The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Coaches are preparing, adjusting and waiting
Midview’s Bena: ‘We’ll be ready for whatever the process is’
For Midview girls soccer coach John Bena, the spring usually means the start of a new soccer season. After making it through the slower winter months, Bena and the Middies start to come back together in the spring, whether it be through sporadic open gyms or weekend indoor leagues.
This spring, however, has been completely different. With a mandatory no-contact order in place since March because of novel coronavirus, Bena — much like all the other local girls soccer coaches — has been scrambling to adapt.
“We were start getting together with open gyms and practices along with participating in some indoor winter leagues when the no-contact order started,” Bena said. “I’d say we got together three or four times in the gym and had played three or four weeks of indoor games. We were really just starting what our offseason program would be.”
As the summer creeps closer, so does the start of the fall sports season. While the official practice start date for fall sports is on Aug. 1, coaches are given 10 contact days for practicing that may be used in June and July. As of now, the OHSAA’s no-contact period is in place until May 31.
“I think everything is in limbo. I’m still planning my summer to be what it normally would be knowing that it probably won’t be,” Bena said. “We’ll be ready for whatever the process is, whether that’s a slow, small group training to begin with, we’ll be prepared for whatever it might be.”
With sporting leagues shut down across the world, Bena has joined the countless ranks of coaches with a plethora of unforeseen free time on their hands. One of the ways he’s been making use of that free time has been his involvement in Coaches4Coaches, a weekly virtual coaching clinic. In addition to Bena, Avon girls soccer coach Attila Csiszar also participates in the calls.
“We’ve got about 20 to 30 coaches who we meet with, and we’ve kind of built it into something where we communicate weekly about how to develop players,” Csiszar said. “We’re talking to coaches ranging from the Italy’s national team to the U.S. national team and college coaches. As a coach, it’s a great learning tool. “
Additionally, Bena has also been holding conference calls on Zoom with his team to discuss matters both on and off the pitch.
“We’ve not only been able to discuss tactics and how we want to play as a team, but we’ve been able to use this time to look inside the game,” Bena said. “We’ve also put together the “Corona Olympics,” which is a competition challenge we’ve put together with teachers. It’s not just soccer challenges; we’ve had cooking challenges, anything you can think of to engage the players. We’ve been keeping track of points, they’re in teams of countries, and we’ll have team winners and individual winners. Anything we can do to keep them engaging. The most important thing for me is that the kids are OK. We’ve been focused on that as well. Whenever I reach out to them the first thing I always ask is ‘how are you doing?’ “
Despite there not being any official high school soccer action held in the spring, the current athletic shutdown could still impact play in the fall, with one main focus being the performance of younger players. North Ridgeville girls
coach Chris Moore usually spends his spring working with the Rangers’ sixth, seventh and eighth grade teams in addition to helping run the Rangers’ offseason workout program. Now, he is relaying on virtual communication to stay in touch with his team.
“We’ve been in touch with them in terms of giving them some ideas of some things that they could do, I’ve sent some skill demonstration stuff sent to them,” Moore said. “We encourage them to post those on social media so that the other kids can see. I’ve been in contact with the high school team a couple times. We do team bonding once a month and we’ve really tried to focus on the mental side of the game.”
For Moore, the ability to stay in touch with his team is extremely crucial when considering the makeup of his team, as he’s losing all of his team captains from last season to graduation.
“I have some younger players on the team and my juniors and sophomores
have really stepped up,” Moore said. “We had a very good season last year and we’ve been able to stay in touch and really keep up the good team culture we’ve had for the past two years. I’m letting them drive the team.”
While Csiszar would much rather know what his schedule looks like for the summer, he’s been happy with the initiative he’s seen his team take on its own.
“I think the silver lining is that kids are starting to train outside the game,” he said. “Student athletes are training outside the game, which is pushing them to a higher level. Now kids are actually going out with Mom and Dad and training on their own vs. structured training. And I think structured training is great. It’s a great way for the kids to understand system. But I think you learn a lot with this game and in any game by just going out and just doing it. I think that’s where we’re gaining momentum.”
Although it’s anyone’s guess as to what organized sports will look like in the
fall, coaches and players will no doubt have their eyes on how the return of professional soccer goes. Germany’s Bundesliga will resume play this weekend in empty stadiums, while the Premier League and Serie A are eyeing June returns. Domestically, the MLS is considering the idea of housing all of their teams in Orlando for a localized season.
“We ultimately want to get back to training with game-like situations,” Csiszar said. “We obviously want to put every precaution first. We want to make sure that every kid is safe. I think now it’s going to be just a lot more organization, making sure that everyone understands the importance of making sure that they’re constantly washing their hands. We have to do our part in order to implement all of these phases so that they get back to a place where they’re comfortable because some parents might not be comfortable in sending their kids back.”
By the time the girls season starts in August, the
country could completely different. Maybe by then the pandemic has slowed to a near stop, with the fall sports season serving as the first major event to symbolize the return to normal life. Or maybe it becomes another victim of the pandemic. No matter what happens, Bena is trying to make sure his team takes some time to recognize the history they’re living through.
“If we are fortunate enough to be part of the restart to normalcy, then I am going to be appreciative and gracious of that but also make sure that they enjoy it,” he said. “They’re going to be telling their grandchildren about this someday. There’re going to be classes about how this entire thing was handled from beginning to end. I’ve recommended they journal this and write down what’s happened every day because people are going to ask when you’re older.
“No matter what, I can’t wait to see them again and have them do what they love to do.”