The Lesson of Tom Blazina

Back in 1982 I was building one of my first businesses, a business dedicated to training top-caliber local athletes. I started the business with $50 and an idea, a story in and of itself, and before I knew it we were wall-to-wall athletes, budding young super stars wanting to make the team, not only to make the team but start, not only start but dominate, not only dominate but be noticed by the top universities in the country.

In other words, they wanted to make an impact on and in their sport…which is their community, the only one that matters to most of them.

You see, an athlete’s sport is the foundation of their identity, their performance defining who they are in every way that matters…to them.

Right or wrong, that is the perception of most top-caliber athletes…they are athletes first, everything else flows from that.

Enter Tom Blazina. Tommy to those who knew him…

Tommy was a young kid.

They all were really.

Tommy was from one of the less “known” high schools in the area. The town he was from considered a “cow town” or out in “the sticks” by most, a “hick town” by more than a few. It was certainly not a St. Ignatius or Cincinnati Moeller level program, even in 1982 two of the biggest high school programs in the state of Ohio; and, emerging as national powers…even back then.

The town Tom was from was barely a blip on the map compared to the bigger cities with their Division 1A programs, their top-tier athletes, fancy uniforms, ultra sophisticated training facilities…the whole shooting match!.

Let’s call Tommy’s hometown Homerville…it kind of fits with the stereotype back then.

Not now…but then!

So anyway, enter Tommy Blazina, a freckle-faced kid with red hair, no kidding, and a slight build. My manager and I took one look at Tom, scratched our heads, and wondered simultaneously where this kid had come from. Even back then, in the beginning, we were selective about the athletes we took on.

After all, we were building a “brand,” although we had no idea what a “brand” was back then…we just called it a reputation.

And we were selective about the kid of kids we took on so we would be able to point to the end product, a physical dynamo in their sport, and claim to have “done it all!”

We weren’t really that bad…but we were being careful and Tommy just didn’t fit the mold.

I made an excuse, went to the phone, and called the sales rep who had signed Tom up for our program. After he settled me down a bit, he explained that he had talked to his coach, his teammates, his parents, and to Tom…and Tom had “something.” None of them, including the rep, seemed to know what the “something” was…but they were certain he had it, it just took someone like us to bring it out of him.

“Someone like us?”

Heck, we were still figuring out just what “us” was!

And there were people out there assigning miracle worker status and abilities to “us” already?

Well, I agreed but with a stern warning to the rep to talk to me before he went out of a limb like that again with our reputation. And, I went on to say, if this comes back to bite us in the butt…it would be his head! I was a bit of a hard-charger back then. I guess I have mellowed some over the years but back then I was real quick with an opinion, particularly when I thought someone else’s opinion was in error and it would affect me and my business.

The ignorance of youth at its best!

My youth, not Tom’s!

Tom was a quiet, respectful young man who fit right in, never complained, and did exactly what I told him to do. In short order, Tommy did fit right in. He would come in, do his exercises, always give 110%, as my people were fond of saying, and left it all in the gym. When Tom Blazina finished a workout, there was nothing left for Tom to give until he recovered; and then, usually in corner of the gym for 20-30 minutes before being able to drive home.

48 hours later, Tommy would do the whole thing all over again.

Well, after a while Tom being Tom just kind of blended into the scenery. He neither stood out for being remarkable or for being a dud…he just merged into the program, did everything he was told to do to the best of his ability, and went home…to return 2 days later and merge again.

By the middle of August, it was time for the football players to go on to their respective programs, high school and college. We didn’t have any professionals that first summer, it was more or less our test season. The kids we trained were our test-cases, our guinea pigs, used to see if what we were advocating, our somewhat unorthodox training methods, worked.
One day, an off day when even the kids who were continuing until basketball and wrestling were off, I sat down with my team and we went over each athlete, their initial test scores on day one, their final evaluations, and our expectations for them for the upcoming season.

Interestingly, when we came to Tommy Blazina we all kind of shook our heads…we just didn’t know!

Tom had come and gone with barely a ripple, and yet he had done everything we told him to do and more. Tom was, quite literally, the kind of kid who would, if you demanded it of him, go out into the parking lot at high noon and bark at the moon…just because he was told to! Tom Blazina put himself completely in our hands, trusting us to do the right thing by and for him.

