As our preseason winds down with a final exhibition game this afternoon, it's impossible not to put myself in the place of my athletes and feel the mental and physical demands that have been placed on them. In 13 days they will have gone through 10 training sessions and 6 games. Even having kept a bigger roster of players this year, small injuries have accumulated to the point we haven't yet field what we feel can be our best 11. Luckily players are getting back into training and some game minutes so things are coming together. Tomorrow will be an off day , then we will have 3 days to prepare for game 1 of the season. I'm pretty sure that all the players are looking ahead to the long weekend and the 3 consecutive days of no soccer.
In the meantime, I can imagine to some degree all the players have go through these 8 realities during preseason. August 14th was day one of training camp and I'm sure everyone was not looking forward to the dreaded beep ! It's the clear sign that fall season has arrived but also the one thing every athlete hates. It will show everyone what your fitness is and there is no where to hide. Some surprised , some struggled and as coaches we wonder who really put in the fitness prep work Start of training camp is also the time for teammates to reconnect, they might crossed paths as opponents during club play or not seen each other since end of the winter semester. It's also the time for returning players to meet all the incoming freshman, especially the prized recruits and see if they live up to the hype. And training camp if off, height and weight being checked, fitness tests ; chin ups, bench press, vertical leap , beep test . Teammates watching , players wanting to do well but more importantly not wanting to look bad.. Then right into soccer practices. Now the days become a blur, practices, meeting, games , team travel , team building stuff. Basically stuck with your team at every moment. Looking ahead to going stright to your bed, and might even consider skipping a shower, cause hey, gonna get sweaty again soon. Everything will hurt. Just feeling soar becomes the new normal. No one gets through training camp without some pain, fatigue or a knock, Ice baths are a regular occurrence, and everyone looks forward nap time after practice. After the pain of pre season starts to come to an end, hopefullybplayers start to feel a little better about themselves and looking ahead to the season . They went through two weeks of hunger, terrible sleep, fatigue , and being out of their normal routines. As competitive athletes you assume they hate losing but sometimes as a coach you look to the bigger picture, seeking positives in losses, rotating players to expose everyone to game action but hopefully not taxing the same players constantly. Learning to win is a skill but keeping in mind the preseason is about preparing to face as many situations as possible that might come up during the season is very important As a coach you hope to balance pushing players to perform, to reach their potential with providing them with a positive and rewarding experience. You accept some players will complain, question or second guess decisions or plans but you hope the team can all be on the same page. Year after year one great moment of preseason is the moment we hand out gear. Seeing rookies surprised about how much they get, vets wondering what this year's stuff will look like and if we as coaches listened to their feedback from the year before. But mostly as a coach you hope players start to realize how the privilege they have being student-athletes, and that nothing is better than suffering and working with their teammates . Pre season has come to an end, and that they are all ready for an amazing season and amazing memories.
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AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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