Dear Diary, it's Monday and the working week must begin... I get dressed and organised for work but my week started yesterday, planning the weeks football; where my passion, my love, my happy place reside. I give no second thought to starting work, it pays the bills but brings little joy to life, especially Monday also known as national day of pointless, stressful meetings. As the clock chimes 5, the race begins... home through the rush hour traffic to get tea ready and load up the car. Winter is coming, so the prospect of leaving soggy, grass covered balls and bibs in the boot of the car is not an option, until we move to a nice synthetic pitch in the coming weeks.
A brief hello to the wife and a quick meal together whilst checking homework is done and then off out the door again. Another race to get to the pitch and set up before the team arrive, there's always the early birds that are ready to greet you, leave the kids to catch up and knock a ball about whilst the cone marking begins.
Warm up marked out and second phase of the session ready to go to make an easy transition between the two and then it's time to set out some goals. Dragging heavy goals in place each session is a chore of itself but with a lack of pitches and so many teams sharing, coupled with the risk of damage in poor weather it's an essential part of this coach's routine.
7 pm arrives and so does the rest of the team, well most of them. Assistant coaches arrive a few minutes before the start and there's always the odd straggler running late, it's generally the same ones. They've probably had a similar race against the clock as me but it's frustrating when you've put the time and effort to get things set up and there's one or two late runners that hold the session up. Generally we start without them so the rest of the team don't suffer.
The session goes without a hitch, lots of value and no messing around, the players have stepped their levels up this season and it's showing. Hopefully the days of chasing balls around the pitch and having to tell players to stop messing around are behind us. The days of babysitting and playing referee are gone.
The sessions done and it's tidy up time, half an hour on the pitch to tidy up and reflect with the coaching team, then it's into the car to do some admin before heading home. I always do this, sort out training attendance and any recording that needs to be done then hit the road. This means when I land on the driveway at home, I can chuck the soggy balls out the car and finally sit down and enjoy some time with the wife. It's pushing 10 pm by this point and she's off to bed, some final time spent reviewing training and the planning for Wednesdays session begins. That wraps up Monday, it's been long, busy but rewarding.
Tuesday is uneventful, the fixtures arrive for the coming weekend, now is time to start planning the team. Who do we take, how many do we take, can we rotate them fairly, where and when is the match, is everyone's match fees up to date, what tactics are we using, who are the opposition, how do they play? The list could go on and on but these are just some of the points we must consider as coaches, whilst others sit relaxing and enjoying family time.
Wednesday is a repeat of Monday, more rushing, more mucky cars, more time spent away from the wife and (non-footballing) son. This time the focus switches to tactics, Monday was more about fundamentals and making improvements as players, now we must prepare for the weekends games and develop our winning strategy, whilst establishing who will play.
Another late finish and the tiredness is taking it's toll, but that's the weeks sessions done, time to wind down a bit, concentrate on work and look forward to the match ahead. Thursday comes and it's time to announce the fixture to the waiting parents, after much deliberation between coaches, usually via WhatsApp all week, the team is set and we're ready to announce it. The partners of coaches reading this will know exactly how much that WhatsApp groups or Spond, or Heja, whatever your flavour, your phone will be constant. On a side note, check out our blog about football management apps to find the one that fits your team. Whether it's questions from parents, coaches discussing the team or the club group firing on all cylinders, it's a wonder how we managed before technology.
Team organised, parents have all of the details time to relax and anticipate game day. Finally, work is over for the week but that just means time for a different type of work (albeit more enjoyable), match day is here and so too the inevitable message from a parent asking where the match is, or what type of pitch or colour strip they should be in... despite the message stating all of the above, three days ago! Frustrating? Yes, regular? Yes, but it comes with the territory and helps put their mind at ease and gets my players in the right place at the right time, in the right kit, so it's a necessary evil to supress every fibre of my being that wants to drive to their house and physically point at the message stating said details.
Planning the team, dealing with last minute changes, registering the players for the league, checking the opposition have registered their team, making sure the first aid kit is stocked and the balls, bibs and cones required for an effective warm up are loaded into the car and it's time to head to the pitch. 10 minutes before the 30 minutes before kick off, gives me 30 minutes to warm the players up and brief them plus 10 minutes to set up and catch up with the inevitable chatty parent that is distracting you from being organised, note to self... bring the wife next time, so chatty parent has someone to talk to. Call me anti-social or focused, both are probably true but parents have an uncanny ability to pick terrible timing to let you know a player can't make it or want to chat and catch up, it's generally when you've got 16 players in front, looking at you for some guidance/direction.
Warm up complete, tactics board prepared and match won... or lost, it doesn't really matter but the day's not over yet. Scores need recorded, the league informed of results, playing time registered and goal scorers recorded, the list goes on and on and on. The kids go away happy, or sad and our job is complete, they will have developed and grown, whether they know it or not and I think in the car journey home, we did that! We facilitated that growth, I use we as I include my child, a coach's child is a huge part of this journey. I probably share too much, but they are my guiding player that will tell me when things work well or not so much and sees the players perspective not the side-lines.
That is my week complete, it has had highs and lows, some weeks have more than others. I could have had the worlds worst day at work, but when I step foot on that pitch, everything seems that little bit brighter. I would implore anyone thinking of coaching to give it a try, you will turn grey and pull your hair out but it will be worth it, and the best bit is... We get to do it all again next week.
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