Why did Tom do it all with such blind faith and obedience? Well, part of it was just his nature. And the rest of it was the realization that he didn’t know what to do to get where he wanted to go, combined with, and here is what none of us got (his coach, friends, teammates, parents, and even Tom got it, but we missed it), Tom Blazina had a white hot desire to be “the” guy! Tom wanted to matter, he wanted to be the king of his world, but he didn’t know how to get there…and he felt we did!

So, Tom left us, we all worried and wondered how he would do…and we waited.

It didn’t take long!

The headlines started in week one:

“Senior Phenom Comes Off Bench and Leads Homerville to Victory”

“Blazina is the Real Thing!”

“Real deal” wasn’t used much back then…but would have been, if someone had thought of it.

By the midpoint of the season, they were talking about Tommy for All-State honors and there was a mention that some of the Big 10 schools were starting to notice this kid from “the sticks.”

By the end of the season, Tom Blazina was one of our poster-athletes, and we had quite a few….dozens!

Tom had quietly put himself in our hands, quietly went about the task of becoming who he envisioned himself to be all along, and then made his statement on the field. Tom Blazina remained a quiet and unassuming young man throughout the season and beyond. Tom was humble and a pleasure to be around. But Tom Balzina had also become the person he envisioned himself to be, quietly and with purpose! Tom had kept that to himself the whole time but he must have had that white hot desire burning in his chest…because he succeeded in a manner none of us, even those who worked with him every day, day in and day out, imagined.

The lesson? Well, there were many!

All the apparent ones:

• Desire…Burning Desire!
• Vision
• The power of envisioning a future outcome or event
• Goal setting
• A mastermind group

Those were all there and worked for him, helping him to achieve his goal.

But he also used us, in a good way, to get what he wanted. He put himself in the hands of a coach, a mentor, and a trainer…sometimes all in one, and did exactly what was asked of him…demanded of him…until he made it! He never argued, he never once said

“Yeah…but!”

He simply enrolled, turned himself over, trusted, and acted!

I think there are several lessons here, and it is my hope you will take from this what you will. Tom’s story is not unusual but it is unique. Think about that one for a while! I have coached a number of Tom Blazina’s over the years and most of them are successful even today, in business and in life. Some are business people, some are coaches themselves, and most are amazing men and women who know the value of a white hot desire combined with the right coach and/or mentor. That combination, along with the willingness to take action, will turn desire into reality every time! Tommy Blazina learned it. I learned it over and over again from the Tommy Blazinas who came across my path and elbowed their way into my life forever…and so can you.

It is never too late!

CoachZ

John P. J. Zajaros, Sr., PhD
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

Tags: Inspiration, Inspiration and Athletics, Inspiration and Motivation, Inspirational Stories, Motivation, Motivation and Athletics, Motivational Stories, sports motivation

Why would a sex-specific, soccer-specific strength and fitness trainer go off the reservation, so to speak, and post a video about small sided games and training?

The answer is really very simple! I was speaking to a group of soccer coaches recently about soccer-specific strength and fitness training and during the question and answer portion, someone asked my my opinion on the use of small sided games as a coaching strategy. Well, he did it, he asked my opinion! During the next 45 minutes, we discussed all aspects of the small sided game technique, pros and cons. I have to tell you, it was a heated discussion.

Small sided games versus the traditional mode, drills!

Frankly, I believe there is room, and in fact a need for, both. That being said, I weigh in heavily in favor of small sided games and, as the title suggests, letting th e kids play! I have used a video, clearly not my own, to illustrate the small sided game technique. The video is a rather tame version of what I used to do as a coach. In all fairness to Jeff, he was teaching them a new technique and, as such, the kids weren’t really up to speed yet.

Speed of play and touches on the ball!

The main benefit to small sided games is in getting your players as many touches on the ball as possible. As the game progresses, the emphasis can change and the restrictions focused so you have to touch the ball once, twice, three times before passing and you need to complete five successful passes before trying to score. You can go two versus three, you can have a neutral midfielder. In other words, mix it up, depending on what your team needs, your weaknesses, and your strengths.

Fully adaptable model!

The real benefit to the small sided game is that it is fully adaptable, quickly and, in many instances, on the fly! You can see a need during training, adjust accordingly, and proceed with training. With drills, kids stand in line, wait their turn, and have limited touches on the ball. The small sided game eliminates this draw back and keeps the kids playing. The latter is far more intense and effective in so many ways.

