Grief is a part of every ending.

Last night my hockey season ended.

After the game, I witnessed a room full of athletes experiencing and expressing the raw emotions that come with loss. There was sadness, disappointment, anger.

Today, the emotions are duller, heavier, and harder to categorize.

This is grief.

Every ending is accompanied by some sense of grief.

In sport, the end of a season marks many endings. For some it can mark the end of their career and at the least it marks the end of their journey with that team as it was.

It can also mean the end of a structured schedule, a social network, a fitness routine, an emotional outlet.

And even harder, it can mark the loss of purpose and identity.

Purpose, identity, and belonging are so integral to our wellbeing as humans. The loss of these is incredibly hard and to potentially lose all three at once can be devastating.

To ease these losses, the best things we can do are:

1)    Reach out. Connect with your people. Check-in.

2)    Create space for emotions, they are hard and they are all valid.

3)    Work to create a new purpose and routine. Connect to your why.

If you are a coach, parent, partner, teammate, I encourage you to check-in on your athlete friends. Any little drop in their bucket will help. Let them know they still matter to you.