The World Has Changed, and So Have Your Athletes

            At long last, maybe for a fleeting moment, or maybe for good, sports have returned in America. This coming Sunday will feature the first major golf championship in over a calendar year, 15 MLB games, 7 NBA games, 6 NHL games, 3 WNBA games, and a NASCAR Cup race. It’s been a long several months as we try to adjust on a daily basis to a world that’s as unpredictable as ever. Some of us have coped better than others. Some may have used the time without sports, working from home, remote learning, and without being able to see friends or family as a time to reflect, grow, learn, and relax. Others have had family members taken from this virus, or have lived in fear, isolation, depression, and anxiety. Coaches, your players have had their world turned upside-down. They have been separated from their friends, from their routine, from their education, from their lives. They have been launched head first into a polarized political landscape that has forced them to pick sides they hadn’t considered, exploring social and race battles that they hadn’t been exposed to, and have had to confront their own sense of morality, justice, and empathy in a way they never would have been expected to before.

In short, you are not coaching the same players as you were 6 months ago. Everything has changed, and so have they.

            Coaches know how important it is to get players back on the field. As many in my field would say, the lessons players learn through the safe environment of Sport are critical to their development, and are skills they can translate to the more dangerous environment of Life. Sports foster accountability to oneself and to others, they help young athletes develop a mindset necessary to succeed, they provide opportunities to fail and learn, and to see progress from hard work. Maybe most importantly, in this moment, they provide us with an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than ourselves – to connect with others in a meaningful way.

Coaching athletes in the wake of the past 6 months will be challenging, different, but incredibly rewarding. Here are some factors to consider:

1.     This isn’t “business as usual.” Don’t pretend that it is.

Let’s just call it what it is. The past 6 months have been the most world-changing, unable-to-look-away time period in your athlete’s lives. Returning to sports is great, but they and their families will have some concerns. You are not returning to business as usual. You are returning to sports in a country that has lost over 150,000 lives to a deadly virus that has taken athletes out of their schools, and away from their friends. In a country where many states won’t have fall sports, or reopen schools at all. In a country bracing for another tumultuous general election. The right approach would be to acknowledge, validate, and discuss the challenges that individual members of your team are facing. Sweeping current events issues under the rug and pretending nothing is wrong is not only not what your athletes need right now, but it will erode trust and create a culture where silence is favored over honest and genuine discourse.

2.     Everyone will have their own individual experiences, opinions, and thoughts about the Coronavirus, politics, race, etc. That’s okay. It has to be.

For the past several months, your athletes have been home with their families discussing public health, politics, race, and have experienced every human emotion possible along the way. When athletes return to their teams, they are bringing with them their own experiences, their own thoughts and opinions, and that will be challenging. “One team, one heartbeat,” is going to be a more difficult ideal to obtain than ever. You’re going to hear that this virus should shut down schools and sports until 2021. You’re going to hear that this is a hoax that shouldn’t have been taken so seriously. You’re going to have players who support Donald Trump, and players who despise him. The country is divided in their beliefs, and your team will be too. The most successful teams in the coming year will use this undeniable truth to their advantage, instead of letting it rip them apart. Creating an environment that straddles the line between anticipating, embracing, and respecting different opinions without identifying, labeling, or judging people based on their stances will be crucial. Address it — immediately! Let your players know that they will have different opinions, and that those positions are based on their individual experiences. Respect each other, and move forward.

3.     Your players are dealing with more mental health issues than they were before.

When treating a patient with depression, some of the “warning signs” to be weary of are: social isolation, low energy, loss of interest and pleasure in doing activities they once enjoyed, hopelessness, and helplessness. Sound familiar? Many of these traits, particularly isolation and lack of participation in once enjoyed activities, are hallmark experiences of most people over the past several months. Many athletes are experiencing heightened levels of anxiety after becoming more keenly aware of their family’s finances, physical health concerns, and wondering how their lives will be different in a post-Covid world. Across the mental health field, cases depression, anxiety, suicides, and overdoses are rising. Do not think that your team and players are immune to this. Do not think that these are issues that can’t happen in your program. They ARE happening, right now. Coach with compassion, and provide resources for players to receive help on a regular basis.

4.     There are no “Good” or “Bad” thoughts and emotions, only “Helpful” and “Unhelpful”

Pay close attention to the discourse between your athletes in the coming weeks, and during the initial stages of the team coming back together. As your players manage overwhelming thoughts and emotions, it’s important to remember that there’s no such thing as a “good” or a “bad” conversation. The only component that matters is whether the interactions between the team are helpful or unhelpful. Are they helpful to building strong team camaraderie? Are they helpful to validating the individual experiences of members on the team? Determine what’s helpful or unhelpful not by the content of the conversations, but the response they elicit. This will vary from team to team.

5.     Follow the damn protocols and keep the players on the field.

Self-explanatory, but if you believe that sports are an important aspect of you and your player’s lives, then commit to doing everything you can to make sure your program follows all public health and safety protocols. Don’t let selfishness, ignorance, or laziness take these kids off the field.