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As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the globe, South Africa enters an unprecedented 21 day lockdown period. Life as we know it has been changed and football has been taken away from us.
Many footballers may be experiencing a real sense of loss, physically, economically and emotionally. Physically, you may be missing the daily routine of training and the adrenaline kick during matches. Economically, you may not be feeling secure. Will the league continue? Will I be paid? Will clubs sign new contracts? Emotionally, you may be experiencing feelings of emptiness and being alone. You are in isolation and miss the daily banter of your teammates.
Resilience and Solidarity
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his weekly letter just before lockdown that resilience and solidarity will ensure a victory over the pandemic. What is resilience? Broadly speaking it is the ability to be happy, successful or okay again after something bad or difficult has happened. The idea of feeling okay again is something that you may feel unlikely during these tough times. But being resilient is a skill that most of you have from playing football for most of your lives. How many of you have not experienced being dropped from the starting eleven, having your contract terminated, being sent out on loan to a lower league or not having your contract renewed? But you did the necessary work to improve your game and bounced back.
Solidarity is something you are even more familiar with. You are teammates and are used to supporting each other through wins and losses. You have each other’s backs no matter what. This is solidarity.
These skills, resilience and solidarity, which you have in abundance will sustain you during these tough times and ensure that you come out the other side, perhaps even becoming more engaged with your lives and discovering new and profound meaning. Use those skills that you have learnt on the pitch and choose carefully where you direct your attention. Resilient people focus on the things they can change and accept the things they can’t. You cannot go to training and play matches but you can adopt a routine at home.
This means:
Eating meals at regular times
Sleeping and waking at set times
Exercising at set times. You may not have home gyms and live in places where space and resources are limited. But most of you will have workout programs from your clubs that help with strength and fitness training. Toilet rolls are good for keepie uppies!
Resilient people find what is good around them. They try to find things to be grateful for. This may not be easy in these times but hunt the good stuff and write down some of the things you are grateful for. For example:
You have food and a home
In a difficult time for many, you still have your health
You are able to spend time with your family which is a luxury that you don’t usually have while playing in a busy season.
Practice solidarity by maintaining connection with your teammates by texting them or picking up the phone. Hearing from your trusted teammate on a bad day may go a long way to feeling better.
A resilient footballer makes for a resilient person who accepts that the lockdown cannot be changed, but his attitude to it can. You are in these tough times able to choose your own way by practicing resilience and solidarity.