Sharks. Week Three.

Highlights from the Thunder/Polar Bear matchup and the Tigers game can be found below.



Do you remember when I had to divide the Sharks up into two teams, the Real Sharks and the Goofball Sharks. That little technique really worked at the time and I haven't had to make much use of it since then. This past week I did have to threaten to make such a division with another team I coach. What was driving me crazy was that some of the kids were goofing off so much they were getting in the way of the kids who wanted to get to work. I lose my patience with that pretty quickly. We don't have that problem with the Sharks so much. What we did get at our last practice was a little tension caused by the fact that all the Sharks are so darned competitive. They even want to compete at warming up and when Jackson and Sam E. started scuffling over who was going to go first in line to run laps (I kid you not) I had to separate them and then send Sam on a solo lap to help him get his head on straight. Well that nearly backfired. As you may know, Sam E. is a pretty strong willed little fellow and he was very close to deciding that he would prefer to quit soccer rather than give in to me on this particular discipline issue. Luckily his mom and dad were able to reason with him and he rejoined practice after a few minutes. On the whole though it was a great practice and I'm lucky to have only these little issues to deal with. I don't have to convince any of the Sharks to be interested in soccer. I just have to figure out how to channel their energies for the game they already clearly love.



Another highlight from practice was something Elizabeth said when I was talking to the team about the importance of always working to control the ball, even on defense, rather than kicking wildly at it. I see kids on other teams kicking like they are in an MMA fight and this does nothing to get possession of the ball but can easily get someone hurt. So, as I was preparing the Sharks for a scrimmage and talking about this issue of ball control versus wild kicks Elizabeth piped-up and told me that in our last game "some kid kicked me from behind and he came up and said 'sorry about that' and I said 'you don't have to say sorry, it's just soccer' and I kept running anyway." Do you think Elizabeth loves the game? I often talk to the older kids I coach about how they need to commit to the game in order to enjoy it. "Don't play unless you want to play even if you know you're going to lose" I say. Play for the pure fun of the game. I doubt I'll ever have to lecture the Sharks like that. They'd play in snow up to their knees rather than miss a game.



In game three they were magnificent again. Everyone played beautifully and we had goals from Sam E., Elizabeth, Samuel and Diego. There were three highlights that really stood out for me. Sam E.'s third goal was a wonder shot from at least ten yards out. I think he reasoned that if he shot from far enough out Coach Mike and I wouldn't press him about passing more and he'd still get his goals. If I was scouting for the other teams I'd warn the players "do not let this kid get open running away from you towards his right." He can be running at full speed at a right angle to the goal and he'll still be able to leap into his kick, planting his left foot while maintaining his balance perfectly like a tiny Nureyev, and bring his whole right side swinging into the ball for a startlingly powerful kick. Accurate too. Highlight number two was Samuel breaking off the ball repeatedly when Sam E. got possession and heading straight for the goal to be there for a pass or rebound. I remember in one game when Samuel was still in U4 the Coach of the other team had said to me prior to the game during warm-up/practice that it seemed crazy to even try and practice kids this young. "Sure" I said. Then, a few minutes into the game when another player, Ashley, got possession of the ball along the wall, Samuel and Jagger both took off at full speed away from the ball directly to the goal. I could hear the other Coach say "Oh my." Indeed.



Finally, there was an amazing move by Sam A. that just blew me away. He works so hard to get the ball control drills right at practice and really sets an example for the whole team now. In the game he got the ball in the open at about the half line and broke for the goal. Coach Schultzabarger's team has one kid who is much bigger than the average and Sam was headed right for him. Sam was really up to full speed when he got to that big defender and he very smoothly head faked to his right and then, when the big kid had just started to commit, he made a quick move to his left and zoomed past. He didn't get a goal but it was awesome. Such a great example of how a good player can take charge of those encounters rather than waiting to react.



Just a great game from every single player. I'll be taking this week off so no practice until the week after the Holiday. See you all then.

Tigers Week Three. You Kids Are Making Me Crazy!

I was really looking forward to this game as I knew that Coach Townsend's Strikers have turned out to be the strongest team in the division. Of course strong is a relative term and the Strikers may in fact be the strongest soccer team in U4 or they may be the team with the strongest desire to give up soccer and try Rugby. Anyway, I was hoping for a good game where all of our Tigers would get to see a team in action that gets the basic concept of the game and, hopefully, the Tigers would follow their lead and start to really play. When so many of our players showed themselves to be ready to go in pre-game warm ups I was even more excited about how this game might go. I imagined Austin, Bennett and Jenna switching it on and showing the rest of the Tigers how to really get down. And then the start of the game came and it was something else altogether. But it was progress. The big highlight was Hunter showing up ready to play. He's got great moves already and has obviously learned a lot from his big brother. The whole team practiced well and eventually they will put it all together and begin to play the game in spurts. This is how it goes.

