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.
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