Story updated July 31
Student-athletes eagerly returned to San Jose State mid-July to prepare for fall sports, but their excitement was short-lived as the viability of their seasons loomed overhead.
On July 13, SJSU placed athletics “under review,” in order to evaluate how the department would provide safety measures for athletes and staff as coronavirus cases continue to rise in California.
Before this review was announced, student-athletes had been following strict health guidelines from the athletics department. In an email from Joseph Waltasti, assistant athletics director for media relations, all student-athletes were required to self-quarantine for seven days and be tested by the athletics department prior to the first day of workouts.
The football team is one of the first teams to begin workouts on campus and to deal with these health precautions while being unsure if their next workout could be their last. Their workouts include conditioning tactics utilizing the weight room consisting of lifting and running.
“We all just got tested and I came back negative. I can’t speak for everybody but as far as I know there has been no issues so far. Which is great news, definitely a big first step for us,” sophomore kicker Matt Mercurio said over Zoom. “If we work out, if that ends up happening, we will all be wearing masks, staying six feet apart as well as isolating ourselves from people we may not be living with.”
Waltasti stated that if a student-athlete and any other person who had contact with the student-athlete becomes exposed to the coronavirus they will be required to isolate for 14 days. Athletes will get tested throughout the season by athletics and their tests will be evaluated by a third-party lab.
With all the health precautions taken by athletics to keep student-athletes safe, the players have put their confidence and trust in the department to uphold these safety measures while they begin to return to campus to get ready to play in the fall.
“I haven’t really had this conversation with my parents. I haven’t really thought about this with my family and people that I am close with. I think that they are on the same page that I am,” Mercurio said. “If they are telling us to come back then it's either one, safe enough to come back or two, that they are going to make it safe enough to come back. I'm 110% confident in that fact.”
But despite all of these precautions, it may not be enough.
Once Pennsylvania State University canceled its game against SJSU, which was scheduled for September 19, the harsh possibility of the season being canceled quickly became apparent to the team.
“You know thinking about it, my mental mindset has kind of been ‘yeah it is disappointing that that game was cancelled,’ but you know what’s done is done and you control what you control, what you can’t control you roll with it,” Mercurio said. “So yea, Penn State was canceled [and] that’s a bummer, but the focus of the team is what comes first. So as of right now we still have Central Michigan [University] and that's what we are focused on.”
However, football is not the only program at risk of losing it’s season in the fall, as the men’s basketball team is also preparing for its season.
“I wanna hoop at the end of the day, but I am concerned about the number of [COVID-19] infections,” junior guard Seneca Knight said over the phone. “I’ve been keeping safe, I go to the gym where I wear a mask and I carry hand sanitizer on my backpack.”
Even though the basketball team hasn’t returned to campus for their workouts yet, the coaching staff has maintained communication with the players to check up on them.
“We have a Zoom meeting once a week,” Knight said. “Coach [Jean Prioleau] has been making sure that we are staying safe and keeping hygiene up this summer.”
SJSU released its new Adapt Plan July 13 but the university said it is still working on a plan for sports. However, the question still remains if SJSU jumped the gun in allowing student-athletes to workout on campus when there is a possibility of canceling all fall sports because of the pandemic.
If fall sports continue as planned, Mercurio encourages fans to watch the football games to support the team, even if they can’t cheer them on at CEFCU Stadium.
“I hope that is one thing that leaves the fans excited, even if they aren’t able to be there in person. Just watching on the computer screen or watching ESPN on the TV,” Mercurio said.
