The Université Laval Rouge et Or visit the Université de Montréal Carabins on Sunday for a decisive football game for the regular season championship. The stands will be full, the atmosphere will be boosted and we should be entitled to a good match between the two great rivals of Quebec university sport.
A return “to normal” in a way, even if the pandemic is not over and many health rules continue to apply. And for those in charge of the two programs, Manon Simard in Montreal and Julie Dionne in Laval, this resumption of university sports activities is the crowning achievement of tremendous efforts on the part of all those involved.
“It’s a huge pressure that falls”, confessed Mme Simard, Director General of CEPSUM and Sport of Excellence at the University of Montreal, this week in an interview. “For 19 months, we had become health experts without having the skills; there we can start to focus a little more on sport, on what we like to do. ”
Julie Dionne is also relieved. “It’s not easy to tell student athletes that they will have to take a break from sports,” explains the director of the sports activities department at Laval University. People on the outside do not realize how much sport and education are intertwined in the lives of these young people. “
As a former student athlete, I had a lot of empathy for them, like all of our staff, and we have really done everything in our power to limit the effects of the pandemic.
Julie Dionne, Director of the Sports Activities Department at Laval University
No one suspected that the suspension of university sports activities would be so long.
“March 12 [2020], our women’s hockey team was playing its first game of the Canadian championships in the Maritimes, recalls Manon Simard. I remember calling Danièle Sauvageau [la directrice générale de l’équipe], in the middle of the first period, to tell him to go to the airport to buy tickets to bring everyone back immediately after the game. She replied: “Are you sick?”, But she quickly realized that I was not kidding.
“We also brought back two volleyball teams, our swim team, and the next morning everyone was in Montreal. On the spot, they did not understand the situation, did not see the wave that was about to break, but I quickly realized what was happening and there was no question of taking risks with the health of our young people. ”
To stay in contact
Mmy Dionne and Simard say they have never had to participate in as many meetings as in recent months.
“Strangely enough, I have probably never been so often with Glen [Constantin, l’entraîneur-chef de l’équipe de football] and all our coaches, even if it was virtually, says Julie Dionne. We had meetings almost every day to take stock of the situation and relay the information we received from the RSEQ or the authorities. It was important to keep in touch, we with the staff and they with all the young people. ”
In Montreal, Manon Simard adds: “The University has made the choice to prioritize coaches, to keep everyone in place, because they are the ones on the front line. Together with the physical trainers and physiotherapists, they formed the triangle that ensured contact with our student athletes. Thanks to them, we were able to keep our young people active and motivated in their studies. We are also fortunate to have the resources of a university community which have enabled us to support young people in all areas, particularly psychologically. ”
In Quebec, Julie Dionne also mobilized all the resources of Laval University. “Last fall, when we had to cancel all activities, it was really hard for everyone. It was heavy with all the bad news falling one after the other. Even in the management, we were eager to have good things to announce.
We have a psychological help service and the requests really exploded at that time. Sometimes, just for a consultation, to talk, to evacuate negative thoughts; other times, for more serious situations, when the young people were experiencing difficulties in their immediate environment.
Julie dionne
Fortunately, with the gradual easing, hope has returned.
“I was impressed by the creativity of our coaches,” explains Julie Dionne. They’ve found all kinds of ways to help their players stay active while playing by the rules. Some have taken all their equipment outside, with all the resources that this implies, others have had our artificial pitches cleared a month earlier than usual, in order to take advantage of all the small openings that the authorities granted us. ”
And the recovery
From a larger perspective, the pandemic has forced everyone to work together, even if it is from a distance. A period of adaptation was necessary.
“We faced different visions, different regional realities too,” underlines Manon Simard. We did not experience the same things in Montreal as in Quebec or in the region. We did not have the same definition of the problem, not the same approach. Some weighed on the gas, while others had both feet on the brakes. “
It was a long time before we found a way to work together, when our realities were so different.
Manon Simard, Executive Director of CEPSUM and Excellence Sport at the University of Montreal
“At the Canadian level, we quickly retreated to our conferences, and it was interesting to see how each approached the problem differently. Elsewhere, they have multiplied the plans, being constantly forced to throw them in the trash. Here in Quebec, we preferred to wait for developments in order to keep some leeway, if there was ever a possibility of restarting the machine.
“I think it was positive, although we maybe pushed it a bit too far, like last fall, when we canceled the season at the very last minute. We wanted so much and all the directors were in agreement, but it’s a shame that the young people suffered when the decision fell. ”
“We believed in it until the last minute,” adds Julie Dionne. I am optimistic by nature, I always thought that we would eventually find a solution and I worked to the end so that the season could take place. But you have to know how to rally when the situation is obviously bigger than sport. ”
A year and a half later, varsity sport is back and the fall season is in full swing. For the Carabins, however, it almost did not start.
Manon Simard says: “The Wednesday of our first football game in Sherbrooke, we had a positive case, only one player, but new instructions had just been published, and it was not clear how they should apply. . On Friday, we no longer played the next day, and we spent the evening and a good part of the night in a virtual conference with the people of Sherbrooke, the RSEQ, Public Health …
“We took it up again on Saturday morning, while our entire team was gathered on the CEPSUM field while awaiting a decision. From my office, I watched them pace. When we finally got the clearance I texted Marco [Iadeluca, l’entraîneur-chef] and I just wished him, “Good game, coach.” I don’t know what he said to the guys, but they all got up at the same time screaming to run for the bus. The feeling of release that we felt at that moment was magical. ”
In Quebec City, Julie Dionne also emphasizes how positive the resumption of activities has been. “We were very much in the competition, in the results, but the pandemic made us rediscover the simple and great pleasure of playing, of training, of being able to practice our sport.
Glen [Constantin] Repeats it often at a press conference and it is a feeling shared by everyone in the university network. The competition will come back, probably from Sunday with the football match, because we are still competitive people, but we will never forget how lucky we are.
Julie dionne
And the two directors are already focused on the post-pandemic and its long-term consequences. “There will be impacts for a long time, if only because of the cessation of sport for many and the effects that this will have on their long-term health,” explains Julie Dionne.
“We are just starting to realize it,” adds Manon Simard. In recent months, we were in the action, we found recipes to adjust, to meet needs. There, we start to see the backlash. It happens to us all over the place, often from “left field”, and we realize that we are not trained for that, that it requires other resources.
“We had the pandemic in the face, with large medical teams and the commitment of all levels of government. We will also have to be ready for the post-pandemic. ”
Summit meeting
After a surprising start to the season, surprising defeats by both teams against unusual rivals, the Carabins (5-1) and the Rouge et Or (5-2) have regained their marks and they will face each other on Sunday in a game that will determine the regular season champion of the Quebec college football conference. Winners in Quebec on September 18, 18-17, the Carabins will try to maintain their ascendancy in front of their supporters. “We had the same preparation as usual, but we feel the guys more excited, it’s obvious, recognized the head coach Marco Iadeluca by videoconference. It’s a special game and there is a lot of intensity. “In Quebec, head coach Glen Constantin also noted:” This is the biggest rivalry in student sport in Quebec and it’s really exciting to live such a week, both for the players and for the coaches. ”