You may feel worried that while in quarantine that you will become worse at your sport. Some advice that may help is to keep practicing your sport at your house. You may not be able to do everything like you would at a real practice, but this will still help you so you can keep your skills up. This probably won’t feel the same as being at a real practice with your team, so maybe you can ask your family to play or practice with you. You can also turn to God and ask him to help you during this time. You can talk to him or pray to Him so he can help you. Always remember he is always with us no matter where we are. Find God in situations like these. Know that God is with you. What would Jesus do in times like this? Think about it and try to reflect on that. |
You might feel like there is nothing to look forward to, because there is no season to play with all your teammates or no game to watch with all your friends and family. You might be scared that you will become worse at your sport or not make the team next year. You might be bored or anxious because sports entertained you and kept you busy. You just have to focus on the positive. This does stink and everyone misses playing with their teams, but this can be an opportunity to improve on the skills that you need to work on. This probably won't feel the same, but at least you can become a better player from this. Maybe watch old clips of your favorite team and notice that, if something goes wrong, they find a way to bounce back. Think about how your team can do the same and bounce back and come out stronger from this.
It’s okay to feel these things and you are not alone. Many other kids your age feel the same way. I know, for me, I’m particularly sad that it would be my last year playing with some of my teammates because next year we'll be in high school. It is sad and frustrating, and you might often wonder why did this happen during your favorite sports season. Those are thoughts I am thinking and the feelings I feel as well, but just know God has a plan.
Player PrayerGod, let me play well but fairly. Let competition make me strong but never hostile. Forbid me to rejoice in the adversity of others. See me not when I am cheered, but when I bend to help my opponent up. If I know victory, allow me to be happy; if I am denied, keep me from envy. Remind me that sports are just games. Help me to learn something that matters once the game is over. And if through athletics I set an example, let it be a good one. “But you, child of God, avoid all this. Instead pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal life, to which you were called when you made the noble confession in the presence of many witnesses.” |
“There’s no place like sports” “This is life, joys and sorrows mingled, one succeeding the other.” This quote is true on many levels. Most broadly, the entire journey of your life is joys and sorrows. One hole of golf or one 10th inning (Cubs World Series Game 7 2016), 17 seconds in the 3rd period (Hawks Stanley Cup Game 6 2013)- can also be joys and sorrows. The thing is, you don’t give up. You try to take something positive from the sorrows and enjoy the joys as much as you can. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." |
Maybe you were looking forward to your first season in the Men’s Club Softball League or you had just signed up for a co-ed volleyball league with friends. You might have started training for your first 5K or have Blackhawks season tickets. Maybe you have a tradition to watch the Masters or the Derby each year. Or you were looking forward to completing your March Madness brackets. Maybe you are a college athlete and your spring season is cancelled. Or you, like me, are a coach. For some, sports is not only a hobby or pastime, but a career/job. Right now you could be working from home or have lost a job, whether it be seasonal work or a full time job. Maybe you have been let go of seasonal work and you are wondering if you will get hired back or if there will even be a job to be hired back to.
Whether you consider yourself a sports fan or not, there is no denying what a significant role sports (at all levels, professional to recreational) play in most of our lives. Sports connect people (unless of course you are divided due to a rival, which is actually connecting us as you likely exchange frequent jabs!). Sports span generations. It bonds people. Think of how many times you have run into someone from your past and though many years have gone by, you are remembering the Little League baseball game when you were 7 years old that went 13 innings or a Mother Son White Sox game, or what you were doing when the Hawks won the Cup in 2010. Meeting up with friends to watch a game, or play a round of golf. Going to a game with your dad or cousins, or even watching your younger siblings play….. without sports, there is a void. On March 11, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-2 at home. March 12, my college-aged daughter played in an ultimate Frisbee tournament and my 8th grade son played in a hockey scrimmage. March 13, my senior daughter went to her high school soccer team practice and my track and field team met for practice, knowing we would start e-learning that next Monday and not be able to meet for practice, but not knowing how long e-learning would last. None of us knew at the time, that those would be the last days some of us would have together. For some, it is a delay in their athletic life and for others, it was the last time they would be representing their team, whether it be at the recreational, grammar school, high school, collegiate, or professional level. I work in the athletic department of a school. If we don’t go back to school or if sports don’t go back in the fall, will I have a job? Will the position be held open for me until sports resume? I am sure some of you work full time in sports or rely on the income that comes from seasonal work. Will professional sports change their structure and have to cut positions? How long can sportscasters and writers report on games that have already been played? Will we ever need someone to sell peanuts and Crackerjack or hear “Beer Here”? Will caddies be needed again? What about gyms?
