County siblings find ways to still compete
Table tennis is a serious business in the Lucas household.
There's tournaments, complete with seeded brackets.
There's sweat and scowls, grunts and groans, barks and bellows.
There's even a gold medal slung around the neck of the winner. (Spoiler alert: it's usually the eldest of five in the family, Isaiah).
It's the way for the large, athletic family to keep the competitive fires stoked during a coronavirus pandemic that has housebound the Lucas siblings, who range in age from 13 to 20.
“We're playing a lot of games,” said the matriarch of the clan, Meghan Lucas. “Everything we do is super competitive.”
They are not alone. Families all over Butler County have found life slowing down amid the COVID-19 outbreak and have discovered new ways to bond over board games, table games and other outlets.
They have also unexpectedly reconnected and rediscovered themselves.
The cutthroat ping-pong matches — as well as the other competitions the clan engages in — have helped the large Lucas brood weather the worst of the COVID-19 storm.
Each of the five siblings have lost something to the pandemic:
Isaiah Lucas, 20, is a sophomore at Allegheny College and lost his baseball season.
Maria Lucas, 19, is a freshman volleyball player at Shippensburg University. Her spring volleyball campaign with the Raiders was canceled.
Gabby Lucas, 18, is a senior volleyball player at Butler High School. She fears prom and graduation will be nixed.
Sophia Lucas, 16, is also a volleyball player for the Golden Tornado and will turn 17 during quarantine.
And Sarah Lucas, 13, is also a volleyball player in junior high and is missing out on valuable time to improve.
Meghan, too, has lost something. The girls volleyball coach at Butler and also a club volleyball coach, she is idle during the pandemic.
The Lucas flock is filling the competitive vacuum by any means necessary.
“We mainly just play volleyball and make TikTok videos,” Gabby said, chuckling.
With four volleyball players stuck at home, Meghan Lucas finds she's not all that far removed from coaching and that she enjoys watching her daughters square off against each other.
It's usually Gabby and Sarah vs. Maria and Sophia — and the matches most often come down to the wire.
“I like it,” Sarah said. “It challenges me. We all get really competitive.”
The family also plays good old-fashioned board games, like Scrabble.
Even that, though, can get heated.
“It's usually me who stomps out of the room,” Meghan said, laughing.
Finding ways to keep an athletic edge has been a priority of athletes in the time of the coronavirus.
It helps to have a built-in challenger.
<h3>Filling the competitive vacuum</h3>Mars senior Bella Pelaia and her sister, sophomore Kaitlyn Pelaia, are no strangers to friendly competition.Mostly friendly.They can be found on most nights in the family basement, playing one-on-one — without the hoop.They work on their defensive skills, and sometimes it gets heated.That rivalry has only intensified now with both quarantined at home because of the coronavirus restrictions.“Our dad gets a kick out of it,” Bella said.Luckily, the pair are able to play at a nearby court that hasn't been shut down.They've been going there nearly every day to satiate their competitive drives.“In the beginning, we were wondering how we were going to fill up the day,” Bella said. “But we've found plenty to do. We do our schoolwork, shoot around and rebound for each other, play one-on-one, walk, ride bikes. It's nice spending time with each other.”Kaitlyn added: “It's just really good having a sister to hang out with. I can't imagine what this would be like without her.”Another trio of siblings feel the same.Freeport twin sisters Maddie and Samantha Clark and their sophomore brother, Vinnie Clark, are also spending a lot of time together.Maddie and Samantha were standout volleyball and basketball players for four years with the Yellowjackets. Vinnie is also a standout basketball player for the Freeport boys basketball team.The siblings have a halfcourt set up in their backyard and have been utilizing it often.“Oh, yeah, we're definitely outside a lot more,” Maddie said. “Me and Sam pass the volleyball around and we've also been shooting around and playing one-on-one on the basketball hoop outside.”The Clark siblings can also be rivals.That has transcended sport.Scrabble has been the game that has ignited the biggest fire.“My brother wins,” Maddie said. “We're pretty surprised by that. He shocked everyone.”Vinnie took umbrage at the slight.“What's up with that?” Vinnie protested. “Maddie said she was surprised I win. I wasn't surprised.”Vinnie said he and his sisters have always been close and their competitive streaks have mostly been friendly.“It's been really helpful during this time to have them around,” Vinnie said. “I've been away from my friends and they have, too, and it's tough. We've helped each other out.”Samantha added: “We're lucky to have each other, especially right now. We really never fight.”Kylee Lewandowski, 18, a senior at North Catholic and Butler native, rarely scuffles with her two younger sisters, either.She has taken on a roll as a mentor for them, especially through this pandemic.Kylee is helping her sisters Dacia, 15, a freshman at North Catholic, and Raina, 11, a fifth-grader, at Butler Middle School with their burgeoning basketball skills.Kylee has noticed life slowing down and has appreciated the time she has been given to spend with her younger siblings.“Before we were all so busy, going here and there to each of our activities,” Kylee said. “We were always on the go as a family. Now we're bonding as a whole family.”Their father, Joe Lewandowski, is the head men's basketball coach at Point Park University.What better way for a basketball brood to spend quarantine than with a built-in hoop guru?But Kylee and her sisters haven't been all basketball all the time.They have taken on other activities.“We're been playing the (Nintendo) Wii a lot,” Kylee said, chuckling. “Playing ping-pong games and sword fights. We've been doing a lot of puzzles as a family to unwind. It's been great.”The pandemic has been challenging, however, for some athletes and their siblings.
