It's been a while, but I'm back with another #FuelYourFire Blog Post! Sometimes once my season starts I have trouble putting thoughts and feelings into words to share. I'm sure you know the feeling--the season is turbulent and emotionally draining and it can be hard to make sense of it as you go through it.
The beginning of the season is always full of excitement and promise. Playoff time is make or break--with pressure--but in a really fun way. The in-between time can be a bit rough. I've found that no matter how well or poorly my season is going, I always get to a point where what I call the "mid-season grind" hits. A lot of times the word "grind" brings up a negative feeling, but I don't think having to grind is negative at all. It's something we, as competitive athletes, must do--and we become better for it.
In college at the University of North Carolina, our team was expected to go undefeated. The mid-season grind for us was to maintain that perfection and stay motivated when everyone was gunning for us. It could be stressful, but it was a fun challenge and brought the best out of us each and every game.
For most of us playing the the NWSL, the parity in the pro game came as a bit of a shock. We all grew up playing for successful youth club teams and college teams that did well too. We're used to winning. A lot. The professional game simply just doesn't work that way (although there are rare exceptions to this). From my first professional season in 2009, I had to get used to a different feeling. Three points are hard to come by! Right now with FC Kansas City, we are feeling that to the max. We've play six games so far and have lost four and tied two. Definitely not the start we had hoped for.
The longer I play, the more I place value on consistency. Often, all we can control as players is the daily input. It would be easy for us at FC Kansas City right now to be panicking or making drastic changes. But neither of those directions are helpful. For us, the grind is to keep working and keep trying to be better than we were the day before. Winning and losing come down to such small moments within the game. The grind at the professional level is to be ready for those moments and to be able to execute consistently.
Everyone's mid-season grind comes in a different form. We can view it as un-motivating or downright frustrating, or we can take on the challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow. As hard as it is, that's what I am working to do right now.
I must focus on every detail in training, focus on being better for my teammates and my club, and keep pushing until we get the results we need. And once my team and I start to get those results, we must keep pushing still. Training the mind and body to continually progress, even when it is difficult to do so, is such a vital part of the process.
I encourage YOU to think about the process and the mid-season grind, and share with me one of your favorite quotes about the process via social media, using the hashtag #FuelYourFire. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Tag me on Twitter: @Yael_Averbuch or Insta: @yaelaverbuch
Let's all attack this mid-season grind head on!
In college at the University of North Carolina, our team was expected to go undefeated. The mid-season grind for us was to maintain that perfection and stay motivated when everyone was gunning for us. It could be stressful, but it was a fun challenge and brought the best out of us each and every game.
For most of us playing the the NWSL, the parity in the pro game came as a bit of a shock. We all grew up playing for successful youth club teams and college teams that did well too. We're used to winning. A lot. The professional game simply just doesn't work that way (although there are rare exceptions to this). From my first professional season in 2009, I had to get used to a different feeling. Three points are hard to come by! Right now with FC Kansas City, we are feeling that to the max. We've play six games so far and have lost four and tied two. Definitely not the start we had hoped for.
The longer I play, the more I place value on consistency. Often, all we can control as players is the daily input. It would be easy for us at FC Kansas City right now to be panicking or making drastic changes. But neither of those directions are helpful. For us, the grind is to keep working and keep trying to be better than we were the day before. Winning and losing come down to such small moments within the game. The grind at the professional level is to be ready for those moments and to be able to execute consistently.
Everyone's mid-season grind comes in a different form. We can view it as un-motivating or downright frustrating, or we can take on the challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow. As hard as it is, that's what I am working to do right now.
I must focus on every detail in training, focus on being better for my teammates and my club, and keep pushing until we get the results we need. And once my team and I start to get those results, we must keep pushing still. Training the mind and body to continually progress, even when it is difficult to do so, is such a vital part of the process.
I encourage YOU to think about the process and the mid-season grind, and share with me one of your favorite quotes about the process via social media, using the hashtag #FuelYourFire. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Tag me on Twitter: @Yael_Averbuch or Insta: @yaelaverbuch
Let's all attack this mid-season grind head on!
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