Armed with ways of cooling down, your athletes will be less likely to fall apart under stress. Help your players see that poor weather conditions, bad call by the officials, unsportsmanlike play, fatigue, etc., can work for them. There is always an advantage in a disadvantage. Train your players to find it. The surest way to get your athletes to tighten up and play poorly is by being too serious.
Peak performance comes out of having fun.
By using humor as a coach, you can help your athletes stay loose, keep the game in perspective and perform like champions. An athlete that is too serious is an athlete who has a tendency to choke under pressure. Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. It's the quality of your practices that is ultimately responsible for how much your athletes get from practice time and how well they handle highly pressured situations. Integrate competitive elements into your practices to help your athletes better adjust to the actual pressure of game day.