SMC Athletics Department Moving Forward
Late afternoon, in the 11th week of spring semester, the campus of Santa Monica College (SMC) is deserted, on Thursday, April 30 2020, in Santa Monica California. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in late March all SMC campuses were closed and classes moved to online only. On Thursday, April 30, the college announced all the fall semester classes will be online. (Marco Pallotti/ The Corsair)
Across the Santa Monica College (SMC) Athletics Program coaches and athletes are looking to move forward and continue to adapt to the restrictions that were put on the sports world.
Teams watched their season come to an abrupt end earlier this March with the cancellation of the rest of the season. SMC Women’s Tennis team was heating up approaching playoffs finishing with a record of 7-2.
“The extra work the players were putting in was certainly pointing towards an exciting finish” said Jay Molsing, assistant coach of the SMC Women’s Tennis team.
Molsing describes the end as “very tough on the team, coaches and players alike.”
However, they aren’t alone in feeling upset. Spring semester is also extremely crucial for fall athletics in preparing for the upcoming season. The SMC Men’s Basketball team would have begun their spring training April 20th but are now having to work on their own with limited resources.
“It’s an activity where to really get the most out of it, you need other people to interact with in the game and you still need the basketball court” said Joshua Thomas the head coach of the Men’s Basketball team when describing one of the challenges the team is facing.
Thomas also mentioned the new difficulties during the recruiting process despite having two new commits joining next season.
“It’s harder because you can’t really see the players play … during April we would’ve watched 500 - 700 kids play. So it’s important for coaches to have been recruiting all year.”
The California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) instilled a temporary ban on face-to-face recruiting on March 19th in light of the state and federal guidelines related to COVID-19. The CCCAA would later extend that ban on April 7th until further notice.
For Thomas and others like head football coach Kelly Ledwith, the spring period is used to zero in on recruits who they’ve shared interest in and invite to meet with them in order to get familiar with the staff and campus. With the ban on face-to-face recruiting they had to work through different avenues.
Thomas has held virtual visits where he interacts with the players virtually, showing prospects what SMC has to offer them, not only through its basketball program but academically as well.
For Ledwith he’s been communicating with the recruits via texts, phone calls and social media.
“Right now we’re at the stage where we’re going through with these recruits and getting them enrolled into the college… getting them counselor appointments to sign up for the proper summer and fall classes” said Ledwith when asked where the program is in the recruiting stage.
As of now fall sports remain open, the CCCAA hasn’t made any official statements regarding the fate of fall sports, despite classrooms going online.
In the meantime, coaches will continue to work with student athletes both incoming and returning, preparing for the unbeknown future. Ledwith says “Through different methods.. we’re preparing ourselves as if we got a season to play”.