Game Preparations--Letter to Parents

Parents,

Here area few items pertaining to the composite athletic approach to competition.

Mental/Psychological--Stepping onto a field in a Southeastern Ohio Soccer League game can be an emotional experience.  The Player will be well served if she or he is briefed on a few concepts.  The original platform of  SOSL --I was the first President and one of three original founders--was to create a semi-competitive environment conducive to teaching.  We have succeeded in that to some regard, but there are clubs and teams, that come stacked, and we have to compete against them.

The Under 10 Black Pearls for instance play in a bracket with some All Boy Teams. Some clubs have a separate Under 9 and Under 10 All boy program, so the roster is tailored to include only kids in that birth year.  We will see teams made up of aggressive and talented, athletically gifted players. Obviously some of these teams are more "select" than others, and they have a huge community from which to draw.

What is important is to understand losing and losing big happens in this league, sometimes it happens to us, and when it does, everything is still O.K.  The score is only one aspect of the game.  Each and every player can be looked at as an individual component who has a chance to shine and an opportunity to learn on game day.

Winning is not the goal of the Academy, but Winning comes as a result of achieving our best soccer.

I have seen collegiate and professional players completely engaged and detached from the score of the game at the same time.  The detachment comes as they have learned to evaluate their specific contributions as per the position or role for the team.  They are focused on getting better, and I have seen players walk off of one field after losing  and onto another where they win, and have more or less the same emotional energy.

So our Psychological element needs to be prepared and maintained at the game site.  If parents start screaming at the players or Referee, I will be talking to you if the Referee does not.

 

Game/ Play Time-- A sub-component of Psychological Preparation.   I hope for the players to gain a sense of two positions in the coming weeks.  I have asked each player for feedback about where he or she would like to play, and I also got tacit agreement to assign them a position that I feel they can best help the team at.  Some players will play more and some will play less based on what environment suits the learning best at that specific moment.

Physical Preparation--Starts Today with Pre-Hydration. Even though tomorrow is forecast for rain, the players' bodily cells will function best if they begin to consume water in slow but consistent quantities today and tonight.

Diet--http://howtosoccerblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/nutrition-proper-for-athletes.html#.VAqDQRaN4tU
Carbohydrates Friday /tonight --eat Italian!
and light breakfast of fruit. Nothing that will upset the stomach, because as thy approach the game environment, the stomach sometimes begins to get queasy--that is normal and appropriate and a part of the body preparing itself.  Talk to players about how all athletes go through this stage before competition.  Some professionals tune into music and focus on their goals for that match.  Some can't eat, feel sick, won't talk, but STILL come out and slam the game.

So everything centers and touches and comes back to the Psychological dimension.  That is why this email is a part of the Academy Mission. 

Remember--How you train is the single biggest factor influencing the level for which you will be prepared.  By sharing these Psychological tricks with your player, you are helping in the overall arc of that development. 

See you at the fields.

Tad Albano

Athens Soccer Academy   

Mind Body Spirit  Soccer