Collinsville resident Riley Thompson, a junior at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, committed to play college soccer at Florida in December.

Riley Thompson was only several games into her spring season with IMG Academy before things came to a halt.

The first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in Florida the day before spring break for IMG, which is based in Bradenton. Thompson and her IMG teammates were supposed to leave for North Carolina following spring break for two big soccer matches, but an email the Thursday before spring break let them know the games were canceled.

“I honestly didn’t expect that,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t on the news too much yet. That was the first, ‘Woah, this is real,’ moment.”

Thompson, a junior, has been attending IMG since eighth grade to develop her soccer skills. She committed to the University of Florida in December ahead of the spring season for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, in which IMG plays. When IMG shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Thompson came home to Collinsville, where she continues to work out as much as possible.

After mornings at the soccer field engaging in physical conditioning and soccer ball work, Thompson returns home and communicates with her coaches through the Cisco Webex app. Those meetings involve tactics discussions, leadership lessons or mental sessions. In the afternoon, Thompson does online classes through IMG.

It’s about as structured as you can be without being on a school’s campus, but Thompson admitted it’s still frustrating.

“It’s very shocking to me,” Thompson said. “I like being on a schedule, so it takes me out of my element, especially when it comes to online classes without my teammates and training by myself. It’s something I’ve had to learn how to do. It’s very distracting to do an online class.”

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Thompson uses the weight room in her house to do the mandatory training her coaches implemented through the CoachNow app. Having a structure, even if it’s not what she’s used to, has been helpful, Thompson said. 

“I definitely think I’m being productive, it’s just frustrating,” Thompson said. “You’re left wondering when you’re going to play your next game, and you just don’t know, so it’s hard to push yourself when you don’t know.”

One positive is being around her family more as Thompson has spent the past four years living in Bradenton most of the time.

“I would say that’s a silver lining, having that quality time with family, even though I am pretty busy throughout the day with soccer and school,” Thompson said. “Their dentistry shut down, so we’re at home a lot more, and we’re having way more quality time than usual when I do come home. It’s a good way to look at it.”

Thompson’s father, Brent Thompson, said he’s enjoying the time with his daughter as well.

“It’s the first time in four years she’s been home for more than two weeks,” Brent Thompson said. “Her teams go to national tournaments in July, so Riley has to stay at IMG for most of the summer every year.”

And watching her daughter stay active despite not being at IMG makes him feel both humble and proud.

“She’s driven and responsible, not only in her team assignments but with the extra work she’s putting in, in combination with keeping up with her academics,” Brent Thompson said.

The Development Academy’s playoffs are scheduled to take place this summer in California but like all sports, it’s up in the air whether or not they’ll play. If the playoffs do get canceled, Riley Thompson said it would be disappointing not to play again with this year’s seniors.

“A bunch of these girls have been on the same team as me since I was in eighth grade, and it was our least year to play together,” Riley Thompson said. “It’s definitely frustrating not knowing whether or not we played our last game.”

Riley Thompson is also the daughter of Dr. Sandra Webb-Thompson.