News from the world of mental training

Cooperation with the Slovak Football Association
23.03.2020

Cooperation with the Slovak Football Association

At the beginning of the 2019/2020 season we started cooperation with the Slovak Football Association in the field of mental preparation for youth national teams. Part of the project is close cooperation with Slovak – U18, followed by ad hoc support for other youth national teams or support for the transfer of information to academies. Recently, based on the demands of the Slovak Football Association management, the project has been extended to work with a group of national coaches. The main point of cooperation is a two – year pilot project with U18 which includes a complete system of mental preparation. Its purpose is to set up a functioning system for representations, which will further be a model for other representations.

 Part of cooperation and an important step is communication with clubs. In order to improve the cooperation between national team and club and thus unify the influence to player, workshops were organized with the participation of club coaches and competent members of the U18 coaching staff. The results of testing of U18 player’s (mental skills, fitness – coordination abilities or blood sample analysis) and technical – tactical skills of plyers were discussed and steps were taken to develop the player.

 For other national teams, we are available for operational matters such as mental preparation for a specific opponent or for more effective communication with individual players (team leaders). Based on the trainers’ demands, we performed a mental analysis of the U16- U21 national teams. From the team and player profile we have collected a lot of objective data that serve as a basis for working with teams and individuals not only by the consultant but also by the coach. Thera are some very common features in all categories. These common characteristics are basically the consequences of education and ways of leading children and youth in Slovakia. We were asked by the Slovak Football Association management to present these facts at the Slovak Football Association Coaches’ Conference in December 2019.(https://www.futbalsfz.sk/v-senci-zacala-konferencia-trenerov-sfz-2019).

 We believe that cooperation will bring added value not only to the Slovak Football Association, but also to clubs, individual players or coaches. Mental preparation is an important area for the development of athletes, but unfortunately it is often forgotten in Slovakia. It’s like to think that football is played by feet. Football is played by the head with your feet and that’s a big difference.