What Questions Should I Be Answering To Help Guide My Program During These Unprecedented Times?
A once in a lifetime virus. A literal shutdown of the normal day to day existence for millions of people. Schools closed, jobs lost and toilet paper nowhere to be found. This is our new, shared reality. And somehow, some way, we’re supposed to still coach a SPORT?
If that seems daunting to you, realize that you are NOT ALONE. Thousands of us charged with leading kids, young adults and grown men and women (IN GAMES of all kinds) are all sailing an uncharted sea together. No one has ever done this before. There are most likely ZERO BOOKS on the topic. There have been no clinics or trainings about it, and most importantly (and perhaps most disturbing for coaches) there is no film to pour over to figure out a game plan.
Daunting as it is, I believe our profession can find pathways forward. And in times like this, maybe forward by itself is good. We are conditioned as coaches to gauge our success on scoreboards and wins and losses. Perhaps this pandemic isn’t winnable in ways we are conditioned to measure. The intent behind your what/when/where/how you lead your team could prove to be the ultimate measure of your effectiveness.
In trying to navigate these conditions, I have worked with my staff (and numerous other colleagues and peers I consider my “hive mind” in the profession) to answer the questions below as a group. I believe these questions and how you answer them can start you down the path to creating your own road as a leader.
- Where should your sport/program/team fit on the pyramid of priorities TODAY for your players? We know where it fits in our personal day to day. We have all the available information about our own loved one’s health, whereabouts and needs. Based on that data, we have most likely decided how much time and WHEN we can devote to putting on our coaching hat (or like me, you have a fantastic wife/partner who has helped you identify this). Do you have enough information about each of your player’s situation to decide that for them? If you don’t, how are you searching out that info?
- What aspects of the usual day to day existence in your program does your player ABSOLUTELY NEED right now? Many of us had to ponder everything from “Where does he/she sleep right now if the dorms are closed” and “How do I get them home” to “Can this kid survive class via a laptop and headphones when I know he/she struggled with lectures in person?” Searching and finding answers to these should have or should be dominating your time in the beginning week(s) of this. I doubt many of us would be silly enough to say our players #1 NEED in these current moments was or is our playbook. Once we are confident they have their MUSTS under control then we can move on to our WANTS for them.
- Am I a person in their life adding resources and solutions or someone adding more questions and problems? The very nature of an invisible threat to life is the headline to humanity as a whole’s existence right now. It would be naive of us to believe because “Well, I’ve shown them how to deal with adversity when I yelled at them in practice” absolves our team from being bogged down with doubt and anxiety. Is how you’re communicating, what you’re communicating helping them SOLVE things or just adding to a list of worries? I think for the time being you should bank on being a connector to answers.
- Is now the time to make the game they play the FOCUS of their life or the ESCAPE from their life? This is where I believe we can use the sport we teach to help. Are you going to have more success getting them to workout because in December they will need to make a jump shot, or because for mental and emotional health physical activity is important? Do you give them film to digest because you need them to know zone rotations in January or because 20 minutes of escape has been shown to help humans cope with stress? The framing of your asks matters now more than ever.
As mentioned above, by no means am I saying “Hey everyone, I have all this figured out.” History shows I most assuredly do not. But my hope is to use this (and subsequent writes up on the same topic) to at least be a trial and error source for others in the same predicament.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. #PhysicalDistance.
Feel free to contact me with feedback, additions, testimonials, etc at ioane.kip@gmail.com
