Week One

I want to start by thanking all the parents for helping me and the players in dealing with the heat. The weather really was oppressive and many of the kids seemed apprehensive about playing but in every game once the whistle blew the kids threw themselves into it with gusto. They should all be proud of the way they handled such tough conditions.

Game Highlights

The U13 Strikers began the game looking like they would dominate throughout, possessing the ball confidently for the first ten minutes or so and keeping it in the other team's half. Anna and Isabel did great work taking the ball into the other side relentlessly but before we could get a goal in Coach Hallenkamp's Yellow side surprised us with a goal on a breakaway that took our defense unaware. It was a good shot from about ten yards out that was too close to the post for Samantha to reach. I was worried that the tone of the game would change at that point but I needn't have been. The Strikers answered quickly with goals from Isabel, Anna and Keegan in the first half along with two more excellent shots on goal from Taylor. Meighan played great defense for us in the first half alongside her fellow fullback Lydia as they both tried to get the hang of "trapping" the other team offsides. Samantha did some great work in goal and she should be proud of the hard work she's done trying to learn that position.
Helen did some beautiful work in at midfield and showed some real toughness in dealing with the other side's strikers. Hailey subbed in for us on defense in the first half and seemed a bit apprehensive at first but as she warmed up she did some great work and had a couple of really nice clearing kicks to stop Yellow's offense.
In the second half we had Keegan in goal and he put up a shut-out. He had great help from our defensive line including Samantha in at center fullback. The Strikers went on to score three more times with goals, I believe, from Anna and Lydia. I apologize for missing the last five minutes but I had another game to get to. Thanks, Coach Julie, for taking over for me. What a great first game. We've got a strong foundation to build on as we go into practice this week.

The U4 Blue had a bit of trouble keeping a full team on the field this first game. I think the kids were really feeling the heat and didn't have as much energy as you'd expect. But all in all it was a good day for them. Jackson managed a goal for us and the look on his face when he turned to look for his dad after putting the ball in was priceless. Austin and Eileen gave us the most minutes and both of them had some good attempts at scoring a goal. Isabella and Madison needed some encouragement to get on the field but they were out there and that's a good first step. I'm sure that by the end of the session I'll have trouble keeping them off the field. Thanks to all the parents for your patience and support and for all the enthusiastic cheering for both teams.

Our U6 Sharks had all the energy you could ask for despite the heat. But despite that energy they were a bit disorganized in their efforts. Most of the kids have just transitioned from U4 to U6 and so now they have to get used to having more players on the field and to facing a goalie. Obviously we'll be working in practice on taking some steps toward playing more cooperatively as a team. That is my top priority for this age group and I think this particular group of kids has great potential.
We had outstanding goalie play from Jackson in the first half of the game. He is fearless! He had two great stops that he followed with beautiful outlet passes that Tim Howard would be proud of. Later in the game we had good goalie play from Brandon and Sam A. Our other Sam (Sam E.) had a rough time transitioning to the U6 game. In his last session of U4 Sam was accustomed to scoring at will thanks to his speed and ball handling skill. But outdoors you've got a field that plays a bit slow compared to the indoor turf and then there's the matter of having to get past a goalie. After the game Sam E. came up to me and said "coach, I'm never gonna score a goal." I've watched Sam play a lot and I'm certain he will score more than a few goals before the session is over especially once we get him and Elizabeth, Zak and Luke to cooperate more on their attacks. And watch out for Karolyn to be part of that offense too. She really turned it on in the last quarter for us and did some great work defending.
I'm really looking forward to practicing with this team and I expect great things from them. Thanks to Todd Wiehe and Ben Lighthall for coaching help.

The last game of the day was a titanic struggle between Coach Meyer's Yellow side and your U8 Blue Warriors.
This was a hard fought game from start to finish with the deciding lone goal coming off the fleet foot of Nate Griffin who also contributed the most unexpected header I've ever seen. By the time this game started the heat was really getting excessive but the kids handled it in good spirits and were anxious to play.
We had great play from everyone. There was great defense from Maddie, Olivia and Cody. Great work in goal from Kaleb, textbook midfield play from Conner and Owen and lots of relentless striker play from Will, Dakota, Whitney and Nate. It's surprising that we only had the one goal given the way these kids kept driving the ball into the Yellow side over and over again. But you have to keep in mind that Coach Meyer's team was relentless as well and we're lucky that none of their many shots on goal found their way in.
It was an excellent game played with a lot of energy in awful weather. An effort to really be proud of. I want to thank Todd Wiehe and Ben Lighthall for their coaching help. Thanks to the Bogards for bringing half-time snacks. See you all at practice.