Navigating #TheNewNormal

In early March, the women’s soccer team was two games into its spring exhibition season, and Hope Lewandoski was practicing and conditioning with her teammates with all the training amenities a Big Ten campus has to offer.

A few days later, the junior midfielder was lifting 12-pound dumbbells in her Ohio bedroom—her gym for the foreseeable future.

The abrupt transition is familiar to many athletes as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports across the globe, from the Big Ten to professional leagues to the Olympics. Now, to help Terps and fellow competitors nationwide navigate their new routines and realities, UMD’s student-athlete development team is bringing them together in a virtual huddle.

Maryland Made, in partnership with its student-athlete development counterpart at the University of South Carolina, launched #TheNewNormal, a live Twitter chat that allows student-athletes and athletics staff to connect, vent and share resources and strategies in a question-and-answer format. The chat’s second installment kicks off tonight at 7 p.m. on the @MDMadeTerps and @TeamGamecocks accounts.

“Our goal is to really provide a space where people can connect and find community in a digital space that’s healthy,” said Student-Athlete Career Development Program Director Timothy Bryson, who helped spearhead the virtual chat.

Besides Maryland and South Carolina, the first New Normal session, which took to Twitter on April 1, reached participants from Oregon, Texas, Kansas and more. An early question from the Terp and Gamecock accounts asked when the pandemic started to feel real to athletes and staff. A common answer was March Madness’ cancelation. 

The change was shocking for more than just basketball players. The Big Ten canceled all athletic competition in mid-March, bringing winter and spring sports to an early halt and creating uncertainty for the fall.

“We were starting to have the season we were expecting with all the work we had put in. I think we all really bonded to the philosophy and were excited to take it into conference play,” said softball infielder Taylor Wilson, whose team was adjusting to a new head coach this season. “To be one tournament shy was really frustrating.”

But the virtual chat also helps athletes stay positive, with discussion about who they’re leaning on during the pandemic, what strategies they’ve found helpful, what they’ve learned about themselves and what they’ve been able to do that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Wilson, for example, has found more time to pace herself in schoolwork. Lewandoski, an out-of-state student-athlete, has enjoyed spending more time with family.

“For me, the biggest thing has been reminding myself that it’s okay to take a break during this time,” Lewandoski said. “As an athlete, I have been on the go since Day One. I’ve always filled my schedule from 7 in the morning to 11 at night. I’m just reminding myself that this is a really weird situation that we’re all going through.”

Tonight’s chat will continue those conversations among athletes, whether they’re sharing strategies or simply the TV shows and snacks getting them through quarantine—“Some people bonded over Cheez-Its,” Bryson said. After nearly two months sidelined, he expects the second installment to offer more long-term insights.

“This chat is gonna be one that’s reflective, but more looking forward: What will our new normal look like? How are we preparing for that now? What things have we found to be beneficial in the past six weeks?” Bryson said. “But we’re also having some fun in the process.”