End of Year Refections
End of Year Refections
No doubt 2020 has been an extremely challenging year for athletes’ of every level of participation. It is easy to fall into the void of focusing on the negatives as there are an abundance to list. Everything from athletic seasons being cancelled, athlete’s missing out on their freshman year or senior year of high school competition, the list can be extensive.
Without being inauthentic with your feelings it is equally important to recognize the headway that is occurring in taming Covid-19, and athletes’ getting back to their lives. A vaccine is looking promising and health care workers are beginning to receive it. Yes, it doesn’t make athletes feel any better that they have lost a season but in the long run it is a blip on the larger screen of time. The bigger picture is that the Pandemic has effected the world not just the Bay Area. You are not alone. The high school athlete is particularly vulnerable to the stresses that the pandemic has created in their lives. The Greater Good Magazine has an informative article explaining why the younger population may be more stressed, anxious or depressed than other age groups. The article isn’t sport specific but it is still a useful read.
Another website through the I.O. C. discusses the biggest mental challenges that Olympic Athletes have been facing during Covid-19. These athletes’ across the globe have not been able to compete, or train to the level they would normally train in preparation for the 2021 Olympics and also face decisions as to whether to continue in their pursuits or decide to leave their sport. The website offers a lot of good information and resources that young athlete’s can identify with. Athletes across the world share similar thoughts and feelings, doubts and hopes for the near future.
Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge is featured in a video interview and offers some excellent insight/advice for all athletes. One of his quotes, “I’m a marathoner, and the marathon is like life, we have many courses in the world, flat courses, uphill and downhill and this period of Covid-19 is like an uphill course, where we need to live in a slow way, in a positive way, in order to finish the race well.”
As 2020 comes to a close this is an opportunity for young athletes, parents, coaches and teams to reflect on how they participated during this life challenge. Was more time and energy spent in the space of being angry, frustrated, feeling gipped, helpless? Or did they rise to the occasion with action that focused on, “Yes this isn’t fair, this isn’t what I chose, or how I want things to be, but it isn’t forever. I have used this odd period of time being creative to stay current in my sport. I have used this time to the best of my ability so when the window of opportunity to play/compete again I will be ready to jump in and play.”
