Being the biggest player in the team sports game has its advantages in times of crisis and BSN Sports is utilizing is vast store of digital content to keep in touch and assist coaches and athletic directors engaged with their own teams.

In a series of initiatives unveiled this week, BSN Sports is offering a collection of digital content at no cost to help improve the physical and mental well-being of students during this stressful and disruptive time.

Among the digital offerings:

• Coaches’ Digital Card: To keep the lines of communication open between coaches and players separated by stay-at-home orders, BSN Sports created a digital card service where coaches can personalize with their school colors, mascot and images and send messages to all of their players to let them know how they feel about them, celebrate a great season or, if the recipient is a senior, the end of a great high school career. www.bsnsports.com/ib/ecard.
  
• Coaching Clinic Virtual Webinars: Its coaching education clinics hosted around the country are now digitally accessible via virtual webinar. Coaches can receive Continued Education Credit hours for attending these webinars.  Upcoming clinics are scheduled for Strength (April 7) and Swimming (April 15). www.bsnsports.com/ib/bsnwebinars.
  
• Online Physical Education Network (OPEN): BSN Sports has created Home Physical Education Curriculum Resources for Grades K-12 designed specifically to help coaches plan and deliver instructional content virtually. https://openphysed.org/activeschools/activehome.
  
• Varsity Brands “Believe in You” Online Video Series: This episodic series is designed to educate students and staff about the incredible power of believing in yourself, despite the challenges and trials that life may present. This includes lessons that possess unique relevance amid the stresses of the coronavirus crisis. Hosted by Kevin Atlas, the first Division 1 basketball player with one arm and renowned motivational speaker, the series stars personalities from around the country discussing social and emotional learning topics such as overcoming depression and anxiety, inclusion, chemical dependency, and more. Each season’s nine episodes have between eight to 12 minutes of programming and are accompanied by complimentary class curriculum to help students keep the conversation going. www.believeinyou.com.

“We’ve talked to tens of thousands of coaches and athletic directors over the past two weeks who are all working hard to stay productive and connected during this unprecedented time of uncertainty,” says Jared Drinkwater, CMO at BSN Sports. “Most importantly, they want to be there for their athletes, so we felt it was important to quickly develop ways to make that happen virtually.

“Our priority is to help bridge those connections amid school closures and sports season cancellations,” he adds. “We will continue to create new content and offer more digital tools to do our part to help for as long as it takes to get kids back on campus.”