Dec. 18th, Week Seven

The Blue Jays had to go a few players short yesterday but they had a great game just the same. A great game but also a comical one as most of the other team's goals were the result of "assists" from some of our players. I feel very fortunate with this team in that I don't have any problems getting the kids to focus on playing rather than crying, wandering around the field, rolling on the field, playing tag, etc. Even the youngest of our players, Diego, Eileen and Wyatt consistently follow the action. Diego aggressively attacks the ball and has multiple goals this session. Eileen and Wyatt have both mastered the concept of cherry-picking and regularly station themselves in front of the opposition goal waiting for a chance at a shot. I have Austin who has good ball handling skill and can deliver with either foot. I have Ashley, Dominic and Ethan who all play so aggressively that they usually account for a bunch of goals in any given game. And finally we have Samuel who's lightness of touch on the ball is beautiful and who has a great understanding of the field and the flow of the game. So, with this embarrassment of talent we've handled every team we've faced easily. Then we have yesterday's strange game where we faced a team that had one player who knew what was going on while the rest of her team spent the game rolling around on the carpet and despite that the Blue Jays were dramatically out-scored. Over and over again our kids were bringing the ball back from the other side's goal all the way to our goal and basically teeing it up for a shot from the other team. Each time I gently reminded the team that we needed to keep the ball at the other end but as it continued to happen it did start to seem funny, like it was just one of those days when things are going to go strangely. Despite the score this was a really good day for the Blue Jays because while they were delivering the ball to the opposition for easy shots they were doing it while trying to control the ball, while trying to dribble. In each case where one of our kids got turned around and brought the ball from the other end down to ours they were just doing what I've asked them to do, which is to try to carry the ball out of the crowd into the open and then find the goal. I hope they all maintain that frame of mind (dribble first, clear second) as they go on. If they do they'll be a step ahead of most players they face.

What a day for the Sharks! I had anticipated that Coach Benson's team would be the toughest challenge the Sharks would face all session. I get to watch a lot of games and I'd seen the White team deal with all of their opponents as handily as our Sharks have. With that in mind I talked to the team before the game and tried to impress on them that this team we were facing was going to be tough to beat and so they all needed to stay focused on the ball throughout the game. Man, did they! I believe the final score was six to four and in the last quarter our defense really saved us as Coach Benson's son Nico seemed poised to go on a tear, but with Austin in goal the Sharks all fell into defense mode and held them off. Our first goal came from Sam who persisted in trying to beat Nico off the dribble and despite the size difference between the two of them Sam resisted the urge to start trading elbows and instead kept "playing skinny" trying to slip around the taller players and never conceding the ball. We also had a great blast from Noah R. that threaded through the other side to find the net. Austin had his second goal of the session and is now a genuine midfielder, harassing the opposition at both ends of the field. That brings us to the Star of the Game, Elizabeth, who had a fantastic hat-trick of goals (3) that were all put in at close range and with authority. Elizabeth isn't always the most graceful ball handler but she is so tenacious and more and more plays with a great understanding of the flow of the game and with great anticipation of where she needs to be.
We had such good play from everyone in this game! Noah S. was all over the field and certainly assisted on at least one of Elizabeth's goals. Noah has great understanding of how the players need to stay spread out rather than chasing the ball. Aiden was great, especially in defense for us as were Kendall and Collin. Collin did his best job yet of staying focused on the game and Kendall was very tough for us in goalie, facing down some hard shots. Karolyn played beautifully in defense despite her complaints that she doesn't like playing defense and Jackson had developed his own style as a sort of sweeping midfielder. He likes to hang out at the 18 and keep the ball contained near the other side's goal. He doesn't get as many shots as I'd like but it's clear that he's thinking about where he needs to be to be effective.
Great work Sharks! One game to go!

Real Madrid v. Sevilla, Sunday at 2:50 PM on ESPN2.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Be safe.

Dec. 4th, Week Five

The Blue Jays played beautifully this week despite a long Holiday layoff and put in at least ten goals (not counting the ones they scored on their own side!). Diego and Austin lead the way with at least three goals apiece and they were joined by Samuel, Ethan and Ashley who each had at least one. Wyatt put one in the wrong goal but he had gotten turned around a bit in midfield so as far as he knew he was simply on the attack and so it was a great effort just the same. The kids were, again, responding well when I tried to get them to spread out and play in position away from the ball. That's a slow process but these kids are improving every week.
Thanks to the Marshall's (Austin's family) for the snack. The Creech's have snack next week and we play at 8:00 AM again. I arrive early to set up the fields so I'll be ready to practice by 7:50 if you want to show up early for some extra practice.

I don't know if you can tell from outside the glass the extent to which the Sharks are playing as a team. Of course they still have their moments where they get in each other's way but they also have so many moments where they cooperate and anticipate and whenever anyone scores a goal they all yell and scream. I watch a lot of soccer games and I can tell you that that really separates them from other teams their age and I'm lucky to have a group where every player is so engaged in the game and so aware of how their teammates are playing.
They didn't get a great game out of their opponent this week, which was a shame 'cause the Sharks were ready to go. They warmed up with good discipline and then came out strong with an early barrage of goals with Sam and Elizabeth playing beautifully as a tandem. They each got their goals. Elizabeth's came on a smart tap-in when she was in just the right position covering the goal for a rebound and then Sam had three goals including one blast that flew over the goalie's head (lucky for the goalie) and another where he crossed over the goal going to his right and then hooked a right footer back in to the near corner.
Jackson played well in goal for us for three quarters sporting his fabulous Bafana Bafana jersey but unfortunately he didn't get tested much. His highlight moment was a pick-up he made early in the first. After gathering the ball Jackson took the time to really scan the field to find the right direction for his outlet pass and found Sam open on his right.
Noah Roach lead the offense for us in the second and fourth quarters and he is really getting back into his old form with some speedy ball movement to go with his powerful kicks. Austin was showing some speed too. On one of his patented streaks up the side line Austin was a blur and then made a great turn in to the goal with his shot getting stopped by the goalie. Next week we might go with Austin in as a midfielder to give him more opportunities to score. He and Luke both seem very comfortable playing the entire field, covering on defense and then taking advantage of offense opportunities when they see them.
Karolyn and Kendall were great in defense as usual and Karolyn even pushed the ball up into the other team's side a few times.
The highlight of the game came after a hand-ball call against Aiden. He had dropped back into a great position to defend the goal but then lost his head for a moment and reached down for the ball as though he were the keeper. Luckily the quarter ended a moment later and I could see that Aiden was on the verge of tears over the mistake he'd made. When I knelt down to talk to him the rest of the team gathered around and I could see that they were concerned about Aiden. I explained to Aiden that he'd made a little mistake that every one has made before and I looked to the rest of the team and said "right, everybody has done that before, haven't they?" and the kids all nodded in agreement. Aiden immediately seemed over it and then he played great the rest of the game. These are some great kids. They make a great team.