Coach's Corner: "Off Season Preparation"

As a coach, it is common to get caught in a rhythm of activities within your comfort zone, especially once the season starts. The off season is a great time to reflect on your coaching and practice plans to see where you want to improve. Just like we expect our players to develop constantly, as coaches we need to push ourselves to develop as well.

Outside of hockey I coach boys and girls high school soccer and our staff has been together for over 12 years. This has led to a great program on both sides that flows well from year to year and gives results. But we are always looking to improve and we meet regularly in the off season to develop new strategies for success. This past year we focused on two main elements; increasing competition during training and learning. Our players compete very well, but I think every coaches is always looking for ways to make practice more competitive and game like. We wanted to create an environment where practice was like a game. At every training session we keep score on one or two activities. We may do a 2 on 1 activity but we keep score, or we may do a fitness component where we see who finishes first. At the end of the week we tally the points and the player with the most points gets the "scarf"; a traditional fan apparel for most soccer clubs. The winner signs the scarf and then wears it all week.

The players love it and our training sessions are intense and fun. Players want to win and compete on a daily basis. The best part is it doesn't reward the most skilled, but it does reward those that compete the best day in and day out and those players would play the most on our team.

The second adjustment we made this year was the focus on learning. Typically practices were on the pitch and doing physical activity, but playing 6 days a week can wear on any player, especially if you are injured or sore. So this year we would take one day a week off from the pitch and go inside. We would spend time in the weight room working on recovery and then time in the classroom working on training objectives and tactics. We would even assess our players on their knowledge and survey them weekly as to how they are feeling both mentally and physically. As a result, our players were more ready, more rested, and competed better on the days of activity. Also our team-play greatly improved as the players had more purpose and thought into our activities.

In the offseason, reflect on what is important for your team and feel free to reach out of your comfort zone and try something new. You may be surprised with the results, and your team will love it!