<h3>Something missing</h3>For baseball and softball players, quarantine has thrown a variety of hurdles in their way.Slippery Rock High School senior David Duffalo and his brother, junior Alex Duffalo, haven't had a chance to play much baseball since the pandemic hit.Standouts on the Rockets' baseball team, the brothers have searched in vain for a way to keep their skills sharp in case their summer league games can be played.“We tried to get some work in on the baseball field (at the high school), but we got kicked off the field,” David said. “It's been tough to find anywhere to play.”The brothers have also found it difficult to simply work out.They don't have a weight room in their home and facilities where they would usually train have been shuttered.“All we can do is sit-up and push-ups,” Alex said. “We don't even have a chin bar.”Alex also laments not getting a chance to play with his brother one more time.This was the season both would be mainstays in the Slippery Rock lineup on a team that had real designs on a District 10 championship.“It's one of those things that if I knew this last year, I would have appreciated it more,” Alex said.David said he is also upset about not getting to play alongside his brother again. He is also dismayed that the Rockets won't have a chance to realize the potential they had this season.“We had a good team,” he said. “We had good pitching and a good lineup and then all this happened. It's been hard to cope with all of the what-ifs. I was looking forward to playing one last season.”The what-ifs continue to pile up for Karns City softball senior pitcher Mackenzie Dunn.She has all the necessities at home to practice: a net, a tee, bats and plenty of softballs.She also has her sister, freshman catcher Jessica Dunn, to throw to.None of it, though, is satisfying.Not with the chance to play one year with her sister gone.“This would have been our only chance to play with each other,” Mackenzie said. “Luckily, we did get to play volleyball together this fall. But softball is different. It's our favorite sport and the one we put the most time into. Playing with each other would have been great because we are often on the same page with things.”Families, though, are picking up the pieces the best they can, and in the process, have discovered new things about themselves.<h3>A new world</h3>If there has been a silver lining to the pandemic, it has been that siblings have been able to spend much more time together.Sarah Lucas said it's nice having everyone home. Before the quarantine, she didn't get the chance to see Isaiah and Maria very often.“It can be fun,” she said, “but sometimes a little chaotic.”Gabby Lucas said having all her siblings home has kept her sane.“I feel like if I didn't have them all at home this would be so much worse,” she said. “It's already tough losing graduation and prom maybe.”Isaiah Lucas has been keeping busy outside the home.He is working at Home Depot and is also detailing cars to make money for school.“Isaiah is my kid who will make money if it's there to be made,” Meghan Lucas said. “That's how he pays for school.”Meghan joked he and her husband, Craig, who is still working as chiropractor, may have other motives to get out of the home.“I think (Craig) and Isaiah know it's safer to be out of the house with this many females here,” Meghan joked.Having a full house has also been fun for the parents.And challenging, too, when it comes to internet bandwith.“We have six people online trying to do classwork,” said Meghan, who is a K-4 STEAM teacher in the Butler Area School District.Still, the coronavirus has brought families together.“It's nice to have them all home,” Meghan said.
