Classroom performance

Managing athletes during an exam period can be a challenging task for both coaches and team managers. It’s important as we enter exam season that student-athletes get stuck into the books, and we, as coaches and team managers, are flexible in our sessions and manage the students’ training load.

While sport is a big part of most of these young athletes' lives, we can’t lose sight of their need to perform in the classroom, and it’s critical for us as coaches/managers/teachers to plan carefully around this period. Simultaneously, we must encourage students to get out there on the fields during the exam period. It’s stressful for students, and their anxiety levels are high, but striking a balance is the key. Some athletes’ forms may dip due to a lousy exam they wrote earlier in the day or the stress of the exam the next day. Encouraging students to balance studying, training, nutrition, and sleep is essential to managing anxiety and performance, and we have a significant role to play in achieving this balance.

Some questions for us to ask each other... ?

1. How can we manage and address the stress levels of student-athletes?

2. How would we define performance in practice during the exam period?

3. Can we schedule practices/training sessions earlier or later?

4.?More study, less practice? Is that beneficial?

5.?Practice straight after a 3-hour exam? Is that the best thing to do?

Let’s encourage students to find that performance in the classroom and put the same work ethic into studying and preparing for exams as they would put out on the field. This exam period requires us to encourage open communication with the players and be willing to be flexible and adjust to give the student-athlete the best possible chance of performing in the classroom and on the field.