With the young players it's usually power, not finesse, that gets your attention. Often times it has been the sound of that power that grabs you. The drum-like thump of a ball being cleanly struck with the top of the foot. The startling bang of the ball off of the wall beside the goal. Early on with players like Sam E., Noah Roach and Elizabeth T. there were moments in games or practice when, following one of those kicks, the other Coach or the Ref would turn and look at me with an "are you serious?" expression. When you see a three year old consistently kicking like that you know it's not the result of some intense training program. It's a gift. Somehow, who knows why, their body responds to the problem of getting the ball from here to there with a simple, graceful series of movements that it takes most players years to develop. Sometimes, though, with a young player the gift is finesse, softness of touch and that's not always as easy to spot. It is subtle and you have to know the game a bit to appreciate it.
On the U4 Bengal Tigers we have Damien, little brother of Diego, and like his brother, Damien handles the ball gently, never letting it get far from him. If the ball comes to him hard he always manages to get a foot up and receive it softly. He traps then moves, nudging the ball along while keeping it close so that he can zig and zag as he needs to. His brother, Diego, seems to feel that so long as he has the ball at his feet he has space to move, no matter how close the defenders are or how many of them. I see Damien developing that style too. I would love to see more of our players develop that sort of confidence and patience.
More on the Sharks and ThunderBears after the page break.
More on the Sharks and ThunderBears after the page break.
Austin Seng of the Sharks is developing that touch of finesse. Austin always has had a powerful kick and in a defensive position he has been unbeatable. He sees the field, anticipates the action and then when the ball comes to him he clears it with a booming sure foot. But for a few sessions now Austin has been stretching himself out beyond that defender role. Following Sam E.'s lead he has been growing ever more confident in his ball skills and we saw in the outdoor session that he was a constant threat to break past defenders with his speed and strike at the goal. His signature move has been a quick change of feet on the ball that allows him to dart past the defender at a shallow angle. Not fancy, but very effective. In yesterday's game though Austin showed that he is gaining the confidence to be more of a finesse player. Austin was in a sweeper position for us in the last quarter. The ball came down the left wall and as Austin closed on it both Sam E. and a player from the other team were approaching fast. Austin got to the ball and paused, evidently waiting for the opposing player to commit. When she did he stepped over the ball turning his back to her, pulled the ball off the wall with his left toe and then spun to his left following the ball and heading out into the open. It was a graceful pirouette that allowed him to elude both the defender and the ever ball-hungry Sam. A power player becomes a finesse player.
What got me to thinking about how players evolve from power to finesse and how they develop the gifts they have was watching Elizabeth in warm-ups. Elizabeth has always had a strong, fundamentally sound kick both for shooting and passing. From the first time I saw her she stepped close to the ball and kept her head down, putting her shoe laces right on the ball every time. I noticed over the outdoor session that she had modified her kick a bit. Now she was jumping into it the way Sam E. does, planting hard next to the ball and swinging her whole body into the ball. At the game yesterday I saw something new. Now she has added a slight dip of her right hip into those right footed blasts that magnifies the leverage she gets. I wouldn't talk to her about it. I don't want her to be conscious of it but it's fascinating the way some kids naturally tend to develop toward the perfection of whatever it is they like to do. They work at it. Who knows why. I did, though, let her know that she kicks the ball harder than I can. I've continued to play despite my aching knees but watching the five year old Elizabeth hammer the ball does make me think seriously of retiring.
Mya joined the Sharks yesterday and when she got in the game she was a great addition. She plays smart and that is what I had hoped for. On her other team she was kind of swamped in the generally chaotic play of her teammates but on a more disciplined team she has the space to use her brains and play with anticipation. In her first quarter in she played sweeper and then in her next quarter she asked if she could move up to the front. That's the confidence I'd seen from her before. She wants to be with the ball. Great to have you with us Mya.
We had lots of great play all around for the Sharks. We missed McKenzie though. Get better Kenz. The Thunder Bears played well too and luckily they had Karolyn from the Sharks in to cover for Ashley who was out. Zychik had a goal! Ava and Micah played beautifully and with more discipline than ever. Watching those two high motor players develop into finesse players is going to be fun. Carson had some moments of real grace and control as well. One particular turn on the ball led directly to Zychik's goal. Carson gathered the ball with a nice chop heading into our own side then spun quickly back into the approaching opposition and made a sharp move to his left to get into the open. Beautiful. A moment later he was passing across the middle to a waiting Z. Rozhkov who deftly tapped the ball in.
I wish we had more practice time. All of these kids seem so willing to work at their games. Watch them closely, they're getting better every week.
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