton Sports Center.

“We got two practices in the gym,” said Sophie Srivastava, a junior hitter on the women’s volleyball team. “Not everyone could make it, and they were all excited to come in, but it ended up getting shut down after that … It was devastating.”

Despite the SCIAC announcement, this may not be the last time teams work out together. Programs still have the option to complete their allotted 114 days of practice, per NCAA guidelines.

In the meantime, she and the rest of the team are coming up with new ways to stay connected through yet another stay-at-home order in California. 

“We’re organizing a ‘Secret Santa’ gift exchange for the holidays,” Srivastava said. “We’ve never done a Christmas related gift exchange, but it’ll be especially good in our current situation.”

A COVID-19 college experience

When Noah Baird, a freshman on the men’s water polo team, first enrolled at Chapman, he was looking forward to forming bonds with his new teammates and making friends along the way. Instead, he’s been marooned on a remote island.

“I just kind of go to class online,” Baird said. “I haven’t really been doing anything (to integrate myself into campus).”

Baird said while he has been attending his classes via Zoom and the occasional water polo practice, he feels alone in the first year of his college experience – and this recent development doesn’t help. 

“It’s a lot harder to meet new people, your teammates, have friends and get used to the college life on your own,” Baird said. 

The last dance

For Larissa Wu and the other three seniors on the women’s basketball team, they not only found out that their season of competition would be ending before it began, but their careers might be finished as well. 

“(Head coach Carol Jue) already said she wants to have practice to prepare for next year,” Wu said. “The seniors, we haven’t decided if we will attend those practices … We have to get ready for the real world and finding jobs.”

Wu believes they are all considering coming back to play next season, given they’d retain an extra year of eligibility. For Wu, however, that would require jumping through some academic hoops. 

“The NCAA requires you to have 12 credits and be taking classes for your major, and I’m going to be done with my major by the time spring semester ends,” Wu said. “I’m going to sit down with my parents and decide if I want to change my minor to a major and come back for my last season.”