by Edonnya Alvarez

With COVID-19 taking the world by storm, changes have been made here at AB, including the hours at the Cave. Before the virus, the Cave was open until 11p.m. and on the weekends it was opened until 10p.m. These hours have changed during these unprecedented times causing an inconvenience to many, especially athletes.

These hours are not ideal for the athletes who get out of practice after 9p.m. The Cave should reconsider staying open for a longer time or the athletic department should not schedule practice times during these new hours.

Being a student athlete during the pandemic comes with its advantages and disadvantages. An advantage would be that AB is able to hold practices but a disadvantage would be that practices may run through dining hours. 

Senior Brianna Miranda says, “it is very disappointing when I get out of practice and I cannot have a late night snack.” Miranda, who is on the lacrosse team, has practice that overlaps with these hours often. There are days where she will not leave practice until 9p.m. or 10p.m., which is when the cave closes. “Having a meal after practice is hard when the Cave is closed and I do not have a kitchen.” Miranda said.

There are sports who have practice during dinner time, which is why they have to eat late at night. But there is more to it, with practices being held at Philip Barbour High School, they travel on and off campus. This lowers their chances of making it back on time for their late night meal. 

The former hours of the Cave were never an issue for athlete’s because if they missed dinner, the Cave was their only option to make sure they got a chance to eat after practice. 

But to also prevent this, the athletic department should take into consideration how scheduling practices during closing hours is something that should not be ideal. With a campus full of athlete’s, scheduling the appropriate practice times for each team may be challenging, but there needs to be alternatives for the sports who have late night practices, like being able to order their food before closing hours and the Cave should not be allowed to close until their food has been picked up.

In order to make sure everyone gets a chance to eat, the Cave hours need to change, especially for athlete’s with late night practices.

by Brianna Miranda

Alderson Broaddus University community continues to grow with new staff, students, and coaches. 

New hire and assistant coach, Maegan Laymon, joins the women’s lacrosse team after establishing her love for the game of lacrosse and leadership in coaching college athletes. Laymon, a Illion, New York native, grew up playing soccer and participating in track and field with her two brothers before discovering lacrosse at Green Mountain College, where she was a dual sport student athlete. Laymon also participated in bowling where she was a state qualifier. 

When asked what drew her interest to the AB community, Laymon says, “I like being in the middle of nowhere, the campus is very nice and it’s not too far away from some of my family. They live about 45 minutes away from here.” 

Coach Laymon goes on to explain her excitement to begin her journey as a Battler.

“There’s so much talent and potential on this team that we can do a lot with, I’m excited to be brought on board,” Laymon said.

As much excitement there is to starting at a new program, Coach Laymon has personal and team goals for each individual to accomplish. 

“I’m looking forward to where the team can take its potential to, we have a lot to accomplish and that decides where the program takes off to,” Laymon said. 

A coaching philosophy is something coaches tend to live by while helping guide their athletes to structure. Maegan Laymon shares her coaching philosophy that she plans to bring on board with her to the team.

“As a coach, I rely on effective communication as it will demonstrate the athlete’s ability to hone in on their skills, challenges and overall voice,” Laymon said. “This is important when trying to develop not only their athleticism, but also enhances their ability to advocate for themselves in the future. I believe if you can converse with an athlete to set their own long and short term goals, it provides them with direction and motivation to keep them on track.