T&T's professional netballers Samantha Wallace, Kalifa McCollin and Daystar Swift remain overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wallace, who is in Australia and pair McCollin and Swift have been improving their game while promoting T&T’s reputation in the sport. The local trio shared their lockdown experiences with host Andre Errol Baptiste on Isports Thursday on I95.5fm.
"Due to the coronavirus over here is tense. Like you have to treat each person when you walk down the road like they have the virus sorry to say," said Wallace, who features for the New South Wales Swifts.
"But the lifestyle over her is pretty much normal for me, it's like my bread and butter that’s what I do every day but for other people the lifestyle is crazy. People are panic buying so you go to the grocery store and you're only allowed to have one item per person. I know a lady had to actually prove that she had kids she had to provide for in order to get supplies in the grocery store.
"The restrictions here as of last night (Friday) I was watching the news the government locked off all beaches, no international flights to come into Australia, you can get fined if you don’t abide by the rules so it's pretty much getting intense around here in Australia.
"In terms of training, we are not training right now. Monday gone was our last training session as a team before we break off they said our health and well-being is way bigger than just netball so we are on a pause. The league is on pause for now until June 30 was the date they gave us, just in case the virus actually settles down, the season will go ahead, if not the season will be pushed back and so it may be cancelled, who knows.
"We have our own home gym like our bikes and weights, we can do gym in our household our backyard or whatever. It's pretty much crappy at the moment not waking up every morning to go to training and doing your job but our health is much bigger and better."
Wallace admits she is missing T&T but understands the current world situation as regards to travel.
"I'm missing home like crazy. Coming home was definitely an option but due to the netball league not acting quickly in terms of the coronavirus and sending internationals home, I have decided to stay here even though our borders had closed off. I don't want to take the chance to go to the airport and then get the virus and come home to spread it for my loved ones.
"It may not affect me or my immune system but definitely, I'm thinking about myself and my loved ones. Especially if you have grandparents who sickly, you don't want to be around them, a child who had asthma, or someone who is diabetic. So my option was just to stay put. It sucks being out here by yourself but hey it's for the best." said Wallace, who sent a message to T&T to please isolate.
Swift is contracted to the Northern Stars which compete in the ANZ Premiership Netball League.
"The atmosphere here is very quiet with most people adhering to the isolation request by the government, however, my training continues, individually of course in our garage which has been converted to a mini gym," said Swift, who is T&T’s leading defensive player either as goal-keeper or goal-defence is thinking about her loved ones.
“Obviously missing my family at the moment, at this time, especially, as they were scheduled to meet me on the 27th of this month but due to the travel restrictions and concern for their health, we changed the date on their tickets and hopefully they will be able to get here as soon as possible. The option was also there for me to come home but again travel restrictions and safety concerns."
McCollin, a contracted netball player for the Southern Steel, said, "At the moment, everybody is preparing for a four-week lockdown - schools businesses, etc - have been closed and only places that supply basic needs will remain open during this time.
"Even though training venues have been shut, there is still a possibility that the competition may resume after the lockdown period so this is in no way a vacation for me, as I still have to do video analysis, isometrics and some conditioning though work from home, so if you are called upon to play at any time, we will be able to hit the ground running."
As for her family and friends, McCollin misses them but like her national teammates encouraged all to take heed of the information being dispatched to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"During this time, I miss my friends, my family but in the midst of all of this chaos, I don’t think coming home was ever a thought for me because I knew it probably would not have been the best option for me and my health and my families' health as well, so as a team, we are trying to stay in contact through Whatsapp group and zoom calls and basically post weekly challenges to each other so we would not get bored at home," said McCollin.