Effort

Today and yesterday were tough practices. This week, and most of next week we don't haave any games, so we have a lot of time to improve. It seems good in theory, but for some reason, our team is having a really hard time getting motivated. We are also having troubles working together: the coaches and the team. The team is really stressed out from school; it's late spring and as the summer deadline approaches, more is required of us. I think the coaches are frustrated because they want us to do better, they want us to succeed both in practice drills and in games and we aren't doing very well. There is a lack of effort contributing to this; there is a confusion, frustration, discouragement and stress. These factors come together to make a mess and I'm not sure what to do about it.


I have talked to one of the coaches and I suggested that there should be set goals and rewards, like there are in school. In school you "practice" in class and homework, then you take a test and if you studied well you get a good grade. I thought that maybe this method would work in lacrosse. If we work hard in practice and do our best in the drills, we should take a "test" (maybe a drill where the coach watches and there is limit to the number of mistakes allowed) and if we do well in the test, and meet a certain goal, we should get a prize. I think we might actually do this to a small degree, maybe set goals and once we meet them go onto the next drill.

To decrease the amount of discouragement and frustration, I think that communication is mandatory. There needs to be clear instructions from the coaches to the team and the team needs to listen. Secondly, there must be communication between the team and the coach. I think this is where the captains especially need to help out. We have talked to coach, but I also debating whether or not the captains should also talk to the team to get their input and also maybe give them suggestions? I'm not sure yet...still debating. I guess we would be like mediators.

So far I think I have been meeting my goals to stay committed to the team-I haven't given up even though it's really tough. I also want to try to work collaboratively with the coaches and the team. I have also been practicing shooting a lot, so maybe I will get a goal next game.