COVID and college kids: Ivy Leaguer from Lexington loses season but gets big picture.
Coming off an offseason knee surgery, Lexington’s Morgan Turcotte was looking forward to getting back to training with her Brown University women’s soccer teammates in Providence, R.I., this summer.
But last week, Turcotte and hundreds of other Ivy League athletes learned their schools would cancel the 2020 fall sports season due to the coronavirus pandemic, becoming the first NCAA Division I league to do so.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed in not being able to have a season as any athlete would be at this point,” said Turcotte, who was an All-State goalkeeper and 2018 Lexington girls’ soccer city player of the year for 11th Region champion Paul Laurence Dunbar. “But I feel like Brown is really doing the best at prioritizing the health and well-being of the students over everything else. I think that they’re doing the best they can with a really awful situation.”
Turcotte and her fellow Brown athletes learned of the cancellation via a Zoom call Wednesday with their athletic director before the news was shared with the media.
The Ivy League was among the first to cancel its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments last March, becoming a precursor for the rest of the nation. Many who want to see all sports resume this fall — collegiate, professional and high school — worry the Ivy League’s move might be another harbinger of doom.
But while games might be canceled, Turcotte says she is planning to return to campus when it opens this coming trimester, and she believes the team will be able to train under COVID-19 restrictions. Brown is limiting on-campus attendance to sophomores and up for the first term.
“On campus we are (going to be) given three masks. We are given two things of hand sanitizer and a pack of wipes, and we are supposed to wipe down everything everyday. Clean as much as possible, just be cautious, wear face masks everywhere you go, just respect the state, the college and the CDC guidelines and recommendations that they’ve given us,” Turcotte said. “As for the athletic side of that, we’re kind of still working that all out. Details haven’t really been set in stone. But we’re thinking it’ll be similar to an offseason or like a spring season and will have small groups, small group training, small group lifting, things like that, but we still are hoping to see the field.”
While there have been criticisms of her generation and its response to the pandemic — with some college kids flooding spring break beaches for example — Turcotte said she thinks the outbreak is really hitting home for her peers and they are taking it seriously.
“I wear a mask everywhere I go. I wear a mask when I go to work. I wash my hands frequently. When I come home from work or the store, I get in the shower,” Turcotte said. “I am following all of the rules and regulations that have been set so far. And I think a lot of my peers are also doing the same. I think they are taking it seriously now that they have seen the backlash and effects it’s had on us.
“As these 20-year-olds, we thought we were invincible. Well, we’re not. It has a kind of cause and effect, a karma aspect to it almost. … It’s not just us we’re trying to protect at this point, it’s the susceptible people who are more likely to get sick.”
The 5-foot-11 Turcotte had been suffering with patellar tendinitis for years and said she exhausted physical therapy remedies, deciding finally to have surgery at the end of last season.
“I was hoping to get back to playing. I’m biting at the bit right now. I’ve been out since the end of November, actually. That’s the longest time I’ve ever been out of soccer,” she said. “Now, it feels great. I wish I’d done the surgery four years ago.”
Turcotte is one of four keepers on Brown’s roster with two seniors ahead of her and a freshman behind. The Bears were picked to finish sixth in the Ivy League last season and surprised to win not only the league, but also a game at the NCAA Tournament.
“Brown, overall, has been an amazing opportunity,” said Turcotte, whose father, David, earned his Ph.D from Brown. “I am really thankful that I was able to attend my first semester and a half on campus. … It was special.”
Turcotte said she’s heard a few options for what the Ivy League might do with fall sports, including possibly playing a full season in the spring, but they could also just return to normal operations, which would likely mean scrimmages but not games. The Ivy League is holding off making decisions on winter and spring sports for now, however. Regardless, Turcotte hopes to compete for the starting role by her junior year.
“I think if I get my knee straightened out, keep working my butt off and keep staying in great shape, I really see potential in starting next season,” she said.
