Week 8 - Dealing with a new part of the job

Last week I told you about the issues the first is going through at the moment, this week will be more about the way we dealt with them and how we tried to solve them.

Coaches meeting

On Monday, Pingy, the others coaches and us 3 sat down at the clubhouse to discuss quietly about the current situation. The main problem was the low confidence and the generally bad mood of our players the last couple of weeks. A few points then appeared to us :

- the team is divided into three groups - the salary seemed to be too low - the communication between players – coaches – directors

After this meeting, we planned a specific session for the next day. We simply let the players talk to each other as well as the coaches to see what was going on. One after another, the players made their points and said what they had to say to be listened. After about two hours of intense discussions, James, Armando and I ended that psychological session by telling the players what they needed to do to start winning again and fight for the 3rd division title instead of the relegation battle.

Directors meeting

Then, on Thursday, we had a meeting with GDM’s directors. They wanted an outside point of view of what was going on. We cleared a lot of unknown areas of GDM’s way to work. For example, we got told that the problem of having players leaving the team early on the season was not unusual. In fact, every season, GDM is facing it. Why ? Because GDM doesn’t pay the players as much as other teams. But, GDM gives extra money to his players for extra work in the club like Gardening at Futeco or helping building new facilities at the clubhouse. In fact, in Mozambique, a football can’t pay players just for kicking a football. That’s the law. And except the premier division, you have to do some other work for the club to get paid. For GDM, it’s coaching in the community or work for the club on their different projects growing up around town. Still, a lot of players prefer signing for others teams.

A positive draw

After a fun and enjoyable last session of the week on Friday, the mood was increasing a lot. We went again to Chimoio for the usual end of the week pre-season friendly. Against a 2nd division team, GDM played way better than last Saturday, showing character, determination and motivation. Unfortunately, the full time result was 0-0 draw. Compared to last week, this result brings up a positive mood and shows to the players what they need to do to keep that dynamic going.

A cheeky kid

On Friday, James and I went in the same community session to coach the kids. We ended up coaching some U17’s and watching a friendly between two teams coached by first team players. The usual U17’s head coach, Chibanga, is living right next to the field where we were. We had the chance to meet his young son. I’ve never seen such a cheeky kid in my life. Always smiling, he was obsessed with James’s hat as well as mine. For about an hour, he wouldn’t stop switching our hats. He was fascinated by the fact that James had a bigger head than mine and, after switching hats for the 100th time, he kept saying “grande grande !” to James because of the size of his head. Really a funny moment !

The STEPS

Since my arrival in Manica, I started a new habit, running. I really don’t like running which is probably a surprised when you know I’m playing in the midfield a football pitch. I just don’t like running for running, just for the cardio. I just don’t. BUT, now that I’m here, James, Armando, Jake also and I found the perfect spot to run. Just 5 minutes away from the clubhouse, there is a church. To access to that church, you need to climb over 150 steps. See where I’m going ? My new habbit is indeed running those steps up and down. With my headphones on and a cooler weather around 6:00 PM, this is really the perfect spot to run. I’m doing it as much as I should, though. But I’m doing it at least once a week. I’m now used to go up and down about 10 times and if you do the math, it’s around 1500 steps. So, once you finished your 10 times, you just didd more than 2/3 of the Empire State Building (1800 steps).

I really love going there. It’s peaceful, you have some public counting how many times you passed them, you can change your speed, and you can chose whether you want to do one step after another, or 2 by 2 or even 3 by 3 if you feel like it. I have developed my own routine now that’s suits me perfectly. Over 10 times, I would do 1 by 1 the first two returns, then 2 by 2 the next 3 to go back on 1 by 1 the next two. Then, I would finish by two times on 2 by 2 steps to finish with a 3 by 3 sprint all the way up. While you’re on your way down, you have time to rest and face the next one. I really love that place, I will miss it when I need to clear my head.

It took me some time to post this new blog but there is a good reason behind it. I will explain myself in my next post.

#Mozambique