Today, I would like to share with you my experience in working in a high level football club, as is Panathinaikos FC. I have been in football for years initially as a freelance professional and in the past 5 years as the head of Panathinaikos FC Performance Lab. In the past years I worked with high performance players like Gilberto Silva, George Karagounis , Djibril Cisse, Seb Letto, Jean Allen Boumsong and others. I have also worked with great head coaches like Jesualdo Ferreira, Henk Ten Kate, Nioblias, Jose Peseiro and assistance coaches and fitness trainers (Jose Gomes , Xristof Vazexa, Lau Ebben, Stergios Fotopoulos, Pedro Cainhinxa & Jose Eduardo). The names are in chronological order and I apologize if I have forgot someone. It has been a wonderful experience for me.
All these years, I had the opportunity to interact with high level professionals. With some of them I have developed a friendly relationship. Gentlemen, thank you all for this fantastic experience!
What have I learned these years?
- MUTUAL RESPECT. As a sports scientist I always respected the role limits. This helped me to establish a good relationship with coaching and medical staff. CLARITY OF ROLES is very important for high level performance. Don’t ask for respect. Receive it with your high work quality.
- SHOW THE TEAM WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THEM. This is very important to receive their respect!
- AVOID CONFUSION. Each member of the team has a clear role and can express his/her opinion. Whatever he/she says must be based on his/her expertise. The head coach manages the team and makes final decisions.
- HIERARCHY. This is set by the Club and is a good tool for everyday effective practice. When join the Club, you should fit to the role. Don’t try to change the role to fit your ambitions!
- BE CLEAR IN YOUR COMMUNICATION. Coaches and players are not scientists. They might not know the specific terms. It is our job to help them understand. To do so
- SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE
- AVOID TOO MUCH INFORMATION AT THE SAME TIME
- DO NOT OVERDO IT. Football is football and science is there, as a tool, to help players improve faster and further.
- IF THEY DON’T LISTEN FIND ANOTHER WAY. If you want to know how, please read this post http://georgenassis.blogspot.com/2011/06/say-it-in-different-way-power-of-words.html
- FOOTBALL IS A TEAM SPORT. Think, communicate, be open, flexible and team player.
- DO NOT COMPROMISE QUALITY OF WORK-SET HIGH LEVEL GOALS.
- WORK SMART. Our job is to assist coaches develop more effective training programs. Hard work is not necessarily the most effective way. Spend time to achieve the right mixture of science and practice. If you want to learn more please click on http://georgenassis.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-much-science-is-enough.html
Key messages
- Build mutual respect
- Follow the smart way
- Be a team player
Hope you enjoyed the reading. The post is open to discussion. Please feel free to comment. Before doing that, may I ask you to introduce yourself?
Thank you and best regards
George
