COVID-19 clashing with Clynes’ careers

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This article was published 30/01/2021 (1953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They’re all chasing the same dream, but situations couldn’t be more different for Austin, Tanner, and Camryn Clyne.

The three siblings are all pursuing paths of high-level hockey, but to varying degrees of success because of COVID-19.

Twins Tanner and Austin are used to playing together and did so from childhood until their 17-year-old seasons in the Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League.

“It was always fun playing with my brother because it was just a little competition between us all the time,” Austin said. “He’s a forward and I’m a D, so it’s a little bit different but fun for sure.”

The twins went down separate paths last season; Austin joined the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, while Tanner spent a year playing for his hometown Boissevain Broncos, going down the college route this season with the Dakota College at Bottineau (N.D.) Lumberjacks.

Their older sister Camryn, 20, is attending school and living in Minot, N.D., playing her second season of women’s hockey with the Minot State University Beavers, just an hour away from Tanner.

Austin, however, is on the outside looking in. His siblings are playing hockey and he’s sitting at home, sidelined by provincial restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s kind of tough watching them play, knowing I’m not playing right now,” Austin said. “But I mean it’s also kind of relieving because I know how much it sucks not being able to play, so it is kind of nice that they’re able to keep playing.”

The MJHL paused its season on Nov. 11 and has yet to resume. Provincial code red restrictions prohibiting recreational sports and gatherings over five are in place for at least another week.

Austin, a five-foot-10 blue-liner for the Neepawa Natives, joined the team this season after a rookie campaign with the Portage Terriers. He was named an alternate captain in Neepawa, putting up two goals and an assist in 10 games before the stoppage.

When the MJHL started in October, however, it was Austin’s siblings drawing the short straw.

COVID-19 was raging through North Dakota at the time, sidelining both Camryn’s and Tanner’s teams for most of the first semester.

Camryn’s squad assembled in Minot at the end of August. By the first week of September, at least 15 women on the team tested positive for COVID-19.

“At the start of the semester it was pretty crazy … but it’s settled down now. There hasn’t been anyone for a while,” Camryn said.

The five-foot-one forward was in close contact with a few teammates who tested positive. Close living quarters and a domino effect of close contacts meant some of the team had to restart their quarantines, Camryn included.

Her whole team was off the ice for at least three weeks, until they finally got in a pair of exhibition games on the last weekend of October.

Minot’s regular season didn’t begin until after the holiday break because of COVID-19 concerns.

Through it all, somehow, Camryn is one of the few on her team who haven’t contracted the virus. She and others who haven’t had a positive result get tested once a week.

“I’ve been lucky enough to avoid it so far,” Camryn said.

Tanner, on the other hand, wasn’t.

The five-foot-nine forward was one of many players on his team to fall ill with the virus. He lost his sense of taste and smell for a few days, but other than that, felt relatively OK.

Tanner and the Lumberjacks trudged through the first part of their season, dealing with seven postponed games and losing the four they did play.

The team is having a lot more luck since returning from the break, with a 7-5 regular-season record after losing just once in its past eight games.

Tanner has been enjoying his marketing and management program, too. The class sizes are small, they’re still being taught in person, the workload is manageable and he’s been enjoying living in the same dorm as all of his teammates.

“We’re always spending time around each other. We’re a really tight team,” Tanner said. “We got to know each other pretty quick off the start of the year and I think we’ll do well this year. We got a strong four lines and a good D-corps.”

Camryn feels the same way about her team, her elementary education program, and life overall in Minot.

“It’s been awesome here,” Camryn said. “The atmosphere of hockey in smaller universities in the States compared to Canada is so much different. I feel like the States almost has more pride in those sports.”

The forward played one year with the University of Regina Cougars, but ultimately the school and hockey program just wasn’t for her.

Searching for a “small town feel” in a more personable environment, she reached out to a few former Westman Wildcats teammates who were playing for the Beavers.

The school is seemingly a pipeline for Wildcats alumni — at least five players on Minot’s 2020-21 roster have suited up for the Wildcats at some point in the past.

Ultimately, those conversations — and the school’s location — proved to be the deciding factors.

Camryn, a self-described “homebody”, was more than happy to cut her driving time back home from four hours to two — not that it matters this year.

The hardest part for the three siblings has been how close together they are in distance, yet so far from being able to see each other regularly.

It’s under a 60-minute drive to Boissevain from Bottineau, but this year international travel restrictions are standing in their way.

“It definitely sucks being 45 minutes away from home and not be able to go home,” Tanner said.

Moving to Bottineau was the 19-year-old’s first experience living away from home. When he signed with the school, he liked the prospect of heading home for the weekend or popping by for a weeknight dinner on occasion.

Adjusting was tough to start, but he’s gotten into the swing of things now.

“It’s just kinda nice to be on your own and do whatever you want, rather than checking in with your parents and stuff,” Tanner said. “I kind of like having my own schedule to do things.”

He moved to Bottineau in mid-August, but couldn’t head home until the holiday break in December.

Softening the blow were hometown friends and teammates Tyson Pringle and Ryan Patterson, who are also freshmen playing hockey at DCB this year.

Tanner and Pringle also juggled baseball schedules at the start of the year, representing their school as duel-sport athletes.

“Me and (Pringle) have grown up together and we’ve been best friends for really long,” Tanner said. “There’s Ryan Patterson here too … it’s kind of nice, where you know people and you’re not really starting from scratch.”

Growing up, Camryn was witness to dozens of girls in Boissevain who moved on to play college hockey out of province. From a young age, she knew she wanted to do the same thing.

“I do feel very fortunate and lucky to play right now,” Camryn said. “Austin and a bunch of friends back home, too, are just so upset because their hockey season is called off or keeps continuously getting postponed, so yeah I’m very fortunate to be able to play, be with my teammates, and go to school.”

Back in Boissevain, Austin hopes he can head out to Neepawa and hit the ice again soon. He’s hopeful about the season returning but still isn’t too sure it’ll happen.

“I guess it’ll depend on how people respond to these stores being open and all that,” he said. “If everyone’s going out now the numbers aren’t going to go down and it’ll be tougher to come back for sure.”

He’s been passing the time by working out, skating outdoors, and doing what he can to stay in playing shape, just in case.

Austin is looking forward to taking the step into college hockey, like his brother and sister, once his eligibility in the MJHL expires at the end of the 2021-22 season.

He’s loved growing in the sport and the relationships he’s made because of it.

“I mean, I just have fun playing,” Austin said. “It’s nice meeting new guys from different parts of the country that you get to know and build friendships with.”

The siblings last saw each other over the winter break and probably won’t be together as a group again for a few more months.

“For me and the boys, we’re so close in age so we’ve always been close,” Camryn said.

“Even just not being able to see Austin play is hard, I’m really fortunate to be able to go watch Tanner play. It also kinda sucks that me and Tanner can see each other, but we can’t see Austin. We miss him.”

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