Week Three. Polar Bears and Thunder Collide!

This game really surprised me. I coach both teams and get to see all of the kids at work often so I had a sense as to which team would likely come out on top. And I was wrong. I thought going into the game that the Thunder would have a hard time without Parker and Mya in the line-up. Parker was out for an end of Summer vacation and Mya was attending her Dad's deployment ceremony (Scott, thanks for your service and come home safe). The Polar Bears had all of their best players on hand and that is a pretty tough and experienced group. But surprisingly the Thunder spent most of the game running right through them. Most of the credit has to go to Brooke and Juan. Brooke has a bullish determination to get going toward the goal whenever she has the ball and manages frequently to get past defenders by basically running through them. Each time Brooke did begin to make a run Booboo (Juan) would smartly break off and head straight to the goal to be in position. That is huge. He didn't get any goals in this game but he was in position so often he had a lot of good chances. Brooke did finally get one in on another solo run.



The Thunder had great work in keeper from Maddie early on and then she played some great defense later. Zychick took a turn in keeper too and after missing on a good shot from Noah that equalized the game he stopped another shot, this one headed right at him, and that gave him a sudden burst of confidence that allowed him to finish his quarter playing the position with real enthusiasm. I think he had another two stops. Great work.



On the Polar Bears side it was mostly Carson, of course, handling the ball. That kid is tireless. But it was Noah who got the big goal off. It was a tenacious effort by Noah as the Thunder defense had basically rejected his first shot but he stayed in there to get the rebound and drove it hard into the net.



Ashley had a few flashes of brilliant ball handling. She's got great speed and is developing rapidly. Like every other good player she is clearly in possession of the one very important bit of soccer knowledge: The ball goes in the net. You can see her and other kids sometimes standing on the field looking a bit disinterested but then the ball is at their feet and suddenly their body language clearly indicates that they are on the way, that they have a purpose in mind. I love that. Ava had some similar moments and despite being a bit smaller than some of the kids she was facing she was really fearless in her attack.



Mason showed some flashes too for the Polar Bears. Mason is really tough (hard headed) and never shies away from the scrum but he isn't always fully engaged in the game. But I see that changing and he has good speed and a nice touch on the ball so I expect him to become a real team-leading player. In this particular game there was one little moment that showed Mason's potential, just a brief flash. He was in his own end of the field as the ball came loose toward him. He was open with no pressure on and so he might have let the ball come to him, settled it and then taken off. But what he did was begin to step toward the ball, stride forward with his right foot and in that motion deftly guide the ball out of the air, his foot stretched out so as to control the ball with the outsole of his shoe, then get up to full speed in another step with the ball now safely contained between his feet. He didn't make it all the way to the goal but that little step was beautiful and showed me that Mason will be more than just a tough and aggressive player. He has the potential to develop some real grace.



Great game Polar Bears and Thunder. We'll throw the own goal out and call it a 1-1 draw. See you the week after the Holiday.

Week Two.

The weather was a bit steamy and the Kona Ice truck was lurking but all the kids had a great morning. Click the links to check out the highlights from the Tigers and Thunder games.



The Sharks find their passing step again.



Our efforts at working on passing during this past week's practice seemed unsuccessful to me at the time and yet in today's game the Sharks were passing the ball a lot and showing some very organized, thoughtful play. The result was goals from everyone! In the first quarter Austin, Sam A. and Elizabeth held the front line and worked the ball beautifully for a quick barrage of goals. After Elizabeth's first goal (the team's third) Elizabeth said to me "I think it's gonna be like this the whole game". She was right. They took the ball to both sides of the field and passed it in for shots. They drove up the middle for shots. They got shots off of rebounds. They did everything right.



The second quarter line-up featured Sam E. and Samuel and Diego and they were on fire. After a couple of early goals Sam E. started making a real effort to dish the ball off and Diego and Samuel were ready for it. When Diego managed his first U6 goal he celebrated in trademark fashion by running back to the center, fists raised above his head. Great stuff! Samuel was showing his spectacular speed, taking the ball around the defense easily. If we can get him to use his left foot he'll be unstoppable.



After taking the first quarter keeper shift Jackson came on in the third quarter to get in on the action. He was great, working the ball around the field with Elizabeth and Austin and, again, making some very nice passes.



We had very good keeper work again from Jagger. He is very active in the position. He anticipates and moves constantly. I'm really impressed with how well he and Diego are playing already.



Great work Sharks. See you at practice.

Thunder Rolls in Week Two.

