Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Coping & Connecting: Lacrosse
5/7/2020 11:31:00 AM | Lacrosse
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – An online challenge modeled after the television show "Chopped," a run to raise money for youth relationship education, and a dose of entrepreneurship.
Student-athletes and coaches in the Central Michigan lacrosse program are keeping busy, looking ahead, and making the best of it as they, like everybody else connected to Chippewa Athletics and the university, cope with the consequences of the quarantine necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Every day, every week, has gotten better," said coach Sara Tisdale, whose team saw its season end after just five games in early March. "You go from being shocked and not understanding to being made to being just sad that you're missing your people. Then you realize that you're fortunate to be healthy and you need to pick yourself up and I think we've gone through all of that. And we've gone through it together.
"I think people are starting to figure out how to stay engaged, how to be in this new normal and how to thrive. I think that our morale is in a great place now."
Tisdale and her staff of two assistant coaches talk to each of the 29 student-athletes on the roster weekly, ensuring that each remains informed and connected. The roster comprises players from 17 states and Canada.
"I talk to my teammates every day," freshman Audrey Whiteside said. "Our strength and conditioning coach, Holly Stark, she's been great with providing us with workouts and nutritional information and she keeps up on us. Our coaches are all available at any time of the day and we can talk to them about anything. I'm grateful for that."
Several Chippewas have partaken in a cooking challenge modeled after the TV show "Chopped." They are given a list of ingredients and challenged to cook a dish. Judges have ranged from CMU Athletics administrators to coaches from other sports to other department personnel. The challenge provided a welcome break, as well an opportunity for team bonding, Tisdale said.
The Chippewas have also participated in Yards for Yeardley, a team run in which the participants "tag a teammate" virtually after running a predetermined distance. The run is a nationwide effort to raise awareness and money for youth relationship education and is conducted in the memory of Yeardley Love, a Virginia lacrosse player who was killed by her ex-boyfriend.
They also partake in livestreamed kick classes, where teammates connect through video conferencing, and plans call for the student-athletes to divide into groups for summer workouts and competitions that also will be conducted over video conferencing, Tisdale said.
"I think it's going to require a whole different level of creativity on our part," she said.
Whiteside has put on display some entrepreneurial spirit with a fledging smoothie bowl business that she runs out of her family home in East Grand Rapids. She makes smoothies in her own kitchen and then sells them, utilizing Instagram as an advertising/marketing tool and Venmo as a way for customers to remit payment.
"I get orders by direct message or text," she said, adding that she's been at it for some three weeks and is filling up to 20 orders per day. "I add the toppings and either they pick up or I deliver. I have a Yetti container on the porch and people pick it up, or I deliver it and leave it on the porch."
Whiteside said she is managing to stay in playing shape at the East Grand Rapids High School lacrosse field, where she drills with a former high school teammate. She also runs the steps of the stadium bleachers and also follows the workout plans provided by the Chippewa strength and conditioning staff.
Like many other CMU coaches, Tisdale said she is seeing a rise in awareness, appreciation and perspective in her student-athletes as they deal with the unprecedented quarantine.
"They just want to get back, they just want to play," she said. "They want to make sure that they keep lessons learned from this experience. People say it all the time: 'Don't take anything for granted; you never know what the next day is going to hold.'
"These kids have gotten hit right upside the head with what that actually is, and in a way that nobody could have ever imagined."
She said her message to her team is to focus on what is to come and to make the most of those opportunities.
"You're in charge of your own story right now, and what do you want that story to say?" she said. "What are you going to tell a team two, three, four, five years from now about what you learned from this experience? Only you get to decide what is said in that story and so we're actually going to physically write that story as a program. What did you learn? What did you take away from this? What is that something you want somebody to remember about this experience?"
Student-athletes and coaches in the Central Michigan lacrosse program are keeping busy, looking ahead, and making the best of it as they, like everybody else connected to Chippewa Athletics and the university, cope with the consequences of the quarantine necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Every day, every week, has gotten better," said coach Sara Tisdale, whose team saw its season end after just five games in early March. "You go from being shocked and not understanding to being made to being just sad that you're missing your people. Then you realize that you're fortunate to be healthy and you need to pick yourself up and I think we've gone through all of that. And we've gone through it together.
"I think people are starting to figure out how to stay engaged, how to be in this new normal and how to thrive. I think that our morale is in a great place now."
Tisdale and her staff of two assistant coaches talk to each of the 29 student-athletes on the roster weekly, ensuring that each remains informed and connected. The roster comprises players from 17 states and Canada.
"I talk to my teammates every day," freshman Audrey Whiteside said. "Our strength and conditioning coach, Holly Stark, she's been great with providing us with workouts and nutritional information and she keeps up on us. Our coaches are all available at any time of the day and we can talk to them about anything. I'm grateful for that."
Several Chippewas have partaken in a cooking challenge modeled after the TV show "Chopped." They are given a list of ingredients and challenged to cook a dish. Judges have ranged from CMU Athletics administrators to coaches from other sports to other department personnel. The challenge provided a welcome break, as well an opportunity for team bonding, Tisdale said.
The Chippewas have also participated in Yards for Yeardley, a team run in which the participants "tag a teammate" virtually after running a predetermined distance. The run is a nationwide effort to raise awareness and money for youth relationship education and is conducted in the memory of Yeardley Love, a Virginia lacrosse player who was killed by her ex-boyfriend.
They also partake in livestreamed kick classes, where teammates connect through video conferencing, and plans call for the student-athletes to divide into groups for summer workouts and competitions that also will be conducted over video conferencing, Tisdale said.
"I think it's going to require a whole different level of creativity on our part," she said.
Whiteside has put on display some entrepreneurial spirit with a fledging smoothie bowl business that she runs out of her family home in East Grand Rapids. She makes smoothies in her own kitchen and then sells them, utilizing Instagram as an advertising/marketing tool and Venmo as a way for customers to remit payment.
"I get orders by direct message or text," she said, adding that she's been at it for some three weeks and is filling up to 20 orders per day. "I add the toppings and either they pick up or I deliver. I have a Yetti container on the porch and people pick it up, or I deliver it and leave it on the porch."
Whiteside said she is managing to stay in playing shape at the East Grand Rapids High School lacrosse field, where she drills with a former high school teammate. She also runs the steps of the stadium bleachers and also follows the workout plans provided by the Chippewa strength and conditioning staff.
Like many other CMU coaches, Tisdale said she is seeing a rise in awareness, appreciation and perspective in her student-athletes as they deal with the unprecedented quarantine.
"They just want to get back, they just want to play," she said. "They want to make sure that they keep lessons learned from this experience. People say it all the time: 'Don't take anything for granted; you never know what the next day is going to hold.'
"These kids have gotten hit right upside the head with what that actually is, and in a way that nobody could have ever imagined."
She said her message to her team is to focus on what is to come and to make the most of those opportunities.
"You're in charge of your own story right now, and what do you want that story to say?" she said. "What are you going to tell a team two, three, four, five years from now about what you learned from this experience? Only you get to decide what is said in that story and so we're actually going to physically write that story as a program. What did you learn? What did you take away from this? What is that something you want somebody to remember about this experience?"
Players Mentioned
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