THE TOUGHEST OFF SEASON?
So it occurred to me the other day, as new seasons are either starting or preparing to start across multiple sports around the world…what sport has the toughest off season program? Im talking about the top tiers of sports now of course, the Premier League in the UK, the NFL in America etc.
Now, there are obviously so many variables here and it would be very difficult for me to sit here and state that I know the toughest pre/offseason program because I don’t, I haven’t played at this level personally. So this blog is purely about opinion based on what I do know, and it started many years back when I read that David James (ex Liverpool, West Ham and England goalkeeper…to name a few) visited America during the summer months and the Premier League offseason. Why?! That’s an awful long way to travel when you are meant to be taking it easy after a long, hard season and will be preparing for the next one in a matter of weeks.
Well it turned out that David was keen to stay in shape for as long as possible (obviously) and when the opportunity to train with some of the greatest athletes in the world arose, he didn’t want to miss it. He was invited to spend a summer training camp with the Miami Dolphins American football team and to undertake a crash course with the teams players in three of the positions he might be best suited to - quarterback, wide receiver and kicker. David was quoted saying “American football has always shown the way forward in terms of conditioning and performance and I am keen to apply any tips or insights that I can gain to my career as a professional footballer.” It was that sentence that made me take notice, so looked into the summer off season training camps of the NFL a little further.
David was right, this was levels above what other sports were used to. In terms of facilities, equipment, technology, attention to detail and so on. Other sports have since caught up somewhat of course but this was back in 2009, some 12 years ago and it wasn’t even new to the NFL then.
Teams are split into position groups, each with multiple staff assigned to every group. Each group has their own meeting room (not some cupboard with plastic chairs and a flip chart inside), I’m talking a fully fledged meeting room, with tables, chairs, projectors, computers, even tea and coffee machines! They would have their own designed exercise and nutrition plan based on their position requirements. Each and every position group, quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight tends, offensive line, defensive line, linebackers, defensive backs, and special teams would then come together for joint meetings and joint practise each week to prepare for the upcoming season. The joint practise includes walk throughs, no pads drills, full pads drills, 7 on 7, 11 on 11 and many more. The practises are so important and taken so seriously that 1000’s of fans will turn up and queue to watch, all dressed in the team colours, just as if they’re going to a game. Successful plays are cheered, and less successful ones are met with silence or jeers. The pressure cooker is turned up to medium-high before a competitive snap is even taken. The Dallas Cowboys training facility covers 91 acres of land, seats 12,000 spectators, has a 300 room hotel inside it and cost 1.5 billion dollars…let that sink in.
The level of detail is just incredible, as is the level of discipline. Late to meetings or poor work ethic in the gym or on the practise field or even simply not meeting expectations technically usually results in one thing and one thing only…being cut from the team. Usually a team has roughly 90 to 100 players participating in these summer workouts. That roster has to be cut down to 53 before the first competitive game of the season. Now, I know some of you will be thinking that 53 players on a team is loads when football and rugby only have about 25 to 30!!Well, you aren’t wrong, however that’s still 40 to 50 off guys who won’t make the final cut. There is also no lower leagues to fall into either. You can’t simply try at a lower level and hope you succeed there. There is one league with 32 teams in it and that’s that. The same goes for the coaches (skills and strength and conditioning), if your position group is underperforming as a unit, it won’t be long before you are being looked at a bit closer, and if the entire thing isn’t a well oiled machine after a few weeks then its the head coaches turn to feel the heat.
As I stated earlier, I’m sure there will be people with similar if not identical experience or knowledge coming from other sports, and that’s great. I’m not trying to say that the NFL is more prestigious or harder than anything else, but it is my opinion that making it through a summer camp and then making it onto the actual team is incredibly difficult and the training camps are designed to reflect this. Jobs in this league are rare, like gold dust even! Coaching and playing staff alike earn every minute of employment. These roster spots are precious, so you better perform or you won’t have yours for long!