Chapman student athletes got the best news they’d had in months Oct. 19, when they were finally allowed to return to in-person athletic activities. 

“It felt like a homecoming,” said Steven Olveda, Chapman’s sports information director. “People were excited to be out there and playing their sport, doing something athletic and competitive.”

It was a flash of normalcy, until four weeks later when it was ripped away. 

Orange County residents received news Nov. 16 that their county had been moved into the purple “substantial” tier of the COVID-19 county watchlist. The most restrictive level of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s four-tiered system, the purple tier only permits gyms and fitness centers to operate outdoors with modifications. 

Due to these safety regulations, Chapman University made the official decision to close its campus and shut down all athletic activity Nov. 17. 

“We kind of saw that move to purple coming back, but we didn’t really know exactly what that would mean for (sports),” Olveda said. “It wasn’t until (President Daniele Struppa) sent that email announcing that campus would close that we officially found out.”

Despite rising cases across the state, Chapman was able to keep athletes relatively safe during their returns to practice. According to Olveda, roughly 65% of Chapman athletes participated in the workouts hosted over the last five weeks. In that time, there have been no positive tests traced back to athletic activity, he said.

“When we do get the clear to open back up, we have the plan in place and we proved that it can be done safely,” Olveda said. “Due to this success, when we can reopen we will be able to jump right into that plan.”

Prior to the university’s shutdown, Chapman athletics had moved up to the second phase of its return to campus, in which players attending practices were divided into groups called “pods.” The gradual return to in-person practices was spearheaded by Pam Gibbons, Chapman’s director of Athletic Training and Sports Medicine.

While the shutdown may seem like a bump in the road to a spring season, Gibbons said programs always planned to stop in-person practices at the university’s Thanksgiving break and not restart them until the spring. She pointed to athletes’ ability to regulate COVID-19 cases as a positive sign looking forward.

“It was really beneficial to start the training processes about what is going to be new and different because of COVID-19 and to determine what new policies and procedures we are going to have in place,” Gibbons said.

Going forward, student-athletes like Brittany McPherson, a senior on the women’s basketball team, will return to virtual workouts with hopes that it is safe to play by the spring. 

“We will all still support and push each other to stay in shape and be ready, because we don’t know what the future holds, but we want to be ready if we get that opportunity to play,” McPherson said.