Best of: Athletes grateful for chance to participate in shortened seasons

Despite sports such as women’s water polo and women’s lacrosse having condensed seasons affected by pandemic guidelines, players were still thankful they were able to face competition looking back. Panther Archives

Against long odds, sports finally made a comeback in the spring semester. Amid shortened seasons, altered timelines and travel restrictions, participating athletes made the most of their circumstances in a unique year that they won’t soon forget. 

“It was a great season, regardless of the fact that we only played two conference games,” said Corinn Valeri, a sophomore midfielder on the women’s lacrosse team.

Senior Aisling Roberts similarly felt that just being able to move forward with the season and compete was rewarding.

“We raised (up) to all the challenges and overcame a lot in a short season,” Roberts said. “The chance and opportunity for us to even be on the field was enough in itself, so I think we rallied enough and everyone had a great season and a lot of fun.”

It wasn’t just the women’s lacrosse team that was forced into a condensed season. At the start of the year, freshman Leighanne Estabrook and the women’s water polo team faced a mere five-game slate. With the addition of the University of La Verne to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) at the end of the season, water polo saw two more games added to its schedule.

Those additions may have not even mattered to Estabrook, who simply enjoyed connecting with her new teammates.

“Every day being in the pool was a win for us to begin with, given the circumstances of the pandemic,” Estabrook said. “It was a great season, although we didn’t get the stats we wanted. We learned a lot and we got to build really great relationships that a lot of other teams in our league didn’t.”

Many senior athletes, like Diana Khaled Hattar, a utility player on women’s water polo, weren’t able to finish their careers with a full season. Hattar said she still walked away feeling fulfilled.  

“Going into it, I was disappointed (with) the aspect of not having a full season with 30-something games,” she said. “But with the games that we had and everything being back-to-back … it still met my expectations.”

On the other end of the spectrum, a shortened schedule also posed difficulties for freshmen like Estabrook both in and out of the pool. With no earlier experience at Chapman, this academic year has been a whirlwind of computer screens, online classes and distanced interactions.

“The only Chapman that I know is with COVID,” Estabrook said. “I haven’t been going to in-person classes. All I know is face masks.”

However, athletics became a bright light in the fogginess of her freshman year — a similar positive effect for other student athletes as well.

“Being able to get exposure from girls who know the true Chapman experience who have been here previous years, it’s been really great to learn from them and see what Chapman is like through their eyes,” Estabrook said.

Even with vaccines available and an official in-person return to campus for the fall 2021 semester, Sports Information Director Steven Olveda said that a full return to normal is still uncertain for athletics.

“I don’t know if (any COVID-19 protocols) are going to remain permanent or not,” Olveda said. “As the pandemic evolves, so will our practices and our policies.”

Estabrook has a positive outlook, feeling that there will be less bumps in the road come her next water polo season. 

“I’m really optimistic, considering roughly 80% of our team has already received full doses of the vaccine and (COVID-19 cases) are going down,” Estabrook said. “Hopefully by then in the fall, everyone will be adhering to the guidelines and things will start to open up.”