For the Mattins, Michigan’s
family atmosphere is only fitting
In sports, your team is a family.
Developing a relationship keeps
the team together, and the closer
it is to a family, the better. But the
Michigan wrestling team is a step
above the others, featuring three
pairs of family members — the
Amines, Corrells and Mattins.
What has the program done to
attract so many siblings? For the
Mattin brothers, it’s the family
connection. Their commitment to
wrestling together started a long
time ago.
“Over time, our relationship
has definitely changed because
we used to fist-fight all the time
when we were training,” redshirt
junior Drew Mattin said. “Now,
(Cole) is one of the best partners
to train with, so it’s come full
circle.”
“I
would
say
when
we
started off probably up until my
sophomore year of high school,
we used to fight about every single
time
we
practiced
together,”
sophomore Cole Mattin said. “ …
Definitely now, we can actually
learn from each other instead of
getting into fights every single
time.”
Drew was already in the
program for two years, and when
it was time for Cole’s commitment,
he knew his brother was going to
have an influence.
“He really did not have much
word on my commitment because
he wanted me to do what I wanted
to do, not what he wanted me
to do,” Cole said. “Obviously he
wanted me there and thought it
would be great to wrestle with
him, which is a lot of why I came
to Michigan, but in the end he did
tell me he wanted me to come to
Michigan, but he did not influence
it much. But I definitely made the
correct decision.”
Last season was Cole’s first in
the program and Drew’s third.
When Drew decided to redshirt,
Cole slid into the lineup, and Drew
gave him pointers throughout
the season. Cole won 16 of his 29
matches last year.
“Drew and I are brothers by
blood, and my teammates are
basically my brothers, just not
by blood,” Cole said. “Family is
a very big influence on our team
because we have a ton of brothers.
Actually my brother Zack is a
(high school) senior coming up
to the program next year. There’s
just a lot of things that draw you
closer to Michigan and seeing like
the family bond and how everyone
is super close is just another thing
that makes you want to go there.”
All teams have a special bond,
but according to the Mattins,
there is something about a family
relationship that just means more
in their eyes.
JAKE MOZARSKY
For The Daily
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
The Mattin brothers both chose Michigan because of its familial culture.
Can there be a college hockey season?
More than anything, I want
college hockey to start. But I’m not
sure it should.
On The Daily’s hockey beat,
we cover hockey because we love
hockey and we want to write
about hockey. For the last month,
we’ve covered a team we’ve never
seen play in person. Nothing
would make me happier than to
spend hours at Yost scrambling
to finish a flash gamer on time,
transcribing interviews for way
too long and staying awake until
ungodly hours of the night putting
the finishing touches on a story.
Of course, the fact that I want
the season to start is justifiably
irrelevant. If for some reason I
didn’t want to watch live hockey —
and would instead prefer to spend
the rest of the year searching for
player highlights on YouTube to
break down — nobody would care.
They shouldn’t care. I’m not the
one taking the ice.
The only opinion that should
matter is that of the players,
and they’ve made it clear that
they
want
to
play.
They’ve
demonstrated it by following
the rules and holding each other
accountable,
and
the
results
show they’ve stayed responsible.
Beyond one positive test from
when the team initially arrived
back on campus in July, every
COVID test — of both players and
coaches — has come up negative.
“Our players have done a great
job taking care of themselves as
far as that,” assistant coach Bill
Muckalt said. “I know everybody’s
negative right now.”
The key to keeping the players
safe is continuing and expanding
that testing and contact-tracing.
For the last few months, players
have been tested three times a
week. In accordance with the Big
Ten’s fall sports reopening plans,
that will be ramped up to daily
testing in the coming weeks.
So, to recap, people want to see
hockey games, and players want
to play hockey games. To achieve
this, the players, coaches and even
the Big Ten have come up with
and followed responsible plans of
action.
Unfortunately, the rest of us
have not.
In Ann Arbor, we have failed
to confront COVID-19 at every
level. Individual students making
poor decisions is one thing —
it’s certainly bad, and students
choosing to violate public health
guidelines are selfish and entitled
— but at least these individual
failures can, to an extent, be
contained. The unavoidable issue
is that we’re nearly seven months
into the pandemic, and testing
scarcity is still making getting
tested difficult for students. Every
test we give to athletics is one that
another vulnerable population
isn’t getting.
It’s especially problematic in
the context of the University’s
abysmal
pandemic
response.
Right now, a student can’t get a
COVID test from the University
unless they are symptomatic
or have had direct contact with
someone diagnosed with COVID.
According to the University’s
own COVID-19 dashboard, more
than half of student positive tests
in September came from outside
testing
sources.
That
means
we’re likely missing a huge chunk
of positive tests from students
without access to a car.
