Oz Jensen Journalism rough draft
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the lives of many young people across the
nation, forcing them to become more responsible at an earlier age than most,
due to living through a pandemic.
One group that already had a great deal of
responsibility is college student-athletes. The epidemic has forced these
young men and women to make sacrifices to advance their athletic and
scholastic careers.
A great example of this struggle is the
baseball team High Point University, coached by former UCF pitching coach
Craig Cozart. These times are not just hard on the student-athletes, but the
coaches as well have had to adjust on the fly to new rules due to the
pandemic, as well as obstacles that they have not anticipated before. A team
that has had to deal with these difficulties To some students however, like
former High Point pitcher Josh Topper, these sacrifices were no longer worth
playing the sport he loves for his university.
Changing the culture
When Coach Cozart took control of the team in 2008, they had just come off 20
straight seasons, and he knew he had to get right to work changing the culture
of the losing program.
“we had to set a standard of expectations in the
classroom first and foremost, off the field in the way they were conducting
themselves socially, and then the way we played the game on the field.”
After
about two years of being in charge of the program Cozart says that the team
felt as though they could beat anyone in the country.
Cozart seemed proud of the fact that since 2014 High Point has the best
record across the regular season and league tournaments among Big South teams,
a respected baseball conference. 13 players have been drafted by major league
baseball teams, an impressive number.
*asked question about culture of team to
player waiting for response*
Not for everyone?
The culture of this team however was not
for everyone, as Josh Topper was a freshman pitcher last year who decided not
to come back to the team for the 2021 season. Topper explains the team’s busy
training schedule was a major reason for his no longer playing, saying, “In
the offseason probably 2-4 hours depending on what we were doing” for six
mandatory days a week, including an optional day, that Topper says one would
be frowned upon for missing.
“In season if we had a game, days could be 10
hours, you would be there from 12 to 8 depending on the day” with 4-5 games a
week and just one off day a week.
Topper explains that if it were not freshman
year, he would not have been able to keep up with his work at all, saying a
player he respected on the team, switched his major from accounting, the same
as Topper’s to finance, because it does not take as many credits to graduate.
Topper
says the biggest thing he misses about baseball is competing at the highest
level, however plays in a high level men’s league team that he says gets his
competitive fixes in enough, and is able to continue to be the 4.0 student
that he has been through his first two years of college.
Effects of COVID-19
Every human being has been affected by
the COVID-19 pandemic but athletes are put in a particularly difficult
situation, where they do not just need to worry about themselves, but have an
entire team to consider when they take any action.
Topper says while he probably
would have stepped away from the team anyway, he did not want to deal with
possible health restrictions on the field as well as off, saying “I know they
were very strict about who they could and couldn’t see outside of baseball”.
High Point play Grey Lyttle said ___________
Coach Cozart has been impressed
with the teams ability to stay healthy saying he believes that they are the
only team in the conference to have not lost a player to the strict COVID-19
protocols the NCAA has in place to protect its players, explaining that he is
happy to say the team is yet to have lost a game due to the pandemic.
Multi Media Podcast of coach (1:25-1:45), (2-3:45) Layed out schedule of
Josh’s freshman year week in season and out? Questions Can I use the player's
first name? How is starting second section off with a question? Effects of COVID or affects of COVID
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