by George Smith, Student Reporter
The women’s basketball team at Northwestern is using this time as a good all-around warm-up for the preseason, according to their head coach.
Tasha Diesselhorst, head coach for the Lady Rangers basketball team, said that her players wouldn’t have been able to start full practices until October 15 in a normal season, regardless, but that they are also handling some COVID-19 protocol to be sure that everyone is safely getting their practice in.
“We have eight hours a week to practice,” she said, “four hours with and four hours without a ball, and we use them all — safely.”
The hours are not distributable according to Diesselhorst.
“The girls would love to spend all eight hours on the floor handling a ball, rather than splitting the time between the gym and the weight room.”
The Great American Conference canceled fall sports for all of the schools in the conference. Northwestern, however, is holding in-class lectures and allowing students to have the on-campus experience they are paying for, which means that the athletes for our sports teams are congregated and able to practice.
Although, there are restrictions to practice that include CDC guidelines for distancing and the bothersome donning of masks according to some of the players.
The players place tape on the floor of the gym to ensure that they maintain proper distance when huddled, and each player is responsible for taking her piece off of the floor when practice is over.
“The girls have done a really good job of doing their part for social distancing and have kept a good attitude through all of the restrictions as well,” Diesselhorst said.
October 15 is the day that normal practice schedules for the preseason are supposed to begin for the team, according to Diesselhorst. But the GAC has control over whether or not that will actually happen.
Senior political science major, Scout Frame, said that at this point she’s just ready to play.
“I don’t care when we play at this point,” she said, “I could play in the summer, or anytime, but if the games happen in the spring I’m fine with it.”
Transitioning from playing basketball and starting every season in the fall, Frame said that it is strange and different.
However, for her teammate, Kinsey Neiderer, a junior majoring in business, this is the best way to transfer schools as an athlete.
“I transferred from a school in the same conference, but I got lucky,” Neiderer said. “If I was going to redshirt any year this is the perfect year to do it.”
When transferring from schools in the same conference, it is mandatory for that player to redshirt their eligibility for that season, Neiderer explained.