Small sided games and the D License

I remember way back, well over ten years ago, I was in a coaching clinic for the D license and Tom Turner of Ohio Youth Soccer Association-North (Ohio-North) was the instructor. At the time, the debate about the small sided game technique had reached fever pitch, with Tom being one of the chief proponents, particularly in Region II but nationally as well. The emphasis of his classes? You got it! Small sided games. Well, the crowd was about 70-30 against until the end of the clinic. By then, every coach save one was sold. There’s always one, isn’t there! And this was an intense class, every soccer coach from just about every premier club (top level club teams) in Ohio-North was in that class, and a few coaches from nationally ranked high school and college squads, like Walsh Jesuit. So, it was a tough crowd, but Tom won almost every coach over, not by instruction but by demonstration.

Small sided games gain in popularity and favor

Well, it’s been ten or fifteen years now and the small sided game is the model. The drills of the past? Some things linger and sometimes the terminology remains but the practice defined is different. Unfortunately, drills has remained firmly entrenched in our lexicon. The military connotations notwithstanding, the word drills should be put to bed once and for all. In fact, one of the coaching methods I am currently advertising calls his program 20 drills! UGH! But the guy is good and he has some really helpful strategies. Do I think it could be better? Yes! Are there better programs out there? Not many! So, if you have specific questions you can always contact me, otherwise click the link below for one of the programs listed or the side panel Soccer U.

Three programs to get your team going, made for coaches starting out or wanting to step thing up a notch!

Fast Break Soccer Program

250 Award Winning Soccer Drills

Organize You Soccer Team: Top to Bottom!

Good Luck and check out the video below.

CoachZ
John P. J. Zajaros, Sr.
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

Tags: coaching soccer, coaching youth soccer, small sided games, soccer training, youth soccer and small sided games

Youth soccer-specific strength and fitness training always demands the utmost attention to the client’s outward appearance and unconscious signals. Failure to pay proper attention when working with any individual, particularly with kids, because kids are so eager to please, they will often go beyond themselves in order to do so, and that’s when injuries occur.

Brian’s Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Training Begins

Brian showed up right on time, Lombardi Time, fifteen minutes early dressed and ready to begin. I sat off to the side and watched as he, without prompting, began the series of stretches we’d covered twice now…he did them flawlessly. Up until now Brian was being tested. And, while testing never really stops, Brian showed me he had the heart to do what I was about to demand of him. You see, so many times it’s the parents that want the program, not the player. If I find that to be the case and I determine that the child is just not into it, I find a way to disqualify the individual, always after a heart to heart with all concerned. There are enough athletes out there who want the best training available without having to force some poor kid against his or her will!

After Brian hopped off the Lifecycle, 20 minutes at random 3, the kid was sharp, I grabbed my clipboard (we document everything) and nodded towards the leg extension machine. Brian smiled and was up on it without hesitation. I watched as he began to adjust the seat so the back of his knees were tight against the seat, just like I showed him. This kid will be working out on his own soon, I thought. I then proceeded to explain to Brian the idea behind leg extensions and the proper form for carrying them out. I told him we were not interested in how much weight he could lift or even how many times! “I don’t care and your muscles don’t care. All I want from you,” I told him, “is to give it 100% until I tell you to stop.” Brian nodded without saying a word and proceeded to do just what I told him.

NOTE: As noted previously, I never take a young athlete to failure with heavy weights, it can damage the growth plates and injure muscle and connective tissue. We are not in the business of producing powerlifters, although I have worked with some of the best, some of the strongest men in the world, literally. However, with young athletes care must be given never to risk injury to growth plates, muscles, tendons or ligaments. Let me say that again…NEVER!

Next, we went straight to the leg biceps (hamstring) curl, followed by the abduction and adduction machines. The only rest Brian had was the time it takes to move from one exercise to the next, he was doing what I call a rapid-cycle circuit. After the first couple of times through, I was setting the proper seat position for the next exercise, always keeping a close eye on body positioning and body language, while he finishing up with the previous exercise. So, after the abduction and adduction, we went to the leg press machine, then on to the hack squat, which we do face-in for quickness, power, and explosiveness. By the time we are finished with the legs, the athlete is looking pretty worn out, Brian was no different…but he was still game.

