Annamarie Alvarez made her way into the van, found a seat toward the back, and prepared for a landmark voyage. It was around noon on March 31 and the University of the Incarnate Word volleyball team was bound for the Southland Conference tournament.

The Cardinals were brimming with momentum and confidence, having won three straight matches and four of their last five during a late-season surge that earned them a postseason berth for the first time since making the jump to NCAA Division I in 2013. The team became eligible to advance to the postseason in 2017, after a four-year transition period.

“We definitely went into the tournament super-excited,” said Alvarez, a freshman middle blocker/outside hitter. “We were coming together more as a team and we were kind of finding our flow. We thought we could make a pretty big impact.”

But roughly an hour into a two-hour drive to Corpus Christi, where the tournament was held, UIW coach Samantha Dabbs Thomas’ cellphone rang. A sense that something was wrong was palpable. A few moments later, the van stopped.

Thomas announced to her players that tests confirmed there were positive COVID-19 cases within the team. The first-round match the next day vs. Houston Baptist was off. A history-making season was over. The van turned around and headed back to San Antonio.

“A lot of us were crying,” said Alvarez, who two days after the cancellation became ill, lost her sense of taste and smell, and was diagnosed with having the virus. “It was pretty heartbreaking. We had done really well throughout our season just being safe and staying away from others. We weren’t going to put our season in jeopardy like that, and somebody just ended up testing positive. We still don’t really know how that happened.”

Incarnate Word’s tale was one that professional, collegiate and high school teams and leagues have been forced to deal with since March 2020, when a coronavirus pandemic made its way from China, to Europe, and then to the United States. More than 600,000 have died and more than 33.5 million have been infected with COVID in the U.S., according to John Hopkins University.

The NCAA canceled its popular men’s and women’s basketball tournaments 15 months ago, as well as baseball, softball, track and field, tennis, golf and beach volleyball championships over concerns about the contagious and deadly novel virus. NCAA Division II and Division III didn’t have a postseason this year in some sports.

In the professional ranks, the National Basketball Association, Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and National Women’s Soccer League halted their campaigns — some for months — before resuming play in “bubble-like” environments, where coaches, staffs and players were confined to a location and underwent protocols such as wearing masks, social distancing and testing. The 2020 Olympics, slated to be held in Japan, got pushed back until this summer and still faces opposition over whether they should be held.

The University Interscholastic League and Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, who oversee extracurricular activities in Texas for public and private schools, respectively, were thrust into making a similar decision. On March 12, after Cole defeated Peaster 58-44 in a Class 3A state semifinal boys basketball game at the Alamodome, the UIL suspended the rest of the tournament. A day later, the organization also suspended soccer, softball, baseball, track and field, tennis and golf. TAPPS followed suit.

“After much consultation with government and health officials, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the remainder of the UIL state basketball tournament,” UIL Executive Director Dr. Charles Breithaupt said in a statement at the time. “Our No. 1 priority remains the well-being of our student-athletes and spectators and we are taking every possible precaution to keep them safe.”

On April 17, after extending the suspension a few times, and after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered all schools closed to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year, the rest of the boys state basketball tournament and all spring sports championships were canceled. It was an unprecedented move.

“I think we were stunned and shocked that the UIL would cancel games,” said former Comal ISD athletic director Liana Tyler, who recently retired after four years leading the department. “At the beginning, I thought it would just last a few weeks. However, when they canceled the spring sports, my mindset went into supporting our coaches who had to let those seniors know they would not play or compete again. It was a very difficult time for our spring sports’ coaches and we wanted to be there to help them in any way we could. We were not thinking long-term at that time, we were surviving day to day, trying to really get a feel for ‘what is happening?’ “

As the pandemic’s impact stretched into the summer, the most pressing question surrounding sports in Texas was whether seasons would even be played in the fall, most notably football. And if so, how would they be contested without putting participants and spectators in danger with the uncertainty of COVID-19.

Texas declared a public health disaster for the first time since 1901. Health and safety protocols caused some districts to delay or implement strict guidelines for holding such things as summer workouts, including forbidding athletes from even going into locker rooms. The club season, lifeblood for college coaches to recruit and athletes to be seen in such sports as volleyball, basketball and soccer, wasn’t played.

Athletes were left to work out on their own, some building contraptions at home that allowed them to keep skills sharp as they awaited word on when — or if — they could gather with teammates and prepare for an upcoming season.

