We have recently completed our preparation phase in the team. Many puzzle pieces have come together.
On the one hand we distributed individual training plans to all players during the COVID-19 lockdown, on the other hand we worked very intensively on our endurance, strength and speed after the lockdown.
My team completed a total of 50 team trainings and 20 individual trainings during the preparation.
On top of that we also had our training weekend and our one-week training camp.
This season we used a POLAR heart rate monitor and tracker for the first time.
On the one hand this helps us in the staff to record and evaluate the exact values, on the other hand every player has a personal evaluation of his current form and performance.

At the beginning of August our reinforcements from the Czech Republic and Sweden joined the team. This was just at the right time, because shortly afterwards we held our one-week training camp in Schaffhausen.
Originally it was planned to hold this camp in Sweden, more precisely in Umea. However, various reasons forced us to cancel this adventure for this season.
On the one hand the main reason is the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand we should have played in the Scandic Cup after our camp in Umea. But since the team of Umea relegated from the SSL and IKSU unfortunately retired. At the time of the decision it was also not clear if and how this tournament should be held.

As a team we spent 4 intensive days of preparation in Schaffhausen. During this time we could work very intensively on our technical skills and our system. For me as head coach it was also good to have the team with me all the time, so I was able to have many of the individual one-on-one talks.

As already mentioned, we were able to travel to the training camp with almost the whole team, only our player Snezhka Dubyk could not yet travel to Switzerland for visa reasons.
During the first indoor trainings with the team we could already see a massive increase in the quality of the team in the areas of physical, technical and intensity.
When we entered the first trainings with the almost complete team and the junior squad, the new players have once again ensured a massive increase in quality.

On the last day of the camp we travelled from Schaffhausen to Zurich to our hotel. This because we are participating in this year’s “Mobiliar Unihockey Trophy”.
At this tournament we were competing against the best two teams in the league: Piranha Chur, Kloten Dietlikon Jets, and the Red Ants from Winterthur.

For me personally these games were very important to try out more things and to get more information about the current state of the team.
Of course the training camp was not optimal for the tournament. After an intensive week the team was tired faster and could not convince 100% physically during all 3 games.
Nevertheless, the tournament and all the preparation was a success for us.

Now we have some training time to improve a few more points until the season starts.
I am curious how the team will perform…