Those who can get tested
on
campus
—
say,
through
the COVID-19 Sampling and
Tracking
Program,
where
a
random sample of asymptomatic
student volunteers are tested each
week — will still have to wait two
days for results to process. Fall
athletes, meanwhile, will receive
rapid antigen tests every day.
This isn’t a guarantee that players
won’t get the virus, it just means
that when someone does, it’ll be
easier to keep it from becoming an
outbreak.
It’s not a problem that athletes
are getting these tests; it’s a
problem that everyone else is not.
In fairness, the Big Ten, not the
University, is shouldering the cost
of these tests for athletes. But does
that make it any more justifiable
that tens of thousands of rapid
tests will be conducted on athletes,
while local communities may
not have access to asymptomatic
testing at all? Even if they’re not
taking the opportunity for testing
from the University specifically,
the
tests
are
coming
from
somewhere.
Let me be clear on this: The
Michigan hockey team deserves
to have a season. The players have
done everything right, and in a just
situation, they would have a time
and place already set for their first
game.
But nothing about this situation
is just — for anyone. We have to
play with the cards we’re dealt, and
because of our failed pandemic
response, we’re stuck with off-suit
nines and tens. We shouldn’t have
to ration tests seven months into
the pandemic, but we do.
And frankly, I’m not sure
hockey’s worth it.
Roose can be reached at
rooseb@umich.edu or on
Twitter @BrendanRoose.
COURTESY OF TIEN LE
On the Big Ten’s dime, Michigan hockey players will be tested for COVID-19 more frequently in hopes of playing a season in the winter.
BRENDAN ROOSE
Daily Sports Editor
18 — Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Blake using national team
experience to bolster Michigan
At
18,
most
students
are
just getting things figured out:
graduating high school, pondering
future
career
trajectories
and
wasting a little too much time on
social media.
But Hannah Blake isn’t most
students. At 18, the Michigan
women’s soccer team forward was
representing her home nation, New
Zealand, in the U20 World Cup — for
the second time in her career.
In 2016, Blake played for New
Zealand in the Papua New Guinea
U20 World Cup at just 16. In 2018,
she again lined up for New Zealand
in the U20 World Cup in France,
where her highlight reel included
an impressive goal from the far
left corner of the box against the
Netherlands
“It’s a surreal experience you
can’t really describe,” Blake said.
“It’s completely awesome being able
to represent all the hard work you’ve
put in.”
Blake is reaping the benefits of
this hard work in more ways than
one. Her stellar performances in
tournaments like these were a
significant factor in her being offered
a significant role for Michigan last
year. As a freshman, Blake started 19
of the team’s 24 games, scoring two
goals and assisting three more.
Despite
these
impressive
achievements,
Blake
remains
humble. While she acknowledges
that scoring in the World Cup was a
personal achievement of significant
magnitude, Blake was adamant
that the disappointment of falling
to the Netherlands 2-1 in that game
outweighed the jubilation of scoring
the goal, as the loss meant that the
team was set up poorly for the rest of
the tournament.
For Blake, the feeling of suiting
up for New Zealand is unparalleled.
But in her first year at Michigan, she
experienced something entirely new.
“The amount of passion that
people in the U.S. have for soccer is
something that differs a lot,” Blake
said. “The amount of energy that
people bring makes it super exciting
to play at Michigan.”
The more physical style of play in
the American college game has also
pushed her boundaries as a player.
“In the U.S., there’s a bigger
emphasis
on
strength
and
other athletic attributes,” Blake
said. “You’re in a high intensity
environment all the time, which
was something I had to get used to
during my freshman year, but that’s
definitely been a positive for me.”
Blake hopes to use her time at
Michigan as a scaffold to push on to
bigger career goals.
“The Women’s World Cup is
in Australia and New Zealand in
2023, so I think that’s definitely the
direction I’d like to work toward.
Being able to represent your country
in front of home fans would be
amazing, and I think my time here at
Michigan is going to be able to help
me work toward those goals.”
GRAYSON BUNNING
For The Daily
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Hannah Blake played for New Zealand, her home country, in the U20 World Cup.
Club lacrosse rises through pandemic
As the COVID-19 pandemic
raged through the summer,
its presence loomed over the
men’s club lacrosse team’s
season.
Members
worried
about whether they would
even be able to practice as
fall crept ever closer. The
elimination of intercollegiate
play
proved
a
foregone
conclusion.
Then in late August, the
University allowed the team
to begin a public health-
informed practice schedule
at Mitchell Field, a major
stepping stone in the road
back to competition.
