04/15/2020
Reposting for any parents not in the private group. Get in the group if you aren't already!
4/14/20 UPDATE: I hope this update finds you all healthy and secure. I hope you’re tending to your physical, emotional and spiritual health in these unprecedented times. With my self-imposed deadline approaching, I feel it’s time for an official update.
Our Academy remains under mandated closure until April 30th. Although I am cautiously optimistic that we will be allowed to resume training on May 1st, that is very much unclear at this point. I'll refrain from offering professional (or personal) opinions in this thread; but I will say that while my family is still following recommended social distancing practice, hospitals and healthcare facilities across the vast majority of the land area of the United States (including Oklahoma) are furloughing staff because they don’t have enough patients to stay full strength. That may certainly change, and God forbid the surge occurs on a broader scale, but that is where we are today.
So true to my word, unless you specifically instructed me otherwise, I will be freezing all accounts drawn after tomorrow the 15th. I cannot in good conscience continue to collect tuition where we are unable to fulfill our end of the relationship. A number of you have expressed your wish that we continue to draw tuition for the time being. I CANNOT tell you how much that means to myself and our coaching staff. I haven’t responded to all of your individual comments on the other thread, because honestly it gets emotional for me. The outpouring of support has been overwhelming. That is how I know we will survive and come out even stronger on the other side.
That said… there is a limit to what I will accept. If this thing extends beyond the end of the month, I will formally reevaluate our arrangement every month. I expect that if you continue to contribute to the Academy, you will let me know immediately if you are experiencing your own hardship. I cannot allow our Academy to impose burden on you or your family. If you wish to make adjustments to your tuition while we are on hiatus, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
I’ve already spoken with a few of you that are dealing with layoffs or loss of work. As our people support us in times of hardship, we will support you when it’s time to hit the mat again. No questions asked. Just be there and we will support you while you get back on your feet.
From our very humble beginning with 5 guys on a borrowed mat, I’ve said that our greatest strength is our people. So long as we stayed true to ourselves and our mission, we could only succeed. Now coming up on 7 years, I never would have imagined any of this but just as the strength of our people got us here… it will also carry us through.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
