Humber’s women basketball coach Ajay Sharma knows it’s going to be a good year. The team is a perfect 8-0 and is ranked fourth overall in the country among college teams.
“I think our strong start is a good sign that we’re doing something right,” Sharma said. “We’re in good spirits here.”
The Humber women’s basketball team have swept the competition aside routinely, defeating opponents such as George Brown and Durham, and most recently, Seneca. Despite a condensed season and concerns about COVID-19, the team continues to dominate. Fewer opportunities to practice haven’t impacted their performance.
“We’re not practicing as often because we’re sort of doing the load management thing with them,” Sharma said. “We’re making sure that they’re not getting injured or overloaded. So, it’s been different. But we’re working through it.”
Adjustments to the pandemic have not been easy on the team, with the uncertain nature of each season making practice and games difficult. The constant starts-and-stops puts a strain on athletes. Miea Campbell-Johnson, a fifth-year centre for the team, said it makes it difficult to find a rhythm.
“It was very tough, because we’d been training a lot,” Campbell-Johnson said. “And then we have to stop and start training all over again. It was an uphill and then downhill battle, up and down like a roller coaster.”
The return to sport was the break the team needed to get back into the proper mindset. With another shutdown appearing unlikely, the team is motivated to excel wherever it gets the chance. A renewed sense of purpose is a refreshing change from the uncertainty generated by the pandemic.
“I think this allows us to finally be able to all come together and work,” Campbell-Johnson said. “To be able to put in the same amount of effort and to finally take advantage of our chemistry.”
A key recipe to the team’s performance is their ability to work together, according to both Sharma and Campbell-Johnson.
“Honestly, it’s the hard work that we put in every time we practice,” Campbell-Johnson said. “We all work extremely hard to come together and put everything we’ve learned from our coaches into the game.”
One of the hardest adjustments for the team was adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic. A lack of sports and no spectators allowed into the games detracted from their experience. Brittney English, a fourth-year guard, said the atmosphere felt completely different. Missing the normal sports culture of the games made it difficult to stay motivated.
“I feel really frustrated,” English said. “Our games are examples to show how COVID does have control over us playing. It’s like a whole different environment.”
English said it affects players both mentally and physically. Training for a season only to partially play it or to suddenly resume it takes its toll, she said.
“If it’s not easy for us to adjust, then it’s often not easy for our bodies,” English said. “In the beginning, we prepared to come back for the season. We trained and we got into shape.
“But then it just was a break until further notice, and that actually set a majority of us back because we’re just sitting and waiting to find out what’s really going to happen with the season,” she said.