Qualified for the European Championship – success of the national futsal team

Our futsal players entered the qualification with a 4:1 loss to Azerbaijan and a 4:4 draw with Moldova, which shuffled and complicated the path to historic success. However, the team handled the remaining four matches brilliantly. Apart from a draw with Azerbaijan, they won three times with a total score of 15:0.

With operational support, the first step is a discussion with the head coach and a mental analysis. Together with the head coach Marián Berky, we defined the goal and the desired outcome of our cooperation. This was to unite the team through open communication, unify the “language” of the players and set a unified performance.

Then, using the CA method, we conducted a mental analysis of the support team, the team and the individual players. This helped us to determine in what frame of mind individual players come to the national team. This step was also important given the ongoing pandemic and lockdown.

We have also compiled the findings of the mental analysis in a written form so that coaches could refer back to it at any time. This also provided them with a baseline for further player development against which they can compare the progress of individual players. In the workshop with the players, we aimed to open up and unify communication within the team. By discussing in smaller groups, we created a space for all players to have their say. Based on the small group discussion and the subsequent team-wide discussion, we defined specific behaviours on and off the field. These were agreed by the whole team and from that point on were used as the basis of the performance.