The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference just held a meeting with 70 schools, athletic and governmental figures, and they reached a decision that it was too premature to cancel the spring sports season. Now, coaches have the tough task of having to prepare their teams while under quarantine. 

While this may be difficult for coaches and players, social media can be utilized to ensure players are prepared to be in season again. While practice is a lot about going out and physically doing something, it is not the only way to get better.

In sports such as lacrosse and rugby, there’s  more than just being an athlete to prepare for games. A lot of preparation goes into learning the plays, formations and game plans for certain opponents. 

I know that our lacrosse coach is posting YouTube videos that cover a lot of the basics of the game. Due to this extra effort, it will minimize the learning curve for our first official practice.  

Another thing that coaches can do to help reduce the change from staying at home to participating in full padded practices is posting online videos of different drills to do. The majority of the sports teams at Staples need some sort of footwork in order to succeed. Emails can be sent out with links to a number of drills in which their athletes should partake. 

Some sports such as lacrosse only need a wall or pitch back in order to practice. Coaches can send out videos of different stickwork drills in order for players to not lose their skills while staying at home.

Regardless of the sport, conditioning and lifting are extremely important aspects of training. It is really easy to find a lot of workouts that help certain sports, or that can help specific positions. 

Although the world is in the middle of a crisis, sports are something that helps a lot of people cope with pain. Now that we know there will be a future for spring athletes, coaches can easily help maintain players’ current skills by utilizing social media.