The COVID-19 pandemic has created a great deal of “disconnect” in our previously overconnected world.  

It has forced students off campuses, families to stray from their annual holiday traditions, and the elderly to shutter in their homes. But don’t worry — this is not just another dreary article about life during a worldwide pandemic. Instead I want to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on student athletes. As a student-athlete at Governors State, I can speak to the experience of a cancelled season. A cancelled season signifies three types of disconnect: one with the university, one with my team, and one with myself.  

Not unlike most of the student body, I have felt a disconnect with Governors State. Like everyone else, I did not have the opportunity to be on campus physically. However, athletes are faced with an extra layer of detachment; we have not had the opportunity to represent the Jaguars on the court, field, or course. Aside from a disconnect with the school, I have also experienced a disconnect with my team; we have not had the chance to practice or compete alongside one another.  

These physical regulations have made it difficult for me to develop a sense of pride or attachment to the university or my team. That sense of detachment runs deeper than physicality. As an athlete with a cancelled season, I have developed a detachment to my own sense of identity. So much of my life has been consumed by games and practices; with everything coming to a crashing halt, I have struggled to reconstruct and reconnect with who I am as a person aside from being an athlete. 

As I reflect on what I have written, it may be possible that this article really was just a dreary reflection on life during a pandemic. But despite all the disconnect, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Governor State’s basketball and volleyball teams have been competing again without spectators. And some of the university’s outdoor sports — including golf and soccer — are composing tentative schedules.  

Hopefully by some point this year, student-athletes will begin to rebuild their identities, along with their connections to their respective teams and the university.