When is it too much?
I am the captain of my college team, and we are currently trying to set a spring schedule - both tournaments and practices. Setting a schedule with a college team is such a delicate matter. One has to recognize that all these girls are not absolutely, 100% in love with this sport and are unwilling to put a lot of things second to achieve goals within the sport. So, every college season, I find myself wondering, when is it too much? Is twice a week practices at 2.75 hours each too much? Is a mandatory, once a week track workout too much? Is flying to two tournaments in one season too much? (Recognize that my college team will not have to fly to nationals this year). How much money of their own is too much?
On one hand, my team wants to have no regrets. We want to be as competitive as realistically possible. We want nationals, we want to win regionals - at least that is what we say. On the other hand, I feel like it is hard to convey to these women that to be the best, you need to practice like the best, play with the best - basically conduct yourself in a manner that would only perpetuate excellence. From my experiences, if you want to be the best, you are going to have to train harder and longer than the best. I have always been willing to do that, and sometimes I feel like my team is with me on that one, but other times I feel like some of them will walk away and lose heart if you ask for 15 more minutes out of them. College is such a different animal from club, for a number of reasons, but especially this one. I feel like if I can get a college team to work towards one goal together, the most difficult goal still possible, that would be a miracle.
So, I guess the point of this blog is this - when is it too much? What can I realistically expect out of a group of college women, some who will never play the sport again once they graduate? What do other schools expect? How do you keep motivation levels high despite the demanding schedules? Any information would be appreciated and interesting.
On one hand, my team wants to have no regrets. We want to be as competitive as realistically possible. We want nationals, we want to win regionals - at least that is what we say. On the other hand, I feel like it is hard to convey to these women that to be the best, you need to practice like the best, play with the best - basically conduct yourself in a manner that would only perpetuate excellence. From my experiences, if you want to be the best, you are going to have to train harder and longer than the best. I have always been willing to do that, and sometimes I feel like my team is with me on that one, but other times I feel like some of them will walk away and lose heart if you ask for 15 more minutes out of them. College is such a different animal from club, for a number of reasons, but especially this one. I feel like if I can get a college team to work towards one goal together, the most difficult goal still possible, that would be a miracle.
So, I guess the point of this blog is this - when is it too much? What can I realistically expect out of a group of college women, some who will never play the sport again once they graduate? What do other schools expect? How do you keep motivation levels high despite the demanding schedules? Any information would be appreciated and interesting.
posted by Mccants at 1:07 PM
5 Comments:
As far as what other schools do, all I really know is what Stanford does. We practice three thimes a week for 3 hours each during the winter and spring quarters, we add a 7 am sprint practice to that schedule for spring quarter, we have off-day work-outs that people must complete in their own time (often together in groups), and we plan on playing in eight tournaments from Janurary through May (3 to 4 of which we'll fly to).
The tournament travel is really expensive, so we also spend a ton of time fundraising--probably an average of an additional 20 hours a quarter each.
The only way that I have found people are willing to put all that time, money and energy into the team is if the goals, expectations, and committment level are decided on as a team at the beginning of the season. Having a team-wide discussion about how we want to achieve our goals and what people are willing to put it was critical. There's also the benefits of having a long-running program--anyone trying out for the team already realizes what that means...
Then, at any point during the season when motivation is waning, the captains and coaches can just remind everyone of what they signed up for by joining the team and what the goals we all agreed on are. Works for us, but every program has a different history and different dynamics.
Team-wide meeting, definitely. But Stanford is a special case. You guys have an A and B team at least - and sometimes C, if I'm not mistaken. At Tufts it was more like what Lindsay's talking about, sometimes everyone seems committed, sometimes, not so much. We did have that talk at the beginning of every season about how committed we were and how we wanted to go to Nationals, but inevitably there would be players that never got into shape, stopped coming to practice, or maybe just stopped having fun and so quit the team altogether. It can be very discouraging.
On the other hand, I have plenty of friends that never played elite ultimate after graduation, and still loved putting in all that time and effort. In a lot of ways, college is more fun than club - you have a closeness with your teammates that just can't be replicated since it's a unique time in your life. I think the reason my teammates gave it their all had less to do with becoming the best ultimate player possible or winning Nationals, and more to do with loving their teammates, loving practice, loving tournaments, and loving competing and winning at something as a team. Which sounds super cheesy.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, be sure practice is still fun. Be sure your teammates like each other. Encourage team bonding activities. Don't go soft or anything, i.e. keep practices intense, but try to be positive too. Most people don't play college in order to play club; that's obvious just from looking at how many college players there are in one year and how they disappear. So the reason they play has more to do with the intangibles, and that's what you've got to keep in mind.
Of course, do as Gwen says too and make sure everyone's got the same expectations. And in general, make the vets set the expectation level - then it becomes self-fulfilling. Good luck...
i think it is also important for everyone to have and feel equal ownership in the team. at MIT, we've seen that one of the reasons people keep playing and working hard is having everyone on the team know that they are part of something special. i'm not talking about things like equal playing time or even social activities, but rather things like personal improvement (it is satisfying to see yourself getting better, and one of the jobs of the coaches is to help each player improve, and make sure she knows if she has), plentiful opportunities to earn playing time (more on this later) and strong team communication (making sure everyone has the same expectations and goals, being open with people about why certain decisions were made).
i think one of the mistakes that some teams make is shorten their subbing rotation way too early in the season. i've seen a lot of new england teams barely play their rookies at fall tournaments because they are so intent on winning now, but i think early in the year is when you want playing time to be equal and subbing to be wide open. allowing people to earn their playing time not only makes it so they have a more personal stake in their team's success, but also so that they have more time to learn and improve. this is also a time for self-discovery...people get to understand what being in a game at a big moment means, so that next time they are put in a similar situation, they are ready. it's also important to define each player's role clearly so the player can direct her efforts towards something concrete, for example moving the disc and making good decisions or playing good downfield defense.
of course, practices that are fun and give the players a workout are good because people don't feel like they are wasting their time. team bonding activities are also good because you spend so much time together that you might as well be good friends with your teammates. :)
thanks for all the information ladies. i dont want anyone to think we are all business here at UNC. hell, we lost in the finals of the boat race at CCC and we rocked the party with 40 girls (our B team went as well) at ultimax dressed to the nines. we have fun, we support each other, and we are beginning to love each other.
what is happening with this program currently, is a transition (hopefully) from being regionally competitive to nationally competitive. dealing with this change is not easy, and sometimes it is downright scary. on one hand, the team wants to change, on the other hand, if we go for the change and fail, what will that make us? can we handle what it takes to make the change? to move to that next tier?
i am sure there are a handful of programs in the country that attempt to make that leap every year. you can sink or swim...but, i do agree that it is important that no matter what you do - keep your friends close and support each other win or lose. the transition time is a fragile time though because it is all uncharted territory for everyone on the team.
I think Gwen's comments are right on. Clear goals are very helpful. I have said it a million times, but I find it helpful to divide the goals into Outcome Goals (getting to Nationals), and Process Goals (the # of practices, 100 throws every day, etc). I agree that having the team sign off on the goals is positive, and focusing on the process is exciting as things improve and your goals produce rewards.
-George
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