Coronavirus & Sports: Athletes Try To Stay Mentally & Physically Fit During Home Quarantine
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Schools across the Tri-State area are closed because of the outbreak of COVID-19 and that means that high school sports won't be played any time soon.
High School athletes are finding new and creative ways to stay fit. The players from the Rocky Point High School baseball team are staying in touch remotely and training at home with any equipment they can get their hands on.
"Some guys have batting cages in their backyard. Some guys have tees," said head coach Anthony Anzalone in an interview with CBS2's Steve Overmyer. "They're hitting into fences. They're figuring out ways to get better."
Anzalone recently started a GroupMe chat and asked the players to show their workouts to each other. This tactic has helped to bring out the competitive juices in the team, even though they're not together.
"The competition you see in a group chat is the same you would see on the field," said Anzalone. "So, it's pretty cool."
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The Rocky Point High School baseball team is still hitting, fielding, and throwing, but things are looking a lot different than everybody thought they would.
"You know what? You don't know what you've got till it's gone," said Anzalone. "This disrupted all of our lives for the time being, but I have no doubt when things get back on track, you'll see a lot of people really being thankful for the things they have on a daily basis."
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While Anzalone loves that his players are staying physically fit, he believes the drills in the backyard and the GroupMe chat are helping his players more on a mental level.
"I'm hoping they're benefiting more mentally," said Anzalone. "They're going to get their physical work in, but my job as a coach and as someone who cares about them personally... I want to make sure they're okay on the mental side of things. This is a rough time for even adults, so the main thing is making sure they're okay on a daily basis."
