While the majority of Eastern students will gather up their laundry and pack their bags to head home today, many of the student athletes on campus will resume practices and meetings like normal.

The athletes have gotten used to the fact that getting time off is often detrimental to their training and sometimes the game or meet schedules conflict with the break.

“You really don’t get too many breaks when you are an athlete,” assistant wrestling coach Clayton French said. “Breaks mean time off and time off means other people are getting ahead of you. The time off from school is good, but training is a daily routine. You don’t really want to get out of your routine especially during season.”

There is quite a bit of planning that goes into keeping the athletes here over break because of housing and meal concerns.

If the athletes live in residence halls, they have to fill out waivers so they can stay, and since the dining centers are closed, they also have to find some way to feed them.

The men’s basketball team and football team plan out what the men eat on a day-to-day basis.

Eastern football’s defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni said that in the past local restaurants have made donations to the team.

This year the football team is not sure yet if they will be staying for Thanksgiving break and they won’t find out until this weekend.

The Panthers will need to win their game on Saturday against Jacksonville State, but doing so still will not guarantee a playoff bid.

If they win, they will have to wait until the selection show on Sunday afternoon to know if they are in the playoffs or not.

“It would be nice if we weren’t in this stage of limbo,” junior quarterback Cole Stinson said. “I wish we would have taken care of business awhile back.”

Bellantoni said even though it means they won’t be going home for Thanksgiving, most of the athletes would rather be playing football and still have a chance to compete for the national championship.

“I am hoping we don’t get to go home,” Stinson said. “Sure, it would be nice to go home, but in the back of my head I would be thinking, ‘Man, I wish I was still playing football.'”

The men’s basketball team and the football team, if they are still here, plan to have Thanksgiving dinner together because they can’t be with their families.

“I can’t think of a better way to spend Thanksgiving then with the team,” Stinson said.

The football team usually has Thanksgiving dinner at Richards Farm in Casey.

“That is pretty much the highlight of the whole week,” Bellantoni said. “For a lot of guys that is all they’ve been talking about for four or five weeks, how they want to make the playoffs so they can go there, and I am one of them.”

The men’s basketball team will not be leaving for Thanksgiving because they have a game on Tuesday at Lantz Arena and will be traveling on Friday to Murray State.

“I think when you’re a college ball player you know that is part of it,” men’s head basketball coach Mike Miller said. “Thanksgiving and Christmas fall right in the middle of our season. It is just what comes with it and we make the best of it.”

The women’s basketball team has a game on Tuesday at Indiana State and the women can either go home from there or come back to Eastern and go home from Charleston. But they will all be expected back on Friday.

“Best thing about it for me is when classes aren’t in session there is no rules as to how long we can stay on the floor,” said women’s basketball head Brady Sallee. “So we can practice and watch film all day. I will keep them busy. We will give our thanks over being able to practice and watch film many, many hours.”

Even though the athletes will still be practicing, many appreciate the break from school so they can focus on their training.

The wrestlers will have practice until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week and will come back on Friday. Many of their practices will be two-a-days because they don’t have any classes to worry about.

Swimming and indoor track will be leaving for Thanksgiving break, but all athletes are expected to continue training on their own.

“If they don’t get their stuff done over the break, they are the ones that pay the price,” said head swim coach Ray Padovan. “It is not bad that they go home. Seldom do I get more than one or two that don’t do what they are supposed to do. And you can figure that out real easy.”

The athletes who do get the break off feel fortunate, but know the training is all their responsibility and most will swim with high school or club teams to stay in shape.

‘I think it is nice to have a whole week off, go home and relax and not have to worry about school,” swimmer Kristen McCoy said. ” We also know that we have to work hard and get stuff done even though we aren’t with the team.”