A panel of four speakers — U-M Senior Associate AD and Chief Health and Welfare Officer Darryl Conway, Michigan Director of Performance Nutrition Caroline Mandel and U-M Assistant Director/Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work Abigail Eiler — joined a live webinar this morning to discuss the wellbeing of the Michigan Wolverines' student-athletes during their time away from sports due to the coronavirus.
Associate Athletic Director Kurt Svoboda hosted the event, and presented several questions from listeners to the panel regarding the current state of Michigan's athletes and their training programs.
“All competitions and practices have officially been canceled through April 21," Svoboda reiterated.
"Anything after that will be decided upon in the future. Right now, April 21 is the date that is on the books.”
It was announced on March 12 that U-M had terminated the remainder of its winter and spring sports seasons, with the NCAA revealing that senior athletes who fell into the latter category would be allowed to return next season across the country.
The cancelation of all active sports events undoubtedly came as a shock to many, with student-athletes not even being allowed into Michigan's athletic buildings at the current time.
Signs have been placed on all the doors of the aforementioned buildings around campus clearly prohibiting access.
“We did our best to attend every single team meeting to provide support on the spot during the grieving process," Eiler revealed.
"In addition to that, we have made a conscious effort to reach out to all the student-athletes we were currently working with to continue establishing ongoing care, whether that be face-to-face appointments or checking in with people remotely.
"One of the access-related issues that has definitely come up has been being able to reach people across state lines.
"Our athletes are all over the globe, so we’ve been providing them with support and linking them to care if they need it.
"We’ve done our best to check in and see how our student-athletes are doing and walk them through this transition in their lives, because it has been very difficult for some.”
Prohibiting access to Michigan's athletic facilities doesn't mean its athletes aren't still training though.
The various strength and conditioning coaches of U-M's sports teams are still working with their athletes from afar, and presenting them with workouts to do from home.
“Our strength coaches have worked hard to develop home exercise programs for them," Conway revealed.
"It’s amazing what you can do with body weight, a simple can of soup or a textbook, or different items from a pantry or in your house.
"You can lift various things in and around your garage as well. We’ve been sending out rehab packs to student-athletes, so some have received recovery machines in order to help them with strength training.
"Our strength coaches are very good at devising ways to get things done. Student-athletes can still go outside, and there are always things around the house like bricks, tires and cinder blocks you can use."
The discussion will hopefully soon turn to what the plan will be once the student-athletes return to campus, though that arrival date still remains a mystery.
With the rest of spring classes being taken online and summer proceeding that, fall may be the earliest date the majority of athletes return to U-M.
“I’ve had a lot of conversations with our strength coaches, and have started talks with our coaches as well about not doing too much too fast [once the athletes return]," Conway explained.
"It’ll be about having a good ramp up and a period to make sure they’re safe. Everyone communicating together will be even more important to make sure we’re giving athletes enough recovery time and not doing too much too soon.
"We’ll need to pay attention to what their bodies are telling them. I’m hopeful this whole crisis completely changes how we do business on a daily basis for the better, especially at the University of Michigan.
"We didn’t offer online classes before this, and now all of them for the next six months will be online.
"Will that wake people up and say we can offer online classes now? It has been proven some companies can now work remotely and get the same amount of work done from home, so all of this makes me very hopeful."
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