Five Tips for Navigating the Coronavirus Personally and Professionally
By Jamie Hancock
March 18, 2020
2 min
Over the past week, we’ve spoken to dozens of organizers across the country—and we’ve started to hear many of the same things. What should I be communicating to parents? How can I continue supporting my players? What should I be doing with my time? So we’ve put together this quick tip list to address some of the most common questions we’re getting.
Tip #1:
Keep Your Parents & Players In the Know
Remember that your parents are depending on you to communicate often and clearly as situations change. Even though your season is on hold, they’re still looking to you for guidance.
Here are some things to keep in mind when communicating with them:
- Make sure that you’re totally up to date on what’s happening and consider the context before broadcasting
- Be thoughtful about tone of voice—and always lead with empathy and positivity
- Only share accurate and reliable information. If you receive a text message chain or see a post on social media, try and fact-check it before sharing. Rumors are flying around!
- Ask what you can do to help and don’t forget to listen
- Foster a strong sense of community. If you can bring your team online with a group text, FaceTime, email thread… do it!
Tip #2:
Help Your Kids Stay Active
Just because your practices and games are shut down doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to help your players stay active. If you have time, think about sending them a weekly email with a workout schedule: running, hiking, and bike rides are all great options for outdoor activities. If staying indoors is more appropriate, encourage them to check out the free workouts on apps like YouTube Kids. And if you have extra funds, consider signing your team up for virtual workouts using a coaching tool like TopYa! or Famer.
Tip #3:
Empower Your Coaches
We know that great coaches are the key to creating positive experiences for athletes—so help them make an impact remotely. (It’s possible!) Suggest that they host weekly gatherings with their players using Google Hangouts or Zoom, or encourage them to send a daily email with workouts and drills. It may even be a good time for some online coaching education through organizations like the Positive Coaching Alliance or your sports national governing body.
Tip #4:
Get Coverage
During times like these, it’s hard to know how to handle player refunds and coverage for your organization. Companies like Registration Saver (Regsaver) can help. And note: While a pandemic isn’t covered under either of the policies for individual player registration, coverage could kick in if ‘common carriers’ (including airplane, trades, and buses) are no longer operating to provide transit to events. In terms of coverage for organizations, ‘business interruption’ insurance will kick in only when the venue or the government forces you to close down.
Tip #5:
Get Administrative
While you’re at home, tackle the daunting administrative tasks that you’ve been putting off. Maybe you’ve been thinking about revamping your organization’s website, establishing a social media presence, or exploring new sports management softwares. (If you’re not currently a LeagueApps partner, we’d love to talk.) Now could be the perfect time to get started and dedicate the effort necessary to see this type of project through.
What tips do you have for the organizer community? Email jennie.trayes@linkedin.com and we’ll share them on our social channels.