Cowboys Using Video Games To Bond In Socially Distanced Fall Camp
STILLWATER --- Today, the Oklahoma State Cowboys filled up Sherman E. Smith Training Center to take part in the first official practice of 2020 fall camp.
This fall camp will look a bit different as all players and coaches must adhere to social distancing guidelines to ensure the health of everyone in the program.
While fall camp on the field will look slightly different, it is fall camp off the field that is being most affected. In normal years, fall camp is a time that players spend nearly 100% of their time together.
Whether it's hanging out in the locker room, training room, getting food together, or just walking to and from practice together, bonds are made and relationships are built.
You will often hear coaches refer to fall camp as a time to find out what their team is made of. They start to understand who leaders are, they understand how certain players are coached, and it is a time for endless team and position meetings for coaches to teach and learn from their players.
While players will still be in the locker room, training room, and walking to practice, it will have to be done separately, at a distance, and with a mask on.
Hanging out with each other outside of practice will also be at a minimum as players have been asked to refrain from gathering together for parties, hangouts, and public activities when not in the facility.
Following today's practice, both Malcolm Rodriguez and Tylan Wallace spoke with the media via Zoom to discuss their practice and what it is like going through a socially distanced fall camp.
Both Rodriguez and Wallace spoke about how building relationships with their teammates, especially the new ones, is quite difficult this year. However, there was one method both players said a majority of the team is using to ensure they are building relationships.
Video Games.
"Most of the guys, we all play Call of Duty so we all talk on there.", said Rodriguez. "It's not like we're separated forever, like I said we play Call of Duty, so we are talking outside of football even though we are not together."
Just minutes later, Wallace gave a quote backing up Rodriguez's point.
"It's definitely a little tougher to get to know the guys when you can't necessarily be around them all the time.", Wallace started. "If I'm really wanting to hang out, I'll just find them online and play with them through the game system or something like that."
As a college student myself, I can personally attest that this is something I have also done with my friends to help keep ourselves occupied and in the house. Gaming chats can have a vast number of members in it just as a Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype call would. In this situation you can only hear each other but you are playing a game together and normally talking about anything that comes to mind, just as you would if you were sitting across from each other.
Because nearly every player in the program is between the ages of 18 and 22 (sorry Tom Hutton), the two most common consoles you will see are Xbox Ones and Playstation 4's. Now a days, most games can be played online between the two consoles so no one is being left out from team bonding.
Video game playing has always been a popular trend among college athletes but in most years it is done as just a hobby but this year it is being done as almost a necessity for players to keep themselves out of harms way from potentially catching the virus.
Players will be very busy the next few weeks with meetings, practices, and treatments. It is a pretty sure bet though, that when they are not in the facility, their thumbs are most likely on the joysticks with a headset over their ears.
