While descending from the backcountry on Sunday morning, my phone blew up. "Oh s$%t!" I thought before my alarm turned to anger "Who cuts their team on a SUNDAY?" Anger gave way to appreciation as I saw that Emma Sougstad, our social media manager, decided to let Instagram, Twitter and the Snapface know I had a birthday. That sense of appreciation yielded to apprehension as I read Emma's post and saw the words "Fearless Leader" next to my name.

I am not "fearless" when I read about another school canceling fall sports or when my friends are being furloughed or when another dozen football players test positive.
 
I am hopeful – hopeful that football will take place, hopeful that students will return and hopeful that there will be a vaccine.  Hope, however, won’t stop the spread of infections; it won’t make up for lost tuition and student athletic fees; it won’t save us when a handful of offensive linemen wind up on respirators. 

Hope is not a strategy.

Right now, everything we think, everything we believe, and everything we do needs to be focused on one thing – helping ensure that college swimming and diving still exists two years from now.  Let me put it in the starkest possible terms – imagine there is no college swimming and diving season this year. Given the growing list of cancellations, it’s an entirely possible scenario. Under this pretense, what can you do to maintain your program? What can you do to keep your job?

The answer: be valuable. 

Step one – take care of your team because right now nobody else is.  Last month a NCAA’s survey of student athlete well being revealed that one in five eligible student-athletes is considering not returning this Fall.  Our schools need students, their tuition and their student-athletic fees.  College swimmers and divers need YOU. This implies the schools need YOU. In that same survey, over 80% of student-athletes felt positive about the support they’ve received from coaches. This result was more than their academic advisors, more than the counseling office, more than the athletic department and more than the NCAA.  These young adults chose your school because of you and your ability to help them reach their goals. Now they’re leaning on you for leadership – not just in the pool but in life.  This is the essence of coaching and it leads to positive life outcomes. (The research backs it up)

Step two – protect your income. Every coach reading this can and should go out and fundraise their own salary. You might not have the fund-raising experience nor feel comfortable, but if you can inspire a recruit to join your team you can motivate your alumni to sustain those opportunities during these tough times.  Our sport produces successful people (see above). They understand the challenges you are facing, appreciate the opportunity they were given, and want to help.

I’m hopeful we are all back in the water again soon, but like you, I’m seeing more positive tests, more furloughs, and more schools suspending fall sports. If we do have a season, I have faith in our ability to adapt. Socially-distanced meets? Virtual recruiting? A six-week season? We can figure those out through a combination of creativity, persistence, and flexibility. Your ability to instill these values through sport, while not quantifiable like a championship or best time, makes you more important than ever before. Indeed, your ability to adapt and evolve – into a fundraiser, an academic advisor, an admissions counselor, or whatever your institution needs you to be – gives us our best chance of getting back to where we want to be. On deck.

GE

Related Reading:
NCAA Survey of Student-Athlete Wellbeing
Study Shows Positive Life Outcomes for College Athletes
Inside the Sophisticated Campaign to Save Brown Running
Upcoming College Athletics Webinars
Also: NCAA's COVID Resources | Latest NCAA COVID News