Reaching Varsity Athletes Despite COVID-19

By Satish Patel | March 30 2021 |

KSS is still producing varsity athletes despite the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Charlotte Spencer and Kennedy Joyce are varsity bound this fall. Both multi-sport athletes at KSS, their promising careers in their respective sports will take an important turn as they head out of Kingston into varsity leagues.

MVP of the KSS soccer team in 2019, Charlotte Spencer is headed to Dalhousie University in Halifax to join their soccer program. Meanwhile, Kennedy Joyce, a prominent basketball and volleyball player at KSS, is going to Nipissing University for basketball.

Kennedy and Charlotte have committed to their sports since childhood, with Kennedy starting competitive basketball at ten and Charlotte at twelve. They have both remained at the same club since childhood, with Kennedy at the Kingston Impact and Charlotte playing for the Kingston Clippers.

Kennedy has remained with the same coach since she first joined her competitive Kingston Impact basketball team. Her commitment brought her play to varsity level: “I was always someone who arrived early and left late and I think my coaches would say the same thing.”

A shorter guard at 5’8”, she had to make up for the height difference between her and most opponents: “I’ve had to put a lot of work into getting stronger and faster.”

Early on, she had her sights set on joining the WNBA, but more recently, varsity sports became a serious goal. “Once I hit high school, a coach told me, ‘I think you could play varsity if you want to.’” She decided she would make that an objective.

Charlotte has had to follow a busy team schedule during her time with the Kingston Clippers. With practice and fitness training during the week as well as tournaments out of Kingston, soccer has taken a large part of her after school activities.

After the club integrated into a Queen's Youth Sports program in 2018, her team was rebranded as the Junior Gaels. They have produced great results, as they are two-time Women’s champions of the Ottawa Carleton Soccer League (2018 and 2019).

She has also found opportunities in other, more competitive leagues. “I started playing with teams in Ottawa and I’ve played up for teams in the Premier League and that was when it started to get more serious.”

When COVID 19 hit, it became harder for both athletes to keep up the same intensity. When Kingston entered lockdown, Kennedy’s basketball training became more self-driven: “In March, I actually didn’t have a basketball net at my house, so we bought one and I was able to start playing and working out on my own.”

The Junior Gaels soccer team initially had to manage with two to three Zoom sessions a week that included yoga and fitness classes. Charlotte also had to keep up her fitness on her own: “Over quarantine, I did a lot of running to stay fit, and recently I've been doing a contest with friends to see who can run the most days in a row.”

For university recruitment, both athletes had to make do without much gameplay for coaches to watch. Kennedy’s basketball league, the Junior Women’s Elite League (JUEL) of Ontario, is aimed at getting players to a university level of play. The league usually has tournaments starting in April where coaches come to watch.

But with the COVID 19 lockdown starting in March, she had to resort to other means: “I started looking at other ways to get noticed, which was putting together videos to show coaches. It was a lot about emailing and putting yourself out there rather than getting seen.”

In soccer leagues, athletes rely on showcase tournaments - tournaments where varsity coaches will come to watch - and ID camps at university campuses. The summer is usually where they get exposure and footage. But this year, Charlotte had to rely on reaching out herself: “It was more getting references and emailing coaches.”

Her recruitment was due to a connection with her club coach: “My coach knows one of the players that went to Dalhousie and the Dalhousie coach knew the Queen's coaches that had seen me play.”

In Canada, athletic recruitment is often paired with an academic scholarship. Kennedy is the recipient of the President's scholarship, which will require high academic performance during her time at Nipissing, where she will study for a Bachelor of Social Work. Meanwhile, Dalhousie has not yet released their scholarships but Charlotte will be heading out east to study General Sciences.

While the COVID pandemic is still halting the restart of school sports, there are still athletes who have managed to break through the restrictions and secure their athletic future.

As the first KSS graduating class prepares to head out on their chosen pathways, we know that Charlotte Spencer and Kennedy Joyce will bring along the commitment and perseverance it took to meet their goal of varsity athletics. We wish them the best of luck.