It’s funny how life works sometimes, where our prior experiences intertwine with our current situations in unexpected ways.

My mother is Chinese and a part of our heritage was occasionally making food (dumplings and wontons) together with other families. I remember as a kid being fascinated by this process.

I was most interested in how every time we got together, there was no real conversation about who was doing what. We all just saw needs that needed to be fulfilled and so we naturally assumed roles to complete the task at hand. Somehow, we just knew what had to be done in order to achieve the desired end results.

Coming into quarantine, I immediately felt like I was back in that kitchen making dumplings. As coaches, it was apparent that there was a need to be fulfilled, to engage our players that were ready for it, and continue their development as best as we could. And our players, whose lives had been turned upside down needed the comfort and the routine of soccer now more than ever.

As a club, we quickly understood right away that a certain level of security had to be placed on each of our Zoom meetings and that it would be difficult for coaches to manage the “Zoom room” if they were doing demonstrations or presenting topics. So having someone help manage that would contribute to not only a safer environment but help the overall flow of the sessions as well. My background as a teacher, photographer, videographer, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Media Production, contributed to assuming the role of the unofficial/official Zoom Director for the girls’ age group sessions.

The byproduct of this effort is that we are now producing Zoom sessions that are enjoyable to watch and easy to follow. In my eyes, this has created additional engagement from the players themselves in the live session, but it has also provided them with an opportunity to see their teammates, connect with multiple coaches, and push themselves physically.

I am treating each of our Zoom group sessions like a multi-camera broadcast environment, where I “spotlight” a player or coach and immediately go on the hunt for the next player to showcase. Having that perspective of tracking numerous screens of our players, I have noticed several trends over the course of our sessions.

Steady engagement in overall numbers across the sessions
A variety of training environments where our players are making it work, whether in a backyard, driveway, bedroom, park, etc.
An upward trend in the number of players who seem comfortable with what is being asked of them and are ready to go once the demonstration has been shown
An upward trend in the overall “smoothness” of the actions the players are completing
An upward trend in the overall level of physical exertion by the players (and coaches!)
An upward trend in the overall amount of dogs doing cute things

One interesting, unintended positive of our Zoom sessions is that based on feedback from players, they feel motivated to master certain aspects of the workouts. It is fascinating that despite our limitations, our players are still finding ways to challenge themselves.

Overall, I am genuinely proud to see the growth of our players. They are truly embracing the sessions and trying their hardest despite being in a difficult situation. Their progress is a genuine testament to their mentality and drive to become better, and I could not be more thankful to work with this talented group of athletes.

If you want to follow along, we upload our Zoom sessions here.

Coach Aaron Jaffe