Down but Not Out: Varsity Coach Shares Team’s Story After Shutdown
MVNU's newest varsity team faces its greatest opponent yet, the COVID-19 virus. The team received varsity status earlier this year and positioned themselves to take the league by storm.
According to Head Coach Ryan Farr, in light of going varsity, "The expectation level of our players and coaching staff is tremendously different. Then again, we expect that kind of leap forward each year as we progress to being where we want to be culturally and competitively." The team diverged from their trek to victory following the COVID-19 outbreak. Games were canceled, practices suspended and finally all of the players left for home to ensure their own safety. The lacrosse team's varsity season came to a sudden end.
Their team spirit, however, lives on. Farr commented, "I can’t say enough about our guys and the maturity that they’ve shown through this challenge. We have a young team of mainly freshmen and sophomores with a couple upperclassmen leaders. Our older guys have done a great job setting the tone and all seem eager to hit the field running in fall 2020.”
Down but not out – that appears to be the team’s mentality as the battle continues. Ohio is faring better in this pandemic than some of its neighboring states and the team is doing their part by staying at home and regrouping. This includes Coach Farr himself. “Adversity is a key theme of athletics and life. [The virus] is a new kind of adversity… one not many have ever experienced before in the sense of college athletics… Everything has a season and now is about keeping my family safe and constantly preparing for the next time I need to be ready to coach a college lacrosse game.”
Many high school seniors lost out on their final athletic season this year. To those considering lacrosse at MVNU for the upcoming season, Coach Farr extends condolences and an invitation. “Prepare to work. I know you lost something near and dear with your senior seasons. I cannot imagine what I would have felt like had I lost my senior year of football or lacrosse when I played. But you will hit the field again! This thing is not forever. Use every bit of motivation you had in your final year in high school to prepare yourself for the large leap to the speed and tenacity of college lacrosse. We could not be more excited to welcome you into the lacrosse family and expect big things from each of you.”
When is next time? That is difficult to say. Ohio is under a stay a home order until May 1. After that, there’s little indication of how things will pan out. But barring any unforeseen circumstances, Coach Farr plans a comeback for next athletic season. “REGROUP. WORK. ATTACK 2020-2021. That’s what we need to be about. We can’t look back on the shoulda, coulda, woulda of this season. It’s all about the bright future this program has at MVNU.”