It's been roughly 12 weeks since the last class was held on the Homewood campus at Johns Hopkins.  Students were initially sent home with the hope of returning on April 12, but it became obvious before the calendar flipped from March to April that a return was not going to happen.

Of course, not being on campus didn't mean that classes were over.  As such, "remote learning" became one of the many new buzz phrases/words that has crept into our vocabulary during our time of social distancing, which was, as you know, put in place to flatten the curve.

For the record, this is the 10^th Ernie's Insights column I've written.  In none of the previous nine had the terms "remote learning," "social distancing" or "flatten the curve" been used.  Of course, these are unprecedented times (cue my 17-year-old son, who would refer to that as a dad joke with the obligatory roll of the eyes and courtesy chuckle).

Other than those online classes, which of course took place on zoom, have you been wondering what our Blue Jay student-athletes been up to?  How have they stayed in touch with their teammates and coaches, have they done anything to "practice" their craft?
In case you were wondering, below is what I unearthed about a few of our team activities.

What the Champs Did
Our defending national champion volleyball team, which was just a couple weeks away from starting spring practice when they left campus, utilized weekly zoom calls directed by head coach Matt Troy to stay in touch.  The team worked out (remotely) throughout the spring and had positional chalk-talks as well.  These were not necessarily unique, but with a strong core of last year's title team set to return in 2020, the time off the court in the spring may not be as detrimental as if this were a younger team.  Of course, it also helps when we'll return Bliss, Aston, Panagopoulos, Wu, Hada …. I think you get the point.

Spring Kings
If you've ever been around the Johns Hopkins football team in the spring, it's different.  Of course, there are no practices in full pads per Division III rules, but there is lots of teaching and competition; competition that has long been branded "Spring Kings."

Head coach Greg Chimera and his staff used their spring practice window this year to host 16 virtual meetings, many of which were broken up by position with a focus on the details of the team's playbook and philosophy for the coming year. 

The strength and conditioning staff also provided a workout program that could be done from home and one "measurable" activity was added each week to keep the competitive juices flowing.

It wasn't all work for Chimera's Blue Jays.  The team "met" every weekend through the spring and had team competitions that included NBA 2K, Sports Jeopardy and American Idol (yes, we know you want to see this and we're on it).

Planning for the Next Step
Would have been a big spring for Jane Wells and her field hockey team.  Sure, there were only a handful of seniors on the 2019 final four team, but sometimes the smaller classes can be even harder to replace … especially when one of those seniors ranks as one of the best players in school history.

For the returning players who have their sights set on the program's first national championship, Wells and assistant coach Britt Walker developed a comprehensive workout program that included skill development work for the players to utilize at home.  Wells and Walker even created videos for the players to help them structure their training and provide ideas for individual drills.  There is complete truth to the rumor that even Wells thinks the blooper reel of her and Walker would be something to see.  Again, we're on it!

Wells, who also serves as the Senior Woman Administrator at Johns Hopkins, was also very mindful of challenges her players were facing this spring and did a five-session workshop on zoom with the counseling center on stress, anxiety management and resilience. 

While she indicated that her players had adapted well to the changes, she pointed out that feedback from her team noted that the isolation was a hard adjustment and online learning, which may allow for some flexibility, is also more difficult than many may think.

More difficult?  I didn't believe that part at first, but I went to the roster and among the first several players I pulled up were two majoring in mechanical engineering and one in molecular and cellular biology.  The fourth has her major listed as public health studies and medicine, science and the humanities.  Quick question Abby Birk – exactly how many majors is that?
 
Nice to Meet You
Every coach and student-athlete at Johns Hopkins was challenged during the spring, but did anyone have it harder than Dan Weiler?  You know, the new women's soccer coach. You know, the guy who had been on campus for all of about 15 minutes when life as everyone knew it changed (for the record, it was actually about 10 days).

Weiler had met the team as a whole and had scheduled individual meetings with each player for shortly after his arrival.  Unfortunately, he was only about halfway through those individual sessions when students were sent home.

So, he conducted the rest of those "get-to-know-you" meetings online, has had regular team meetings, chats frequently with his captains and has been able to involve the team's incoming freshmen in recent gatherings as well.

While other fall teams at Johns Hopkins may feel the effects of missing spring practice a bit, the women's soccer team, with a new coach and several key losses to graduation, likely needed that time on the field together more than any.  That said, the team has a tremendous culture of success; I feel confident saying they'll be ok!

Still, Weiler did put together several video sessions with the full team, smaller groups and individuals.  He utilized past game film to create sessions specific to what he had hoped to work on in the spring; this should provide some level of familiarity when the team hits the field together in preparation for the upcoming season.

A Systematic Approach
Scott Armstrong, head coach of the highly successful men's and women's swimming teams, manages his program as well as anyone.  From the outside, you see programs that have consistently finished in the top five (men) and top 10 (women) at the NCAA Championships every year.  Armstrong's Blue Jays almost make it look easy.  It's not.

What I see is a coach with a six-lane pool and 60 or so athletes to train.  So, when he told me that they "hit the ground running with a systematic plan," I can't say I was all that surprised.  Do the math – six lanes and 60ish swimmers.  A systematic approach?  That's the norm for Armstrong, one of the nation's top coaches.

The men's & women's swimming teams are a tight-knit group.  They literally train alongside each other and, in most years, the season schedule for both teams is the same – so they also travel and compete together.

This spring, after the COVID-induced hiatus, the team was broken into five groups (one for each class along with one for the incoming freshmen) and each week there were eight individuals who would reach out to each of the groups.  This included the coaching staff, the strength and conditioning coach, the sport administrator or a senior assigned to specific groups.  Texts, zoom meetings and phone calls kept everyone together and on-point.

Truth be told, the spring is typically what you might call a down time in terms of in-water organized.  The swimming team is very culture-centered and this culture ensures the commitment of team members to the long-term goals for the program.  Staying active through the spring usually would involve swimming several times each week (but probably only – yawn – for an hour each time), but that routine has been replaced by running, spinning and long bike rides in addition to lifting – each individual free to self-select what works best for them.  The aforementioned culture ensures they know what to do.

Unearthing Some Cool Stuff
The above wasn't all the feedback I received.  Wonder how teams have handled recruiting?  Looking for some insight into who's been on the front line in the COVID-19 battle?  Wonder what hidden talents some of our athletes shared with their teammates and coaches (and by extension, me)?  I've got plenty of good stuff to work with and keep you dialed in for a good part of the summer.

I rarely tip my hand on what's coming next in this space (mostly because I'm not creative enough to come up with multiple ideas at the same time).  That said, I think we'll dive into a recruiting season that was different than anything a current Johns Hopkins coach has ever been through.

If you're wondering, I'll write the next column in the same place I wrote this one; my remote office.