I want to share TeamMPI Coaching Staff’s collective thoughts on our current COVID-19 pandemic and how it affects our attitude towards coaching athletes. It’s important for athletes to understand the uniqueness of each person training, racing, and living during these ever-changing and challenging times as we move forward.
One of the strengths and advantages of TeamMPI is that we are a family of athletes and coaches scattered throughout the continental United States and even around the world. We have the privilege of drawing from experience and insight of people from many backgrounds and walks of life. In this season of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all keenly aware that every country, state, and even each city is choosing to enforce different rules. Every community is being impacted slightly differently by the Coronavirus.
As coaches, our primary concern is always the health, safety, and vitality of our athletes. We recognize that all our athletes are navigating slightly different “social-distancing” rules and weighing different risks.
Some of our athletes live in dense urban areas where it's difficult to get out and ride, run, or swim safely. Other athletes have easy access to trails and very safe areas to "get out and play" without much risk of contact with other people.
Some states are considering cautiously allowing local or regional races to resume while other communities are still enduring heavy (and tragic) impacts of COVID-19.
Some of our athletes have underlying conditions or at-risk family members and are taking a more reserved and cautious approach than other athletes.
First and foremost, we strongly encourage all our athletes and friends to make wise decisions for their health and the health of their families. Our coaches are always ready to adapt training schedules for each unique situation and to make adjustments as needed. We also recognize that this is not a “one-size-fits-all” situation, so we are trusting our athletes to make wise, thoughtful decisions and take all the necessary safety precautions as each state and country begin to reopen and outdoor training and racing resumes.
Our goal is to provide support, advice, and wise coaching to all our athletes in every circumstance and to “coach the individual”. We love what we do, and each athlete we work for is equally important to us. We work for you!
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