Coaching Burnout

Depending on how the season goes, you’ll start to get mentally tired.  If it’s a hard season this will come sooner.  If it’s a great season it will come later.  But it will come.  Give yourself a break.  Our season is about 2.5 months with games, practices, parents, meetings, etc.  I would spend between 15-20hrs per work day on this.  This will wear on you.  It wears on me.

Let go of soccer on Sunday.  This is a Lord's day, a day of rest.  God gave it to you for your benefit, so use it!  Go spend time with family and friends.

As you start to wear out, that will probably come around some of the most important games, so you'll be more susceptible to stress.

It'll probably be during these times when you'll feel like you're being attacked or ambushed by the craziest things.  Maybe you'll get a particularly bad 'why isn't my son playing more', maybe it will be some conflict with a parent.  Not much you can do, but just be aware that you're vulnerable during this time.  Keep things in perspective.  Conflicts during this time tend to get blown out of proportion.  So take a step back, ask the other person for more time to think about things, or just ignore them.

Stay physically active - run, swim, bike, etc.  Physical activity is important in burning off stress.  Eat well.  Try and stay away from the junk food or lots of coffee.

You will be tempted to make some bad decisions during this time.  Think about the impact of the decision.  Do you have time to make it?  Pray about it.  Because the end of the season is near, you may be tempted to rush things.  Only rush those things you have to.  Other things can wait.

At the end of the season I get the greatest thank you notes.  I've started a practice of saving these in a basket near my desk.  When I feel lost, upset or question why I'm doing this, I pull one out at random and read it.  It really helps.

Keep an eye on the voice in your head.  When things are going well and you're fresh, that voice will have good things to say.  When the end of the season comes and bad stuff has happened, that voice will be critical.  Focus on the bigger picture.  If there are things to fix, fix them, but don't make a big emotional production out of them.

I wasn’t very good at this, I hope you do better!