Playing on a New Field Makes Me Dizzy.

I was ready to get back to soccer this weekend but the kids were ecstatic!  The Sharks were, in fact, a little crazy with extra energy and despite winning handily they didn't exactly play their game.  It seemed to me that many of the kids, probably due to the new surroundings, were playing with a bit of tunnel vision.  Elizabeth chased the ball, rather than getting ahead of the action, in a way she hasn't done in a while.  At one point late in the game I asked her to drop back into a midfield position hoping that what she needed was some space to get her vision for the whole field back.  I had noticed Austin doing this instinctively earlier in the game.  He fell into his old accustomed position behind the half line and was able to start seeing the plays develop rather than chase the ball around.  It did seem to help Elizabeth too and she started to play near the end with her usual grace and intelligence.
Everyone played very well to be sure but they all seemed to be in just a bit of a hurry.  We had stand out work in keeper from all of our goalies and I was especially impressed with Jagger today.  On one play he snatched the ball right from the feet of an attacking player and that kid's inertia carried him right into Jagger.  Jagger just hugged the ball tight and leaned up into the bigger kid, looking him right in the eye with a kind of "yeah, whadda you want" look on his face.  Priceless.
McKenzie was fierce today and yet also seemed intent on moving the ball with precision.  She didn't seem as bothered by the new field.  Neither was Jackson who came right into the game with a general's confidence, directing his teammates and controlling the action when in the field.
The star of the day was Karolyn who was back after a few sessions off and she seemed like she had hardly missed a step.  In fact I think she played better than ever with more sustained intensity and sureness than she had ever shown before.  We're glad to have her back!

The combined Polar Bears and Thunder elected to take the name Thunder Bears!  That was a suggestion from Zychik's mom.  The team played very well and I was especially impressed with the play we saw from Micah and Ava who both played with a lot more composure than we'd seen from them before.  Micah had two fabulous runs toward the goal where he was really deftly controlling the ball while hitting his stride.  Ava, of course, was fierce in her attack but she was also looking up a lot more and staying aware of her surrounding and her teammates.
Carson, Logan, Ava and Eileen all had good turns in as keeper for us.  Ashley showed her usual great ball control but was having trouble getting out into the open space for a real run.  All in all though that was a great game against a very strong team.

The Tigers are now the Bengal Tigers.  I tried to get them to go for Tiger Sharks in anticipation that they might all be Sharks one day but Bennett insisted on Bengal Tigers.  When I tried to call them the Bengal Tiger Sharks he wasn't having it and patiently reminded me every time that they were just the Bengal Tigers.  Well, whatever they are they played beautifully and Austin was on fire.  He's got the power for sure but he is becoming so surefooted when moving with the ball.  He had as good a game as he's ever had.
Diego's brother Damien joined us for the first time and I know he'll get used to the field and play more next week.  He's a kid who really likes having the ball close and controlling it, like his brother, rather than just booting it.

Great Saturday everyone.  It was good to be back.

Legends Soccer Eight Week Clinic

I received this flyer from Eric Henderson, a Coach at Scott High School and a great player himself, regarding an upcoming session of clinics he will be holding at Midwest Sports as part of the new Legends Soccer Academy.  I spoke to Eric at length about the type of coaching the Legends program focuses on.  It's a program aimed at developing player creativity and confidence that encourages the kids to take control in one on one situations.  If you're interested you can find more info on Legends and get a registration form at the Legends website.

Pre-season Clinics at Midwest

This Saturday the 22nd NKYA will be holding pre-season clinics for the U6 and U4 age groups.  You can find the schedule at the NKYA Soccer Blog.  I hope everyone can make it.

Fall Indoor Session Delayed One Week

Due to the overwhelming number of registrations that are still coming in the Fall Indoor Session is being pushed back one week.  The session will now begin on Saturday the 29th.

Perfect Day.

