Zach Ellis Hayden prepares himself for his second season at Oklahoma City Energy. The 28-year-old, along with his team, overcame a difficult year in 2020, marked by the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences in football. Zach expects 2021 to be a great year for Energy.
The player highlighted the difficulties of last season, with the uncertainties that the pandemic brought to the football world. A new normal was created, and the athletes had to adapt to it.
“Last season with the coronavirus was a bit difficult, because we really didn´t know what to expect. No one had been through something like this before. In sports, we didn´t even know if we are going to continue, so the fact that we were able to play was a huge relief in the end. But it was a bit of a learning curve and we had to take extra precautions”.
Football, like everywhere, has changed. This is a new era, an era of adaptation. Gradually, we all try to return to what it was. But slowly. Restrictions and precautions are part of everyday life in sport now.
“There are a few changes know in the new normal in terms of taking extra precautions with flights, hotels, texting every week. But I´m happy just to be able to play in a safe environment and play the game we love . For me the precautions are necessary. It will take some time getting used to. But if it allows us to play, then that’s the main thing”.
Oklahoma Energy is meeting again to start preparations for the new season. Zach has already met old teammates and met the new faces of the team.
“So far, it´s awesome to be back in OKC as well. I´ve met a lot of the new guys, got together with the old teammates. It´s been good just to connect. We´re all raring to go! A few of us have been training, doing some stuff in the gym that was available to us, which has been positive. We´re all looking forward to starting in pre-season and kicking off from there “.
The new season for Energy will be an opportunity for a fresh start. With new signings and the motivation for a new season, Zach believes that the winning mindset will prevail in the group.
“This season it´s important that we just get on the winning side of things. We had a good team last year, but we definitely underperformed. So the coaching staff, the group, the club obviously made some changes to the personel and we have a winning program, a winnning club.
So hopefully these changes along with the players, will be able to make a decisive impact on this season. For me, it´s all about winning. individual goals of course, which is a certain amount of assets and hopefully pitching in some goals. But of course the main thing is the team winning. And this is where my focus is “.
Zach was the third player with the most matches for Energy last season, adding 15 games and 1305 minutes on the pitch. At 28, Zach feels at the peak of his skill and fitness to help Energy this new season.
“It´s a honor to reach these milestones and personal goals. For me it´s about staying healthy and with age and experience, the more I understand my body so I can do a better job of taking care of it and understanding what I have to I credit it to the team and the athletic staff we have, but also I understand what I have to do to maintain myself. It´s a blessing to be playing with such a great squad. If you stay healthy, you give yourself every chance to compete “.