Editor's Note: This story first appeared in The Daily Texan's February 23 print edition.

Last Thursday, when several Texas teams returned to practice for the first day after the winter storms, volleyball sophomore Skylar Fields posted a TikTok with the caption, “When you have practice but no running water to shower.”

Fields’ TikTok was just one small glimpse into the conditions Texas student-athletes, like many Texans, faced over the past week dealing with the winter storm.

“It’s been a trying week,” said Vic Schaefer, women’s basketball head coach, following the team’s win against Kansas State on Sunday. “What our student-athletes went through this past week — we don’t have any idea what their families have been through, especially Texas kids. It’s a real challenge.”

Volleyball hasn’t kicked off its season yet, but softball had its first 12 games canceled due to inclement weather, including the kickoff Texas Classic with matchups against No. 3 Arizona and No. 8 Alabama.

And for the women’s and men’s basketball teams nearing the final stretch of the season, the break only added to a year full of pauses. The Texas men’s basketball team was finally hitting the meat of its Big 12 schedule with a full roster after COVID-19 related setbacks, with three games in six days, starting with a Tuesday road game against Oklahoma.

Then, the Red River Rivalry matchup was pushed back to Wednesday. Then “tentatively” moved to Thursday, until that game, along with last Thursday’s matchup against Iowa State, was added to a growing list of postponements.

“We’re basically just told what to do. In that case, we're going to Oklahoma until we're not,” said Shaka Smart, men’s basketball head coach.

But, as Smart reiterated, basketball was far down the list for not only the players, but also the coaching staff and support staff after the storm intensified Sunday.

“Today in practice, I'm getting on one of our guys,” Smart said Feb. 19. “I'm all over this guy. And then in the back of my mind, I'm thinking to myself, ‘Man, what is he going through off the court? What has his family endured in the past several days? Is he fully recovered from having COVID?’”

When teams did return to practice Thursday and then to organized competition this weekend, it was clear that the pause had an effect on conditioning and performance.

Baseball head coach David Pierce said there were “no excuses” for his squad’s struggles in the opening weekend tournament in Globe Life Park in Arlington, but also said that the lack of practice “definitely makes a difference with pitchers being sharp and timing.” The team only had a “very short workout” Thursday before playing three top 10 SEC opponents. 

Schaefer’s squad rebounded from a slow start against Kansas State to collect a win after he said it felt like his teams’ lungs were “padlocked” in its first practice back Thursday. 

As Fields posted in her TikTok, “the grind don’t stop” for many of Texas’ student-athletes.

“I'm proud of these guys, you know, how they've dealt with everything, and how they've been resilient,” Smart said.

Schaefer compounded Smart's testament to the Texas student-athletes' fight during the winter storm and COVID-19 protocols.

“It’s hard to do what these kids are doing,” Schaefer said. “I’m proud of them. It’s really a challenge.”