By Haleigh Rojas
Staff Writer
The recent announcement of the College of Saint Rose decision to shut down after the spring semester, has sent shockwaves through the entire student body, but the resilient spirit of student-athletes remains unwavering. Leaving students and athletes grappling with the sudden disruption of their academic and athletic lives. The news has hit particularly hard for student-athletes, who are not only facing the loss of their school but also the disbandment of their sports teams.
Camryn Knight, a sophomore on the Saint Women’s Volleyball team who is on the verge of wrapping up her fall sports season, expressed her frustration and disappointment. “I’m really frustrated honestly, especially for fall sports. If we want any hopes of playing next year, we have to transfer literally now because we are not going to be taking over freshman if we wait until the spring semester to transfer. It’s insanely frustrating and upsetting because I will never be able to play with my team again, and I don’t think we will find that atmosphere anywhere else.”
Aniya McDonald, another student-athlete playing for the Saint Rose Women’s basketball team, described feeling numb about the closure. “It doesn’t feel real to me because we are still in season. But at the same time, it does suck to know that fall sports are leaving and spring sports are leaving as well, and not a lot of people are gonna be here when I come back.”
As the shutdown looms, concerns about the impact on team practices and games have surfaced. Aniya McDonald noted that the current season has kept the team focused on winning, stating, “I would say that it hasn’t really affected any of us as a whole mostly because we are still in season, and I feel like we are focused on trying to win.”
Camryn Knight painted a different picture for spring sports, anticipating challenges in practice and structure. “It would affect us for spring if most of us are staying because our coach would be fired, and we wouldn’t be able to practice or do anything. We would have unstructured practices like we can basically go to the gym at any time it was open and then practice, but there would be no structure to it.”
Adjusting to the news, both athletes shared their experiences in modifying their training routines. Aniya McDonald emphasized the team’s focus on playing and winning, “ I feel like right now as a team we are mostly focused on playing and winning because we still have a season left mostly, Aniya said.”
While Camryn Knight admitted academic struggles amid the uncertainty but remained committed to staying in shape for potential transfers. “ Not necessarily, but I know academically it has been a struggle because I have been so focused on what I’m doing next semester. We are out of season already and our last practice was last Thursday and so we didn;t find out until that night that the school would be shutting down. So it didn’t affect too much other than others still being out of it with academics, Camryn said.”
Despite the imminent closure, the bond between athletes and their teams remains strong. Aniya McDonald reassured, “No, not at all. We are really close, and even the coach is saying that even through the school semester, he is going to help us find schools. You know nothing is changing for us really.”
Camryn Knight expressed her hope to maintain connections with her teammates and coaches despite the challenges of communication. “ I really hope not, I love my team, literally my family and especially coming from Texas and coming up here and being surrounded by that was crazy. I hope that I still talk to them and I am gonna try my best to keep up with them even with coaches. I wanna keep up with them and they asked me to keep them updated with my injury and then what I end up doing. For my teammates, I’m gonna try to support them wherever they go and if they have a game, if I can watch it somewhere I will. It’s gonna be a struggle to communicate with them but I will try my best, said Camryn.”
In the face of adversity, staying positive and motivated becomes crucial. Aniya McDonald acknowledged her current focus on playing, “I feel like for me right now, I feel like I can’t deal with it right now. I am more focused on playing but I know when March comes I will definitely be more stressed, said Aniya.”
while Camryn Knight highlighted the necessity of excelling academically and physically to secure a place at a new institution. “ Honestly I haven’t really had a choice but to do that because I need the best grades that I possibly could and I need to be in the best possible shape I possibly can to be able to transfer to a school that I wanna play at or where I see myself having a future at, said Camryn.”
On the topic of academic challenges, Aniya assured, “No, I feel like my teachers definitely understand that I am a student-athlete and have an understanding of what I do, and they are very helpful and are great resources during this time.” The supportive academic environment appears to be crucial in helping student-athletes navigate the uncertainty surrounding the university’s closure.
While Camryn shares her feelings of being unbalanced, “ It’s been a struggle because I’ve been trying to well, not just me but our team, have been trying to fit in multiple things that we can all do together as like our last time together. So it;s been a little rough balancing all of those things with classes and stuff. But I have been doing a decent job, the homework load has lessened because teacher are realizing that this semester has been a rough time for everyone”.
Aniya McDonald-Perry shared and expressed their goals as they are remaining strong throughout the semester,“ definitely for my athletics to keep playing to the best of my ability and win every single game to help with my recruiting and academic wise just getting the best grades possible so that my grades can transfer”. While Camryn continues to finish off her last year at the College of Saint Rose and gets in gear to transfer to her future school, “ My goals would be figuring out what the injury is and getting an MRI and figuring out how to progress with my injury”.
As the College of Saint Rose community navigates these uncertain times, the resilience and determination of these student-athletes shine through, embodying the spirit of teamwork and perseverance in the face of unexpected challenges.
