The closures due to COVID-19 have forced Edmonds College athletic programs to get creative when preparing for the 2020-21 school year.

 “We kinda had to change the way we do things to still benefit our program,” said volleyball Head Coach Tony Miranda. “We’ve seen them on Zoom conferences and meetings, and we’ve given them assignments of things to work on at home.”

According to Miranda, it has been difficult to find something beneficial during these hard times, but the team Zoom meetings have turned into one of the good things to come from this pandemic. 

They have team meetings online on Monday’s, every other week. This has allowed for both team members and coaches to stay connected, as well as get to know new players.  

“We know every single one of those incoming freshmen pretty well now,” said Miranda. “That uncomfortable first week of practice where you know nobody in the gym and you’re still trying to figure each other out, that is kinda behind us.”

Along with planning for the upcoming fall volleyball season, Miranda is currently organizing a volleyball camp for Advanced level players from Jul 29-31, and a Youth and All Skills camp from Aug 3-5. The first camp will be for highschool athletes, and the second camp is for athletes in the grades 4-8.

The Edmonds College volleyball camp will be offering lots of different opportunities to a wide range of athletes. There are many players that use the camps to get ready for the upcoming highschool season, or just to improve their skills.

“For the ninth and tenth graders in camp they are kinda just there to get better, and to be coached by college coaches,” said Miranda. 

This camp is also a good way for potential recruits to meet the Edmonds College volleyball team and coaches. According to Miranda, there will be about six invited recruits at the camp.  

Along with the people who have registered, the Edmonds College volleyball team will be at the camp. “They’ll all be in some way shape or form being part of the camp” said Miranda.

In order for the summer volleyball camp to happen, Snohomish county has to be in Phase 3 by the end of July. At this time it is still unknown whether this will happen, however, Miranda remains hopeful.

“We’ve been taking registrations for both camps, under the assumption that we’ll be in Phase 3, and we’ll actually be able to have the camp,” said Miranda. 

Edmonds volleyball team is going to make sure that the camp is run safely following all CDC and Washington state guidelines, in order to protect the health of students and participants. 

“We have to follow every rule that’s out there.” said Miranda. 

But Volleyball is not the only team to have to make changes. The head coach for the men’s soccer team, Ozzy Erkut, says that the men’s soccer team has also had to make some changes to their program to stay in contact with each other. They have also had team Zoom meetings, which have included the incoming freshmen. In order for the men’s soccer team to stay active during this pandemic, they have been doing weekly workout videos, along with video analysis assignments.  

Just like Edmonds College’s volleyball team and the volleyball camp, the men’s soccer team is awaiting information from NWAC to know what the upcoming fall season holds. 

“Once that decision is finalized, we will make the adjustments,” said Erkut. “We hope all conditions will be improved and we will have a season.”