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Thursday, July 23, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

‘M’ football parents express worry over testing

Despite being optimistic about 

conference-only play, Chris and 
Mya Hinton still have concerns. So, 
with two sons currently in college 
football programs — Myles at 
Stanford and sophomore defensive 
lineman Chris Jr. at Michigan — the 
Hintons have chosen to be vocal.

Tuesday night, Chris and Mya 

appeared on HBO’s Real Sports 
with Bryant Gumbel and expressed 
their grievances about the approach 
the NCAA and college football 
programs have taken to reintroduce 
players to campus and practices.

“As a parent of a student athlete, 

actually, it pissed me off,” Chris said 
on Real Sports.

“... Why can’t there be some kind 

of universal procedures, protocol, 
for integrating our sons back to 
campus?”

This comes after the Hintons 

appealed to the NCAA, expressing 
their concerns. They said they 
received a dismissive response 
back, and the most frustrating part 
is the lack of input from players and 
their parents that the NCAA has 
allowed.

“The players, who probably have 

as much to lose as anybody, had no 

voice, were voiceless,” Chris said. 
“And as parents, we felt the same as 
the kids — we were voiceless.”

In an attempt to have parents’ 

voices heard, Chris and Mya 
founded 
the 
Facebook 
group 

College 
Football 
Parents 
24/7. 

There, parents could express the 

concerns many of them shared.

What it all comes down to is 

simple, safety:

“We just want it to be done right 

and safely,” Chris told The Daily last 
week. “We want our sons to be safe, 
as any other parent would want.”

While 
the 
Hintons 
have 

expressed they felt Michigan has 
handled COVID-19 well in the 
past, their tone and demeanor on 
Tuesday night’s program told a 
different story. They were upset, 
they were scared and there wasn’t 
much sense of optimism coming 
from them.

And while their primary concern 

is about safety, their frustration 
is kindled by what they see as the 
reasoning behind bringing the 
students back — money.

College 
football 
generates 

billions of dollars a year, and their 
two 
sons’ 
programs 
generate 

over 200 million dollars a year 
combined. For Chris and Mya, that 
money isn’t worth risking their 
children’s health, especially when 
the universities aren’t even willing 
to let their own staff on campus.

“The optics of that is alarming,” 

Chris said. “What does it say about 
your concern about our kids, our 
sons?”

And while the Ivy League and 

other smaller leagues have canceled 
their fall season for the sake of 
player safety, larger leagues have 
not followed suit. 

“This is ridiculous,” Chris said. 

“They’re not even hiding the fact 
that it’s all about revenue. It’s about 
revenue. And it’s about the money.”

With both their sons currently on 

campus for voluntary workouts, the 
Hintons fear the worst is yet to come 
if the NCAA and college programs 
themselves don’t critically review 
and alter their current approach.

“Just 
based 
on 
statistics 

somebody 
— 
somebody’s 
kid’s 

gonna die,” Chris said. “And so the 
numbers are screaming ‘pump the 
brakes.’ ”

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

Michigan parents Chris and Mya Hinton expressed distress about the way the NCAA is handling COVID-19 on HBO Tuesday.

NICHOLAS STOLL

Summer Managing Sports Editor

Dy and Schulz return to golf in amateur event

Opportunities 
for 
actual 

competition are few and far 
between this summer, but golf 
remains one of the only sports 
in the country where social 
distancing 
isn’t 

a major obstacle. 
This past week, 
two 
Michigan 

women’s 
golfers 

seized 
the 

opportunity 
and 
competed 

in the Michigan 
Women’s Amateur 
Championship at 
Forest Akers Golf 
Course. 

Sophomores Anika Dy and 

Mikaela Schulz competed in 
two rounds of stroke play before 
advancing in the top 32 to match 
play, where Dy advanced to the 
quarterfinals and Schulz was 

eliminated in the first round. 

Dy rode a strong putting 

ability and overall good striking 
to match play, shooting a 71 
and 75 on the first two days. 
She was forced to change her 
approach for the match play to 
a more aggressive style, which 
carried her through the first 

two rounds. 

“I was pretty 

consistent 
through 
those 

two 
days 
(of 

stroke play),” Dy 
said. “Then match 
play hit and it’s 
like 
a 
totally 

different mindset 
and I’m definitely 
a stronger stroke 
play player. I was 

more comfortable the first two 
days, but match play was super 
fun. I’m just bummed that I 
couldn’t make it farther.”

Failing to recover from poor 

shots, coupled with shaky wedge 

and short game play, Dy lost in 
the third round of match play. 
She struggled right from the 
beginning of her final round, but 
was able to add some excitement 
going down the stretch on a run 
with some birdies. It wasn’t 
enough –– she ultimately lost the 
match with two holes to go. 

Despite being eliminated in 

the first round of match play, 
Schulz was pleased with her 
overall 
performance 
at 
the 

tournament, crediting her recent 
work on her mental game with a 
lot of her success. 

“I’m really working on just 

trusting my game and trust in 
my abilities,” Schulz said. “My 
game is more consistent than it 
has been in the past so I’m pretty 
proud of that. I think my game is 
really headed in a good direction 
right now.” 

Schulz’ mental strength was 

tested as soon as match play 
began, when she was down three 
with three holes to play. After 

not hitting a single fairway on 
the front nine, Schulz stepped 
up confidently to the tee on the 
16th hole and hit a really tight 
fairway, setting up an excellent 
approach shot to help her extend 
the match. 

With both girls competing in 

less than half the tournaments 
of a normal summer, this one 
came with added pressure, but 
both managed to treat it like any 
normal tournament. 

“It just motivates me and 

drives me to keep working and 
keep going,” Schulz said. “It’s 
really why I play the game.” 

LILY ISRAEL

Daily Sports Writer

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Sophomores Mikaela Schulz and Anika Dy played in an amateur golf tournament.

“I’m just 
bummed I 

couldn’t make it 

farther.”

