WOKINGHAM & EMMBROOK manager Dan Bateman wants his side to stay sharp during lockdown while ‘non-elite’ sport is prohibited.
It is expected that grassroots sport will once again be able to commence in England from Wednesday, December 2.
And as a result of the latest break in play, Bateman wants support from the Hellenic League to help players with fatigue as they prepare for a packed fixture schedule.
“We can’t complain about it because every other team in the league is in the same boat,” said Bateman.
“But I do think there are some things that the league could do to alleviate some of the issues.
“I’m keen for them to allow the teams for the rest of the season to be able to use their full squad of 16 players and be able to make five substitutions.
“That will help with fatigue, prevent injuries and allow us to manage the workload on the players.
“The difference with us is that our guys all have full time jobs before they think about football, so being able to use the extra two subs per game would make a huge difference especially when it’s likely that we will have two or three games a week to catch up.
“If you asked every club at our level, I’d be surprised if there were any clubs that would be against that. For me, that would be a common sense approach.”
The Sumas boss wants the ability to be able to use the full capacity of his squad, and give opportunities to younger players from the Allies squad to reduce the chance of fatigue and injury.
“The guys have an awful lot of commitments, so we need to do all we can to help us in this season because it’s not a normal situation,” he continued.
“It would allow us to bring in some younger guys and utilise our Allies squad. It makes sense but ultimately we need the powers that be to agree and make that decision.
“They will still want to finish the season in May and want to play all of the cup competitions. So any period of bad weather over the winter and then we will end up having to play three games a week.
“You can’t expect the same group of lads to be able to play three times a week as well as managing everyday life so we need all the help we can get from the league to relieve that situation.
“Even at a professional level, playing three times a week has a huge impact with injuries so when you come down to our level, it’s even bigger considering that professionals are dealt with by professional medical teams and have their aspects of everyday life managed for them.
“It’s unprecedented times, we have to get through this season but we have to be flexible about these rules.
The team have been using innovative methods to stay fit while they are not permitted to train or play matches, competing against each other in order to maintain their fitness.
And Bateman wants his side to stay as sharp as possible to be able to cope with the demands of an inevitably busy fixture schedule when football can resume.
“We’ve been using Strava and have group challenges for the team. Stuff like who can run the furthest in a week, who can run the fastest 5k.
“We’re trying to keep that contact up. It’s not a replacement for actually playing football, you can’t replace that level of intensity and the short, sharp bursts that you need in a game.
“I expect that the first few games after lockdown will see some strange score lines. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some very high score lines with each team tiring at different rates and at different times in the game.
“For us, we need to get up to match sharpness as quickly as possible and I think you will be able to see the teams that have done more preparation and have tried their best to keep themselves sharp during lockdown.
“It’s important to alternate the training to do shuttle runs and get in the practice of short, sharp changes and I think the teams that do that best will be able to excel and kick on as quickly as possible.”
