End of Session Wrap-Up

I want to thank everyone, kids and parents, for their participation this session. I've enjoyed coaching these teams so much and I couldn't be more proud of how all the kids have grown as players over these last ten weeks.

Next session, which begins August 7th, I will be coaching U4, U6 and U8 and assisting or coaching U10 and U12 so that, I hope, I can continue to work with all the great kids I got to know over the Winter and Spring sessions. Registration has already started and runs through mid July.

Highlights from our final weekend of games:
(Send pictures if you have any you'd like to see posted)

The U4 Alligators continued to demonstrate very "team-like" behavior, which, in children so young, is startling. While Sam, Cooper and Elizabeth are frequently contesting each other for the ball they are also frequently cooperating and actually trying to make passes. Jackson, of course, knows all about the passing thing and as usual was frequently to be found waiting near the goal. Sam A. and Luke played solid defense again. They both made long runs back from offense to cover on defense like old pros. And Eileen and Ella ran and ran and both came close to having chances on goals. Ella has such a strong kick I can't wait to see her get her first goal.

The Red Wings really stepped up to a challenge this week. Owen was out sick and Will and Braden were out of town so our offense needed to come from our other players. Conner did not disappoint, scoring an excellent goal for us. Katelyn and Shai were very strong in the field, pushing for another goal. The best moment of the game came after a brief conversation I had with Cody about how a defender could take advantage of an open field and take the ball from one goal to the other for a shot. His response to my suggestion was a stoic "ok" and then on our next possession he did it, taking the ball all the way from our penalty box to the other end and only just missing a shot. Another highlight was some very heads up play by Ethan who was clearly trying to read the other goalies' eyes on one play and anticipated perfectly where the goalies' outlet pass would go. Maia was tough throughout and Kendall was showing flashes of brilliance again. Based on what I've seen Kendall do in practice I expect her to really step into the lead roll during the next session as her inner player emerges.

The Red Devils had an absolutely spectacular performance in game one of the tournaments Sunday with a convincing win over Blue. Everything the kids have been working on in practice came together. Gabriel has developed into a shut-down keeper with a great punt and a good sense of the field and in this game he saved a bunch of goals for us. He had great help from Sam and Samantha who played like a two-headed defensive monster. In our last practice Samantha was working on corralling strikers into the corner and letting them have just enough space to bring the ball straight into our keepers' hands. Samantha executed that play perfectly several times. We had solid and smart midfield play from Helen, Easten, Blair and Peyton throughout the game with Easten and Blair doing the best job of playing a true wing midfielder by running up and back as needed. Helen's instinct is usually to fall back more into the defensive side of midfield while Peyton likes to strike deep into the offensive side and both styles helped us. Up front we had Luis, Bryce and Keegan leading the way with a barrage of goals. They ran their triangle over and over again and just wore the other team out. I hope everyone caught their most amazing goal, the first of the game, which featured at least three sharp passes moving the ball deep into the penalty area before a final perfect touch from Luis put the ball right on Bryce's foot for an easy shot. Jordan and Jake handled defense duty and some midfield as our subs and they were a big help. Jake, especially, had his best game in a while.
Even though we couldn't manage a win in the second game the Red Devils continued to do all the things we'd practiced and they never panicked and never gave up. If anything their defense got stronger as the game went on. But the early goals Black scored were enough as Bryce and Luis seemed to be just snake-bit on the offensive side. Sometimes the ball just seems to keep landing at your left foot when you need it on your right. That's soccer. Win or lose I was really proud of the level of intensity and commitment everyone showed in the second game even as it became clear we probably wouldn't get a win. The kids had, over the course of the session, really gelled into a team and I think that in those final minutes when we were down 4-0 they fought on for each other. That's an experience they can carry with them into whatever challenges they attempt next.

World Cup starts June 11th. Go USA! But I'll be cheering a bit for The Boys too.

Three good games.

I was very proud of all three of my teams this weekend. The Alligators, Red Wings and Red Devils all played beautifully.

The Alligators missed Elizabeth and Cooper but played well anyway. The Red Wings played well despite missing Will and Braden with goals from Owen and Conner (longest! shot! on! goal! ever!) and great play from everyone else. We had especially great play in goal from Kaitlyn and McKenzie.

The Red Devils showed that they are getting into tournament shape with a hard fought game against Coach Echevaria's green side. I'm sure we had more shots on goal than they did but we were a bit unlucky. The kids were really engaged the whole game and I want to especially point out the great defense work done by Samantha and Sam. Bryce had our two goals, including an impressive blast that could easily have carried the goalie into the net with it. Easton was also especially strong in mid and Keegan has probably earned a permanent spot in at striker as he gives Luis a good option on his right to match Bryce on the left. Gabriel's keeper work was excellent throughout.

