Hilbert's Intent is to Create Meaningful Experiences for His Players
Student-Athletes aim to push forward through uncertainty
Mike Brohard
With so much of what is in front of them murky, Tom Hilbert said one thing has to be perfectly clear.
Not just for his Colorado State volleyball team. For the CSU Athletic Department as a whole.
“That is also our biggest challenge as an athletic department, it’s not just my program,” the Rams’ veteran volleyball coach started. “What types of things can we do to give them a meaningful experience as an athlete? You still can do team bonding, and you can still do fitness and still do skill development. You can make them better at their craft. You can still do meaningful things as a team, community service, things like that. I think we’ve shifted from having these dates of competition in our minds to still being a team.”
For the players on his team, there are still a range of emotions to untangle after Monday’s announcement fall sports have been cancelled by the Mountain West due to COVID-19 concerns. The fact the athletes do want to play doesn’t mean they didn’t have worries themselves. Travel was one, especially to hot spots in the conference footprint.
The day after the announcement, the Rams were on the court working out. It is what they do, but it was also a bit surreal. At least for two hours, they could put those thoughts aside and do what they love most.
Hilbert didn’t just put them through the motions, they practiced. It was strange for him, too, but by the end, all he could feel was a sense of pride. His team didn’t bag the session, they flat-out went to work.
“That was weird. We all basically had to feed off each other for motivation,” sophomore Jacqi Van Liefde said. “We were all still definitely in kind of a weird head space and trying not to be too upset about it. We love volleyball, we know how to play volleyball. As soon as we touched the court and started warming up, getting into some of the drills, it’s almost like it made us forget what was going on. At least for myself. I felt we were able to practice really well as a team, and afterwards, it was almost the realization that was a practice for competition that won’t be happening for a really long time.”
The questions are going to loom for some time. Some answers won’t come soon, so Hilbert gave the green light to his team to exit campus for a week, then return when Colorado State’s campus reopens to the student population.
The players have had time to lean on each other for support, but seeing friends and family will help, too.
What the players have quickly understood is the decision affected them all in unison, but also in specifically individual ways. The news hit the seniors with a different thrust than it did a freshman. A starter views it differently from a player who may redshirt, and those still fighting for their position on the court remain in an altogether altered limbo.
“It makes framing what to look forward to really hard, even when spring isn’t a guarantee,” Heinemeyer said. “That makes it hard from an athlete perspective. Just the resiliency it takes to keep pushing toward a goal and we don’t know when that goal is or when we reach it.
“The uncertainty has become the everything in my life. Learning to almost laugh at it – well, this is our life now. Waking up and having that routine will still be super important. Maybe we don’t have a goal in mind, but maybe we don’t need a goal. We just need to be the best athletes we can for when that matters.”
The uncertainty has become the everything in my life. Learning to almost laugh at it – well, this is our life now. Waking up and having that routine will still be super important. Maybe we don’t have a goal in mind, but maybe we don’t need a goal. We just need to be the best athletes we can for when that matters.”Jenna Heinemeyer, Volleyball Player
As a senior, Heinemeyer has seen the stages of players on the team, and she’s already witnessed those in certain situations lean on each other. Having seen it all, from the eagerness of new arrivals to those who will extend no further beyond the final match, she’s gained an understanding. As a senior, her goal is to be there for her teammates.
What is known is Hilbert will still prepare his team for an open date. A framework is still lacking in terms of what type of work and how much can be done while not in a competitive season, but whatever is allowed will be used, and deep down, he expects that to be the 8-hours a week allowed in the offseason.
The conference is leaving the door open for fall sports to play their schedules in the fall, and there very well could be further adjustments made in terms of the length of the season and he number of competitions and who they are against.
When volleyball is played competitively in the Mountain West again, Hilbert expects his defending champs to be ready to defend. And do it with the backdrop of no time table.
“Our job as coaches is to keep them engaged and looking forward to something. What that something is, we don’t really know,” he said. “We’re going to try to keep them interested in volleyball and fired up about being an athlete. That’s what we’re going to do for now until we get more definitive information.
“We’re not falsely giving them some idea this is going to happen for sure. We’re just saying, ‘look, you’re an athlete, we’re going to make you better at your sport, we’re going to prepare for whatever is happening next.’”
As heartbreaking as the news was, Heinemeyer hinted it took some stress off the players. Ever since the team arrived back for summer training, the question has been looming as to if the season would take place. Monday’s news was one clean swoop, but they all remember the build up quite well.
Their schedule was announced, and they were excited to open against Southern California at home on Aug. 28. Then conference by conference, the whittling down began. No matches against non-conference foes, the Pac-12 said. Erase USC, eliminate the Golden Spike series with Colorado. With each announcement from another conference, another line of the schedule was crossed off.
Before long, it just felt inevitable the whole thing was going to be scratched, but still, they had to experience each little cut. The reality of coronavirus was real to them, as half of the team has spent time in quarantine. In a way, all of those experiences prepared them for the uncertainty ahead.
“It’s kind of bittersweet, but we’re just trying to put one foot in front of the other right now,” Heinemeyer said. “It’s exhausting. I would equate it to, and I’ve told a few people this, it’s like going 80 mph down a highway in a car, pulling the emergency break, then the transition complete goes kapooie, and then you’re expected to still drive. It’s hard. It hurts team morale to get ramped up for something and then be told to hit the brakes.
“It makes framing what to look forward to really hard, even when spring isn’t a guarantee. That makes it hard from an athlete perspective. Just the resiliency it takes to keep pushing toward a goal and we don’t know when that goal is or when we reach it.”
Still, she remains confident her team will endure. One step, then another. It’s not just the safest path for the Rams, it reasonably seems to be the best option.
The thing is, most of them watched their spring cohorts go through this in March. They felt empathy for them, but the truth is, none of them expected to reach the fall with the pandemic still spreading and creating concern for the United States.
They didn’t see themselves in this predicament, but here they are. So they find the silver linings, and with no guarantees in front of them, they will march forward, together.
“We had a pretty emotional team call the other day, where we all kind of shared how we’re feeling about it. I think that was needed,” Van Liefde said. “We all just needed some time to realize this hurts and it’s OK to mourn it for a bit, then kind of flip the switch and think about we’re grateful for and what we still do have, which is our scholarships, our health, each other, family, everything.
“We’re just going to keep building, keep getting stronger. You know, we’ll be ready for whenever we can have a season.”
Hilbert wishes he could supply that answer. With all he doesn’t know, he’s certain about one thing – the goal of the coaching staff is to make this the greatest experience they can have under the worst circumstances his team no longer has to imagine. His Rams will remain a team, and they will generate something positive out of the circumstances.