ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- In late July, the Landmark Conference Executive Board agreed upon the postponement of fall contests and championships with the hopes of returning to play this spring. Meanwhile, the head coaches at Elizabethtown College had to get creative to be able to meet the needs of their student-athletes during the first semester of the academic year.

The majority of the contact between coaches and athletes was done virtually, prominently on Zoom, but also through group chats and texts.

Britt Moore and Adam Sheibley, men's basketball and baseball, respectively, spoke to their guys in one-on-one meetings as much as they could. "The most frequent group was the first years just to check in with them on academics," said Sheibley.

Head Women's Basketball Coach, Veronica Nolt, has taken a very similar approach with her team. "I am on the phone with my kids all the time," she said. "Texting individually, small groups, our group chat, team Zooms. Inspirational quotes, funny pictures, this is what works best for our team."

Along with team meetings, some coaches broke things down further into event and position groups or those in leadership roles within their program. Melissa Rohrer, head of the men's and women's swimming teams, was one that met with her captains. "We had some captain-only chats where we discussed challenges the team was facing, how learning virtually was going, and what activities team member were doing to stay active," she said.

The College worked to get to a state where teams could get back into a practice routine in small groups as designated by the phases set forth from the NCAA. Most teams were able to get in some practice time during a small window in the fall before things had to be paused.

One of the challenges facing the coaches was the Zoom fatigue their athletes were going through. The students' schedules, in some cases, were tougher to work around due to the abnormal circumstances. The last thing some wanted was another Zoom meeting.

Within these challenges, the coaches at Etown were able to provide some relief to their athletes in the form of trivia nights, book groups, and even a cookie contest. "The things that had the most success were the things the players brought forward themselves", said Amy Hough, the head coach of the women's soccer team. Hough and her players ran an Instagram cookie contest over the holiday break with a bracket, March Madness style, where users could vote for their favorite cookie designs over the course of a couple days until a winner was declared, based on those votes.

Matt Hamilton, who heads the volleyball programs at Etown, ran game nights for his men and women primarily with Kahoot. "We tried to stay pretty consistent in what we did with both teams," he said. "We tailored certain activities to the team's interests. I would say the game nights went over really well with both groups."

The softball team also held a few trivia and game nights. "We did hold a couple Kahoot trivia nights as a form of 'getting to know' your teammates," said Kathy Staib, Head Softball Coach. "We are planning a parent/player Zoom before the students return for spring term. Typically we do a meet and greet at our fall playday, but our inability to have one in the fall led us to plan a Zoom to gather both parents and players."

Another activity, which several programs have utilized, was a book reading where the whole team took part. The wrestling team, led by head coach Eric Walker, read Habitudes: The Art of Self Leadership starting back in July. "We met via Zoom in accountability groups of five or six guys, covering a chapter a week," Walker said. "Once we got to school, we'd do one group meeting then break off into those groups to have discussions on the book."

Hough and her team have jumped into a book reading as well that will cover the remainder of the winter break.

The field hockey team also reads over the summer and then once on campus for preseason, will discuss what they've read. The pandemic, of course, threw a wrench into that process for head coach Brandy Michael. "Since we didn't have preseason, we were hoping to be able to talk about it at fall practices, but that didn't happen either," she said. "My kids are tired of Zoom so we want to be creative. Our GroupMe has been very effective because I can reach them all quickly and we can send silly pictures and memories to the team there."

Head men's and women's tennis coach, Michael Anderson '13, is in a similar position as a part-time coach, like Michael. "I wasn't on campus in the fall, so our conversations have been through emails, texts, and Zoom," he said.

Amy Kreider, who oversees the men's and women's golf teams as another of the part-time coaches on staff, was generally concerned for her kids on a personal level. "I decided to meet individually with them," she said. "As a coach, I like to know what motivates them, and I found that out through these sessions. I had a 'discussion points' agenda that included talking about each class, professors, ability to complete assignments on time, roommate situation, social life, home life, team practice, expectations, etc." In having these sessions, Kreider feels closer to each athlete and knows they feel more comfortable talking with her too.

Like many programs, an underlying challenge the situation has presented is the lack of team building and bonding. Now in charge of men's lacrosse, Kyle McGuire acknowledged how tough it's been to generate those bonds in a time where there's been limited practice times and social opportunities. "We found Zoom and small group meetings led by the players was a great way for our guys to align their thinking together and start to build trust with each other," he said.

In addition to their small group meetings, McGuire built "JayTalks" into the week for his guys, where guest speakers from a variety of industries were invited to address the team Thursday nights. "We had a POW from Vietnam, an NFL head coach, Major General in the U.S. Army, and professional lacrosse players come and talk to provide us with a different perspective," McGuire said.

"We provided lots of encouragement to maintain an athlete's lifestyle and to stay connected with teammates," Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, Brian Falk, said.

You can stay updated on the Elizabethtown College COVID-19 Pandemic Return to Campus plan here.