      Obviously the weather couldn't have been better.   These early Fall days that start out crisp and then finnish warm always feel like a gift.  An Italian girl I knew in college said that days like this were "like champagne".  Exactly.
     Dave and I showed up early as usual and we got the whole field set-up done in time so that we could have some coffee and talk a bit about how the session had gone as the sun rose higher and the refs started arriving for their assignments.   You can't coach more than one team, as Dave and I both do, and not eventually start to know most of the players in the league by name and so we were able to compare notes on which kids had really taken strides and which ones had the same old bad habits;  this kid was getting to be as good with the left as the right; this kid had suddenly found some speed and confidence; that one was still swinging his elbows harder than he could kick the ball; that one was still a goof ball in practice but was clearly in love with the game.  By  quarter till nine it was comfortably warm and players were arriving.  Time to get to work.
      It was a long day.  I coached four games.  I refereed one.  I watched two more games, the championships in our U8 and U11 divisions, and then handed out the awards to the winners.  At the end I felt like it had been as good a day as I could want, both as a Coach and as a league Administrator.  I saw a lot of great soccer and a lot of good sportsmanship and camaraderie both from players and from parents.   And as for my teams... They were great.  Each game had many moments where I could see things the kids had worked hard on in practice suddenly getting put to use on the field.  So many of the kids played their best game ever on this last day, putting together all the pieces we'd worked on throughout the season.  They were brilliant and joyful, the parents were cheering like crazy.  The sun was shinning.  And when it was over I was, honestly, a little giddy.  This day was a gift.  It was like champagne.

   

     In the Thunder game we were short a few players.  Anna was out due to a medical procedure.  Zychik was at a class learning his father's native Russian.  Logan was on a surprise trip to Disney.  Abie was sick.  That meant that the rest of the team had to play some extra minutes and they were up to it.  We have worked at practice on our basic change of direction moves until I'm sure the kids are sick of it but in this game it suddenly became reflexive to many of them and their play was beautiful.  Parker and Mya were especially sharp and made some great moves and some great runs to the goal.  Maddie was solid in goal, as ever.  Molly was all energy and speed.  Juan was all grace.  While I was thrilled with all the kids I have to say that watching Alex and Christian have such good games and be so engaged the whole time was just wonderful.  Thank you Thunder for a great season.  I'm very proud to have had the honor of working with these kids.  They're great players and I hope to see them on the field again soon.

     The Sharks were like a thoroughbred.  Powerful and graceful and in complete command of their capacities.   Here is the real highlight of the game:  I put them on the touch line for their customary warm-up jog.  You know how that frequently goes; I lead and they mostly stay in line and run but there is frequently a pile-up at some point.  On this day I asked them to make the run themselves with Sam E. in lead.  I said "I can trust you, right?"  They ran like Marines they were so disciplined.  That was just amazing and if I were the Coach of the other team I'd have been thinking "Uh, oh."  They have, as a group, gotten to be so attentive and able to execute what Coach Mike and I ask them to do.  On this day I asked the first group in to be sure and move laterally a lot and stay well spread to keep the shooting opportunities open.  Sam E., Jackson and Elizabeth did just that and put in at least four goals in the first few minutes.  Samuel got his goal too by being in his usual perfect position.  He is so smart about getting in the right spot for a rebound or short pass.
     Trey and Jag were both cool-headed and tough in keeper and had great games.  Jag nearly had another goal too.  Diego got one and when he did his fists-up victory run you could hear the crowd going wild.
     When Austin came in I gave him one simple instruction:  don't worry about passing, just dribble and get around them then find the goal.  I wanted to see him get his chance to play in isolation for once and he did not disappoint.  His speed with the ball is crazy and then when he approaches the goal and gets the ball on his right his shot is powerful and sure.
     McKenzie was playing in the thick of things too and had a couple of good turns on the ball.   Then late in the game Luke made a simply brilliant move to recover a ball that was heading out of the other side.  He chased the ball down and without slowing down made a perfect cut to herd it back toward the goal.  He took a few steps dribbling then made a great forward pass that set Sam E. up for an easy goal.
     Sam A. started out in defense for us and was solid with one enormous clearing kick (he was pretty proud of that).  Later he came in as keeper but at that point the rest of the Sharks had the other team so tightly contained that Sam didn't face a single shot.  That was a shame because Jackson had, unprompted, lent Sam his keeper gloves and offered him his shirt.
     One last highlight.  Late in the game Jackson was in as keeper and he made one enormous punt that cleared the half line.  Coach Mike was calling out to him that he had to be sure he had a target on those outlet passes and I was thinking, jeez, he just kicked it halfway down the field, I'm pretty okay with that.  Well, Mike was right to point that out because on the next punt opportunity he got, Jackson actually faked a big kick down the center but then made a delicate little chip to his left to find Elizabeth wide open.  And of course as he's doing this he looks anything but tense.  I was standing close by when he made that move and he looked at me once Elizabeth had the ball and all I could say was "Dude, that was sweet."