“We were all struggling with isolation and being quarantined, so it was just really important for us to keep in touch and making sure everyone was staying safe and staying in a good mindset,” said Tulsa volleyball player Callie Cook, a senior middle blocker from Alamo Heights who graduated this spring but plans to return in the fall to take advantage of an extra season of eligibility granted by the NCAA because of COVID. “It was definitely difficult being away from each other for so long.”

Meanwhile, athletic officials across the area were busy putting together plans on everything from determining crowd capacity, broadcasting games to those unable to attend, and what to do in case events had to be postponed or rescheduled.

“We spent a lot of time preparing for the unknown,” Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD athletic director Scott Lehnhoff said. “Trainers and coaches made adjustments that I never dreamt we would ever have to do or be able to do. Much of the summer was spent developing and monitoring the processes we put in place to ensure kids had those opportunities and sessions were conducted safely. My total focus and our staff’s total focus were being prepared to do whatever was necessary to allow kids to have the opportunity to compete in the fall, and to do it safely.”

But even the best-laid plans don’t always go off without a hitch.

A case study

On June 22, 2020, Ashley Walters was in Viera, Fla., to take part in what has become an overlooked but pivotal moment in sports’ co-existence with COVID-19. A Center Point High School graduate, Walters was a catcher for the Conroe, Texas-based Scrap Yard Dawgs, who were scheduled to play USSSA Pride in a showdown of not only the world’s top two professional fastpitch softball teams, but in the first team sports competition since the pandemic brought everything in the U.S. to a halt.

Scrap Yard had a star-studded roster that featured 11 players who earned spots on the U.S. squad scheduled to compete at the Olympics this summer in Japan, including legendary pitchers Cat Osterman and Monica Abbott.

But with players arriving from different parts of the country, and with states having varying COVID guidelines, and with Florida having a relaxed policy, there was trepidation. The players stayed in condos and could literally walk out their front doors to lie out at the beach after practice or before games. People wearing masks were rare, Walters said.

“That was kind of one of the reasons why some of the girls were a little bit concerned,” said Walters, who played at Texas A&M and finished her career No. 1 in doubles (50), sixth in RBIs (160), ninth in putouts (1,131) and 10th in games played (238) and walks (95). “Nobody wanted to be the first team to go out there and screw it up. It was interesting to not see any precautions taken, I guess. But what do you do? Nobody’s been in this situation, so being the first one to open up, it should’ve been handled a little more carefully.”

The team’s tenure in Florida went downhill from the start — and it had little to do with what was happening on the field. In the first game of a scheduled seven-game series, the Scrap Yard Twitter account posted a photo of the players standing for the national anthem with the statement: “Hey @realDonaldTrump Pro Fastpitch being played live @usssaspacecoast @USSSAPride Everyone respecting the FLAG!” The tweet was believed to have been written by the team’s general manager.

Scrap Yard players learned about the tweet after returning to their locker room after the game and would quit en masse. The players started their own team and rebranded as “This Is Us,” with a focus on bringing awareness to racial injustice.

The series with USSSA Pride resumed shortly thereafter, but the season came to an abrupt end on July 8 because of possible COVID-19 exposure. According to Walters, a friend of a USSSA Pride player tested positive for the virus and was around players on both teams. All players were tested and the results came back negative, Walters said.

“I don’t think it was people didn’t know how bad it was, but it was different opinions of the virus,” Walters said. “That shouldn’t really matter, because you’re taking care of a team. If someone on the team gets COVID, we’re done. We just all had to be adults and be mature enough. If we go out in public, wear a mask. Use hand sanitizer. Wipe down your stuff.”

COVID-related cancellations weren’t confined to the professional ranks, though. On the local front, Harlan couldn’t play its Class 6A Division I bidistrict football contest vs. Laredo United South because of confirmed cases or potential exposure. Harlandale and Judson ISD’s Veterans Memorial forfeited district contests, while the North East ISD stopped basketball games and practices for its teams in mid-December because of COVID cases. Play resumed in early January. Other schools escaped having to use similar measures.

With things in a fluid situation, teams had to adapt on the fly, and even turned to playing doubleheaders to make up for missed games. For example, South San played a District 27-6A volleyball match at Smithson Valley at 1 p.m. on Oct. 24, then traveled back to its campus and played Judson at 5 p.m. On Nov. 10, South San played a doubleheader vs. New Braunfels, with the first match starting at 5 p.m. and the second at approximately 7 p.m.

“It was fast and furious, as we were playing three or four matches a week,” said New Braunfels volleyball coach Heather Sledge, whose program had to quarantine for 14 days after a positive case. “I think the girls came back, however, more ready than before. They were hungry and dying to be back on the court. When games are postponed, and you have something like that taken from you, it puts it into perspective and really makes you focus in more. Overall, we tried to stay to our normal routine as much as possible.”

