THUNDER BAY – Jared Kreiner lives in the gym.
Win or lose, after most Lakehead Thunderwolves men’s basketball games, fans can find the third-year guard out on the hardwood, firing up shot after shot trying to improve his game.
It shouldn’t be all that surprising.
The work ethic comes naturally, his father Jon the long-time head coach of the Thunderwolves women’s basketball team and a former university player himself.
The younger Kreiner grew up around the gym, which is why the COVID-19 shutdown has been so tough. Even tougher was learning that the earliest he and his teammates might start looking to build on a season that saw them vault into the national rankings is Jan. 1.
It’s tough, he said.
“Yeah, it’s pretty disappointing,” said the younger Kreiner, who at times this past season showed signs of being able to take on a much bigger role as the outside threat he proved to be in high school, leading the St. Ignatius Falcons to multiple championships.
“I don’t think you’ll find a single student athlete that says they’re happy about it. But at the same time, we all understand it’s necessary for the player safety and for the community’s safety as well. I guess as players, we’re not mad, we’re just disappointed.”
The OUA, following suit with other governing bodies for university in Canada, last week announced it was cancelling all fall semester sports and for now, won’t consider allowing other sports, like hockey, volleyball and basketball, to return until the new year.
Most universities have also dictated classes will be held online only for the foreseeable future, which further complicates the ability to have student athletes on campus and able to practice together.
It’s not going to be easy to keep in game shape, Jared Kreiner said.
“It’s pretty frustrating because we’re already missing out the first half of the semester and now we can’t even get inside the gym to shoot. I feel if gyms were able to be open it would be not as upsetting,” he said.
His father Jon has a whole other set of concerns to deal with.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a lot of answers to give his players at this point. There are no guarantees the OUA will allow games to be played at all in 2020-21. And with travel restrictions in place, the veteran coach isn’t even sure he can get all his players into the country in the first place. Veteran guard Sofia Lluch, who blossomed last season, is stuck in Spain, while first-year guard Rhianna-Mae Laing remains at home in England.
Not that the decision was all that unexpected, he said, adding his heart goes out to all student athletes, coaches and athletics staff at universities across the land.
"It's every student athlete’s dream to play university sports and to continue that dream. To have that taken away from them, something they’ve done pretty much every day of their lives has got to be very tough,” said the elder Kreiner, who keeps the competitive fires burning at home with knock-down, drag-‘em-out Monopoly games and other contests with his family – and yes, there are championship belts to be won.
“But at the same time, it was an expected decision and we fully support it.”
Jon Kreiner said preparing for the unknown is tough, both with his LU squad and his Junior Wolves team that includes his daughter, but he’s been in constant communication with his varsity team and with coaches across the country, with the latter looking to create something that provides value to the athletes.
“There have been a lot of negative things that have happened in 2020 already, from Kobe Bryant to a lot of other things to this. That doesn’t mean this year can’t be special. And I think that’s what we want to be focusing on.”