     Our U4 Tigers had their best game yet against an opponent that was solid enough to make it an actual game.  I was glad to see Riley, Katie and Chad all make a real effort to get out on the field and play.  Rocco was there too for a few minutes and that's a good step.  Jenna had her best appearance yet and was on the field and in the action a lot.  That girl has got a kick!  Caleb, Austin, Bennett and Hunter were the workhorses for us and they covered most of the minutes.  Austin was making some great runs with the ball and showing off that great ball skill he has.  Hunter has a good sense of how to handle the ball too and was having a great game.  Bennett was the most defensive minded of the group and made some smart runs back into our goal to cover.  I'm really pleased with how quickly this team improved over that last three weeks of the session both in games and at our practices.  They went from being a very disorganized if energetic bunch to being a group that I could count on to show up at practice and actually get a bit of work done and have some fun.  It has been great to work with these kids and I hope they all continue on in soccer.

     The Polar Bears had a break-out game.  In the first quarter we had Ava in at keeper and she was fierce and awesome.  She got herself set in that "crab hands" ready position I try to teach them and she did not come out of it until the quarter ended.  And I don't mean that she kind of froze into that position.  She was really playing the position.  She made some great stops and some fantastic outlet passes.
     Ava's performance in keeper was bookended by Eileen's turn there in the last quarter.  I don't focus too much on Eileen's performance here as she's my own but I have to say that she was having one awesome game in there.  I was as proud as I could be of that girl.  She's tough.
     Ashley was fantastic in offense handling the ball and leading the attack.  She and Carson made some great runs and she was graceful in her control.  Sadie, Micah, Lincoln and Jeremy were all in the mix too, playing with great energy and focus.  Sadie had one good run that I thought would end in a goal for sure.  Landon had a great game too.  Carson was solid in his turn in goal.
     Noah was another of our good keepers in this game and, like Ava, he knows how to really play the position all out with near constant focus and determination.  He was great in the field too playing with speed and energy.  Finally, Mason was a revelation in this game, scoring two goals and barely missing on a third.  On the run that would have been that third goal he was running full out down the field and in controlling the ball he touched it at least twice with is left foot, like there's nothing to it, but when he got to the goal the ball was rolling out to his left.  At that point he forgot that he could use his left and tried to circle the ball so as to have the shot with his right.  Oh, well.  His two goals were beautiful shots and he played for the first time in the U6 division the way he used to play when he dominated the U4.  It was so great to see that break-out for him because Mason is such a good kid and such a fearless, tough player.
     Polar Bears families, thanks for letting Chris and I work with your kids.  We love this game and there is nothing better than sharing it with a bunch of great kids like yours.

     Thanks everyone for the great season.  I hope I see you all again during the indoor season.  Keep playing!

Practice Time Changing.

For our last Thursday of practices for the Thunder and the Sharks we are going to move practices up one half hour so that we don't run out of daylight.
The Thunder will practice at 5:30 and the Sharks will start at 6:30.

October 1st. Playing like a team.

The Tigers had a good game in that a few players who haven't played much yet did get involved in the game.  Chad, thanks to his Grandpa, got out there and did some kicking and seemed to enjoy it.  Austin and Bennett had good games, especially Austin, who showed some excellent ball control.  But the real highlight of the game was Riley.  She played a lot and had a lot of touches on the ball.   Her best moments though were two times when she saw that Austin had control of the ball and rather than just chase after  him or just stand by she actually started to run ahead of him a bit as though she were thinking she might be able to help him that way.  These were just brief flashes but they point to the potential for a player to begin to see the game from a broader perspective.   Keep an eye on  Riley.

