The sports clubs on the CPP campus suffered massive setbacks for the fall semester due to the continued campus shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to the spring campus shutdown, the Men’s Volleyball Club would compete in the Southern California Collegiate Volleyball League. They typically competed in tournaments every other weekend starting in February and ending in March with the possibility of Nationals in April.
Noah Pasimio, fourth-year chemical engineering student and vice president of the Men’s Volleyball Club, expressed that it was difficult to do anything regarding the club with all pandemic precautions in place. “After our tournaments got canceled and the school closed down, all we’ve been able to do is keep everyone updated through our Instagram page with the closures that were happening,” said Pasimio.
Although the team will not be holding any tryouts for the fall semester, Pasimio hopes they can recruit in the spring.
The Powerlifters Sports Club would train twice a month, as well as host educational meetings and guest speakers monthly. However, according to Andre Nazarian, third-year biochemistry student and president of the club, said the club has not been operating since the spring semester suspension of in-person instruction.
“With all the gyms being closed it made it incredibly difficult to continue the club since we couldn’t even meet on Zoom to talk about our progress,” Nazarian said.
The club will remain non-operating as long as the campus and gyms remain closed.
Prior to the pandemic, the Triathlon Club was competing in the West Coast Collegiate Triathlon Conference and would race against schools throughout the state. They would also compete annually in a regional competition in San Luis Obispo, California. Along with many other sports clubs on campus, the club had to put all competitions on pause for the fall semester.
“All the races we were scheduled to compete in were in March and April and there aren’t any races in the fall, so it was hard to keep people motivated for practices,” said Leonardo Garcia, fourth-year math student and president of the Triathlon Club. “Our numbers dropped because there was nothing to compete for.”
With spring races announced in November, Garcia hopes he will be able to restart the team by then. “The pandemic hit the team hard and all the separation hit the team morale pretty badly,” said Garcia. “But, hopefully, if races are announced for the spring, we can pick up right where we left off and start practicing again.”
Adrian Chua, second-year mechanical engineering student and president of the Kendo and Iaido Club, and Benjamin Nguyen, fourth-year computer information system student and club scheduler, were able to make the best out of the pandemic situation by meeting with their members and holding practices on Saturdays over Zoom.
In other years, the Kendo and Iaido Club competed against other universities throughout California and New York through the UCLA Yuhihai Intercollegiate Kendo Taikai Tournament every year.
The team is also a part of the Southern California Kendo Federation, where members can attend Zoom meetings at different dojos if they cannot attend club practice. “We are closely tied to the Covina dojo, so members can practice with them on Tuesdays and Thursdays (over Zoom),” said Chua.
The club faced its own set of obstacles with members losing motivation to practice while at home or not having the appropriate space available to practice at home. In order to keep team morale up, Nguyen has planned movie and game nights for the team in place of their canceled competitions.
The club held a recruitment meeting for the fall through the CPP Fest PLUS Virtual Club Fair with the Student Interest Council. “Our main focus is to get as many people in the club as possible,” said Chua. “We want to spread as much awareness of the club as we can so that way, we can gain more traction.”
Sports clubs are a part of the Campus Recreation department run by the Associated Students Inc. (ASI) at CPP. The program is an opportunity for students all over campus to participate in competitive activities. All teams are student-run, meaning students set up their own practices, coordinate their games or competitions and obtain a volunteer coach if needed.