The ripple effect of COVID-19 on the sports world is certainly not limited to what’s seen on ESPN each night. This past fall, college athletes across the country were also forced to come to terms with canceled seasons.

The Indiana Men’s Soccer program is no exception.

While the team may still be fortunate to eventually play at some point during the coming spring, what hasn’t changed is the amount of free time that the Hoosiers have been tasked with filling. The way that one of the country’s greatest college soccer programs is now choosing to spend that free time – may come as a surprise.

Led by senior Joe Schmidt, Indiana is trading in the cleats for the rod and reel, turning to fishing as an opportunity to bond together, be outdoors, and continue building team chemistry while away from the field.

“I’ve been here for almost four years and really haven’t seen a ton of Bloomington,” Schmidt said. “I like to explore, so I’ve been doing a lot of that, and along the way I bring a rod, and if I come across a pond I try to catch something there.”

Schmidt and fellow senior Jacob Gruber have helped inspire others to hop on board – especially a few of the team’s underclassmen, who, in spite of the pandemic, continue to do what they can to become acquainted with their new teammates.

“I hear a lot about this not being what college is about just because of all the things we have to watch out for now,” freshman Lukas Hummel said. “But I feel like I’ve made the most of it. The biggest thing is that I’m getting an education, I’m able to play soccer, and the team is able to still train.”

Until IU can get back on the pitch, this group of Hoosiers will go by a different name – ‘Bass FC’ – a collaboration between the game they love, and an activity that will have to serve as replacement until soccer returns to Armstrong Stadium.

For the last three seasons, Joe Schmidt has waited patiently in the wings, training in the shadows of other Indiana midfielders who have since departed for professional careers. 2020 was projected to be the year when the Ohio native could finally take charge as an everyday starter. Of course, that idea still isn’t totally out of reach, but Indiana’s senior captain might be forced to wait a little longer.

So until that moment arrives, Schmidt is still doing what he can to fulfill that role.

“I don’t know if I look at it like mentoring really,” he said. “I just try to be nice to everyone and be a buddy that they can talk to, if it comes in the form of fishing or even if it comes on the field. I’m just trying to be a leader and set a good example of how to treat the younger guys for the future.”

It makes something like fishing that much more important in an unprecedented year, when it comes to making the “new kids on the block” still feel like they belong.

“It’s just being open to the freshman and in general, feeling comfortable to talk to everybody and be around,” Hummel said. “For Joe to already have a passion for fishing, it’s just something else to talk about.”

Regardless of what the future holds this spring for Indiana, this just won’t be the season that the Hoosiers let get away.