GAME-DAY GAMBITS

By Al Mattei
Founder, TopOfTheCircle.com

Ideally, the well-prepared field hockey program is one in which players are so well-prepared that they don't even need any reinforcement once the game starts. Rare, however, is the program which is made up of 11 "wind-up" players who can react correctly to every situation and adjustment -- if there were such players, who needs coaches, right?

Here is a primer on game-days which could come in handy.

First of all, make sure that you have a game plan in the first place. Many coaches simply put out their starting 11 and hope for the best. But that fails to take into account several important considerations. For example, on defense, who marks whom? The best field hockey teams almost always have a man-marking scheme which goes beyond the "pick-up-that-girl" ethic common on most teams.

Attention also needs to be paid to the attack. Do you have your fastest player on the right wing if your team is a hit-and-run style? Is your best ball-carrier also your best block-tackler? How many people do you want flooding the scoring circle at any one time?

Overall, what system of play do you want in order to maximize the talent on the field? With the elimination of the offside rule, you have unlimited ways to gain advantage in the attacking third of the field if you have the right players in the right positions.

Systems play has been discussed at length in many publications. It is a very important issue, because a field hockey team is a group of 11 players trying to cover roughly 21 or 22 positions on the field of play. This means that there is an almost infinite number of systems.

If, say, you are blessed with a half-dozen great defensive players, it would be foolhardy for you to play a system with five forwards and three midfielders. If you have a fast team of good shooters, playing a 1-6-3 defensive system is equally silly.

Instead, coach to your team's strengths. And finding those strengths goes beyond asking players whether they would prefer to be forwards, midfielders, or defenders. Instead, a pre-season game of pickup hockey, played free-form, will tell you who steps up on attack, who supports, who is good at preventing others from scoring.

The same kind of approach works for corners. You don't automatically assume that your attackers and one big-hitting back form your corner attack unit. Indeed, corners have become a lost art in the scholastic game. Too many teams waste their corner chances because they "hope" for the best in an 8-on-5 situation.

Some of the best teams in America will actually work on five or six corners and then script them over the course of a match so that the opposition cannot react to any tendencies or steal signals from the bench.

Now, game days are ones in which motivation -- before, during and afterwards -- is extremely important.

No matter what kind of image you want to portray as a coach, you want to do two things: one; don't constantly cut down your players in order to build them up. For all of the bluster of the master motivator Vince Lombardi, even this hard-edged disciplinarian knew how to nurture.

Secondly, know the right thing to say at all times. Of all of the coaches I have seen throughout the years, very few have been able to have the command of her situation like Sandy Chronic, the former head coach of Flemington Hunterdon Central (N.J.).

While bearing in mind the responsibility each player had for her actions, she was able to build in her players an amazing sense of harmony, confidence, teamwork, and commitment through her well-chosen words.

At no time in our acquaintance has she ever criticized one of her players or raised her voice at one of her own. Certainly, she has been upset at umpiring decisions at times, but has never allowed herself to let her emotions unravel.

Finally, you don't want to be the kind of coach to be known for the "quick hook," pulling a goalkeeper out of the game for a soft goal or pulling a player out for a physical mistake.

Unless there is an obvious physical ailment, you need to keep a player on the field after a blunder, because you don't want to have the players distracted with the fear of being yanked out of a game.

Ultimately, when the game is over, there should be a "winning is third" attitude, no matter whether the game is close or a runaway, whether it is win, lose, or tie. There are two more important things at the end of the day than the final score: doing one's best during the game, and the loyalty amongst team members.