We’ve heard a lot about the hard work, the hours of training and the sacrifices that athletes make in pursuit of their sporting dreams, but it is not all work and no play. Crucial for recovery, vital for their sanity and essential among any team, rest and recovery (R&R) and time away from the hockey field is another important factor in the lives of these young athletes.
As the training intensity increases in the weeks prior to the tournament, time spent recovering is important so the players arrive in Toronto fresh-legged and mentally alert, but what about during the tournament? Several days spent in a highly intense environment; hours spent in meetings and debrief sessions; cooped up in a hotel with the same people; how do the athletes cope and what do they do during the times they are not playing or training?
With just a few days before we launch into the frenetic and high-octane world of international hockey competition at the Junior Pan American Championship in Toronto, we take a moment to meet some of the athletes and find out how they spend their downtime.
U21 USA athlete Sean Cicchi, or Cheech to his teammates, is humorously honest about his rest and relaxation time. “Now in an ideal scenario, what an international athlete should be doing for some rest and relaxation (R&R) is watching the game footage with their feet up on a wall to drain the lactic acid from the legs, like emptying the battery acid from a batteries.
“I achieve 50 per cent of that ambition, namely, I do put my feet up!”
Cicchi is also a keen film buff. He says, during a tough training week, any free time is spent in the cinema. With typical humor the midfielder explains: “After one film is over, I quickly hobble on sore legs from Theatre X to Theatre Y where I sit down and watch another film. The science behind watching films at the theatre for helping sore legs, is that players can put their feet up on the chair in front of them and let the lactic acid drain. Six hours (two films) should do some wonder on those legs.”
With the Chula Vista Regal Cinemas offering 2 for 1 deals to students, this is a popular option among the U21 players, who spend large parts of the year at the USA men’s hockey headquarters in California.
During tournament time, popular team activities include impromptu games of baseball or cricket or the players will go to the pool for recovery sessions, which soon develop into splashing around. For non-active team activities, nothing is better designed to destroy the peacefulness of relaxation time than a quick game of ‘Cards against Humanity’. Described as ‘a party game for horrible people’, Cicchi says: “In most case scenarios, this gets out of hand really quick and turns into more of a heart-rate spike due to laughter than it does recovery and relaxation.”
While Cicchi, who made his international debut in 2016, clearly enjoys the social aspect of his sport, he does point out: “What with team meetings and tactical training, there is actually little time for R&R once a tournament is underway.”
Rohan Chopra and Jamie Wallace are both members of the Canadian field hockey team. Both players find the weeks immediately leading up to a major tournament are a time when they wind down with the intense training and try to get their legs and minds as fresh as possible.
“In the weeks leading up to the tournament we have still been training full time, however the intensity of the trainings has been decreased significantly,” says Wallace. “We have mainly been working on tactical stuff (presses and corners). We just recently had a three game series against all-star teams from the local area and learned a lot from that experience. The boys are just making sure they are healthy and all their little injuries are dealt with.”
“It’s a time for the players to really take the advantage of time to catch up on some sleep and rest as much as they can before the Games,” adds Chopra.
In the case of all the players, there is little free time once a tournament gets underway. Meals, meetings, training, travelling to matches, debriefing and watching videos all takes up time. Which makes any downtime a real bonus. Among the players, what they want from their downtime varies from person to person, as Chopra explains.
“During the tournament you have guys that like different things. There actually isn't a lot of down time during the day so players try to take as much as they can out of the downtime. Some guys like to be on their own to watch a movie or listen to some music because we are together all day and some players just need that time away. Others like the company of other teammates.
“When we get together as a team that is always fun. Guys like to joke around and do things that will lighten the mood. Things like pranks or funny stories that the guys love to see and hear. For some guys it's a rare occasion being away from their parents so you find some players that just let loose and want to take advantage of every moment away from home. That has certainly been the case with me.”
While some of the downtime during tournaments is very much time for the players to do their own thing, the team managers will often throw some team bonding activities into the mix. Usually this involves a team meal, which is always a popular occasion as it gets the players out of the hotel and into the local community, but sometimes the coaches will throw their teams a new challenge.
Chopra recalls a team building exercise during a tour of San Diego. “I find being too focused on the games all the time can have a negative impact and our management is always trying to find activities that will benefit the team. A good example was on our San Diego tour, where we went to the beach and had a fun team building exercise that the players loved. It was all about relaxing and spending some time with your teammates. This was at a time when the team wasn't as close as we are now, so when the management does stuff like this the players enjoy it.”
“Yes,” laughs Wallace, “The coaching staff definitely have some fun team events planned which will be a surprise to the players. In our last tour they had us do a scavenger hunt so who knows what they have in store for us this time.”
For Trinidad & Tobago’s U21 team, the time between games is carefully planned out, so while the team does benefit from some downtime, this is just one aspect of a daily schedule. Jordan Viera explains: “During the tournament, on our 'down time', the coach normally creates a daily schedule of what he has planned for the team and the times in which each activity will be taking place. Whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner, meetings, video sessions or our personal resting period.
“We don’t usually go out as the coaches want to keep us focused on the tournament but, during our personal free time, we will gather in a specific room, where we might play cards and have a few laughs with one another. Some of the team members like to take themselves off and relax in their room and some may even be studying as during the tournament will be a crucial exam period for some of our guys.”
While the focus is on the tournament, that doesn’t mean no fun at all for the Trinidadian players. Viera recalls a game that involved two teams and an Oreo cookie – anyone who has been a team member will get the idea! “These fun bonding sessions are important to keep the team spirit high and to release some of the pressure and nerves that build up during the games,” says Viera.
His team mate Jordan Reynos adds: “Our coach appreciates the importance of team interaction, so he will be watching and deciding what goes on in tournaments. It has been tough for some of our players in the lead up to the Pan Am Championship because they have been studying for exams, but we have been making sure we all fit in some team building exercises.”
Argentina’s Santiago Tarazona says that in the lead up to any tournament he tries to get as much rest as possible. “Every opportunity I have, you will find me with my feet up on the sofa. During the tournament itself we tend to hang out as a team, maybe meeting in a room to play board games or going for a drink – a coffee or a mate (traditional South American herbal tea). The idea is that we all focus as one.”
