Weather, or not, here we don’t go!

Posted on December 28, 2010 Updated on December 28, 2010

Well, yet another weather affected cancellation of sport that is affecting both players and fans, not to mention the management team.  The weather not only causes problems logistically in terms of games having to be rescheduled, but also in the day-to-day planning of training and in making sure the players are in top condition when it comes to matchday!

As frustrating as it is the fans not to see their teams play, it is perhaps more frustrating for the players and the management who spend so much time preparing a team for these matches, the tapering of training (periodisation if you like) means that we’re constantly trying to ensure the players are physical prepared for each match. Not easy when you consider the disparity of facilities available to teams at different levels of the game. Even all-weather pitches are struggling to be available in this bad weather period. It sometimes requires thinking outside the box to keep training fresh and interesting, perhaps thinking of alternative training methods to prevent staleness! Again, not exactly easy at a time of year when other facilities are booked out!!

And with the severity of the weather we’ve experienced even getting to a training ground can cause major problems for players and staff; even getting out of the house can be a major obstacle for most people.

In effect this weather induced break could be a major momentum changer for teams participating in various leagues! Teams that had momentum may lose it, and a team that had none could suddenly gain it! Hardly a great state of affairs if you’ve invested much time creating momentum, team spirit and  a great level of physical preparedness! It will require a great art of management to ensure that momentum is maintained, or changed if that’s appropriate, through what has been really difficult period of planning.

Even the possibility of warm weather training camps has been lost, not only because of the schedule of games during December, but because the airports are closed too! However, one benefit of the enforced break is that it does give a fantastic opportunity for injured players to complete their rehab and get back in contention.

So what does all this mean for the rest of the season; a multitude of games to be played in an extraordinarily short period of time placing great demands on the resources of clubs and the roster of players. This plays into the hands of those teams with greater resources able to hold the largest squad, with rotation of their players a possibility in order to maintain freshness.

Extending the length of the season is not a viable option with the end of the season traditionally tied to the play-offs at Wembley; this increases the pressure to shoe-horn games in. So all we can do is prepare the players as best we can and strap ourselves in for a hectic schedules of matches and travelling!