With COVID-19 continuing to spread, there are still restrictions for sports teams when it comes to practicing together. As other teams on campus have started practice earlier this school year, there has been a successful push for following the social distancing guidelines for the teams. The EMU Royals men’s basketball team is continuing with the start of their season. This is a season like no other, and it takes time for sports teams to get adjusted to the new practice formats that they have to follow to meet the safety and social distancing requirements.
Unlike the spring sports teams on campus, the basketball team got to finish their season last year. They are now off to a fresh start with a new team. Senior guard Tim Jones said that with all of this going on, “it is an absolute privilege to be back on the court and back with the guys. I am not taking this for granted.” With all the social distancing guidelines it is hard to get a team all together for practice. The basketball team has their own format, so certain groups can still be around each other. “When practice first started we had to practice in groups of four to six people. Now, we are practicing in two groups of ten. We have been focusing on skill-development and cardio. I have been enjoying practice for the simple fact of being able to play the game, but I would enjoy it more if the entire group was together,” said Jones.
Senior guard Mike Williams is also enjoying practicing in these groups. “I think that everyone has adjusted to the practices pretty well; the hardest part is breathing through the mask and trying to keep it up for the whole practice,” said Williams. His focus in practice right now is to “just get better, get in game shape, and make more shots in practice each day.”
For junior forward Kobi Alexander, getting back on the court with all his teammates is what he wants to do the most. “It is hard not seeing all my teammates at once, but Coach is doing a good job of splitting us up into certain rotations that he can use in games. This allows us to still strengthen our chemistry,” said Alexander. Alexander said what he is most looking forward to this season is “getting to compete for the ODAC championship.”
With the season still a few months away, the running Royals are going to continue to work hard in practice and continue to reach their goal.