Upper body:

Brian hesitated a bit when we got to the first upper body exercise. I could tell something was on his mind, so I said “What gives?” He hesitated again and I nodded that it was OK to speak up, and he did. He asked why he needed to work his upper body when he was a soccer player. I smiled and asked him if he had watched any professional soccer, men’s or women’s, or any national team matches. He said he hadn’t, except once in a while he watched the US Men’s National Team and that he would rather be playing than watching it. I smiled and thought to myself that I had been the same way when I could play. Why watch when you can be playing? So, I gave him an assignment: I told Brian he had to watch fifteen minutes of professional soccer or national team play I didn’t care what teams, just fifteen minutes, and give me the answer to his own question in a week. Brian winced but he said OK and we continued with the upper body workout.

The upper body workout focuses on big muscle groups down to the smallest, and in…out. The workout begins with the back and then the chest (in), then works to the shoulders and out to the arms and forearms. Finally, after we had moved from back to chest to shoulders to triceps to biceps to forearms, we go back in and work the abdominals and obliques. By the time we finish, and if the athlete finishes, many times the athlete does not finish, at least for the first few times through, we have worked largest to smallest, largest to smallest, and then core. The workout is intense, focused, and usually takes now more than thirty minutes…after the warm-up.

I would love to tell you Brian finished the first time through but I’d be lying.

Brian stopped halfway through the chest exercises. In fact, Brian didn’t make it all the way through the first four times, then he never stopped again. It was as if he made a decision that he was not going to be beaten, and after that, he rarely ever was! After the first workout, Brian was shot. I mean he could hardly stand up for a few minutes. Then, seeing his mother walk through the front door, he got up, went to the locker room, showered, got dressed, and came out looking like he had been on a stroll through the park. He was not going to show his mother how tired he was. I found out much later that he didn’t want his mom to interfere; she still wasn’t sold on the whole idea.

I smiled at Mom, told her Brian did “fantastic,” and set up his next workout for 48 hours later. She smiled, messed up his hair a bit, and they left the gym with Brian walking just a little bit gingerly. I made a mental note of it, would watch the next workout, and moved on to the Rosen twins…6′6″ twin girls who played basketball for the local high school and were being scouted by every major university in the country.

Brian spent the next week watching professional soccer, and a US Women’s National Team match, he said he liked Michelle Akers, said she was awesome. After the week, I asked him if he needed me to explain to him why soccer players should work out their upper bodies. He smiled, shook his head no, and commenced to work harder than ever on his whole body. Brian was that rare kind of athlete every coach dreams of being able to work with, I was just one of the lucky few to actually have an opportunity to work with him…and many more like him.

Brian started to grow, not only up but out. He was growing taller and, in terms of muscle, width and depth, Brian was getting big! Brian, still not even a teenager, was turning head and would have made any football coach’s dreams come true. But Brian was a soccer player, a dominant one in his age bracket. Soon however, Brian was playing two and three years up…making a huge impact. You see, Brian’s strength and fitness gains were incredible and soon the word was out, we were turning away athletes. As a business, we would have loved to sign every one of them. But as an athletic training company, we could only train so many and do it effectively. We weren’t going to hire just anyone off the street to work with our clients. Many have, we wouldn’t.

Next:

Brian makes the jump to premier (club) soccer, and gets an amazing invitation.

Thanks for looking in! We will begin to discuss actual workouts soon, for those of you who would like to have that sort of information. Please, keep in mind that these workouts were conducted under experienced, adult supervision. Do not attempt these or any other workouts without first getting clearance from your family physician. Every athlete we every trained, and train to this day, has had a thorough physical before beginning our program. No physical? No program!

Take care!

CoachZ
216-712-6526
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

Tags: boy's soccer training, Brian's first workout, soccer-specific fitness training, soccer-specific strength training, Youth Soccer, youth strength and fitness training, youth strength training

Brian’s First Workout: Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Training and the Making of a Champion!

BUT FIRST: I need to apologize for not getting back to Brian’s Story sooner. No excuses, I just should have and didn’t for a number of reasons. If you stay with me, I promise, it will be worth it. It’s a great story!

If you remember? Brian had finished his soccer-specific strength and fitness training test and was one very shot young man, particularly after his ride on the Lifecycle! But Brian made it, got a slap on the back from everyone, a handshake from his Dad, and his next appointment from me. Dad gave me wink on the away out, Mom kind of shook her head, and Sis was still giggling…yeah, she did that a lot.

