KIN 530: Adventures in Leadership – Hawaii 2018

I am posting this story on the blog for fun. I felt like the blog would be a good place to share this experience and link it to leadership. This blog post is a story about how my team was able to stick together, and be brave when it mattered the most.

This January, our first competition of the season was in Hawaii at the Aloha International Gymnastics Competition. We brought nine athletes with us to Hawaii ranging in age and level. We began the week with training at the practice gym and competition venue. This was helpful as it was early season, the equipment was a bit different and the athletes needed time to adjust. We had athletes competing Friday and Saturday. The Friday night session went smoothly and the athletes had a wonderful competition. I was pleased with how our big “away meet” was going so far.

Saturday morning brought on a whole new realm of coaching. At 8:02 am, while we were marshalling the athletes to the warm-up area, there was an alert sent to every iPhone in the state of Hawaii. 

“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

This was unexpected and brought the competition venue into a frenzy. At the time, they told us that we had fifteen minutes to seek shelter and that if it was a nuclear missile, we would have to stay undercover for 48 hours.

My partner coach and I had two athletes with us that morning and their families were in the audience. In the first moments of the chaos, the Okanagan parents and athletes huddled together. We decided that we were a team and we would stick together. We then went into a locker room for shelter. I was in fight mode, all I could think was, “I need to tell my boyfriend and my mom I love them.” And, “if this actually happens it’s going to be insane.” I kind of laughed because what are you really going to do if it is a nuclear bomb?

Meanwhile, two of my older athletes were back in Waikiki at the hotel getting ready for the competition later in the afternoon. Their chaperone was still out for her morning walk. So the girls called me asking what they should do, and to be honest I was not sure the best answer. I managed to tell them to stick together and suggested getting to the lobby of the hotel with their ID to see what happens next. I just wasn’t sure, because if there was an earth quake they needed to be down from the 28^th floor of the hotel, but if there was a tsunami they needed to be up-island. It was crazy. I hung up the phone telling them to be brave and that I loved them. In that moment, I was proud of them for keeping it together in a crisis situation and somehow I knew they were tough enough for this. Right then, the chaperone arrived and the girls stayed with the chaperone safely in the room.

Back at the competition venue, I was standing with my backpack talking to my boyfriend on the phone. At first, he didn’t believe me and he kept asking if it was on the news. I felt like I didn’t have time to look, I was just looking for a place to stand. He basically went into survival mode and just started repeating to me, “charge your phone, fill your water bottles, and get to the basement. I hung up, and I started to fill up my water to prepare for the worst.

At that moment, they sent a message stating,

“There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False alarm.”

I sat down quietly, meditated and took a moment to feel the universe around me keeping me and my team safe that day. I know there was no “actual” danger, but it was still enough to send my adrenaline through the roof. 

We had five more athletes with their families in Hawaii on January 13^th and everyone has their own interpretation of the moments during the alert. The alert lasted for fifteen minutes, and it had an effect on me.

Following the craziness, we had a decision to make; pack up and call it a day, or push through and finish the competition. We once again had a team huddle and decided to persevere through the rest of the day. My partner coach and I took a few minutes to decompress and call our families. The competition went forward.

The plans for the day changed after that, and it became very important to breathe, slow down and be present in the moment. This was crucial for the safety of the athletes, coaches and families. I coached three sessions that day and our athletes exceeded our expectations. I believe this was because they are all mindful leaders. Every athlete on the team was equipped with a strategy for managing that situation and they were confident to use it.

In the end, we had an amazing time. The team grew together and came together in the absolute moment when it mattered the most.

These moments are the ones that demonstrate coaching values in real time. This event proves how dynamic and evolving my philosophy is. The team was calm, focused, determined, and they took care of each other. These moments build character and community.

Obviously, we never want to experience that ever again, but I am happy with their ability to deal with any challenge that comes their way.