For many, football has become as a multi-season, year-round sport.

And while the particular time of year when games get played is over, that doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up the workout clothes just yet.

Throughout the offseason – from now until August – players have a chance to tackle a number of challenges.

Here’s three things players can do to make 2016 their best season yet:

Self-evaluate and set goals

The offseason offers players a chance to look back on the previous fall and see where they stand compared to where they want to be.

The weeks following the end of the season give athletes an opportunity to talk with coaches about their performance and what they need to do to improve.

“That’s one of the things we try to work with our kids on is setting offseason goals,” said Jason Mohns, head coach at Saguaro High School in Arizona. Mohns will coach wide receivers for the U.S. Under-18 National Team at the 2016 International Bowl.

“It forces them to reflect on the season they just had and start thinking about what they want to accomplish next year.”

While the methodology various from coach to coach on how to go about setting objectives, Mohns has his players turn in a list of offseason goals, which serve as a building block going forward.

“Once they turn in their offseason goals, we talk about, ‘This is what you want to do, but how are you going to get there? What are you going to put in place to accomplish those goals?’ It forces the kids to reflect on their season and where they want to go and what they need to do to get there.”

While having offseason goals is critical, it’s also important to think about long-term goals as well.

Maybe it’s finally organizing and updating all the info on your Hudl profile, or maybe it’s just cracking your way into the starting lineup for next season.

Proper nutrition and rest

Downtime from football and school during winter break offer athletes an opportunity to slack in their traditional schedule. Summer offers opportunity to step back and relax as well.

It’s important however, Mohns said, to not throw an active schedule and healthy out the window during breaks.

“One of the things we talked to our kids about that I think is equally as important as training is proper nutrition and rest,” Mohns said. “A lot of kids, they hear about eating right and taking in calories and putting on weight, but one of the big things that doesn’t really get talked about is kids resting.

“As a teenager, their bodies are naturally growing and developing as is, and sleep is almost as equally important as other aspects of lifting and eating right to help these kids develop.”

A proper sleep schedule and diet vary from person to person, and if you’re uncertain about either, ask a coach or a nutritionist to help form an offseason plan.

Take care of injuries

For some, the offseason can almost entirely be about riding the comeback trail.

Whether it’s six months or six days, it’s important to take proper precautions to get your body back to full strength to prevent re-injury.

“It’s just time,” Mohns said. “A lot of times if a kid is rehabbing something or having a minor surgery, that offseason is a huge jump. ... It gives kids a lot of time to get right, to get healthy and to prepare their bodies. Whether it’s a six-week thing or a three-month thing, they have the time now to get healthy. Hopefully, they can get healthy and get back to playing other sports too.

“The last thing we want is for kids to get hurt during football and miss the other sports during the school year.”