The Polar Bears had a great game too with goals from Ashley and Noah and strong performances all around.  The highlight in this game was Ava in keeper.  She is as fiercely competitive and fearless as anyone I've coached.  When in the field that fierceness can lead her to give in to the temptation to pick up the ball.  She wants to control the ball and sometimes the easiest way to do that is to just grab it.  She'll get past that.  But when she's in keeper that instinct to posses the ball is an asset and in this game she had some great stops.  When she did make those stops she wasn't looking to the crowd to catch a glimpse of their approval, she was looking to the field thinking about her outlet pass.  Awesome!  Then on one stop she had the opposing player right in her face kicking at her before the ref (me) could blow the whistle.  Ava was unfazed.  Most kids would have been furious and in tears at the offense of having someone kick them in the hands.  She just picked up the ball and tried to find a teammate to throw it to.  Amazing!  When running with the ball in the pack Ava has a bit of tunnel vision but in keeper she is already showing a good sense of being part of a team that has a shared goal.  We'll play her in that spot some more.  She's earned it.

Team awareness and teamwork was the theme of the Thunder game too.  Carson has had some great goals this season but his best so far was this week off an assist from Parker.  In the early minutes of the game I stopped Parker and pointed out to him that if he saw that Juan or Carson had the ball he should break off from them and get open so that he might get a pass and have a shot.  We talk about that all the time when scrimmaging at practice and I don't expect the kids to get it all at once but the next thing I knew Parker was keeping his spacing from the ball and before you know it he gets possession on the left then turns in and makes a great shot/pass that comes to Carson who puts it in the net.  Teamwork!  I don't know that Carson exactly realized what had happened but Parker did.  When he ran back to me at the circle I could see from his expression that he knew that what he had done had led to that goal.  That is huge.
Other highlights in this game were:
Logan's great play in as keeper.  He really was diving on the ball that game!
Juan's beautiful touch on the ball.  He had one inside cut move where he changed direction while corralling the ball with his left instep that was just poetically graceful (if you are not familiar with the British sports press, this is how one writes about the beautiful game).
Mya also had a brilliant turn of the ball that nearly led to a goal.  While tangled in a crowd she made a great change of direction, pulling the ball deftly along with her and suddenly found herself in the open for a shot.  I think she surprised herself.
Everyone else played well too, without exception.  That was a great game.


And finally, here is my brilliantly insightful analysis of the Sharks' game:  Sam Eppley went absolutely insane!  Sam was, on this day, completely in control of his full array of talents and he played with real joy.  He'd had a hard time against that big kid, Nate, on the red team and I think it shook his confidence a bit.  We talked a bit after that game about trying to be more patient with his dribbling and to use his change of direction to get around people.  Well in this week's game he made a simple double move, going right then cutting back left, to get around a defender and then score and when he ran out to the circle his eyes were lit up and he said "I tricked that kid.  I tricked him."  He was thrilled with that breakthrough and I am too.  His touch on the ball is so sure and soft he should be able to  get around anyone if he's got the space.
Sam wasn't the only one who made a bit of a leap in this game.  I saw Samuel actively trying to use his left foot more.  That's big.  Diego was doing much better in terms of looking up from the ball a bit to see where his teammates were.  Jackson did great work moving up from the midfield position I started him in to strike at the goal when he had the chance and he and Elizabeth and Sam E. were going pass crazy!
Sam A. had an amazing game too.  Jagger and Trey were great in keeper and when Elizabeth took her turn in keeper she saved a certain goal with a great stop going to her right.

That was a really fun match as Coach Berling's side really gave the Sharks all they could handle.  I think it ended up being five to two and that was as good a challenge as the Sharks have had all season.  In the huddle at the end they were fired up.  They knew they'd played well as a team.