Not only did we see a lot of very good individual play from the Thunder but there were actually some flashes of organized team play. The stand-out individual performances were from Maddie in goal (she's kind of a natural) and Brooke on offense. Brooke has tremendous focus and determination and she ran through the other team's biggest players more than once. Her one goal was a beauty and she and Carson had chances for a couple more that just missed. Carson too has good instincts when he has the ball at his feet and of course he's got a pretty strong kick.



Juan "BooBoo" Espinoza was also showing some really great soccer I.Q. I watched him go hard to his left at one point and then stop abruptly as the defense closed in. He turned calmly back to his right and left the knot of defenders behind, finding the open space he needed to head for the goal. Very nice work. He was flanked most of the game by Parker who is our most aggressive player (though only barely more so than Brooke!). Parker will become a continuous goal scoring threat as he becomes more sure-footed on those shots.



We had great work from everyone else too and the kids were very focused on the game from warm-ups on. The resulting 1-1 tie made for a nice game. Coach Niemeyer's team boasts three really strong players and the Thunder did very well to hold them to one goal.



See you at practice Thunder.

Tigers Game Two

Well, we did make some progress today. We had Austin back and yet the dream line-up we've been waiting for, Austin with Bennett, didn't happen as the other team needed some subs so we loaned them Austin and Jenna. In the first quarter those two could not be stopped. They headed straight for the goal! Bennett did his best to stand up to them and did manage a goal of his own but he was sort of playing alone most of the game. Hopefully next week we'll get Austin, Jenna and Bennett all on the same side of the ball and that should be the beginnings of a very strong team. Rocco made some good efforts but was still feeling put-out by the jostling. Riley stayed on the field most of the game but is still hesitant about the whole thing. Kate, Shawn, Ava and Chad were in and out of the game intermittently. I blame the Kona Ice guy.

See you all at practice Tuesday.

Fall Session: Week One

Week one is in the books and what a great kick-off to the Fall session it was! I'm working with four different teams this session and they all had great games in this first week. In U4 we have the Tigers and in U6 we have the Polar Bears, the Thunder and, of course, the Sharks. To avoid having these game recap posts become too long I might in the future devote this space to the Sharks and then cover the other teams on separate blogs.



The Sharks came back to the pitch already on fire and playing like they hadn't taken the Summer off. Our returning players were joined by four new teammates, Diego, Jagger, Trey and Austin (Staton) and the rookies got right into the groove. Diego and Jagger just moved up from U4 and so they are the youngest on the team. Diego has a calm tenaciousness with the ball that you'd expect from an older player. He'll fit right in with the rest of our offense. He was tough as nails in his first game playing up with the bigger kids and had a couple of good runs where he made great moves to get around the opposition. Austin Staton played up front with Sam A. and Jackson and was a big help in keeping the ball pinned in the opposing team's side. He stayed right in the thick of the action the whole game. Trey played well in his first game as a Shark and showed his best work while in as keeper. He was tough and made some great outlet passes and goal kicks. You put Trey together with Jackson and Elizabeth and suddenly the Sharks are really stacked at the keeper position. And we haven't even talked about Jagger yet. Houston, we have a goalie! Jagger volunteered to give goal keeping a try and in his very first appearance he was amazing, giving no ground, attacking the ball and then making some great outlet passes. Just amazing for such a young player.



We started the game with Austin Seng, Sam E. and Elizabeth up front and they dominated as usual with Sam in particular showing that he's missed being away from the game by basically going crazy and scoring at will. I expect Coach Klinsman to call at any moment. All three of these players show amazing speed and instincts for the game. As you'd expect for the first game, they were a bit undisciplined and got in each other's way a few times but that didn't prevent them from scoring. Elizabeth was displaying an interesting tendency to want to hang back in the midfield area waiting a bit to see how things would work out. I see good midfielder instincts there. Austin was showing amazing bursts of speed and his signature move now is a little stutter step that gets his opponent flat footed followed by a quick step to get past them.



I wasn't sure what the offense would be like with those three off the field. I knew Jackson would be his usual self, driving the ball forward and shooting sure-footedly but it was great to see that Samuel and Sam A. could team up with Jackson and do so well in that second quarter offense. Samuel had a goal early in the second that was off of a beautifully stubborn solo run. He pushed through nearly every kid on the other team to get to the goal and then calmly put the shot in the net. Sam A. also had a great run through traffic to get to the goal and his shot, which actually got well airborne, was probably headed in just inside the left post but Jackson was hanging out right there and wisely chose to make sure the ball got in the net. He caught Sam's shot in midair with his right foot and drove it into the top of the net. The look of complete confidence on Jackson's face after that shot was priceless, a sort of "yeah, I did that" smile covering his face.



