Since transitioning into my new role, time is at a premium. I worked crazy hours while in the college space, but once Covid hit and I was able to be at home and could deduct commuting time, I felt like I had more hours in my day. Now, I feel like I have passed “go” and collected my 200 dollars more times than I can now count within the last 9 months. What I have come to realize amongst the fast paced, ever changing landscape of this new life is that my family integration really comes at a much more intentional price than ever before. And frankly I’m all for it. Right now it’s really about not redefining what once was but simply defining what my norm is. To me, it is completely OK that this norm does not look like everyone else’s.
It’s OK that I consistently receive questions on how things are actually going. I say all of this to say, that it doesn’t matter what traditional looks like for other people.
When you are stepping outside of the box, doing the extraordinary, it requires extraordinary patience and extraordinary commitment to make it all work.
I’m grateful for the opportunity to work in a space to do some really cool things I would have never dreamed about. Family integration, because we all know no balance doesn’t exist when you work in sports, is providing a very unique and a new experience to my life.
So what does redefining my norm look like? There are 4 different types of days: game days, practice days, travel days, and “off” days. The majority of them work in a split shift where I begin the morning dropping of my big to school and head to the facility/arena for an early practice or workout around 9am. I always arrive before start time so that I can do some informal communication with staff and players (because these unstructured times are when relationships are built), while also knocking out some emails and other administrative work. I might then head home to catch a quick nap and play with my little, or have virtual meetings midday. My evenings (on a game day) start 2-3 hours before the game where I’ll have some potential stakeholder meetings pregame. God works in mysterious ways because I have had the privilege of serving as chaplain. Once the game begins, it’s nice to get to watch some basketball but sometimes the conversations with agents/managers and/or my team continue as we prep for upcoming player events, programming, and/or activations. Once we get the dub, there may be some post game duties or conversations that need to be had, and I get to head home around 10:30pm. No two days are the same.
Previously I could intertwine my family through the busyness of the day, but Covid has put a halt on some of this. It’s nice when I can slip away during the day, the boys can come to a game, or we have a day “off” where we can lounge and just enjoy ourselves. My life looks very different than it ever has, and the organized chaos is not for the faint at heart. We make it work. It’s our life, and every day we continue to create the dream. Not many will understand, and most wouldn’t choose this path, but I wouldn’t want to be on any other team than my DREAM TEAM.
-DR. LCJ