A note on the officiating:
The Referee from Sunday's U10 game asked all of the coaches to please talk to the parents of our players about the concept of "advantage" as it pertains to penalties called during the game. Put simply "advantage" means that if the Referee sees a handball foul he/she will not blow the whistle immediately because they want to see how things play out. If one team touches the ball but the direction the ball takes is then to the clear advantage of the other team then the referee will refrain from whistling the ball dead so that the second team can capitalize on that advantage. This would also apply to instances of tripping or pushing as we saw in our game this Sunday. At one point late in the game Luis was tripped but, while the referee did see the offense, she waited on making the call until she was certain that our other players involved weren't going to get the ball into the goal. Also keep in mind that with handball calls there is an element of intent that the referee must see. If a player touches the ball as a protection reflex or if they are hit in the hand or arm by a shot that was moving so fast they couldn't dodge it then no penalty need be called. It is very important for the players to learn to "play on" until they hear a whistle. All of the cheering from outside the glass at the last game was great. I assure you the kids hear it and it motivates them, so keep it up and let me work with the official on making sure the right calls get made.

One more game for U4 and U6 on Saturday and then game one of the Tournament for U10 on Sunday. That's 3:30 PM for the Red Devils. See you at practice.

Video from May 1st games

I finally managed to get a bit of video from the May 1st games edited together for posting. Check it out. In the first Red Wings clip Owen makes a great step-over move and changes direction getting the defense to leave him wide open. Then we see Maia making a great tackle that frees the ball up for Conner who then makes one of his now trade-mark crossing passes. The pass finds Owen waiting to shoot. And finally we see Will taking the ball to the goal off a rebound. Notice how Will holds off from following the ball all the way into the corner but rather waits for the defender to bring it out and then simply steals the ball and takes his shot. Smart stuff.





In the U4 Alligators game we see everyone chasing around after the ball without the organized attack that the Gators would manage in the following game.

May 8th

The U4 Alligators were a force to be reckoned with this week. Getting players of any age to play smartly away from the ball, that is, to anticipate where they need to be headed when they don't have the ball at their feet, is a difficult goal to reach. Led by Luke and Jackson, the Alligators seemed to have reached that plateau and displayed some amazingly coordinated effort in their game this week. Throughout the game as one of our players, usually Sam E. or Cooper or Elizabeth, brought the ball up one sideline the others, including Sam A., would run up the middle of the field to get in position near the goal. The best example of this was a perfect goal that Jackson had off an equally perfect pass from Cooper. I wish I could have had my U10 team on hand to see how these Four year-olds were working the ball from the corners like seasoned veterans.

The Red Wings played beautifully again but ran into a tough defense that prevented them from taking a lot of shots. In a 1-1 tie we had great play from everyone including some explosively fast runs toward goal by Will. Owen was his usual patient self, probing the other team's defense while experimenting with his ball handling. Ethan threatened to break out and take the ball to the goal a couple of times too. His ball handling has really improved. And Conner, too, has now become a consistent goal scoring threat. Conner impressed early in the season with his ability to get to the goal and be in the right position but lately he's added some aggressive ball handling to his skill set.
We had very energetic play from everyone else as well. The Red Wings have been great at practice too, very focused and hard working. And the work they do on Monday always shows in their play on Saturday.

Red Alligators, Red Wings Posts In Progress

I'm trying to get some video of the games loaded. Thanks for your patience. Sorry about the snack mix-up in U4. Next weeks snack for U6 will be brought by Ethan.

Post-Win Let Down

Our U10 Red Devils suffered a bit of a slump following their first victory, loosing 5-1 to Coach Spindley's team. That margin of victory was made up entirely of PKs so overall the Devils should feel good about the way they played. Of course, at practice we need to go over a few of the finer points of handballs and defending PKs. While some of the kids were showing slightly lower energy than in the previous game there was a lot of very good play. We dominated the ball the first fifteen minutes of the game and had a lot of good chances thanks to Bryce and Luis. Keegan and Easton were very strong on the midfield wings. And Gabriel was really strong in keeper again.
In the second half there was a lot of good passing. Peyton in particular showed a lot of grace in both her dribbling and passing. Erin and Samantha were strong in defense again for us playing the sweeper roll well. In keeper the second half, Keegan made one very good stop on yet another PK.
All in all a good game in retrospect although immediately afterward I was concerned that the kids didn't seem to be having much fun out there. But they bounce back quickly and rarely take these things as seriously as we adults do. By practice time Monday night they were all full of energy and ready to start all over again.
Happy Mother's Day.