A PRE-SEASON like no other for the Bendigo Spirit reached and unsought, but fascinating turning point on Thursday.
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This week's second 'Spirit at home' Zoom training session was the 45th and last in a 23-week block of players being apart, but connected online.
Head coach Tracy York hopes the next time the group gets together for training, it can be in person, and in as soon as a few weeks, be it in Bendigo, or elsewhere, should the WNBL press ahead with a season inside a bubble.
Read more: WNBL hubs 'likely, says Spirit coach
After taking part in sessions from the comfort of their own homes and backyards for most of those weeks, players have recently returned to the court for training - albeit at locations spread across Australia and New Zealand - bringing an end to the need for the Zoom sessions.
"I've got coaches working with them. Obviously, we can't see the Melbourne ones, but they now have permission to go to a court and are going three times a week and we have got someone assisting me with coaching them," said York, speaking ahead of a major announcement for the club today (Friday).
"The country ones can get to Bendigo, while the players in Adelaide and New South Wales have always been able to get to the court.
"With players on running programs and strength and conditioning programs, it got to a point that there were that many sessions, that the Zoom had done its job and it was time to move forward and get onto a court."
The Spirit opted to change things up for the final session, making it a dress-up.
Players donned various costumes and sporting jerseys, and presented with an array of hairstyles, with pig-tails proving popular among some.
A leader on the court, star point guard Tessa Lavey gained the nod as MVP by dressing as a training cone, while home-bred development player Piper Dunlop paid homage to her roots by donning her junior Bendigo Braves jersey.
York, who is heading into her second season as coach, believed the 'Spirit at home' sessions had been worth their weight in gold and would hold the playing group in good stead for when they could eventually come together.
"We kicked-off probably two or three weeks after COVID really took off at the end of March," she said.
"We've logged in at 10am every Tuesday and Thursday and probably averaged between six to 10 players each week, if they weren't working. Especially when the second lockdown hit, all the Melbourne crew were back in.
"Besides the fitness, it's given them something to look forward to. We even gave them homework after each session on Thursday.
"We wanted to be as ready as we could for when the WNBL comes to us and tells us that we are starting. I'm sure we are going to be ready to go.
"Here in Adelaide, the girls are having been playing and training with their local teams, whereas the girls in Victoria haven't had that benefit.
"We've just had to make sure they've been doing the things needed to stay fit and focused.
"I would be feeling a lot less confident if we hadn't got everyone together.
"But I think the really good thing to come out of it is the girls have got to know each other.
"In a normal off-season, they would have been playing with their own separate teams in NBL1 and touching base every now and then.
"Because we are seeing them each week visually, we have really grown together as a group of people."
Where the Spirit players are: Mary Goulding (Christchurch, New Zealand); Cassidy McLean (Newcastle); Alicia Froling (Townsville); Jennie Rintala, Demi Skinner, coach Tracy York (Adelaide); Shelby Britten (Shepparton); Tessa Lavey, Piper Dunlop (Bendigo); Amelia Todhunter, Carley Ernst, Paige Price and Georgia Pineau (Melbourne).
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