Photo By Terrance Bell | Members of the Charlie Company, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion, pose for pictures March...... read more read more
FORT LEE, Va. (March 16, 2021) – Initial military training students are back on the courts and returning to playing fields here after a year-long pause in intramural sports activities.
Family and MWR shut down the program in March 2020 – the day after an IMT basketball tourney concluded. As readers may recall, the installation escalated its health protection level to Charlie that month and most group activities were prohibited to prevent the spread of COVID-19. That meant hundreds of advanced individual training Soldiers who normally participated in off-duty team sports such as volleyball, softball and flag football were restricted from doing so.
“It kind of ticked me off,” confessed Anthony Nelson, intramural sports supervisor, in reference to the intrusiveness of the pandemic. “I truly enjoy getting Soldiers out of the barracks – getting them outside for some recreational relief. It’s been a rough year.”
Nelson beamed as he described the “reawakening” of his intramural program in February. Twenty teams turned out for a five-and-a-half-week volleyball tournament, and the walls of MacLaughlin Fitness Center once again echoed with the sounds of whistle-blowing refs and team cheers after a great play. Student enthusiasm for the matches was off the charts in a way that conveyed a sense of optimism and excitement for the future.
“They are clearly excited that we’re back doing sports again,” Nelson said. “Everybody was appreciative that we started things back up. The passion and energy has been so great that we’ve had commanders and first sergeants participating with their teams.”
That sentiment is strong within Nelson as well. The administrator and sometimes game official desired a return to intramural sports as much as anyone.
“It was great sitting behind a desk for all those months,” he said sarcastically, patting his expanded midsection, “but I’m very excited to be back out there and look forward to supporting the program.”
Nelson then stressed that FMWR is taking a cautious approach. A major factor of the gradual comeback is preventing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping military participants, officials and staff safe.
“We started with volleyball because it has separation between players,” said Nelson, noting the sport is essentially non-contact. “That was easy to do.”
Conversely, a basketball regular season or tournament was not considered – even though it is one of the most popular among students and permanent party – because it is contact-heavy. The schedule does include flag football, set to begin March 22, and kickball, starting April 26.
Also in the lineup is a single day, 3-point shootout, slam dunk and free throw contest set for May 8 at MacLaughlin. Softball begins May 24, and one-day events for track and field and Ultimate Frisbee are set for May 22 and May 28, respectively. All were chosen because of their relative safety, Nelson said.
“The majority of the events will be held outdoors,” he further noted. “We’ll also have separation. Safety is our priority.”
With the number of vaccinations increasing exponentially across the country, Nelson said the intramural programs could return to normal by September. That will include seasonal scheduling for IMT students as well as permanent party military members.
| Date Taken: | 03.16.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 03.16.2021 10:28 |
| Story ID: | 391482 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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