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.