Sports sounds are silent this year with no spring high school sports in the state of Wisconsin.
"I think the first thing is acknowledging that it's okay to be sad...it's okay to grieve this period where you potentially lost your season, especially for seniors. And that, that's normal, and you should be grieving; you should be sad. It is super unfortunate," Casey Miller says.
Casey Miller is with the Positive Coaching Alliance.
"Through parents and coaches, we do do a lot of work with student-athletes, but...we're looking to equip parents and coaches to support their athletes in what they're dealing with during this specific time," Miller says.
And she helps young athletes realize it's fine to acknowledge this difficult time, yet be down about all your hard work not being able to be seen in competition.
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"Right now...being a good teammate, to your community and to society, is social distancing. It's staying home. And yes, that's causing ripple effects in many many negative ways. But in terms of the human element of you know, life being a team sport, being a good teammate. Looks a lot different than it was a month ago when you were out on the field playing," Miller says.
Miller truly believes sports can be so beneficial when used correctly.
"Research has shown that merely participating in sports doesn't necessarily lead to life lessons being learned. And so it takes a coach that is equipped and is intentional about doing those things. Being a positive coach definitely means being competitive, right? Winning is fun. And making practices competitive, making games competitive, is definitely something that makes kids have fun. Life is a team sport, right? And you have to learn how to work together with others. And be good teammates to others. Anything major accomplished is never done alone," Miller says.
Miller has connections to the state, with the Wisconsin Lacrosse Federation and Packers President Mark Murphy.
"Mark Murphy has been an amazing supporter of Positive Coaching Alliance...he currently serves on our national advisory board and supports the work that we're doing to make sure that kids have a positive experience, you know, in Wisconsin. In every state. And Mark's been an awesome part of that," Miller says.
During a difficult time for seniors seasons ending before they began? Or high schoolers wondering what to do? It's much-needed advice.
