The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every walk of life in 2020. It has been more than six months since sports shut down in the United States, and college sports are still feeling the impact.
The Last Dance
This year has been marked by uproar and protests after the killing of numerous unarmed Black Americans, including Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. The debate over what must be done to combat injustice and racism has raged across all segments of society—including sports.
As fall sports in the Big East remain postponed, women’s volleyball head coach Allison Yaeger and senior middle blocker Amanda Rachwal broke down how the team has been training and getting ready to play a spring season under the COVID-19 guidelines.
Seton Hall student-athletes received crushing news in mid-August when the Big East announced the cancellation of all fall sports due to COVID-19. Despite the lack of sports, almost all Pirates sports teams have continued training — albeit in a bizarre new normal. The women’s and men’s golf teams have done so in different ways.
The sports world changed drastically after the initial spread of COVID-19 in March. Since then, professional sports leagues have shifted to playing in empty stadiums and college athletics programs have postponed all fall sports—including the Big East.
By Matt Collins
“There is, logistically, a lot of changes.”
In addition to Seton Hall recruiting eight new members to the women’s soccer team this year, Alex Mendolia will join the Pirates staff as the new assistant coach alongside head coach Ciara Crinion. Mendolia is an experienced and seasoned asset to the team who has knowledge as a player and coach, recently spending 2019 as the top assistant for Sky Blue FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.
On May 25, the murder of George Floyd sparked hundreds of Black Lives Matter protests across the United States and around the world, spanning six continents. Floyd’s death at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin forced a global conversation on the issues of social injustice and systemic racism that continue to plague society. As protests continued in major cities like Portland, Chicago and Louisville, the conversations stretched beyond the world of politics and daily life and into the realm of sports.
Brandon Weston, the No. 60 overall prospect in the class of 2021 according to Top247, committed to Seton Hall University Sunday afternoon.
Rick Cerone, former Seton Hall catcher and the 1975 seventh overall pick in the Major League Baseball Draft, was virtually inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame Thursday night.
Seton Hall University Athletics announced the installment of its new “HALLin This TOGETHER” program via Twitter on Aug. 17 to help foster and continue dialogue about the ongoing social injustices across the United States.
Per Big East Conference press release, the conference has decided to postpone all sports contests for the upcoming Fall 2020 season. The decision to postpone the remaining in-conference games was made by the BIG EAST COVID-19 Task Force on Wednesday, August 12.
2021 Ribet Academy wing Tyler Powell announced his commitment to play college basketball at Seton Hall University via Instagram Live on Saturday, Aug. 8. Powell is the second 2021 commit for Seton Hall, joining Ryan Conway who announced his commitment earlier this year.
Sandro Mamukelashvili announced on his Instagram page that he would not be entering the NBA Draft on Aug. 1, opting instead to return to Seton Hall to play out his senior year with the Pirates.
As of Friday, July 31, Drew University has postponed all in-conference sports contests for the fall semester. The decision came following a unanimous vote by the Landmark Conference Executive Board to postpone all contests within the conference for all schools. In terms of New Jersey colleges, only Seton Hall and Rutgers still plan to go forward with their fall sports programs and will play in-conference games only.
Three summers ago, Cristina Fernandez was preparing for her first year as a biology major and cross-country runner at Seton Hall. Her passion for medicine and helping others was the driving force behind her studies, and she wasted no time getting involved with clubs that shared similar passions. Fernandez joined the Seton Hall chapter of MEDLIFE her freshman year despite it only having about five members, but the chapter’s annual summer trip to South America would prove to be an eye-opener for what Fernandez planned to do after college.
In his first year as Director of Athletics and Recreation at Seton Hall, Bryan Felt went through a rollercoaster of experiences and unprecedented issues to deal with. An alumnus of Seton Hall, Felt joined the athletics department as director after serving in the same role for the past two years at St. Peter’s University. He had previously worked within the Pirates’ athletics department as Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs and later as Senior Associate Athletics Director. We caught up with Felt to see how he was adjusting to life in quarantine and to recap the events of his first year back at Seton Hall.
Although at the helm from inside the dugout, softball head coach Paige Smith wants to storm the field for a championship just as much as her players.
Solutions by The State News
