The Article below was published in Vol. 136, Issue 4 of the Lake Forest College Stentor on December 4, 2020.
By: Paityn Tabor ’23
Staff Writer
With students learning remotely this semester, many of the College’s athletes are quite literally scattered across the globe resulting in teams having to get creative as they work to discover new ways to stay connected.
Many teams have participated in Zoom calls to stay connected, but social media has also been an effective tool that many of our sports teams have utilized to sustain these relationships.
During a typical season, each team can share updates about games and practices in order to keep people engaged. However, with the absence of games and practices this semester, teams needed to get creative.
For instance, the College’s football team has been using all forms of social media to stay in contact with one another.
“Our parent group uses Facebook, and our players use either Twitter or Instagram. We have had a number of different themes throughout the pandemic to keep folks engaged and we change them about every 30-45 days. For instance, we have a ‘freshman Friday’ where we are unveiling the incoming freshman football players with a profile,” explained head football coach Jim Catanzaro.
Other sports teams at the College have been executing similar strategies in order to stay connected with one another.
“We completely revamped our Instagram and now have five dedicated days: #moviemonday, #takeovertuesday, #wellnesswednesday, #thankfulthursday, and #foodiefriday. Almost all involve our players having to submit or post something, so that keeps them engaged as well as seeing what their teammates posted,” said women’s head soccer coach, T.R. Bell ’96.
These strategies have helped all athletes remain connected with one another, allowing sophomore, junior, and senior athletes to maintain connections with teammates and build connections. This has also allowed team members to build connections with the newest freshman and transfer teammates.
This social media usage has allowed first-year and transfer athletes, who might not have had the chance to meet any of their teammates yet, the opportunity to learn a bit more about them and begin to establish those everlasting relationships.
“[Social media] has been a very easy and non-intrusive way for [first-year players] to share things about themselves and also learn about their new teammates,” explained Bell.
Other teams have been utilizing Instagram stories to get to know more about one another and forge connections between players.
“We are trying to use Instagram stories a lot more. We have started sharing a few different templates on our stories including ‘This or That Lake Forest Edition’ and Music Mondays where we share the team’s favorite songs. We also did a series in November called Thankful Thursdays, where a template was shared in our story and the team and any others could share what they are thankful for. We have more exciting templates planned for December including a ‘This or That Holiday Edition,’” said head volleyball coach Katie Rueffer.
Athletic recruitment has also changed this semester, as prospective student-athletes are unable to visit campus. As a result, social media has played an increased role in giving these future students a glimpse into the day-to-day lives of current student-athletes, and our College’s coaches are aware of this heightened influence that social media can have on potential Foresters.
“These [social media] methods speak not only to our current players and family members, but also help engage prospective student-athletes,” explained Catanzaro.
Clearly, teams are working hard and being creative in order to make the best of the current situation we are enduring. While nothing can replace in-person camaraderie, social media has played an instrumental role in teams being able to bridge the physical gap between players and, for now, that will have to be enough.
