5 tips to prioritize and organize your schedule to avoid burnout

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” - Benjamin Franklin…..

With countless opportunities to attend camps, clinics, and prospect days, I wanted to share some insight into how to plan ahead and prioritize to avoid potential fatigue, burnout that can occur. 

This past summer I observed the burnout and fatigue of high school players as they entered halfway into their club summer season.  I saw some red flags but it hit me hard when I overhead some of players discussing their weekly schedule “I went from the tournament to a one day prospect day, then to a 2 day camp, and woke up at 4 am to get to our 8 am tournament game, and after this I’m flying to get to a camp on Monday”.

I observed the fatigue firsthand, as my team entered our 2nd and 3rd club tournament. 

Players were noticeably tired by the second game on day ONE.  I noticed uncharacteristic mistakes, players having a tough time getting back on defense.  I was shocked, honestly, and I knew in my mind that this shouldn’t be the case. The tournament games are at most 25 min running clock with lots of subs on the side.  

I called a few of my friends and my sister and asked “Did we ever get tired in high school sports?”  We all laughed because we obviously think of ourselves as invincible and never being fatigued. But in all seriousness: I was and still am very concerned about the emotional, physical, and mental demands of this crazy cycle and schedule of High school athletes. 

If you consider the calendar for a lacrosse player in New Jersey

March-June

Includes: The daily grind of 6 days a week including: practices, games (2-3 per week), conditioning, lifting, video sessions, scout, travel, oh yeah and HOMEWORK AND STUDYING!  

The days that are supposed to be considered OFF days from HS practices, many players leave to attend a one day prospect day, or attend tryouts for National Tournament, Under Armour, or Brine.  Those off days are now 3-6 hours of playing lacrosse!

End of May into June

Club practices start up and are usually 1-2 times per week.  High School teams can potentially play up until the first week in June.

Summer club tournaments start the second weekend in June.

June to the end of July

players do not stop!!

An example of a week includes: 2 club practices, travel to a clinic, camp or prospect day, travel to a tournament, play in the tournament, stop at a clinic ,camp, on the way home and repeat!

When considering all the above, a player could potentially go from March - August without putting their stick down.

Parents, we need to ask ourselves “who is putting pressure on these players to be at everything”? 

I’ve heard the comment “I feel like she’s missing out”. It’s this “fear” or “fomo” that drives us to make these crazy decisions that could be hurting instead of helping our players.   Fear is defined as “preconceived thoughts that aren’t real”. These fears create these stories that we make up in our heads. These are rumors, or gossip that bombard parents and in fear we make uneducated decisions that could actually harm our daughters.  

As players and parents, we must adopt a new mindset.

We need to take a step back, educate ourselves, and empower ourselves to make decisions that are best for YOU and YOUR family. We must focus our energy away from what others are doing and make a plan that is best for YOUR FAMILY.

I have put together a list of 5 tips that can help us all avoid falling into this trap of burnout.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE…

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5 tips to prioritize and organize your schedule to avoid burnout

1-Create a calendar

• Put all athletic and lacrosse related events on a calendar. For example: Practices, strength & conditioning, yoga, speed training, wall ball, any and all the things you have planned for the upcoming year.

• Look for openings in schedule. Once you have all your club, high school, and extra training opportunities on the calendar look for potential openings and add in additional clinics, camps, etc.

• If you can, plan for fall, winter, summer NOW. It will help you avoid recognize overload.

2-Plan Rest Days

• As you add in all your events, make sure to recognize overload. As you are checking for openings for camps, also look for days that you can rest. This is a must! A rest day should be just that. A DAY OF REST!

• Make sure to avoid long travel on these days, it can be exhausting.  Planning off days ahead of time will be key to the rest and recovery we all need.

3- Plan clinic, camps, etc in advance to eliminate overbooking

• Analyze your calendar- Summers can be jam packed. if you play a fall sport and have more time in the winter, then attend a winter camp instead of the fall. Lots of schools offer winter camps and this is a great way to spread out all your opportunities. If you have more time in the fall, then plan to do a few more clinics in the fall.

• In general, camps are typically longer than a clinic or prospect day (2-3 days), so coaches will have more time to see you. They tend to be more expensive but you get to experience first hand what it would be like to play for that program. Thats a huge benefit!

• Clinics and Prospect days- pick a few to attend throughout the year.  The ones that have more coaches attending allow you to meet more coaches over a shorter period of time. There are some great ones out there, but there are also some that are money makers. Do your homework and make sure it’s worth your time and money. 

• Everyone is different but scheduling ahead of time will help eliminate burnout, and may even save you a little bit of money, and sanity down the road.
  

4-Incorporate campus visits while you travel for tournaments

• Look on calendar, especially in the summer and see if you can leave a day early or stay a day later to check out some schools along the way.  It will allow you to see campuses and get a feel for what you like and don’t like.

• WHEN ON CAMPUS- It’s a great idea to take advantage and sign up for admission sessions and campus tours (these can all be found on the school website). Coaches will not be able to meet with you until after September 1, but you can start to get an idea and feel for what the school is all about.

5- BOTTOM LINE: You can’t do everything!

• Know this ahead of time and be okay with it. Attend prospect days, clinics, camps when time and finances are available. 

• Prioritize fall/winter sports-If you are playing fall or winter sports, that should be your priority and you shouldn’t stress about getting to all the clinics available.  

• Focus on what’s best for YOU and YOUR family! Don’t compare to others, and don’t spread yourself too thin.

Thank you and enjoy the ride!

xoxo

Crysti

Founder BFF Lacrosse