We recently had some coaches come in to hold a demonstration clinic for our Challenge coaches. They demonstrated a variety of drills they like to run the kids through and it was a lot of fun. They did one thing I found really interesting. They brought a boombox with a CD full of music with a steady, mid-tempo beat (funk, jazz, dance). The kids loved it and when we asked them about it they said at a recent conference someone presented that having music at workouts helped the kids keep moving and they seemed to stay on their toes more and moved about quicker. It sounds like a gimmick, but a number of us watching swore we saw the kids move differently and quicker than usual during drills and even during a scrimmage. Even if it was all in our imagination – it was still fun and the kids had a blast.
So I’m thinking I may need to find a decent boombox for practices as many of my kids were the ‘demo team’ during this clinic and they won’t stop bugging me about it. The trick is finding a decent boombox that won’t get destroyed if we get a little rain. Sony makes a really nice unit that has some water tolerance – but its almost $140! I may just buy a cheap $20 one at Wal-Mart and replace it if it gets wet 🙂 I could by seven for that price!
Have any of you done music at practice? What music collection have you found the kids liked? I may try some Mega-Mix CDs. If I do end up trying it out, I’ll keep you posted!
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February 25th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I think the trick is going to be to pay attention to tempo. When I exercise (like walking) I put together mixes that are around the same beats per minute… I do vary it, stick a slightly slower one in there now and then for a rest… that might help.
February 25th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Yup – I was thinking the very same thing – they definitely had gotten a mix that had a moderate tempo that seemed ‘just right’, but I can definitely see picking the wrong music with a beat that’s too fast. Of course given how some of my kids are, er, energetic (think Hammie from Over The Hedge on Jolt Cola) I might have to go techno!
Should be an interesting experiment.
February 25th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I can’t offer any specific suggestions. It’s a great idea. One of the earliest fun memories my son has of playing soccer is when his U10 challenge team got to be “ball boys” at a college soccer game and saw the college guys warming up to some rock music. He loved it!
February 25th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I bet that was fun. My eldest has ball chased at Duke a few times and had a lot of fun being that up close to the action. A couple of years ago we had a league night for a home match and brought as many kids as we could, wearing their uniforms – they had a great time. The players signed autographs for almost an hour!