This week, we caught up with Harvey Farmer, semi-pro player at Chelmsford City, college student and part-time coach for M.R.F.A.!
Harvey spoke to us about he manages his training and games on top of his school work and education. Players who are pursuing their passion in football, as well as being in full-time education, Harvey shared some brilliant advice and tips with us about how you can manage this.
How do you wind down after school/college and prepare for a game the same evening?
If I know I have a game in the evening, I’ll make sure I’ve got all my kit and bags packed the night before so I don’t have to rush around getting my match gear sorted after school.
With the time I have in between the two I make sure I eat the right foods and drink lots of water. Personally I love listening to music as it helps distract me from anything that’s happened during the day and also allows me to focus on the game ahead.
What have you found to be the way to split your time over the weekend to getting homework/assignments done as well as training and games?
My school allowed me to come in an hour before and after school so I could get as much homework or revision that I needed to do completed during the school week. This meant I had less to do on the weekends and could focus more on football.
However if you can’t do this for whatever reason, I’d still try and get as much done during the week as possible. For example on evenings where you don’t train, make sure to do homework as you’ll have less to do at the weekend.
No matter how often you train or play, there will always be a way of finding time to do your schoolwork, so my advice would be to try and get it done as early as possible so you can stay on top of it all.
Do you have any advice/tips for our younger players on dealing with losses and how not to let it affect your school/college work?
This was something I found really hard when I was younger as I’m really competitive and don’t like losing, but I soon realised that dwelling on the losses only makes things worse. If you’re thinking about the losses during school time you aren’t focusing on what you should be and will therefore suffer in school as well.
Whether you have a great game or a rubbish game, you have to learn to move on when the next day comes, so you can concentrate on what’s in front of you when you’re in school. However, if you’re ever struggling to move on from a sporting disappointment, speak to family, friends or teachers in school as talking to someone is often the best way to move on.
What advice would you give to our younger players on balancing everything?
My 3 main pieces advice would be:
Make sure you’ve planned and prepared for the upcoming day/week/month. Do this by creating a timetable showing all your training sessions, matches, school hours etc. You can then prepare for the busy days, and incorporate school work or time with family or friends on the less busy days. Try to share this timetable with family, friends and teachers that can then help support you through the busy days.
Wind down and recover correctly. Whether this is after school or sport, find a way that helps distract, calm and revitalise yourself. As mentioned earlier for me this was listening to music, for others it may be yoga or stretching, you just need to find what works for you.
Remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. There may be times where you are really busy balancing football, school and other things, but remember you are doing it because you love football and as long as you keep loving it, the busy days will all be worth it.
Thank you so much, Harvey, for sharing with us and being open and honest about your journey so far. There is so much advice here that our younger players can take on board to help them.
Let us know what you thought of this article in the comments below!
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