Meet day can be incredibly stressful for coaches and athletes. I try to eliminate the unwanted stress with a few easy tasks. If a coach can handle all logistics of the meet, their athletes can stress about the competition. There are things I do to make meet day more fun and relaxed. Let me know if I missed anything!
Prepare your team ahead of time - The first thing on this list is the most obvious, but a lot of coaches (myself included) can prepare athletes a bit better. Here's how I prepare my athletes:
- Make sure your athletes know what to expect. Tell them about their race, the size
of the meet, weather, etc.
- Give them a game plan ahead of time.
- Give them a packing list. What do they need to bring?
- Work them out or rest them properly for the event.
- Make sure they know what length of spikes to wear.
Practice selfcare - Be prepared with snacks, water and other things that will help you get through the meet as best you can. Pack your own bag with extra clothing, sunscreen, watches, spikes, pens/pencils, etc. Make your life easy for long meets.
Check in your athletes - You or an assistant needs to be by the clerking area to make sure your athletes get the proper lane and heat assignment. Officials, meet management and athletes make mistakes. Be there and know what is supposed to happen. You can leave everything to the athletes, but make sure you double check. There have been dozens of times that I have noticed little issues. In a recent meet, our sprint medley was given lane 1. Lane 1 is preferred for the distance relays but not a sprint relay. The timing officials forgot to change the setting in the computer after a race. I was there to question the problem and it was fixed immediately.
Communicate with assistants about expectations - All coaches on the staff should be at a meet to help the kids race fast. It's important that all of your coaches are on board with the meet's game plan. Make a plan for your coaching staff that maximizes everyone. In cross country, you may want to discuss who is going to cover certain parts of the course or get splits. If races come one after another, plan which coaches will help guys prepping for their race and those finishing their race. Whatever your athletes needs, make sure you and your crew are prepared to get it done, so they can focus on their race.
Measure expectations ahead of time - Prepare your athletes with proper expectations. Absolutely aim high and strip limits from your athletes as much as you can, but do not set them up for failure. Help them achieve victories. Those victories may be winning a race, setting a PB or finishing in the top x of the meet. Their race plans must match their abilities.
Create a time schedule - Most meets do not have a time schedule or heat sheets, so be sure to estimate your own. Your athletes will race better if they know when they will race.
Take notes - Always be ready to improve. I often use Google Notes (I have a Google phone) and sometimes I will use paper. The best time to make observations is while your athletes warmup and race. I jot down mistakes we can fix or training aspects we may need to work on. For instance, athletes response to surges may need some work. I have also written positive affirmations in my notes. One example from a recent meet: Current threshold training is working. Stick with it.
Be positively confident - Be competitive, be confident, and be a leader but do whatever you can to leave the nerves behind. If you can't lose the nervous energy, have an assistant deal with the warm up and race prep. You've prepared your athletes well, do not stress the outcome.
Celebrate all the positives - Be a fan and cheer on everything your athletes and other athletes do.
Push your athletes to be good teammates - They need to prep for their own race, but they should pay attention to other events. They can watch the freshmen finish or check out the shot put. This practice will help build a better team and distract your athletes when they need it most.
Have fun - Meets are fun; competition is fun. Make sure you put the meet in proper perspective
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