溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 director of athletics, Thorr Bjorn, looks back on a year of adjusting to day-to-day changes brought on by COVID-19, and looks ahead, determined to return to a more familiar routine for 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 student-athletes, coaches, and staff.
As he and his wife Cyndy went to dinner in Brooklyn, N.Y., on March 12, 2020, an eerie feeling washed over 溏心vlog免费B站 athletics director Thorr Bjorn.
A day earlier, the Atlantic 10 Men鈥檚 Basketball Championship was cancelled鈥攁 major decision, which Bjorn had been part of as chair of the league鈥檚 athletic director鈥檚 committee. The restaurant the Bjorns stepped into was sparsely populated, a real-time preview of the months ahead.
Just 24 hours earlier, the couple had gone to dinner at a packed, bustling city restaurant, a scene that, today, feels like a distant memory.
鈥淧eople were talking about COVID, and you kind of felt it was coming, but there were no masks, and the restaurant we went to was busy,鈥� Bjorn says. 鈥淭he next night, it was a lot different. The restaurant was very spread out, and there were maybe 10 people inside. It was an eerie feeling, totally eerie. We left to come home that Friday, and everything had changed.鈥�
In the months that followed, the COVID pandemic dominated everything. College athletics became an uncertain landscape wrought with fits and starts. It began with the cancellation of the basketball postseason and bled into the halting of spring sports in 2020. As weeks passed, it became apparent that the fall 2020 season was not to be, at least not everywhere. While the Power 5 conferences proceeded with sports鈥攑articularly football鈥攖he Atlantic 10 joined the majority of conferences around the country in postponement.
鈥淚 ask, 鈥榃hy?鈥� a lot. 鈥榃hy is that the plan? Why are we doing that?鈥� I don鈥檛 want things done just because it is the easy way,鈥� Bjorn says. 鈥淗ealth and well-being for the student-athletes is our number-one priority. But we also promised our student-athletes that we would try to give them opportunities to compete this year.
鈥淚n many cases, that is the reason they鈥檙e here鈥攚hy they chose Rhode Island over another school,鈥� Bjorn adds. 鈥淲e have a responsibility to proceed in the safest manner possible while remembering that we promised we would try to provide that opportunity.鈥�
鈥淗ealth and well-being for the student-athletes is our number-one priority. But we also promised our student-athletes that we would try to give them opportunities to compete this year.鈥�
鈥擳horr Bjorn
Providing opportunities to compete led the Atlantic 10 to an unprecedented decision. Plans came together for abbreviated seasons for all fall teams to have championship seasons. A similar decision was made by CAA Football, meaning that between January and April 2021, every athletic team at Rhode Island would be in season.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 been amazing is the work our administrative staff and coaches have done to figure out policies and make sure we are following through on everything,鈥� Bjorn says. 鈥淭he ability to adjust to the curveballs has been incredible. It has聽been a challenging time that I don鈥檛 ever want to go through again, but my level of pride is over the top. Gratitude isn鈥檛聽a strong enough word for the work that has been done.鈥�
Today鈥擩anuary 19, 2021鈥擝jorn looks out his office window and sees the women鈥檚 track and field team working out. Earlier in the day, he popped out to Meade Stadium to watch the football team practice.
鈥淚t feels far more normal going into the spring 2021 semester than it did starting the fall 2020 semester,鈥� Bjorn says. 鈥淲e have proven we can do it with the basketball season, and now our student-athletes believe we are doing everything we can to deliver on that promised opportunity.
鈥淭his is not the new normal. It is a temporary pain, and it has not been easy. But we can get back to normal. We will get back, and we are doing it.鈥� 鈥�
鈥擲hane Donaldson 鈥�99
Photo: Drew Adame