University of Georgia Athletics
April 05, 2021 | Baseball, Equestrian, Football, General, Swimming & Diving, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Riley King remembers feeling numb on March 12, 2020.
Instead of continuing on their way to Gainesville, Fla., for a huge SEC baseball series — Florida was ranked No. 1 in the country and Georgia was No. 2 — the Bulldogs were forced to turn around and head back to Athens. The coronavirus pandemic had brought the sports world to a halt and King, like the rest of us, didn't know what was going to happen next.
"When we grow up, we always hear someone say to us, 'Hey, play it like it's your last; the game could easily be taken away from you,'" said King, a redshirt senior outfielder. "To be honest, when you grow up and you hear that, it kind of just goes in one ear and out the other. You might think about it a little but you don't really have anything tangible that you can use to make yourself have that feeling. You don't really comprehend or understand that.
"Last year definitely put that into perspective. I think that it's so crazy because now, when somebody says, 'play it like it's your last,' it has so much more meaning to it. Going out there and playing is a blessing every single day, because you really don't know — we could be done tomorrow. You never know what's going to happen."
Tuesday is National Student-Athlete Day, a day of celebration for high school and college student-athletes, created in 1987. Given all that has transpired in the past 12 months, if ever there was time to celebrate the young men and women who play and compete, study and learn, inspire and amaze, this is it.
Ever since Georgia's student-athletes returned to Athens over the summer, they, along with Georgia's coaches and athletic department staff, have dealt with a new reality filled with testing and extensive safety protocols — all geared toward keeping everyone healthy and allowing the Bulldogs to return to the field, court, track and everywhere else Georgia student-athletes compete.
"They work so hard for a limited number of competitions, that anything we can do to support them and make sure they get their competitions in, especially with what they went through last year, we're going to do," Georgia's J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks said. "Some of them lost whole seasons and some of them lost championships, and we want to celebrate them and let them know we're thankful for everything they do.
"The whole purpose of our jobs is to put them in situations where they can compete. That's what they love to do, and they work so hard for these opportunities. It's a joy for them and it's a joy for us to watch them do what they love doing. The best part of this job is watching them compete."
King, who has already graduated and is taking classes he needs before taking the MCAT and applying to medical schools, has already had perhaps the most "student-athlete" day of them all. On March 3, he had to leave Georgia's game at Kennesaw State in the eighth inning to go take an organic chemistry exam. He had two hits, a run scored and an RBI in the game, and then 30 minutes later, in a borrowed office on KSU's campus, he scored on 85 on the exam.
Lovie Tabron, the Behavioral Medicine Coordinator for the UGA Athletic Association, said the resiliency of Georgia's student-athletes has been demonstrated over and over again during the past year.
After sports were shut down and classes were moved online, the Bulldogs had to adjust to being away from their teams for months. Upon their return to Athens, there was no guarantee that their seasons were going to happen. Thanks to the hard work of so many, including the student-athletes who followed the safety protocols, the seasons have happened though sometimes with last-minute schedule changes or pauses due to COVID-19 issues.
A year after everything was shut down, with the virus still a daily challenge, spring sports are in full swing as the 2020-21 athletic calendar heads down the homestretch.
"I think that this year, for National Student-Athlete Day, the word 'National' rings louder than ever because the depths of appreciation can be seen and heard nationally," Tabron said. "When things were shut down, sports were one of the things that people were so excited to have come back. Even if no one could be in the arena but you could watch from your home.
"To play such a major part in providing hope for people nationally, that just deserves such a huge round of applause."
Georgia All-American swimmer Zoie Hartman, who in February won SEC championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley and the 400 medley relay, said she came out of quarantine and into this season with a new perspective on swimming and who she is as a person.
"I think it did a lot of good for a lot of people," she said of the sports shutdown during quarantine. "I at first didn't know how to handle it. I was asking people, 'What do I do now?' It let me come to the realization that I need to figure out who I am outside of swimming, because I know swimming is not going to last forever. I have to find hobbies and things that I like that I can keep doing for as long as I can.
"I think that helped me figure out who I am and in return that helped in my swimming, being confident in who I was and appreciating what I've done."
The daily challenges brought on by the pandemic have affected all of us, from wearing masks and washing our hands regularly, to isolating and social distancing. For Georgia's student-athletes, who continue to mostly take online classes and limit their in-person interactions with people outside of their teams, the adjustments they've had to make so they can compete have been worth it, equestrian senior Carter Anderson said.
"It's kind of something that we've all gotten used to," Anderson said. "It's kind of astonishing that we've been able to continue to do it, and that's thanks to UGA athletics and our coaches and staff.
"We obviously follow the protocols that alter what we do daily but not to the point where it doesn't feel like the same sport. We wear masks throughout the barn, and the only time we don't wear them is when we're on the horse. We have some cleaning policies that we follow at the barn to make sure that the hot (common) touchpoints are being disinfected throughout the day. Besides that, we've really been able to ride as normal; we've been able to compete which is crazy — and we're really lucky to do that."
And those of us that get to watch the Bulldogs do what they love and work so hard to do, we're incredibly appreciative of the determination and adaptability that the student-athletes have demonstrated time and again over the past year. Thank you, Bulldogs, for giving us so many reasons and opportunities to cheer.
Staff Writer
Riley King remembers feeling numb on March 12, 2020.
