This has been far from a typical offseason for the coaches and athletes of Central Methodist University. While the winter athletes lost a postseason and spring sport participants lost the majority of the regular season as well, all of the CMU student-athletes are adjusting to an offseason without open gyms, tracks, or playing fields in some cases.

Taylor Scully is one of the few CMU students on campus. The sophomore soccer player came to Central Methodist from England. She’s working out on her own, and occasionally with her roommate as well.

“It’s for sure hard because you don’t have the natural facilities that you would have if you were training with your team,” Scully said.

“I’m trying to stay motivated, doing runs around campus. I find it easier to run with scenery anyway and I feel like the campus is very scenic, so I enjoy doing the runs.”

The CMU student-athletes are aided by weekly workouts designed by Tucker Bachand, who was recently promoted from graduate assistant to interim strength and conditioning coach. 

“These workouts are created with the mindset that the student-athletes have no exercise equipment where they live,” Bachand said. “Other coaches have asked for workouts specific to the demands of their sport. For example, the women’s soccer team’s training program will have more aerobic conditioning than the football team’s training program.

“This is something that we have never been through before so we are going through it step by step. We are being updated with new rules and procedures every week.”

Isaiah Struder is wrapping up his freshman year in Fayette. The freshman defensive end from Austin, Texas is working out with teammates near campus.

“It’s been kind of nice because a lot of the football guys, they’ve got a house just right down the way and they brought a home gym down so we’ve got some weight sets to work out there,” he said.

The football team was unable to have its usual spring practices or work out in pads. Struder said that typically spring practice would be followed by evaluations from the coaches.

“All of that has to be done online and its different because they don’t get to witness the growth through it,” Struder said. “Which kind of puts some people at a disadvantage because if you can’t stick on it without a coach on you, you’re in trouble.”

Struder and his teammates near campus have each other for accountability. They meet regularly to lift weights and do the structured workouts. Other CMU athletes have to be self-motivated, which may be an unfamiliar experience for some. Athletes who aren’t training is a concern for Bachand.

“This is something that I am always thinking about when athletes are away from campus for an extended period of time,” he said. “Also, if they are training, they might not have all of the equipment that they should need to get them prepared to play their sport.”

While the situation is far from ideal, Bachand and the CMU athletic staff are working to put student athletes in the best position possible to succeed on the field in the upcoming seasons.