O

n April 3, Major League Lacrosse announced the start of the 20th season in league history would be delayed, putting a celebration of the league’s history on pause while the rest of the world lives through an event that will be prominently featured in history textbooks for years to come.

For now, even those history textbooks are getting a break as school buildings are closed and in the midst of online instruction. It’s a new normal that several Major League Lacrosse players are adjusting to on a daily basis.

“The rule book is being written every day,” said recently retired Chesapeake Bayhawks midfielder Ryan Tucker, who teaches seventh grade English and eighth grade ancient history at Norfolk Academy in Norfolk, Va. “You’re totally in a different environment, a different element.”

Just as abruptly as the college and high school lacrosse seasons ended, so too did the days inside the classroom.

Philadelphia Barrage goalie Chris Madalon teaches fifth grade math and science at Springdale Elementary School in Stamford, Conn. His last day in the building was March 12, and Madalon remembers it being a hectic day for the teachers and a sad one for the students.

“It was a scramble. Our administrators said, ‘Give the kids something to occupy them now and get as many materials you can, so they can learn at home the next two weeks,’” he said. “Toward the latter half of the day, when it became more official, a lot of kids were upset. They were hugging each other. They didn’t know when they would see each other next. These are 10-year-olds. Some adults had a tough time handling this. You can only imagine 10-year-olds. It’s one thing going into spring break knowing you’d return, but we all had this gut feeling it was going to be longer. You were in shock initially. It was surreal, and we didn’t comprehend everything that would happen. That was the same for [the students].”

The younger students weren’t the only ones to have a difficult time processing the uncertainty of what was ahead.

Chesapeake Bayhawks goalie Brian Phipps serves many roles at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Md. He is the boys’ lacrosse coach, teaches history and helps seniors as a resource teacher. He said the hardest part of the process was feeling “useless” because he couldn’t answer the questions his students and players had.

“When it first came out, you’re hoping by the end of the school year we’ll get back in the classroom with everybody,” he said. “[The student-athletes] missing senior days and rivalry games hurts, but talking with my seniors is where you really feel it. I’d be helping them with physics, and they were like, ‘What about prom?’ ‘What about senior salute?’ Academic and education life is important, but the interactions and experiencing those senior privileges, that’s what they’re really missing out on.”

As instruction moved from the physical classroom to the virtual one, new concerns popped up.

Not only did teachers like Madalon, Phipps and Tucker have to adjust their lessons; the concern for student well-being became even more pressing than normal.

“The hard part for us teaching in Stamford and not being in an affluent community is some of these kids live for school,” Madalon said. “It’s where they get meals and feel safe. Some of their at-home lives aren’t great. You feel for them.

“We have kids who are living in homeless shelters. As teachers, of course we want them to complete work and participate, but we all quickly realized schoolwork might be the least important thing. Completing their math journal may not be their No. 1 priority when they’re struggling to put food on the table or they’re watching their siblings while their parents are trying to work.”

Academically, the teachers make work available online for the students to complete and then meet in online sessions every other day to go over the work and answer any questions.

To help guide their students and themselves through the current challenging times, Madalon, Tucker and Phipps are drawing inspiration from the lessons they have learned through their own lives.

“You can’t control when we get back — if we get back — but you can control your effort,” Phipps said. “We know our destination is to graduate, but we may have to take a different path than normal. We may have to go offroading. Your headlights show two feet in front of you. Take care of what’s in front of you, and hopefully, that will take you where you need to go.”

“You have to look at the bright side and find the positives and silver linings,” added Tucker. “My mom is unbelievably good at doing that. I’ve been trying to channel her and trying to figure out what good can we find out of this.”

The teachers are indeed finding some positives in the situation. Phipps said his students are more engaged in the virtual learning than he initially thought they would be, and it has helped him get more creative with his lessons, incorporating videos and games to make the content more interesting and ensure the students have some enjoyment in the process. Tucker has taken the time to get feedback about his teaching style from his students, and he (emphatically) learned that his 20-minute lectures about Julius Caesar were not what his students needed or wanted.

As for Madalon, he is finding some humor in his live video lessons.

“In a classroom, there’s no mute button,” he said. “In these Google Meets, we can direct these kids to put on mute before we start. You have this mute button now. It allows them to pay more attention because they’re not disrupting each other. That’s one thing I smile at and say, 'Maybe it’s not that bad.' You can explain something without interruption.”

Additionally, these players are making the most of the extra time they now have at home. Phipps said he’s happy to actually enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning while sitting and talking to his wife. Madalon said this time of year is typically jam packed with teaching, multiple hours of training young goalies and getting his own workouts in to prepare for the upcoming season. Now, Madalon said he’s completed some home projects that needed to get done.

Tucker, who was beginning his first season as the Norfolk Academy boys’ lacrosse head coach, said he’s been learning to play guitar and also got a new puppy.

“A lot of neighbors will say, ‘What are those weird animal noises coming from your place?’” he said, “and it’s usually just me playing the guitar. The puppy has been great.”

Throughout their MLL careers, Madalon, Phipps and Tucker have all had to deal with adversity on the field. Now they and their students are dealing with it off the field, in the classroom. While these three teachers have overcome adversity in their playing careers, they are proud to see what their students have been capable of during what could be a difficult transition.

Even though they’re the ones teaching the lessons, they’ve learned some things as well.

“The main thing I’ve taken away is, I enjoy teaching and coaching lacrosse, but ultimately, it comes to the relationships you have with your players and students and seeing the joy on their faces,” Phipps said. “That’s the great part about being a coach and teacher.”

For Madalon, who called this situation “gut-wrenching,” his students have taught him how to put things, like the delayed start of the MLL season, in perspective.

“I believe teachers have a better perspective on life because you’re accountable for at least 20 other children’s lives,” he said. “In this whole big picture, I’m worried about my kids and their well-being and their home life. It helps put things into perspective and not being self-centered and having empathy towards everyone around you. What’s affecting you might affect other people, but they might be suffering more. The fact I can’t coach or play lacrosse could be a small problem compared to my students who are struggling to have a meal. It helps keep things in perspective.”

Teachers like Madalon, Phipps and Tucker are faced with a new challenge, but Madalon said while it hasn’t been easy, teachers are ready for whatever comes their way.

“This whole experience speaks to what we do best as teachers, and that’s thinking on our feet and adjusting as necessary,” he said. “That stays true to this situation. Given these circumstances, having to adjust, having to teach in a different way, as teachers we’re prepared for these situations. We’re conditioned to deal with adversity. We have to reflect that to our kids, to help them understand what’s important.”