COVID-19 quarantine didn’t stop these DFW high school athletes from staying in shape
When Morgan Brown said goodbye to her teammates on Friday, March 13, she didn’t know that it was the last time she would see them this school year.
Brown, a rising senior who plays softball and runs track at Aledo, was at her first track meet of the season.
Her softball teammates were in the stands.
“The entire team came to watch and that was really cool,” Brown said. “After the meet, I told them goodbye, love you guys and see you Monday.”
But that didn’t happen.
The novel coronavirus quickly became a global pandemic and the University Interscholastic League suspended all activities in the middle of March, including games and practices.
Holding out hope for as long as possible, the UIL finally canceled the spring season on April 17.
Students didn’t return to school and gyms closed.
So how did athletes work out?
Brown worked on hitting and catching every day and did cardio, which included running, kick boxing and jump roping, every other day. She even had workouts with her select team via Zoom.
“It’s definitely a lot more difficult because normally throughout the day at school, I’d look forward to seventh period and see my teammates and we’d practice or play a game,” she said. “Once this all happened, you didn’t see them anymore, just by Zoom. There’s a lot of motivation at practice. Teammates push other.
“But now you have to self-discipline, get out of bed, eat right and work out on your own while continuing to balance out school and homework.”
Luckily, high school sports are slowly returning.
Teams started strength and conditioning on Monday.
But it won’t include the students from the Class of 2020, who lost the last few months of high school.
“Losing the last part of my senior year has really got to me because the things all seniors before us got we didn’t,” said Keller’s Richard Silva, who will graduate later this month. “We wanted to go to prom, but the circumstances that we’re in prevents that.
“Some seniors didn’t even get to finish their senior season. It’s just a sad case.”
Working Out In Quarantine
Texas continues to reopen, but during the last three months, gyms and pools were closed.
Hunter McKenzie is an all-regional swimmer at Arlington Martin.
Unfortunately, with no access to two of his main sources, the rising senior had to find other options.
“Without the pool, it’s kind of hard to call yourself a swimmer,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie, who swims in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle, finished second in district and sixth in regionals. He’s also on the relay team. His season wasn’t affected by COVID-19, having finished in February.
He has a pool at home, but it’s not big enough to do laps.
“I do a lot of land workouts and weight training to get ready for next season,” McKenzie said. “My pool isn’t long enough to get a good exercise, but I’ll go in there and practice my kicks and push-offs.”
Silva, who will continue his football career at Southwestern Oklahoma State, has been training with Barrin Simpson, who is an assistant at Chisholm Trail.
Simpson starred at Mississippi State before playing 11 seasons in the Canadian Football League. He will be inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame this year.
“The most challenging thing was trying to find a place to stay in shape. You can run and condition, but lifting and keeping that muscle tone was the hardest thing with the gyms closed,” Silva said. “Coach Simpson and I would find a field or track and go to work.”
Unique About You
Brown has begun practices with her select team again, and tournament games are even starting back up, but while in quarantine, in addition to homework and exercising, she had another responsibility.
She babysat for a family friend — a second- and fourth-grader.
“I’d wake up around 6 and head over to babysit from 7-3. I would help them with any of their homework while doing my own. I’d keep them active. The little boy plays baseball so we’ll throw the ball around and his sister is into softball so we’ll do catching lessons.”
Both parents are in the medical field and work every day.
“They called me up one day and asked. I’m helping a friend. Everyone needs help these days,” Brown said.
“I just try to keep their spirits up and help get their mind off this. They didn’t really understand the 6 feet apart early on. They’re so young that they didn’t really grasp the whole situation. Their childhood has been altered so we just live the most normal day possible.”
McKenzie has only been swimming since freshman year, but instantly fell in love with it.
“I love the water. When I was little, I’d always go to the beach,” he said.
His diet quickly became a swimmer’s diet.
“During the season I’d eat 4-5,000 calories a day. Get a 1,500-calorie shake in the morning, have two good meals with a good amount of meat and load up on carbs,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie’s calorie intake is more than twice of an average person.
“It’s your responsibility to be committed and work out, stay fit and push yourself,” he said.
For Silva, COVID has heightened his awareness.
His family suffers from asthma.
“Coronavirus has affected my family in many ways. Everyone is aware this virus is very harmful, especially to people with asthma,” Silva said. “We’ve been in the house for the most part. My mom also has high blood pressure so we wanted her to be in the house at all times and only go out when she needs to.
“My mother is all I got. My sisters and I want her safe.”
Perspective
COVID-19 has changed the world and Silva won’t have a normal end to his high school experience.
Some of Brown’s teammates didn’t get a senior night and Aledo won’t know how far it could’ve gone.
“I miss my friends, coaches and teachers every day,” Silva said.
“I would say go to every extracurricular activity at your school, whether it’s a sporting event, homecoming or prom. Do everything you possibly can because senior year goes by fast. You never know when your year can be taken in the blink of an eye like mine.”
Brown’s older brother lost his sophomore track season at Air Force.
“I have realized how much I take for granted. There are days I’ll be at practice and I don’t feel my best. Now I’m going 110 percent every day because you never know if it’s the last time you step on the dirt with your teammates,” she said.
“It’s been an emotional roller coaster. It goes well past sports. There are kids who are getting abused at home, kids who come to school as their only source of food so this virus has affected a lot of people. In the midst of all this chaos, it’s much bigger than just losing out on your junior year of softball.”
This story was originally published June 8, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