Like
many
Michigan
club sports, the student-led
lacrosse team faced a litany
of uncertainties coming into
the new year. With safety
precautions
impacting
everything from practices to
scheduling and recruiting to
team bonding, the lacrosse
team was forced to adapt in
order to enter its ninth season
in the National Collegiate
Lacrosse League.
Traditionally, fall means
weekly practices and some
intercollegiate play for the
team to hone its craft for the
spring season, during which
the Wolverines compete in
the NCLL’s midwest division.
If the team wins its division,
it finds itself in the national
Elite
Eight
at
the
Naval
Academy in Annapolis, Md.
However,
those
plans
are up in the air due to the
ongoing
pandemic.
There
will be no intercollegiate play
this fall, and the pandemic
has prevented the planning
of a schedule for the spring
season.
In order to stay in game
shape during the ongoing
pandemic, the team has been
practicing once a week to
work on individual skills and
team strategy, but the team
prioritizes
safety
during
practices, especially during
drills with close contact.
“When
suiting
up
for
practice on the sidelines, we
try to be a little more spread
out than usual,” club lacrosse
vice
president
Harrison
Gerber
said.
“Additionally,
we highly recommend players
wear masks whenever we
huddle up as an entire team
before and after practice to
talk. However, during the
actual drills we do not enforce
any mask wearing beyond
personal preference.”
The team also limits the
number
of
athletes
who
can attend the practices to
a maximum of around 30.
Club lacrosse has historically
been a student-led endeavor,
something which its president
was quick to mention.
“Practices are fully player-
led with members of the
e-board as well as captains
usually
taking
the
roles
of coaches,” club lacrosse
president
Andrew
Poulos
said. “We pride ourselves
that
we
are
disciplined
enough
to
run
practices,
games and whole seasons
with oversight over ourselves.
Everyone collectively knows
our goals and wants to work
toward them even without an
authoritative figure.”
Relationships
with
the
University
have
been
productive,
according
to
Poulos.
“We had to spend most of
the summer waiting to see
if we would be allowed to
use the fields,” Poulos said.
“But (the University) kept us
updated on the process when
we asked and let us know as
soon as they could.
“We definitely had to be the
initiator of most conversations
with the University as they
did not make formal decisions
apparent right away, but they
were good about responding
and explaining the situation
when we did ask.”
Club
sports
assistant
director Laurel Hanna and
program
manager
Cybbi
Barton
did
not
provide
comment in time for the
publication of this article.
But while the spring season
remains
uncertain,
Gerber
hopes some sort of working
plan can be formulated.
“Longer term, we really
hope other teams can generate
some sort of plan to return
to play so we can have a real
season this spring,” Gerber
said. “At this point, it’s pretty
much out of our hands. We can
do everything in our power
to stay game ready, but it’s
up to the greater NCLL and
our individual peer schools
to determine if we can put
together
a
schedule
this
spring.”
Poulos believes the spring
season’s future lies in the
progress of fighting COVID-
19, especially the development
of a working vaccine.
“The biggest challenge with
planning out a spring season
is the uncertainty of how the
virus will progress and what
will be safe in the future
months,” Poulos said. “We
hope, along with the rest of the
country, that COVID won’t be
an issue by the spring, but we
know that it is very possible
that we will still be fighting it.
“It is hard to plan a season
when we have very little idea
of what will be safe and what
will be allowed at that time.”
While many experienced
players are more than willing
to adapt to the new landscape
of sports during the pandemic,
club lacrosse has found itself
in a bind when it comes to
attracting new members this
fall.
Gerber hopes that the more
focused recruiting strategy
during the pandemic will
mean a higher retention of new
players into future seasons,
but Poulos worries about the
impact of pandemic recruiting
on the team’s future rosters.
“For the future, the main
issue is freshman recruiting
and team cohesion,” Poulos
said. “With virtual FestiFall
and
a
lack
of
in-person
communication, we have less
freshmen than usual right
now. While we still have
enough players, we always
like having a good group of
freshmen that will carry the
team into future seasons.”
As COVID-19 limits the
number of safe recreational
activities, forming a strong
camaraderie
among
team
members — something usually
fostered with team hangouts
and social events — poses a
difficult challenge for the
team.
“This season we feel that
having team hangouts would
be unsafe and irresponsible.
However, we still want to
make sure the community
aspect is there,” Poulos said.
“We are trying to figure out
virtual ways to do this, but
as most people around the
country now know, it is much
harder to make a connection
with someone virtually.”
Ultimately,
the
team’s
focus lies on preparing for the
uncertain spring campaign
through drills and intrasquad
competition.
“Overall, we are happy that
we can still play in a limited
capacity,” Poulos said, ”and
we hope we can still establish
the community that makes me
love this team.”
CONNOR EAREGOOD
For The Daily