Take One For The Team
These past few weeks have been some of the hardest and most uncertain days I have ever faced. We, like most families, are very routine in our daily lives; we have school, we have work, school events, sports practices, and social lives. And in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, with a national quarantine order in place, all of that structure and routine is all but gone. We are safe at home, unless we are doing essential tasks, there are no (or should be no) school events, no games, no practices, no sleepovers, or playdates. This is a new normal that we are all trying to navigate, so take one for the whole team and stay home, wait it out, and hopefully we will resume life as usual soon.
Sidelined
Somewhere in the mix of all that is happening, young athletes are almost lost without their sport and routine. It may not seem like much in the grand scheme of all that is happening, but these kids and young adults are missing a huge part of their normal lives. My daughter, like so many others, spends 22 hours a week practicing with her team. She was at the end of her gymnastics season and just a few weeks from her state meet when the quarantine order went into effect when gyms, like hers and many others around the nation, were made to close. Gymnasts aren’t the only ones, though; so many young athletes, who were just going to start their seasons, and those right in the middle, are all affected by this.
To all the young athletes, I am sorry.
I am sorry that your season was cut short.
I am sorry that your season did not even get a chance to begin.
I am sorry that it may feel like all the hours of practice you have put in seem to be for nothing.
I am sorry that you are worrying that you won’t be ready to come back to your sport when all of this is done.
I am sorry that you are missing your team.
I am sorry that home workouts, conditioning, and practices aren’t quite the same as you are used to.
To the seniors, I am so sorry that you didn’t get to finish the way you had hoped.
Try to remember that it isn’t just you that is out, but the entire world is sitting this one out. You won’t be behind, it may require a little more work, you might be a little sore when practice starts again, but you will come back from this time away … and you will come back stronger. None of us know when things will be normal again, but here is one thing that you can be sure of: when you get back on that field, back on that court, on the mat, on the floor, we will be right behind you and cheering you on louder than ever before.
**Thank you to all my friends who shared their athlete’s pictures for this post**
