The women's basketball team is one of 31 Bates varsity sports sticking together and remaining strong during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Zoom screenshot courtesy of
Christina Marquette)
So much has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some things remain the same.
"We may be miles apart, but we still accomplish things together," says Emma Vieten '22, a Bates rower from Franklin, Mass.
Since the abrupt end to their sports seasons last month, Bates coaches quickly guided their student-athletes from practices on the turf, workouts in the weight room, and races on the track to virtual locker rooms, team meetings on Zoom and zoom-yoga classes.
"It is in these moments that I am reminded of the important elements of what we do as coaches," shared head coach of men's and women's tennis Paul Gastonguay '89. "Our athletes are getting very creative about finding ways to keep the team 'together' and helping with that is the most important coaching job I have right now."
Through a little bit of technology and a great deal of creativity, Bates teams have remained connected since leaving campus. The Bobcats have hosted team dinners via Zoom and have moved book clubs online.
Coaches are using this time to connect virtually with alumni, and have turned Google docs into discussion boards for team communication and comic relief. Birthday parties, mindfulness check-ins, team- and one-on-one meetings have all been moved to computer and phone screens.
Teams are developed through hard work, sacrifice and dedication in their sport, but bonds are formed in the small moments before and after a practice, during dinner on a road trip, on the bus, or at a hotel before a contest. In an effort to preserve these moments, the tennis teams recently held a team dinner over Zoom.
"Most of these important moments were taken away from every spring athlete this year," says Gastonguay. "My goal with the virtual connections with our teams has been to attempt to recreate some of those invaluable moments."
The rowing teams have embraced this time to work on elements of their training that they seem to never have enough time for during regular spring seasons – flexibility and mindfulness. Twice a week a Zoomga —Zoom yoga session — is led by the assistant coaches. In addition, remote office hours are also held via video conferencing.
"The virtual yoga and the coaches' virtual office hours makes the distance between our homes and Bates much smaller than it really is," says Robert "Sobie" Sobolewski '22, a rower from Oakton, Va.
The rowers have also held virtual lunches — dubbed "Zommons" — to try to replace those "endless Commons lingers," Sobolewski adds, "as well as video sessions each Saturday evening to recap our week of training away from Bates and our competition."
The Bates men's tennis team holds a meeting on Zoom. (Zoom screenshot courtesy of
Paul Gastonguay '89)
Each afternoon, head softball coach McKell Barnes offers her players a virtual locker room via Zoom, an idea sparked up during a webinar with fellow coaches across the country brainstorming how to keep their teams connected.
The virtual locker room gives Barnes' student-athletes the ability to pop in to talk, listen to music together, work on some homework — the little things they would do together in the locker room in Alumni Gym before heading out to practice.
"Having the ability to talk with one another and to support each other through this hard time is very important," says Janell Sato '22 of Honolulu, Hawaii. "It is nice being able to log into Zoom and see everyone's faces."
Like educators everywhere, the Bates coaches are, in many ways, focusing less on the X's and O's of their sports and more on their athletes' welfare.
"Our first priority is to stay connected about everyone's well-being, and to provide a space where people can share laughs, frustrations, anxieties, and fears," says women's basketball head coach Alison Montgomery.
Absent the usual goals that focus athletes — games and contests — Montgomery also wants to maintain a sense of purpose around what brings us together as a team.
She and her players are discussing a series of videos entitled "What Drives Winning" to reflect on team achievements, struggles and failures. Montgomery has also encouraged her team to keep a private journal and has shared prompts for them to work from. She hopes this is a way to help her student-athletes process their thoughts and concerns.
"The virtual meeting platforms have been central to keeping some sense of normalcy and schedule in such an unprecedented time," said Taylor McVeigh '21 of Hanson, Mass.
The Bates women's track and field team keeps a big roster of 47 student-athletes together despite being apart. (Zoom screenshot courtesy of Jay Hartshorn)
Head men's basketball coach Jon Furbush has incorporated hoops alumni into his team's virtual dynamic, including recent calls with alums from the 2014–15 team and 2004–05 team.
The calls helped his players gain perspective and, he hopes, confidence in their own futures by hearing from fellow Bobcats about their lives and careers after Bates.
"While it's easy to find negativity during these uncertain times, my approach is to bring everyone in the Bates basketball community even closer," said Furbush. "Connecting current student-athletes with former Bobcats is something I've always taken pride in, and now is a great opportunity to take it a step further."
Since last spring, head field hockey coach Dani Ryder Kogut has run a book club with any of her players who want to join. In the past, they'd gather in the Den after classes end on one Monday each month to talk about the latest title.
The team just finished reading "The Energy Bus" by Jon Gordon. Now held virtually, the book discussions "allowed us to stay connected, share ideas, and it is a platform for organic conversations to develop based on what matters most to us," says Kogut.
Fun matters, too. "Our captains get our team together once a week, to just have fun, chat, and dance — which is pretty typical of our 'Cats! Walk into our locker room at any random time and they are either playing Guitar Hero or dancing!"