A new normal

The UCLA women’s soccer team arrived in Cary, N.C, on April 28, site of the NCAA Division I tournament, as one of the top contenders to win the national championship. The Bruins headed to their hotel soon after their coast-to-coast flight landed. They rarely ventured outside, spending the next couple of weeks insulated in a “bubble.”

The team’s days were long and scripted, starting with breakfast, followed by getting on a bus for a 10-minute drive to undergo COVID-19 testing every other day, returning to the hotel, leaving for training, returning to the hotel, eating lunch, attending online classes and doing school work, having dinner, attending meetings, and then going to bed.

The process was a step up from what the team experienced during the regular season in Los Angeles. Players began each day by filling out a symptom survey, indicating whether they had a cold, a sore throat, a cough or headache. If they were cleared on that step, they had their temperature checked. They next were given a wristband to show they had cleared the protocols and were allowed to enter the weight room, where they had to wear a mask during workouts. Masks weren’t required during practices outdoor, but had to worn as soon as practice was over.

Positivity rates and hospitalizations were in the daily lexicon.

“UCLA made this experience the best they could for us,” said UCLA freshman midfielder Jillian Martinez, a Madison product. “I just stayed focused on working hard and doing everything I possibly could to stay healthy. I never really thought my experience was affected in a negative way. I knew my team was there for one goal, and that was to win a national championship. No matter what the circumstances were, we were going to make the best of it.”

Martinez didn’t mind the strict guidelines because they beat the alternative. A year ago, the pandemic ended her senior season at Madison a week shy of the start of the UIL playoffs. Martinez tallied 39 goals and helped the Mavericks claim their first district title in 20 years and playoff berth in 16 years.

The Pac-12 Conference postponed all fall sports until the spring because of coronavirus. UCLA (13-1-3) won the league crown and was the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins reached the third round before falling to Clemson 6-5 in penalty kicks after the teams played to a 1-1 draw in regulation and overtime.

“Despite all the adversity during the pandemic, I still had an amazing freshman year and enjoyed every minute of it,” Martinez said.

In finding fulfillment in sports, especially in the era of COVID, athletes and coaches often had to endure isolation and invasiveness.

Savannah Guzman, a volleyball player at the University of Texas-Tyler, a Division II school, recalled not being able to go home for the holidays because of protocols. A nursing major, she remembered not being able to go to the hospital as part of her course requirements as a precaution to a teammate testing positive.

“I don’t know if the word resentment is good, but I’m definitely a little jealous,” said Guzman, a junior libero from Antonian. “Just seeing we had all the rules, and you go on social media and you see all your friends who aren’t in volleyball going out, and you’re just at home watching it all through a phone, was definitely upsetting — and it still is upsetting to think about that. You didn’t sign up for it, but you did sign up for it.”

And yet, it didn’t make the experience any easier.

Marlyn Campa, a former MacArthur soccer standout now playing professionally for Pumas Femenil of Liga MX in Mexico, can attest to lengths taken to prevent the spread of COVID. She underwent an antibody test at the start of the season, submits to a nasal swab every 15 days, and has to wear a mask at all times when not outside at training.

Caroline Meuth knows this drill well, too. In early 2020, the Notre Dame volleyball player and Churchill graduate remembers watching television each morning one week and continually hearing about a virus in China. Meuth, a sophomore outside hitter, didn’t dwell too much into the daily news reports because, like so many others, it was hard to grasp something happening so far away.

A month later, though, Meuth took part in her first-ever Zoom call and learned along with her teammates that their spring break vacation was extended a week because of the virus. One week turned into three weeks, and the next thing Meuth knew, it was early June and she was finally able to return to school in South Bend, Ind.

Four weeks later, the team reported for camp. Things, though, were different. Players could only work out in small groups, had to wear masks at all times, underwent temperature checks anytime they entered a building, and filled out a survey each morning that detailed how they felt physically.

“I got tested so many times, I can’t even count,” said Meuth, who added she was tested three times a week in the fall when the Atlantic Coast Conference was one of three Power-5 conferences to play, and once a week in the spring. “You want to report truthfully on your report, but it’s winter, you’re going to get stuffy noses, you’re going to get coughs, you’re going to get sore throats, you’re going to have a cold. It did get frustrating. If you have a headache, you can’t come to practice. But you do understand that’s how it has to be.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1