Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 5 | May 2020

here at Virginia Tech to troubleshoot any problems before they became an issue, given our large volume of tutoring,” Armstrong said. “Our SAASS staff and coaches then did an amazing job of communicating with our student- athletes to ensure that they were fully informed and prepared to move to Zoom tutoring sessions.” Basically, all student-athletes at Tech remain in constant communication with SAASS counselors. In addition to meeting with student-athletes individually through Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype and reaching out through emails, calls and texts, the staff counselors also log in to virtual team meetings that occur weekly, using the opportunity to be seen, relay important messages, and remind student-athletes of important deadlines. In addition, the counselors stay in regular communication with the coaching staffs, providing them with updates on academic progress and any university changes and even enlisting their help when needed. Plus, they stay in contact with professors and receive progress reports on student-athletes through the university’s online platform called Navigate. Of course, all of this is done with an eye to the future as well. The staff navigated course request for the fall, which ended April 7, and continues to plan for summer school. The SAASS staff constantly juggles all that comes its way. But they have been diligent and committed to doing everything that they were before, albeit in a different fashion. “I had concerns as to how the students would respond and the overwhelming logistics of moving everything online,” Armstrong said. “Since then, I’ve been extremely thankful for all of the hard work the entire SAASS office has been doing and how we have all pulled together. They are a dedicated group of individuals who put their heart and soul into everything. For many of us, that means working outside of the standard 8-5 hours to be available for our students when they need assistance. We have a great group of students, staff, coaches, and administration to work with. People really make all the difference, and this experience has really showed how great it is to be a Hokie.” TAKING CARE OF MEDICAL NEEDS The adjustment to a virtual, technology-driven world probably was harder for the Tech sports medicine staff than any other group—and not because they lacked the capability to do so. HASN’T STOPPED WORK FOR TECH STUDENT-ATHLETE SUPPORT AREAS A behind-the-scenes group of people remain committed to helping student-athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic—and are using creative methods to do so by Jimmy Robertson Continued on page 14 inside.hokiesports.com 13 Members of the sports nutrition staff continued to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, including handing out Gatorade and protein shakes on April 22 to student-athletes who stayed in Blacksburg.