The Cabrini soccer teams have resumed team activities following a COVID-19-related stoppage.
Several weeks ago, both the women’s and men’s soccer teams got shut down due to coronavirus concerns. Practices were immediately put to a halt, as quarantining began.
At an off-campus function, someone who does not attend Cabrini showed up and while at the function began experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 as the night progressed. The following day, this person tested positive and the people that were in contact with this person the previous night were quickly notified.
Players received an email from Bridget Spence, the director of Health Services at Cabrini, to discuss further instructions going forward. The men’s team was told to quarantine for 14 days, while only certain players on the women’s team who were contacted through contact tracing were told to quarantine for the 14-day period.
Any players who lived off campus also had to notify their roommates and they were recommended by Health Services to quarantine as well. Other people who were believed to be in contact with this person were also instructed to quarantine.
Practices were stopped for two weeks and the players who were contacted were not allowed to be in the Dixon Center on campus. Players on the men’s team were required to get tested and after results came in, there was only one positive test.
Dav Conigliaro, junior international business major, said that whoever had spoken up and told someone that someone there had tested positive and there was a risk of a potential spread of the virus “had made the mature and right decision.” “Ultimately our health comes first and is our main priority,” he said.
“Although quarantine was rather annoying, it was important for us all to quarantine in order to be safe and smart by not increasing the spread on a college campus,” Conigliaro said. As a college student, he said that it is important to take social distancing more seriously, as priorities sometimes may be skewed.
After finding out about the potential risk of contracting the virus, junior Zach Garcia, marketing major, said that he was worried, but not only for his own health, but for his friends as well. He had a fear of not knowing if he had caused it to spread to someone else.
“I was bummed out because I knew I wouldn’t be able to play soccer or see my family and friends. However, I knew it was the smartest thing to do and it had to be done,” he said.
He explained how the virus could have been very easy to spread at practice due to the amount of contact there is in the sport. He said that it was really smart to stop everything and quarantine the players to reduce the risk of the virus spreading throughout the teams.
Kimberly Benge, senior psychology major, said that putting practices on a hold was the right decision to make and was best for everyone. Without quarantining the players, the situation could have ended up being a lot worse for the teams.
In situations like these, it is important “to be careful who we surround ourselves with and to be cautious of the situations we put ourselves in,” she said.
Now, after fulfilling the two-week quarantine requirement, the soccer teams have now resumed practices. The men’s team practices three times a week in two separate pods to eliminate contact with other players. The women’s team is back to practicing three days a week as well.
