Social Distancing Resources, Tips, and Community Support
These are interesting times.
As we head into the unknown, many of us will be facing an odd mix of anxiety and boredom. Social distancing/lock-down is a big change for everyone. For us as Ultimate players it is particularly tough. We push our bodies & minds to their physical limits, and do so surrounded by teammates that we laugh, struggle, and cry with. Social-distancing denies us the strong social network that we have built in our teams.
We know the restrictions will eventually pass, though we don’t know when. In hard times is when we most need to do what we can to maintain mental health and a sense of community. So, we’ve decided to create some temporary virtual spaces and events to support our beloved community as we transition in and out of social distancing and lock-down.
Join the Social Distance Training Tips Group
This is where I will be sharing training tips you can use with minimal or no equipment. I will share some ideas for working on your skills alone - some of which I’ll borrow from our Skills and Techniques membership. We will also have some informal mental health check ins. Probably even calls for pet pics on occasion! This is a place for us to process together and to stay connected to our common passion for playing frisbee and playing it well.
Join Social Distancing Training Tips Here
Video chats and webinars
We are making plans for some semi-regular virtual events like video chats and webinars.
Live events are likely to be at either…
- 1pm Eastern == 10am Pacific == 6pm Central European
- 11am GMT == 7pm KST == 9pm AEDT
In this way we hope to provide live events that are somewhat reasonable for all time zones. (Use https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/ to figure out what times these are for you).
We will post links or run virtual events in the FB group and send announcements and links the email list as well. The first call will likely be an informal check in. Perhaps with a mini-presentation with some self-isolation tips, followed by a guided discussion and/or Q&A.
I am in Spain currently and can share a bit about my lock down experience for those of you who are earlier in the transition. I will answer any questions you have about training or what else you can do to mentally prepare and take care of yourself. We may be lucky enough to have a guest presenter or two at times as well.
Contribute!
Are you a skilled player or coach and a good writer or presenter?
We know many of you are working from home. If you are finding yourself with too much time on your hands or want a productive distraction from the news, why not contribute to helping your community? And possibly earn a bit of extra cash as well.
We are currently taking applications for content ideas. You might want to…
- Write a blog post
- Share knowledge on a video call
- Create a presentation for our Coaching and Game IQ Classroom
- Create a full module for our Skills and Techniques members
- Lead a film study activity
- ...or maybe you have other creative ideas
Please submit your ideas and application by following the instructions here.
Compensation for Coaching and Game IQ presentations is $125. You can get an idea for what topics have already been covered by looking at our Classroom. Repeat topics are fine and even encouraged if you have a different perspective or unique point of view.
Compensation for Skills Modules is $600. Specific modules we are looking for include: how to read and sky for a disc, how to throw scoobers and other creative throws, and how to work on forehand hucks. We are open to other ideas as well. You can see some of the topics we've covered by looking at the "Skills" section of our blog.
Depending on numbers, we may not be able to respond directly to every application, but we will try. ESL folks are encouraged to apply.
The Big Picture
I am talking about frisbee not because I think what’s coming isn’t serious. I will talk about frisbee as much as I can, because what is coming IS serious. And I firmly believe that we must hang on to our passions and hobbies to find pockets of joy and normalcy as often as we can. And we must hang on to each other as best we can. We need our community ties and this will become more apparent the longer social distancing goes on.
When this time ends, as it eventually will, let’s be ready to play, high five, hug, huddle, and dance together again!
