Covid and student athletes

Maura Hendrixson is a student athlete at Drexel University on the basketball team and here is how covid has affected her 2019-2020 season as a sophomore.

MH: “My basketball season got cut short as we were at our conference tournament in Elon, North Carolina. This was something we all worked toward all season which was uncontrollably taken away from us in a blink of an eye. We were at our conference tournament ready to play our first game as the 1st seed against UNCW who was the 9th seed. We waited all season for this weekend to showcase all of the hard work we put into the long 8 month season. With 2 minutes and 20 seconds left in warm ups, we were told by our head coach to go into the locker room. This was odd because we never go in the locker room 2 minutes before the game is about to start. We knew at this moment something was up and as we entered the locker room chaos erupts with everyone shouting out different thoughts. “Are we still going to play the game?” “What’s happening?” “Is our season over now?” Our coaches came into the locker room which felt like years later, but in reality about 5 minutes later. They proceeded to explain to us that the CAA decided to cancel our tournament and the good news was that since we were the 1st seed, we got the automatic bid to the NCAA which hasn’t happened for Drexel’s program since 2009. The good news only lasted a few hours because later that day the NCAA announced that their tournament was going to be canceled. Our season ended just like that. We played our last game as a team a week before this on Senior Night and we didn’t know at the time that that was really our last game all together. Since this has all happened, I have gone from having a busy schedule to now making my own schedule and having to hold myself accountable.” For this blog post I also decided to interview two of my teammates and how they are trying their best to stay active during this pandemic.     

Viora Health: How do you feel mental health is being impacted? 

Keishana Washington: Second year Psychology student, Drexel University, Philadelphia. “Mental health is being impacted in many ways. We are very limited to the amount of social interaction we can have, and this is something that is necessary for many people. We are in a time of isolation, where we are unable to do the things we love. This situation can make people very anxious, lead to substance abuse, depression, and many other mental health issues. Checking in on friends and family is a great way to brighten someone’s day, because you never know who can be seriously struggling, while going through this.” 

VH: Do you feel this challenging time is allowing you to connect more with yourself? 

KW: “Although this is a challenging time, everyone is going through it together. There is always a positive in a negative situation. For me, that positive is being able to learn more about myself. Being able to sit down and have conversations with myself about what I want, what I enjoy, and a deeper understanding of who I am.”

Viora Health: How have you been keeping active while being at home?

Brianne Borcky: First year Business student, Drexel University, Philadelphia. “I’m training by getting outside as much as possible and running, walking, jump roping, and doing my own body weight/ hiit workouts.” 

VH: Has your mental health been impacted? 

BB: “My mental health hasn’t been impacted much, sometimes I feel anxious since I’m not as busy as I was during school and want to do more than we can during quarantine.”