In an interview with the UEL first team’s coach Ryan Gordon, we finally got a chance to have a look at how Ryan and his staff managed their team off the pitch with the situation they were in.
Time For Reflection
Ryan explained, that after reflecting on the situation he knew he had to act. Going back to what he does best his aim was to inspire and empower people to take advantage of their opportunities.
He looked at his players closely, assessed the situation and did his best to understand the struggles everyone might be facing. Family problems, relationship issues and injury concerns were all matters that players were encountering.
Ryan sent out a message to the whole group saying, “Yes we are in lockdown but actually this is a huge time and opportunity where you can self-reflect and make a positive decision on where you are going in the next 5 – 10 years”
As he reiterated, “It’s just getting everybody back up to level, so we had to make sure we motivate the players where some could be demotivated, we made sure we motivated the players, inspired them and empowered them”
Communication
From a WhatsApp team group to Microsoft Team calls, Ryan encouraged his players to interact and joke around as if they were together. Every player had to have their cameras on in the team’s meetings so he could visually see the player, assessing body languages, facial expressions and demeanour. Aiming to bring back some familiarity and gauge who needed uplifting and an extra boost.
“The old-school style of management is different to the new style; the players are completely different and what I was able to do was adapt my skillset to the player’s needs.”
Ryan explained that him and his team did not shy away from the challenges that COVID presented as they did their best to cover every area of their player’s mental, physical state and private social matters.
“Last season we had zoom calls, we were doing zoom fitness training, I was doing 1-to-1 calls with the players.”
Training
In a time where physical meetings and interactions were rare, the UEL football team coaching staff were able to adapt and cope with the challenging period.
They assigned weekly and monthly training schedules for the players to keep them fit and sharp, whilst staying in constant dialogue with each player, ensuring they are keeping up with their individual programme.
Assistant coach Simon Dowell was one of the main figures behind designing a individual training programme for each player.
Dowell carefully went through players timetables and designed a programme that suited each player. Making sure it was realistic and coincided with the players studies.
“What we done is we had a weekly schedule and then a monthly schedule so that they can feed back to us…They had to feedback to Stuart on the programme that they were doing [it] and we knew who wasn’t doing the full programme and who was.”
Last Season’s Disappointments
Last season the team finished with an unbeaten record which is something Ryan and his team are immensely proud of “I look at UEL and I think U for unity, E for engagement and L for legacy, we have those as our value systems” and leaving a legacy is what they did.
That is what made the news about not being promoted even more crushing. “I was absolutely gutted for the boys that we couldn’t really go off into playoffs.”
Next Season
There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the season this year, with the exact start yet to be determined. Gordon feels a bit of frustration for his boys as they are eager to get it started after being denied promotion last season.
“It is frustrating because we want to start the season…We haven’t been given any dates; the planned date is that we will start back with university football in January.”
The UEL first team will play the upcoming season in the BUCS league South division again hoping to gain promotion to the notorious Premier division.
