The U-16 Indonesian National Team Training Accompanied By Music, Nova Arianto: Avoid Anxiety

JAKARTA - Different situations were seen in the third wave of training camp of the U-16 Indonesian national team at Field A, Senayan, Tuesday, February 27, 2024. A total of 34 players underwent an agenda accompanied by fast tempo music.

Nova Arianto as the coach of the U-16 Indonesian national team turned out to have his own reasons. He said that he deliberately brought music boxes for the players.

This was done based on the results of an evaluation from the Indonesian U-16 National Team psychologist team. Nova said, music during training sessions can help players relieve feelings of anxiety.

"From the evaluation of the psychologist team, there is a problem with player anxiety so that when the player is anxious or afraid to be wrong, he is automatically tense and makes mistakes during training," said Nova Arianto.

"So, we are looking for out what methods can be made so that players enjoy it. We can use music when we come and warm up so that they are aware that they will rise and relax," he said.

Nova further said that not infrequently the players were still carried away at the hotel when they were about to start training. To overcome this, the coach forced his team to listen to music so that they could build mood and train optimally.

Regarding the music used to stimulate the players, Nova said the songs played were not chosen arbitrarily. He explained from the results of the evaluation with psychologists that there are categories that are determined in order to build the spirit of players on the field.

"Indeed, the beats are different and that's based on communication with psychologists. The Beat is between 70 to 90 (bpm/beats per minute)," he said.

"If it's more than that, the mood will be chaotic later. If it's less than that, it's too relaxed later. Therefore, the beat is very noticed," said Nova.

In the third batch of Indonesian U-16 national team training sessions, Nova Arianto played a song called How Doesn't It Feel belonging to singer Tom Grennan. With the tempo of the song which is quite excited, it is also hoped that it can build the mood of players on the field.

Apart from the unique way the coach did, this training agenda is the third and last batch in the first phase of the selection process for Indonesian U-16 national team players.

The selection for the first phase with three waves was completed on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. A total of 98 players participated in the selection.

However, Nova Arianto and the coaching staff have not yet determined who will be taken to fill the main Garuda Muda squad.

Nova plans to hold a second phase of selection at the end of March 2024 or early April 2024 after the FIFA Matchday agenda.

He will call on players from the Elite Pro Academy (EPA) team who qualify for the last eight and several diaspora players.