Double duty - Coaches stress importance of time management in busy schedules

With the ISSA schoolboy football season and Red Stripe Premier League campaign set to start on September 8 and 16 respectively, a number of coaches will be splitting their focus between both sets of competition.

However, with such a busy schedule, two local coaches said that it is not as mentally and physically difficult a task for them, because of effective time management.

Rudolph Speid is the technical director and chairman of Cavalier SC and also serves as technical director for Wolmer's Boys School. He said that his schedule is not as busy as some may think, as he is usually seen on the touchline of games for his teams, at various age levels.

"I'm just the technical director and the chairman (at Cavalier), don't believe anything else you hear," he laughed. "We have a general manager and we pay people to manage the club affair, so it's a policy.

"Time management is important if you want to succeed in anything. You have to put the effort into what you want to succeed at. Sometimes you have to take focus from other things if you want to succeed in football. If you spend less time, you won't do well."

Dwaine Humphrey has spent time as a member of Montego Bay United's coaching set-up, and also at daCosta Cup side Knockalva High as head coach. He agrees with Speid that time management is key to coaching multiple teams.

"Once you take that scenario out where your two teams are not in the same competition, your time frame with training is different," Humphrey said. "It's now up to the coach to determine how he manages his time and what kind of understanding he has with both teams."

Speid said that although he is passionate about football, coaching can be mentally and physically exhausting.

"It's draining, man," Speid said. "Football is hard. Sometimes you want the season to finish, because you just nuh have nut'n but speech. Sometimes you have to be thinking about what you gonna be telling the players to motivate them some of the times, so it can be difficult."

Humphrey, who also operates his own farming business, said it can be difficult but when you have persons around you who understand your schedule, they make it easier for you.

"It (coaching) takes away a lot," he shared. "Your spouse has to be someone who understands what you do, because they sometimes, like your business, will suffer because of their time being cut into. But it comes down to understanding and time management. Especially when you have youngsters, that demand a lot more time, you definitely have to see it as a sacrifice, but you need support when you do that. "