Staying athletic over summer!

NWS Spirit FC’s JDL and Youth League squads train from January to October each year. The off-season for summer runs from October to December. We have some important tips to help players maintain their athletic qualities. These tips will also help them develop their skills!

Take time off!!

Physical and mental breaks are crucial for athletes. They are also essential for well-functioning, healthy teenagers and humans.

Having guilt free time away from working, training, or being productive is crucial. It helps you recharge and minimizes symptoms of burnout. These symptoms include fatigue or apathy towards normally enjoyable activities.

Taking time off from structured football training helps recharge your batteries. You can explore other interests as well. Spend time with friends and family to boost your energy. These activities prepare you to give it your all when you begin training again!

Make athletic development a priority

⁠With less matches and training, the off-season is perfect for prioritising your athletic qualities. This is important if you want to take your game to the next level. Physical qualities that are harder to prioritise in pre- or in-season, such as speed, power, or even muscle gain, are easier to develop now. There are fewer activities competing for your energy.

If you don’t know where to start when developing these qualities, or how to structure sessions to get more athletic, then our expert X-Factor coaches can take all the hassle out of that and allow you to just be an athlete.

Some very general recommendations are below for training in the off-season:

  • Speed: 3 sessions a week, covering approximately 150-300m of distance per session, closer to ~300m if you are working on top speed, or closer to ~150m if your working on acceleration.
  • Strength: 3-4 sessions a week, going through a full range of motion, at 75%-100% 1RM for 1-10 repetitions of each exercise
  • Body composition: Want to gain muscle? Sports Dieticians Australia recommend trying to aim between adding 0.25-0.5kg per week.
    • This will involve increasing energy intake above what is being expended i.e. over the course of the week you have consumed more energy through food and drink than you have used through physical activity)
    • To understand general baselines, you can find energy expenditure calculators online. Use them with caution. Growing teens usually require more energy for healthy growth and development than these calculators predict.

Understand what you need to work on technically

⁠When you have taken some time off and you’re feeling properly recharged, it can greatly help to know what you need to work on technically. This knowledge maximizes your football development over the off-season. You may already understand what you need to work on. If you don’t, go over past individual development plan (IDP) meetings with your coaches. They can help focus your attention on specific core actions. Alternatively, you can also work on some foundational techniques like passing and receiving.

Find/make a training group / train with others and integrate a ball as early as possible

Training on your own is good, training with others is great, training consistently on your own and with others is the best!

Knowing what you need to work on technically can help form part of sessions you can do with yourself. Connecting with your closer and wider tribes is important. Schedule visits to parks and pitches with teammates and friends. This means you can work on different things and play small to medium-sized games.

This enables you to practice your skills in more realistic environments. It also means that when club training begins back in January, it’s less of a step you need to climb.

Play other sports

While this can seem counter intuitive, playing a range of other sports can actually help you become a better footballer!

Many sports are governed by common movement patterns. These patterns are executed in ways specific to the technical and tactical aspects of the game. This means you can play different sports that prioritise different skills. The idea is that these skills can transfer onto the pitch when you play football.

For example, playing OzTag, touch football, and basketball will help you work on getting yourself and others free. It will also help in stopping opposition players from getting free. Additionally, these sports develop your multidirectional repeated speed. They certainly keep you fit!