Brian’s Appointment: The Next Day

The day after a testing is crucial for a number of reasons but one of the most important is to get them back into the gym and stretching. Why? Well, the story is probably the best answer to that, so here it is:

The next morning early, remember I lived at the training facility so I was there all the time, but it was early, maybe 6:00am, and I got a phone call from Brian’s Mom. No sooner had I said hello, she gave it to me…both barrels! I get a few call like this, and I am never surprised. I can usually tell who is going to call me way before it happens. And it is always the Mom! It is not a knock on moms, I miss mine terribly, but when it comes to protecting their little ones, no matter how big their little ones are, they can be terribly protective. In this case, she was HOT!

Brian’s Mom started with the same script, I could do both sides of the call, I’ve received it so many times. It went like this:

“What have you done to my child?” She just about screamed into the receiver. I should say, we laugh about this call now…but at the time, oh boy!

“What do you mean?” I always play dumb because every call will take a life of its own, and I don’t want to create problems that don’t exist.

“He can’t walk!” Always an issue but never as catastrophic as the moms perceive it to be.

“OK? What do you mean, he can’t walk?” I am trying to find out if he’s sore, in pain or ready for the emergency room!

“Well,” she said, “he’s walking funny and says his legs hurt!” Now, this is a kid who has been playing soccer since he was 4 or 5 and running several miles per match, supposedly.

“OK? Then he is walking, he’s just sore?” I try to put the pain in a different perspective, as soreness and not pain.

“Yeeessss buuttttt!” At this point she was, I found out later, wondering why she was worried about it at all…or as much as she was, anyway.

“OK? Well, he’s due to come in today and I’ll make sure I take extra time to get him loosened up, so he’s not as sore.” Again, I wanted to reassure her and minimize the state he was actually in.

“Well, OK, but I am still not sold on this whole thing!” The truth at last! It is more about her uncertainty with the program itself and what it will do for Brian…and the significant investment involved. Once I get to the truth, I can deal with it. In Brian’s Mom’s case it took time and visible results, nothing more…nothing less.

“I understand, I wouldn’t expect you to be 100% sold until you see for yourself, then judge.”

“OK, what time is he to be there?”

“10:00am but have him here 15 minutes before, so we can talk and he can stretch.”

And that was it, she was fine and Brian was there at 9:30am, not 9:45am!

The First Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Training Workout Begins

Brian looked a bit forlorn, even worried, as he stood next to the Lifecycle after stretching for a good 15-20 minutes. Up he went, punched in Random 3 for 20 minutes, and was off.

After 20 minutes he slid off the seat and was, miracle of miracles, walking fine. He didn’t hurt any more! I asked him if he wanted to work out, he hesitated for a moment and then said, “Sure!”

I laughed and told him to hit the whirlpool. The relief on his face and the sigh said it all…Brian was tough enough to have a go if i said he had to but he was also honest enough in his expressions to tell me he was happy to have the day to recover.

I would never have worked Brian out two days in a row like that, never! But I needed him to get in, stretch, and do a little light Lifecycle workout to get the lactic acid that had built up in his muscles as a consequence of the carbohydrates, converted to glycogen and broken down for fuel during the workout, thus causing a build up in his muscles, to be flushed out…at least in part. The lactic acid build up caused at least part of the soreness after a good soccer-specific strength and fitness workout. That, and some micro-tearing of the muscles as they are stressed in a new way, and then under go a process of adaptation and rebuilding, will cause the athlete to experience some soreness. Pain is a different matter and I have known too many strength and fitness coaches who think it’s funny if their charges can’t walk right for a week! They need to be out of the business, now!

Soreness is good! Pain is NEVER good!

Brian’s next workout, the next day, would be more intense. But on the day after testing I needed to see first hand how he was, and if he needed an extra day…Brian did not! He was game for a workout that day, he would be even more so the next….

Brian’s Mom, seeing her boy walking normal again seemed to be happier, and somewhat relieved as well. I knew tomorrow, Brian would be even sorer than today due to something I call the two-day lag principle. Basically, it just means that it is not the day after but the second day that is the most painful. There are a lot of reasons for it but if anyone has ever been in a car accident, they have experienced the same thing…the two-day lag!

In spite of the two-day lag, Brian was in for a real treat tomorrow!

See you then!

CoachZ
216-712-6526
Skype: johnzajaros1
coachz@ultimatesoccertraining.com

Tags: Brian's First Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Workout, Brian's Soccer-Specific Strength and Fitness Training: Day One Fitness test, Brian's Story, Lifecycle and soccer fitness training, soccer-specific strength and fitness training, soccer-specific strength training, soreness and strength and fitness training