In the fourth we brought Samuel and Austin Seng in together and they made a great team too. Austin had a solo goal and then made a beautiful pass from the right just off the end line across to Samuel who deftly touched it into the goal. This team is deep!

McKenzie and Luke gave us some good play too, always staying in the action even if they didn't get a lot of touches. Great game Sharks!



The Thunder had a great first game and I was happy to see that we have some strong leaders on the team who can take over the offense duties. Parker, Carson and Brooke were fabulous up front. They managed a few goals and I was really impressed by their tenaciousness in traffic, especially Brooke. Mya is also showing great potential as a smart ball handler and when she and the other three learn to work together they will be formidable. Juan and Abraham showed some flashes of brilliance and I expect both of them to improve quickly. Maddie was invaluable in defense and gave us some very strong free kicks. Molly showed her toughness by taking a hard fall and then coming right back into the game. Anna took a turn at keeper and played the position bravely. I admire her willingness to give everything her best effort. Great game Thunder!



The Polar Bears were actually dominant in their game which was a great surprise as they have five players who have just moved up from U4. Mason, Carson and Noah were leading the attack for us and managed several goals. We had great work in goal from Ava Grace, Jeremy, Dylan and Ashley. Jeremy showed some surprising punting skill! A complete bonus for goalies in this age group. Dylan was tough and aggressive in goal and then while in the field he had two assists. One of those was a beautiful crossing pass that Eileen found at her feet and then drove it firmly into the net. Carson had at least one goal, probably more...I loose track. Lincoln and Micah were both doing great work too, staying in the action consistently. Lincoln had the beginnings of a great solo run too. At one point Coach Chris was reminding Lincoln to be looking at the ball all the time and asked him "Link, where's the ball?" Lincoln looked at her and calmly said with a shrug "I don't have it". Excellent work Polar Bears.



The Tigers' U4 game probably looked like complete chaos from the outside. It was. But this is all part of the process. Obviously we have a few kids who are closer to getting it. Bennett and Austin will be the leaders on this team and as the season goes on the other kids will see what they are doing and start to follow suit. I've seen it work this way several times. The real highlight of the game was a comment from Ava. Early in the game she ran off the field to her mom crying that "they're fighting" when she saw the other kids jostling to get the ball. This is part of the process too. Initially many of the kids are offended by the physical contact that is part of the game and by the fact that other players might try to take the ball away from them. You probably heard me explaining to the kids in practice that once the whistle blows to start a game we don't take turns anymore and the ball is always "my ball". It takes a while to get this part of it but they will get it. I know it's embarrassing and frustrating to have your kid clinging to you in an apparent effort to drive you crazy but they get over that too. I've seen it happen. Therefore, I recommend patience.



See you all at practice this week.

The Season Begins.

The Sharks and the newly named Thunder had excellent second practices this week. I'm very impressed with the overall level of discipline among the kids. I try to be realistic about the available attention span in a group of four and five year olds but I do like to see the kids staying focused on the game as opposed to wrestling or tickling or generally goofing off. What I say to them in practice is "we are here to play and have fun but we're here to have fun playing what?" I expect "soccer" to be the answer and for the most part that's what I get. As the weeks go by I will be working to accustom the kids to a particular practice routine for working on their fundamental skills. The more accustomed they become to the routine the more efficient that part of practice will be. But I will always try to save some time at the end of practice for some fun.

First Practice

All I can say is that I was thrilled. It's a real pleasure to work with a group that is so anxious to do the work. What great kids you all have.

The Game Schedule is posted and there is a link in the list to the right that leads there.

See you Thursday at practice.

Fall Session is Starting.

Hey soccer fans. We are less than two weeks away from our kick-off weekend so I thought I should go over the basics again for any new players we have.

Our games and practices are all at Richardson Road Park. To the right you see a list of links and one of those is to a map of the Park. The U4 and U6 fields are set up closer to the Park Shelter side of the Park so you will want to park in that lot.

If your player is new to the game you will need the following:

-Comfortable shoes to run in. They don't have to be soccer cleats. They can not wear baseball/football cleats, that is, any shoe that has a toe cleat right at the tip. If you do have a pair of those that your player likes you can simply cut the tip cleat off.

-Shin guards. These need to be properly fit. That means that they should be small enough that they don't touch your child's foot and knee-cap at the same time.

-Soccer socks that completely cover the shin guards. Shin guards must be worn under the socks, no exceptions. The socks can be the color of your choice.

-Soccer shorts, any color.

If you want to get a ball to practice with at home remember that U4, U6 and U8 all use a #3 size ball.

All of the equipment can be found at Dick's, Wal-Mart, Target and Play it Again Sports.

To the right you will also see links for some basic technique tips and drills. Check those out if you can for some ideas on what to do while practicing at home.

See you all on the pitch soon!