Firebirds are ready for pre-season

The Mission Queensland Firebirds

AS the Summer heat wave hits Brisbane, spare a thought for the Mission Queensland Firebirds who will be hitting the courts in preparation for the 2012 ANZ Championship season.

 With pre-season training officially starting next Monday, January 16, Mission Queensland Firebirds Coach Roselee Jencke said the first thing on the agenda will be fitness testing to determine where to start.

“The players all have to present at the first training session at an ‘expected’ level of fitness for this time of season so all players have been on a ‘maintenance’ program for a few months to maintain their strength and conditioning,” she said.

While everyone was indulging over the silly season, the Firebirds have been working on their maintenance program to ensure they are ready to get back into training upon the start of their contract.

Jencke said in order to get the players fit to endure the stress of elite competition they do a lot of interval and strength training.

“There is a lot of variety with the interval training which will be done on court, outside on the QAS fields and at Toohey Forest,” she said.

“During January and February the coaching staff will work with the players on sharpening their basic skills and court craft introducing match play against the men so they are prepared when we undertake our first pre-season match play against several ANZ Teams in Auckland in March.”

The Mission Queensland Firebirds will use the ANZ Championship pre-season tournament to gain valuable experience as a team and to work a number of combinations against other teams in the competition.

Jencke said a lot of organisation is required for pre-season training including evaluating players’ fitness and skill level, assessing players goals for the season, correcting skill technique and re-establishing on court combinations for optimum performance, as well as setting the Firebirds strategies and direction on and off the court.

“We will be ensuring key standards are set and we are achieving our targets before our first game against the Vixens,” she said.

The first few weeks will be the toughest for the team and they will work on sprint technique, ladder drills, small sided games and stair work at Toohey Forest.

Jencke said because the player’s base standard of fitness is good, it won’t take them long to reach peak fitness.

“And then it will be a matter of maintaining this throughout the season,” she said.

“It is specifically important to make sure the players get sufficient rest and recovery for optimum performance and this is something else we figure into training throughout pre-season and in season to make sure fatigue is kept to a minimum to help reduce soreness and injury.”

As reigning Champions, the Firebirds will be doing everything they can to be prepared for the start of the ANZ Championship season.

“After 12 weeks of training we will be more than ready to face our first opponent in the Vixens on 1 April 2012,” Jencke said. 

“Bring it on!”