Instead of continuing on their way to Gainesville, Fla., for a huge SEC baseball series — Florida was ranked No. 1 in the country and Georgia was No. 2 — the Bulldogs were forced to turn around and head back to Athens. The coronavirus pandemic had brought the sports world to a halt and King, like the rest of us, didn't know what was going to happen next.
"When we grow up, we always hear someone say to us, 'Hey, play it like it's your last; the game could easily be taken away from you,'" said King, a redshirt senior outfielder. "To be honest, when you grow up and you hear that, it kind of just goes in one ear and out the other. You might think about it a little but you don't really have anything tangible that you can use to make yourself have that feeling. You don't really comprehend or understand that.
"Last year definitely put that into perspective. I think that it's so crazy because now, when somebody says, 'play it like it's your last,' it has so much more meaning to it. Going out there and playing is a blessing every single day, because you really don't know — we could be done tomorrow. You never know what's going to happen."
Tuesday is National Student-Athlete Day, a day of celebration for high school and college student-athletes, created in 1987. Given all that has transpired in the past 12 months, if ever there was time to celebrate the young men and women who play and compete, study and learn, inspire and amaze, this is it.
Ever since Georgia's student-athletes returned to Athens over the summer, they, along with Georgia's coaches and athletic department staff, have dealt with a new reality filled with testing and extensive safety protocols — all geared toward keeping everyone healthy and allowing the Bulldogs to return to the field, court, track and everywhere else Georgia student-athletes compete.
"They work so hard for a limited number of competitions, that anything we can do to support them and make sure they get their competitions in, especially with what they went through last year, we're going to do," Georgia's J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Josh Brooks said. "Some of them lost whole seasons and some of them lost championships, and we want to celebrate them and let them know we're thankful for everything they do.
"The whole purpose of our jobs is to put them in situations where they can compete. That's what they love to do, and they work so hard for these opportunities. It's a joy for them and it's a joy for us to watch them do what they love doing. The best part of this job is watching them compete."
King, who has already graduated and is taking classes he needs before taking the MCAT and applying to medical schools, has already had perhaps the most "student-athlete" day of them all. On March 3, he had to leave Georgia's game at Kennesaw State in the eighth inning to go take an organic chemistry exam. He had two hits, a run scored and an RBI in the game, and then 30 minutes later, in a borrowed office on KSU's campus, he scored on 85 on the exam.
Lovie Tabron, the Behavioral Medicine Coordinator for the UGA Athletic Association, said the resiliency of Georgia's student-athletes has been demonstrated over and over again during the past year.
After sports were shut down and classes were moved online, the Bulldogs had to adjust to being away from their teams for months. Upon their return to Athens, there was no guarantee that their seasons were going to happen. Thanks to the hard work of so many, including the student-athletes who followed the safety protocols, the seasons have happened though sometimes with last-minute schedule changes or pauses due to COVID-19 issues.
A year after everything was shut down, with the virus still a daily challenge, spring sports are in full swing as the 2020-21 athletic calendar heads down the homestretch.
"I think that this year, for National Student-Athlete Day, the word 'National' rings louder than ever because the depths of appreciation can be seen and heard nationally," Tabron said. "When things were shut down, sports were one of the things that people were so excited to have come back. Even if no one could be in the arena but you could watch from your home.
"To play such a major part in providing hope for people nationally, that just deserves such a huge round of applause."
Georgia All-American swimmer Zoie Hartman, who in February won SEC championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley and the 400 medley relay, said she came out of quarantine and into this season with a new perspective on swimming and who she is as a person.
"I think it did a lot of good for a lot of people," she said of the sports shutdown during quarantine. "I at first didn't know how to handle it. I was asking people, 'What do I do now?' It let me come to the realization that I need to figure out who I am outside of swimming, because I know swimming is not going to last forever. I have to find hobbies and things that I like that I can keep doing for as long as I can.
"I think that helped me figure out who I am and in return that helped in my swimming, being confident in who I was and appreciating what I've done."
The daily challenges brought on by the pandemic have affected all of us, from wearing masks and washing our hands regularly, to isolating and social distancing. For Georgia's student-athletes, who continue to mostly take online classes and limit their in-person interactions with people outside of their teams, the adjustments they've had to make so they can compete have been worth it, equestrian senior Carter Anderson said.
"It's kind of something that we've all gotten used to," Anderson said. "It's kind of astonishing that we've been able to continue to do it, and that's thanks to UGA athletics and our coaches and staff.
"We obviously follow the protocols that alter what we do daily but not to the point where it doesn't feel like the same sport. We wear masks throughout the barn, and the only time we don't wear them is when we're on the horse. We have some cleaning policies that we follow at the barn to make sure that the hot (common) touchpoints are being disinfected throughout the day. Besides that, we've really been able to ride as normal; we've been able to compete which is crazy — and we're really lucky to do that."
And those of us that get to watch the Bulldogs do what they love and work so hard to do, we're incredibly appreciative of the determination and adaptability that the student-athletes have demonstrated time and again over the past year. Thank you, Bulldogs, for giving us so many reasons and opportunities to cheer.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Players Mentioned
Jumping Seat
/ Equestrian
Breast / IM
/ Swimming & Diving
INF/OF
/ BaseballThursday, April 30
Thursday, April 16
Tuesday, March 03
Saturday, February 28