This concept of “building your academy” was first conjured up by my son’s first real soccer coach. Although he was a volunteer for the recreational soccer league, he lived and breathed soccer. It was not just a sport but a passion. He had a way with words, that he could speak to kids that other coaches had a difficult time doing. Even to this day, we remain friends and share our passion for our sports. There are many concepts that he has taught the kids, that I can take and apply them to any beginner racer. The one that has stuck out the most, through all the lessons, is to “always be working on building your academy.”
What does this mean, “always be working on your academy”? In soccer, as a player progresses and gets better, there are always things that you can do to be better at the sport. A player will have many different coaches, teams, playing styles, strategy styles, and on the field lessons, as they grow with the sport. However, many people just go to practice and do what they’re told and then go home to rest and not let their mind be bothered with the sport until the next practice. When you build your academy, you are creating an environment for yourself to accelerate in the sport. When you practice by yourself, you treat every touch like it’s a live game. You push yourself to play the part you’re “supposed to be” and not what you currently “are”. When you are practicing on the pitch with your teammates, it’s always like a live game and not just an exercise.
When you build your academy, you are creating an environment for yourself to accelerate in the sport.
So what does this concept have to do with racing? EVERYTHING! When you go to the track, you’ve prepared your mind ahead of time. I covered this in “Blog Post 17: The Mindset” (https://racingforbeginners.com/blog-post-17-the-mindset/). “Seat time” is the number one thing that many experienced racers will tell you. However, what isn’t expressed enough is what you do with that time. Every time you sit in the seat, it’s not just to turn laps, but to get as much experience as possible during that time. This is a time to focus on discovery, with trying new things to find out what works and what doesn’t work. Before you even get into the seat, you need to have an agenda of what you plan to work on for the day. Many racing teams will have a program that they will follow to see how the car works in testing but also for the driver to get used to specific aspects of the car.
As you and your new racer develop to get faster, there will also be many coaches and maybe teams along the way. At this early stage, it’s not that important. What is important, is that you start early to work on this concept and build the foundation work for building your academy. The concept of applying skills and knowledge to become a successful racer will lead to some success. To do that, you must start and continue to build your academy.