ST. BONAVENTURE Even now, over two months after the official announcement, the reality of its situation still stings.

The St. Bonaventure mens soccer team would have been six games into its 2020 season by this point. It would have been on the cusp of starting an anticipated Atlantic 10 campaign in earnest. At 4 p.m. today, it would have taken its home turf at the Marra Athletics Complex for a game against Little 3 rival Niagara.

Instead, it will enter its second week of full team training, one that might be punctuated with, at most, an intrasquad scrimmage. Instead, mainly, it continues to be patient.

Bona knew by mid-July that it wasnt going to have its regularly-scheduled fall season, that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it would have to wait until the spring of 2021 for its next chance to play for real. And though that news was far more expected than it was for teams last March, making it a bit easier to process, it was still a massive blow.

It still meant no in-season soccer for guys who likely couldnt recall their last fall without it.

IM THINKING about my players, sixth-year Bona coach Kwame Oduro said during a phone interview last Thursday. I want them to have the same experience I had in college, and be good men, be good players, hopefully play after and do whatever they want. So for me, its all about them. In this generation where I think kids are more fragile, when a big change like this happens in your life, its pretty hard on some kids.

And yet, as any number of collegiate and scholastic athletes have, impressively, been willing and made to do, theyve tried their best to maintain a positive outlook in the face of such trying circumstances.

For Oduro and the Bonnies, that means spinning it thusly: Their 2020 campaign now runs a full year rather than just the fall semester.

Two years ago, Bona had only two weeks of preseason practice, and no games, before having to open, on the road, against No. 6 Louisville. Still, it fared well, scoring first and giving the Cardinals everything they could handle before bowing 2-1. Now, given the leagues decision to push the season into next spring, itll have put an entire semesters worth of work in before playing that first contest.

What people dont know is, all these big programs, theyre bringing kids in for summer camps; theyre there months before everyone else is, Oduro noted, and the rule says you can train, you can play, as long as youre doing camp. And so these guys are always ahead of all of us.

So in defense, maybe this catches everybody up. All the small schools like us, maybe we have a chance now to catch up and get our players a little more organized and ready against these big schools.

AS PART of its return-to-play action plan, Bona, as with the schools other athletics programs, has reacclimated in phases.

Initially, players had to quarantine for two weeks before returning to campus and turn in a negative COVID-19 test both prior and upon their arrival. In Phase 2 (after being cleared to begin workouts on Aug. 31), Bona was able to hold non-contact workouts in 10-player pods, which, according to Oduro, was like going back to summer camp, fun stuff, where youre doing things with the ball. Now in Phase 3, which began last week, the Bonnies are back to holding full team workouts with contact, playing and training the way were supposed to, Oduro said.

And so far, hes pleased with his teams progress.

After the first week, it was a little tough, because I think they were just excited to be back back on campus and with a ball, he acknowledged. I think (last week) was excellent. Theyve been going after it, theyre playing like we actually have a game this coming week. So thats awesome.

Looking ahead, he added: The next phase after these couple weeks is hopefully we can scrimmage teams, some friendlies around us if were allowed or able to to play teams (within the region) as a way to keep our guys motivated.

MOTIVATION, at this point, it seems, would be the biggest question mark.

The Bonnies dont have that Niagara game to look forward to today, nor the home coup within their home conference slate: a Saturday, Oct. 10 game under the lights against Duquesne. Without that carrot, and with both the pandemic and uncertainty still very much in the picture, perhaps they dont go quite as hard as they normally might. Maybe, right now, there are as many bad days as there are good.

But that hasnt been the case, Oduro insisted.

Obviously, we thought about that as a staff and were very glad that the motivation hasnt diminished, he said. In the end, youre Division I athletes. This is what they do, this is what theyve been doing their whole life. They want to compete, they want to play. So our job as coaches is to always try to put something in training to make sure theyre motivated.

Starting this week, Bona will stage a once-a-week intrasquad scrimmage, where its up to them to see if they can figure it out tactically, and a prize will be awarded to the winning team. Anything, Oduro said, that will help to keep it hungry.

Its all with the idea of selling to his Bonnies that this campaign has become a marathon rather than an eight-week fall sprint.

If youre a new player coming in, its actually great for you because now you get to be with your teammates, train and understand our principles, how we play and learn that, so that when it is a real game, you have a better understanding, Oduro said. Whereas before, you get two weeks and if you havent figured it out, sorry, its too late, were already in the middle of the season.

Were looking at a full-year season. What we learn now is only going to benefit us in the spring. Maybe thats the best way of doing it. Its a full year, so lets learn, lets play, lets enjoy it now, and then when competition comes, we all know our duties and our roles.

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