Musings of a Community College Coach: Working under pressure
By Liviu Bird
Sports Illustrated’s investigative series on the Oklahoma State football program reminds us again about the pressures and responsibilities facing college athletes, and what happens when they run afoul of them. Luckily, in soccer, it’s dialed way down, but most of the pressure I faced in my college career was internal.
From a journal entry dated May 17, 2011, which would have been during the spring season of my junior year at Seattle Pacific (edited for length and clarity):
I have often wondered what it would be like to be a normal student — going to school to go to school. From talking to two former teammates who are still in school but not on the team, it’s amazing how much easier life is when you don’t have to wake up for 7 a.m. workouts, go to class, do homework and find time to take care of yourself and have a semi-normal college social life.
We are under pressure to constantly perform, all day, every day. I suppose that’s why ex-athletes are appealing to so many employers. The “real world” must be cake compared to this life. Even being a professional athlete — the next step that NCAA commercials not-too-subtly remind us almost none of us will reach — has to be mentally easier.
I find it hard to remember to eat at times, running from class to class to practice to the gym.
We know no better, so we trudge off to training, drag ourselves into the weight room, watch film for hours and try to remember obscure dates and names for history exams. On a team that emphasizes classroom success (all but a shop teacher’s handful of guys have a 3.0 or higher cumulative grade-point average), a letdown is unacceptable.
It’s led me to feeling constantly tired, perpetually busy and unendingly trying to remember what I’m forgetting to do.
The coaches insist they don’t put pressure on us — and they don’t, any more than a reasonable person at this level would — but the way the system is set up, I feel pressure from all sides. I can’t worry too much about bulking up and gaining muscle, although that’s what I should probably be doing. I’m just worried about whether I’m eating enough so that I don’t lose weight.
I feel guilty trying to program recovery time into my schedule because I always feel like I should be doing something. I feel like I should jump up on a door frame between classes and crank out some pull-ups with my backpack full of books.
As coaches, we often scratch our heads when players aren’t performing up to a certain standard. Sometimes, the answer isn’t to push them harder; it might be time to take the foot off the pedal for a day or two.
Play some soccer tennis. Take 30 minutes to cool down at the end of practice. Remember, student-athletes are students first and athletes second. Make sure they don’t forget that.
Liviu Bird is an assistant coach at Edmonds Community College in Washington state, as well as a reporter for SoccerWire.com and NBC ProSoccerTalk.
