Hello,
It’s a pleasure for me to work with the Montreal Impact this season. I joined the team in November and I was given two main responsibilities, firstly, as the team’s physical performance manager. I have to make sure the players are in good physical shape, that they are able to perform for 90 minutes and that the players are able to offer a consistent performance for the duration of the season. I have to base my work on different conditions that vary from training camp through to the end of the season.
My second assignment is as important as the first; that as assistant coach. I assist Marc and the technical staff on the field as well as in the process of decision making.
The role of physical conditioning coach is less known, but it is extremely important in the world of high level sports. I think that this work can be a key component for the players’ year-long performances. This job involves the physical evaluation of the players. I evaluate them on different physical skills like endurance, speed, agility, reaction time, strength and power. Once the evaluation is complete, I can provide the players with a training regiment specific to each of their needs before the season begins. Then, I expand their training routines to include the entire team during the season. I work with the players on the field, but also in the gym when needed.
An integral part of physical training is prevention. I have to ensure that I minimize the potential for injury throughout the training sessions I map out. I also get involved when someone is returning from injury. Once the medical team gives an injured player the green light to train, I work individually with that player to make sure that he returns to the pitch as quickly as possible.
There are different factors that we have to take into consideration when doing this job. First, we must work with a highly-charged and irregular calendar. Our reality is much different than those of many European leagues. For example, when I was working in Spain, we played every Wednesday and travel time to get to away games never passed two hours and 30 minutes. Therefore, it was easier to create a routine. Here, the calendar is varied and the travel times are much longer. The time spent in airports causes much fatigue, and thus, nutrition becomes very important when dealing with these conditions.
For these reasons, we rarely have “normal” training weeks. In one normal week, 100 minutes are dedicated to physical training.
Due to theses conditions, we work under differing focal points from one practice to the next in order to optimize the physical preparation of the players. For example, it is possible to dedicate 30 minutes during a workout on just speed. We also work on improving the mental strength of our players and I also try to add a social aspect to some of the exercises in order to create some solidarity amongst the players and to help integrate some newer players into the team.
Enjoy the games!