These events have significantly changed my life for the time being. I went from figuring out how I was going to get everyone where they needed to be, to not needing to be anywhere, except home. Together. Just where many of you are now, watching Bulls games from the 1990’s. In the midst of so much uncertainty, with so many people facing very real life-altering situations, I sometimes wonder how important sports really are. Parents get so worked up over their children’s sports and professional players and owners make obscene amounts of money, so there are obvious things that should be worked on, but the true basis of sports is sound and should be celebrated. For the athletes, at all levels, the importance of staying physically active is vital to a healthy life. We need sports/exercise as a release of our anxieties and a way to learn to form relationships and interact with people. Athletics (team or individual sports) is a setting where we can learn how to deal with factors that are out of our control. We learn why rules are critical to a working society and how to respect one another even if we don’t agree with one another. The positive right now is that you can still play/practice during this time! Maybe not with your team, but staying active is especially important to our physical as well as mental health now more than ever. What a great chance to connect with family you are living with or extend a virtual challenge to your extended family or friends. You can also still watch sports. And while it is much more exciting in real time wondering if Devin Hester’s opening kick return is going to be the start of an amazing Superbowl for the Bears, there is still satisfaction in re-watching some of these memorable events. |
I Challenge You...
To reach out to a former teammate or coach and let them know how much they encouraged you or how much fun you had playing with/for them. I did just that this week and have been talking to a friend I haven’t heard from in 20 years!
To talk to a parent or sibling about a sports memory—do you remember when we went to… or I watched you play….
Look for pictures of your sports career and remember the good times you had or the challenges you faced and learned from.
You will likely have to admit that you have complained about a call that a ref has made or a coach who didn’t call the play you thought would work, but at the end of the day, you still love the game. It is your family, your bond with other people. You don’t stop watching or playing because of one bad call or even 108 bad years, you always come back. It can be the same for the Church. There are have been many bad plays called, some “rules” are very outdated and should be reviewed, and far too many missed calls have happened in our Church, but we come back because of the people, the family, who is our Church. We can “strike” and make our concerns known. We should try to effect positive change that can make the Catholic Church become inclusive officially because I see everyday how inclusive, compassionate, and caring its true followers are. In so many acts of kindness
I hope that these events can also significantly change my life forever. I have always tried to enjoy every minute of my own and my children’s sports careers. I remember what an impact it had on me knowing my parents were at my games/meets and I wanted to have the same impact on my children. I also miss the camaraderie of the parents and fans. I hope that as fans, players, referees, and coaches we remember how much we missed not having sports and treat each other like it could be the last time we are together everyday. While a little banter with a ref or the opposing team may be part of the game, I hope we remember to keep it friendly. And above all, I hope that in sports, and in everything we do in life, we play like it is the last time we are out there, because you never know when it just might be the case.
To talk to a parent or sibling about a sports memory—do you remember when we went to… or I watched you play….
Look for pictures of your sports career and remember the good times you had or the challenges you faced and learned from.
You will likely have to admit that you have complained about a call that a ref has made or a coach who didn’t call the play you thought would work, but at the end of the day, you still love the game. It is your family, your bond with other people. You don’t stop watching or playing because of one bad call or even 108 bad years, you always come back. It can be the same for the Church. There are have been many bad plays called, some “rules” are very outdated and should be reviewed, and far too many missed calls have happened in our Church, but we come back because of the people, the family, who is our Church. We can “strike” and make our concerns known. We should try to effect positive change that can make the Catholic Church become inclusive officially because I see everyday how inclusive, compassionate, and caring its true followers are. In so many acts of kindness
I hope that these events can also significantly change my life forever. I have always tried to enjoy every minute of my own and my children’s sports careers. I remember what an impact it had on me knowing my parents were at my games/meets and I wanted to have the same impact on my children. I also miss the camaraderie of the parents and fans. I hope that as fans, players, referees, and coaches we remember how much we missed not having sports and treat each other like it could be the last time we are together everyday. While a little banter with a ref or the opposing team may be part of the game, I hope we remember to keep it friendly. And above all, I hope that in sports, and in everything we do in life, we play like it is the last time we are out there, because you never know when it just might be the case.