There was a beautiful, beautiful sight today in Hamden at the Quinnipiac Field Hockey Stadium on Hogan Road today.
The field hockey team was practicing.
After months of uncertainty, Quinnipiac sports teams are beginning to resume practice. The Quinnipiac women’s field hockey team, though they have already announced they will not be playing in fall 2020, held practice today.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the term “practice” isn’t quite what it used to be.
Instead of the entire team practicing together, the team is split into three smaller groups, called “pods”. Each pod practices at different times throughout the day. For example, today, pod one started off practice at 1:15 p.m., pod two came in towards the end to begin their practice, followed by pod three capping off the day at 5 p.m.
The players and coaches are spread out throughout the field, and are even required to wear face coverings throughout the entirety of practice. The size of the field seems to triple in size during these “pod” practices, as only a third of the team is present at a time. Other sports in different seasons such as the men’s basketball team have resumed as well, and head coach Baker Dunleavy addressed all the concerns in a press conference by Q30.
However, it is definitely a great sight just to see the athletes doing what they love again. With the future still in doubt, fall and winter athletic teams will still remain to practice with hopes of playing in the future.