Return to Play: A Few Tips for Success

The timeless coaching quote rings true here: “In times of adversity & stress, or moments of great opportunity...You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of preparation”. Our experiences upon returning to play as coaches, officials, managers, parents, players, teams, and organizations will most certainly be decided by our individual and collective preparation. Those of us in organizational and leadership roles should have already been preparing and working through multiple contingency plans to help with a smooth transition for return.

I want to focus this section specifically on the players, coaches, and officials. Players and officials: Have you been taking care of yourselves? Are you physically ready to perform? Is your fitness at a level it needs to be to a. Participate b. Perform c. Mitigate Injury? Coaches, players, and officials: Are you mentally ready to perform? Have you kept sharp with your Hockey IQ, RuleBook, Systems, Skill Development, etc. Do you have a plan in place to establish new routines or maintain current ones to provide consistency? There’s plenty of questions that you must answer to develop your own system of attack now, before it’s too late.

PATIENCE

This one is going to be asking a lot, I know. However, with the unique situation we’ve all encountered the last few months, we must possess an appropriate level of patience during the return to play period. This is directly tied to the next two sections. While we must have elite expectations, we also must display patience during the initial period back at the rinks. The procedures, protocols, and the simple fact that there is going to be an uncontrollable energy to be back might create some headaches. Be ready for it. Expect it. Use patience in responding. Maybe I’ve taken one too many hits to the head over the years, but a simple example for us needing patience upon return comes to mind. We recently moved the location of our kitchen garbage can at home. Days and weeks later, I find myself going to place my garbage under the sink inside of on the other side of the room. We are creatures of habit and routine. Establish new ones as quickly as possible, but expect it to be done through repetition!

POSITIVITY

A requirement in my own universe. Now, more than ever, it should be a requirement at the local rinks. Hopefully, you’ve managed the hardships as best you can recently. The silver linings are abundant: more time at home with loved ones, a return to old projects unfinished, newfound projects and hobbies, self-reflection and evaluation, time away from the rink. Admittedly, that last one seems strange just writing it. But it’s true. Sometimes a break is exactly what’s needed: more balance in life, a sense of appreciation, rejuvenation, and time to repair our bodies from overuse. Personally, I think this forced hiatus is going to create some of the very best hockey we’ve ever seen this upcoming season. Assuming appropriate actions and training were undertaken, we’re going to have healthier athletes with lower occurrences of overuse injuries. We’re going to have more excitement in the rinks. There’s going to be less players at critical times in their development suffering from burnout. Instead, they’ll be thriving right on through the entirety of the hockey season. We were basically forced by this pandemic not to specialize in hockey year-round. Which is exactly what the doctor ordered for the vast majority of players. Assuming a complete return to normal, players and parents need to seriously consider another PAUSE at the end of the 20-21 season.

PERSPECTIVE 

Lastly, I hope this whole experience has provided some well-needed perspective. While hockey is everything to some of us...it also is not. Appreciate the game. Appreciate how special our hockey community is. Appreciate how fortunate we all are to have hockey and the experiences it gives us. I hope we remember to keep that perspective and use it throughout our daily lives moving forward. It’ll make hockey even better than it already is…PERFECT!

~ Tony Attanucci