Coping With Corona – Tips For Youth Sports Community

The corona virus pandemic has impacted our lives like nothing in modern history has, not even the world wars. The fear of contact with the community, your friends and family had caused a huge psychological distress. It’s a difficult time for everyone; parents, coaches and young athletes alike. To make it worse, media has been obsessing with the pandemic so much that no part of our lives seems to be untouched, not socialmedia, not television, nothing. Fortunately, mental and emotional health practitioners are helping people get over the effects of the pandemic and sail through the fluid situation. If you’ve been feeling anxious, it would be a good idea to seek help.

It is real

The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that this is happening, it is real. In many countries people failed to take the threat of the pandemic seriously and as a result it became community spread, spread beyond control. If you’ve been in denial mode, don’t be. Tell children they can’t play or catch-up with their friends and that is for their own safety.

It’s emotionally draining

The pandemic effects, social distancing and lockdown is affecting everyone differently. People are going through all sorts of emotions – fear, loneliness, anxiety, distress, confusion, anger, disappointment etc. People all across the globe are going through this. While physical distance is a compulsion, emotional connection is a must. Stay virtually connected with your friends and family. Stay connected with your teams. Use InstaTeam to create some engaging events like virtual workout or healthiest food competition, anything that brings the team into action. If not anything else, share motivational or funny quotes/pictures. Look for ways in which the focus of the team shifts from the virus and its effects to something positively engaging.

Sort priorities

With lockdown and supply of essential services going down, you need to make a list of basic needs like staple food, water, toiletries and essentials. Since many people may face job-cuts and salary-cuts, it is essential that you take stock of all your resources, income, savings etc. and concentrate on getting basics, only basics for now. This is an uncharted territory, and the best one can prepare is being ready for the unexpected. That said, health and immunity is an essential, and even more critical at this during this crisis. Motivate the team to exercise and stay positive.

Stay connected

Loneliness can cause a great deal of anxiety which can have distressing repercussions. Keep the team connected. InstaTeam app provides a whole lot of ways to stay connected. Schedule virtual events, send notifications, share photos and videos and of course, connect on social media. Plus, when you connect through InstaTeam, you connect as a team. Teams are important. Members of the team, be it coach or the players, even the parents to a large extent, all look after one another. They’ve got each other’s backs, and that is one of the most important things to surviving sanely through this testing time.

Keep the team updated

While parents, coaches and adults advise kids to stay away from media because they are trying to protect them from unnecessary noise about coronavirus, it is essential that kids know the reality. Take charge of keeping the kids abreast the situation. The figures are rapidly changing, situation is continuously evolving. Tell the important and relevant bits to kids through InstaTeam notification or team text.

Health is vital

From physical fitness to emotional wellbeing, health is important to survive the virus. Devise a workout plan and make players follow the plan with no exceptions. Workout, yoga, aerobics etc, include new forms of exercise and keep variety so that kids don’t get bored doing the same thing over and over again. At any point you feel it’s getting too much, seek help. There are helplines and websites that are helping people across the country.

This too shall pass!