Winter Athlete’s COVID Struggle Part 3

As the end of 2020 approaches, almost everyone is in agreement that this year posed challenges previously never dealt with. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused people’s lives to shift in a major way, especially the lives of winter athletes.

Winter sports have been paused due to rising COVID-19 cases, meaning many athletes are missing out on their seasons. Aringha Shree Arumugham, 12, is no exception. She has been a part of the Viewettes dance team for two years. “I absolutely love it. It’s so fun and a great time during my day,” Arumugham said. “I was a little upset because I knew I would be missing some good memories.”

 For now, members of the dance team are training from home. According to Arumugham, the Viewettes train through Zoom and are sending in videos of their progress. “We are supposed to know our routines by heart so that we can jump back into season ready to compete.” she said. “Basically, we do a Zoom practice during the week and we send in videos on our own time for more practice.”

The changes that putting sports on hold has brought also comes new difficulties. “I miss the fun parts and it’s hard to do some of the routines from home so I get frustrated sometimes,” Arumugham said. Even with the difficulties this season, she feels the Viewettes will make it through together.

There is no doubt that this year has been hard on athletes everywhere, but with that hardship comes hope for next year’s season. Arumugham is happy about the possibilities of what may come next year, “I think recently it looks like they are going to have a normal season next year which is very exciting!”