HIGH EXPECTATIONS…County football is a tough adventure

IT’S game time this weekend in the National Football League and you can be assured players and managers will be chomping at the bit to get into proper competitive action with something at stake.

For me the season is divided into three parts, you have the dreaded pre-season and pre-season tournaments, the touch and skill building phase of the National League and then the real cut and thrust of the championship. For managers and players alike, all phases are extremely important in getting you over the finish line.

For any player hoping to break into a county panel or onto the team the year, it is like going for an interview for a new job when you are hoping to make it through each phase.

The pre-season will give the manger a clear indication of who is committed to the cause, if you can discipline yourself and survive those gruelling session when the body is hurting then you may have what it takes to succeed.

There is very little done in terms of setting out tactics and how mangers are going to set up etc, it’s more about how you can cope with the levels of commitment that’s been asked and expected of you.

Just like any employer the manager will be looking for certain characteristics that they see as a necessity to be part of their team, early on they will focus on things like commitment, discipline, guts, determination and attitude. Successful candidates will then move forward to the next phase of the interview process and those who are cut will find someone or something to blame for their failure.

The next phase is a little more taxing and expectations are raised a little. The National League brings competitive games against quality opposition. Those that have made it through the pre-season have shown that they have some of the tools needed to survive now its about showing that you can deliver.

Managers will be looking for players to show their ability focusing in on the likes of composure, temperament, speed of thought, skill levels and confidence. These are key components for players to make sure they make it through this phase of the interview.

During those league games, players will be challenged and it’s how they meet those challenges that will determine whether or not they move forward to the last phase of the interview process.

It is here at this stage that you may lose the greyhounds who where pounding out the laps during the winter, it’s when the ball is introduced that these athletes may reach their stumbling block, although in recent years it seemed to matter not whether you could actually do anything with the ball but thankfully I think that is changing.

By this stage, managers will have had the opportunity to run their eye over all squad members and see first hand what they are like when the gears have been notched up a little from those pre-season games.

Chances are at this stage managers will have a fair idea of whether you are going to cut it because if you struggle with the pace of a league game then I’m afraid the next step up just might see you drown.

The final phase before being handed that contract that you have been chasing is the most transparent one, so in other words there is no hiding place here and only the very best employees will survive.

To make it through the championship phase of the interview process you need to combine all the elements of phases one and two and be able to deliver them under severe pressure.

You will need to be extremely committed, disciplined and possess a fantastic attitude, your skill levels, composure and confidence must be of the highest standard and to top it all off you must be able to hold your head and do what you do when all around you your teammates are losing theirs.

It is in this environment that we separate the men from the boys, it’s one thing kicking a few scores on a wet and windy day in the middle of February it’s another trying to do it in the heat of battle in the middle of the championship.

Down through the years I have played with players who could do fantastically well in the league but when the pressure of championship came knocking they crumbled like a digestive biscuit.

All over the country players are doing everything in their powers to stake a claim for their place on the panel or on the team my advice to them is to struggle through phases one and two making it through to phase three of the interview process and when that arrives understand that it’s showtime.

When everyone else sees a problem you are the man that sees the solution, do that and you will be handed the contract and the county jersey will be yours for many years to come.
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