Since mid-October, university athletes have been disappointed by the news that there will be no winter 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This included the cancellation of major sports such as hockey and volleyball, with drastic measures having been taken to ensure everyone’s safety.
The cancellation of the season was hard on everyone, but it impacted upcoming rookies the most. They now have to wait until the fall 2021 or winter 2022 semester, at the earliest, to make their Bisons debut.
One rookie who remains positive in these times is Bisons women’s volleyball rookie Brenna Bedosky.
The Winnipeg native knew she wanted to be a Bison right from the start of her recruiting process.
“The recruitment process that I went through was probably a little different than others in my situation,” Bedosky said. “I had only played club volleyball for Junior Bisons, I never really had the urge to play anywhere else.”
“I had gotten interest from a few other places, some in the [U.S.] [and] some in Canada, but at the end of the day, this place is my home.”
Since her rookie season is delayed, the urge to play and the excitement level is much higher for Bedosky.
“I am extremely excited for next year, no matter what my role is,” Bedosky said. “I’m just excited to be here with the team and train for real games with them.”
“The idea that this is what I have been training for for years and that hopefully it will come next year is incredible.”
During COVID-19, training and staying in shape could be very challenging for high-performance athletes.
For Bedosky, since the pandemic has started, she has been doing small workouts by herself and with the team, and in order to stay in shape during the code-red restrictions her trainer has given the team small workouts to complete on their own.
These small workouts could lead to greater to success in the future for Bedosky and the Bisons.
“We have been having check-ins [virtually over Zoom] together pretty often discussing how to do Christmas hampers for families and also now alumnae visits from previous players, which have been pretty amazing,” Bedosky said.
The alumni experience is a great way to learn throughout your university career. Alumni give advice on situations that they have been in and pass it on to younger players.
“There are so many incredible players that have played for this program and just talking to a few of them has been great,” Bedosky said.
It was an unusual holiday season for everyone in Canada this year, but it gave Canadians an opportunity to make the most of it and stay positive, something Bedosky took advantage of.
“Christmas was pretty different this year compared to others, but still nice, nonetheless,” Bedosky said. “Lots of Zoom calls with friends and family.”
“For training, we started getting back into at-home training pretty soon after. The workouts have been a good thing […] [they help] us keep on track and stay positive during code red.”
