TEAM MEETING SERIES

Grief to Giddy Up

Today, our athletes are being asked to do something really scary: to open up about their feelings. We have asked them to talk about their emotions, the good and the bad, surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a difficult time, a difficult subject, and a difficult thing to do.

We’re asking them to be vulnerable. We’ve encouraged them to be strong enough to ask for help. We’ve explained that their coaches are there for them always. Now comes the hard part: How do we help our student-athletes do this very tough thing?

We keep the door open. When you’re scared to bring up a topic, knocking on a door can look like Mt. Everest. We can remove that step so our athletes don’t have to knock. Knocking on a door here is representative of any barriers to having those difficult conversations. The easier it is for athletes to reach us to talk, the more likely it is that they will actually talk.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is an unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remark or physical advance. It’s a selfish act that treats another human being as if they are no different from an object like a basketball or a car—something for you to use for your own pleasure. This objectification of people, male or female, is not okay. But, there’s a simple antidote to sexual harassment: Respect.

The antidote to sexual harassment is simple; it’s respect. Although it is a simple solution, as you can see from the video and this recap, it’s not necessarily an easy solution. But if you want to be change and to help stop sexual harassment from happening, it all starts with respect for others.

Get Help (Suicide Coping Guide)

VIDEO LESSON COMING IN 2023

When someone we know takes their own life, those of us that are left behind experience a variety of emotions and side effects. The loss might be of a classmate, a teammate, a friend, or even a sibling or parent. The loss of someone to suicide is unthinkable until it happens. In the aftermath, the ones who remain have to figure out how to go on and how to cope with their grief. GET HELP is a guide for teams, classes, or support groups to help teens acknowledge and cope with their grief in healthy ways.

Suicide Prevention

VIDEO LESSON COMING IN 2023

Suicide is the intentional taking of one’s own life. For a lot of people, maybe even most people, suicide is unthinkable. But for some people, too many people, life is more unbearable than suicide. It’s hard to talk about this topic. But suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens; the only thing more deadly is an accident. So even though it’s a difficult subject, it’s something that we really, really need to talk about.