Sorry I missed the U4 game this week. My thanks to Mike Seng for filling in.
The U6 Sharks had their big double-header week and played really well in both games. They showed just a bit of fatigue toward the end of the second game but overall they played with great energy and yet with a lot of discipline too. Karolyn was our leading scorer again. She is so opportunistic, dashing in to clean up rebounds or running in from the open side. My thanks to Ben Lighthall, Stacie Kilmer and my wife Chris for filling in for me early in the first game.
The U8 Sharks were phenomenal this week. If you saw Drew's pass from the right corner in to a charging Elizabeth you saw the style of soccer the Sharks were playing this week. Drew took the ball along the wall and kept his dribble through two defenders then when they'd cut off his route to the goal he backed up and made a sharp pass inside. Elizabeth was clearly anticipating the pass and had started running into the box well before Drew delivered the pass. When the ball came free in the box at about six yards out Elizabeth just drilled it into the net. You can not defend against heads-up cooperative play like that and the Sharks were doing it all game. Austin had two goals and one was on a rebound situation where he ran into the crowd to finish off someone else's shot. But his other goal was a solo run where he picked up the ball near the eighteen, making a beautiful soft touch and turn with the ball followed by some cool-headed dribbling and then an easy blast into the net. Austin was showing great skills all game and had a remarkably soft touch on the ball.
The Sharks were pass-happy in this game and everyone was playing with a sure touch on the ball and their heads up, looking for opportunities. Sam E. and Daylon were a great combination in the middle of the field, doing some great field-switching work with their passes. I still find it hard to believe that Daylon has never played till now. Beyond his amazing ball skills there is his precocious field awareness. He maintains spacing as well as any of the kids. Sam managed a solo goal after several attempts at weaving through the white team's defense. When he did get his shot off it was a rocket.
We got Jackson back in keeper this week and he was his usual solid self. Then out in the field he played with great patience, always opting for controlling the ball over taking wild kicks at it. I really couldn't have been happier with their performance this week. So now we have two weekends off. Enjoy the break.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Week Two. It's Not Just About Kicking.
When my son Owen was able to walk he was able to kick a ball. We went on our annual family reunion vacation that year with my wife's family, when he was about sixteen months old, and I remember Chris' brother Dan saying to his eight year old sons "why don't you kick like that?" So Owen started playing U4 when he was about two and of course the first thing that happened was that the game of soccer got in the way of him doing what he liked, which was kicking. Kicking is about enjoying that drum-thump of the ball off of your shoe laces and the bang! of the ball off the wall. But soccer is all about shuffling scrums of snarling kids and their flying elbows and those kids getting in the way when you want to kick the ball.
Owen had a rough time from his second year of U4 through his first year of U6 and we weren't sure we should keep trying. He seemed to just hate having to run into a crowd to get the ball and having other kids bouncing off of him. Then one day in a U6 game he seemed to just get tired of me yelling at him to "get in there and get the ball" and so he did run into the crowd, stole the ball and then arced around the field towards the other team's goal. He cleared the last defender just as he ran perpendicular to the goal and so when he took his shot he had to sort of go into a half slide and kick the ball back across his own body. He nailed it and the net barely held the ball. I think afterwards he was in tears both because he was so thrilled with what he'd done and mad at me for pushing him to do it. He got over being mad at me but from that day on he was hooked on the thrill of trying to get around other players to get to that shot. If anything now he's too casual about being in a crowd with the ball and often seems to be anything but in a hurry. That's fine. It's another stage and right now he's sort of enamored with the "small" aspects of the game, the close-in foot-work. He doesn't always play as fast as I'd like but he's full of confidence in his ability to control the ball and that's all you could want to see.
This weekend was all about kids making that leap from being kickers to being players. Hunter, William H. and Will Z. in the U4 are, from whistle to whistle, totally focused on the work of getting the ball to the net. There were great moments for their teammates, including some very good work from Payton, but the highlights were all those moments where those three showed that wherever they were on the field, they knew where the goal was and they headed towards it fearlessly. William H. made an incredible spin move to get clear of traffic coming off of the bumpers that showed just amazing awareness of his body, the ball and the field. He over-ran the ball heading along the bumpers toward the other goal and then quickly adjusted his step to pull the ball off the bumper with his left foot. From there he had to spin to his left to follow the ball then tap the ball back toward the goal with his right. A few steps later he was in front of the goal and shooting. It was beautiful. For Hunter it was all about his amazing stutter step. He gets up to full speed with the ball but then knows to go into a tip-toed stutter step that allows him to touch the ball lightly and keep it close. Hunter repeatedly got out ahead of the other team with the ball and then kept it close with that light touch so that he could put it into the net with ease. And Will Z. has that light touch too and an amazing sense of where to go with the ball. Once he finds the goal he finishes with a left-footed blast that seems impossible from such small feet.
The U6 Sharks were, as a team, playing with confident ball control and sureness about finding the goal. Crashing into other players and contesting for the ball is just part of the game for these players now. Contact is normal...if you want to get to where you can take a shot you've got to accept the contact. Jackson and Jagger really lead the way in this regard. These two clearly see the best way around defenders as being the shortest way, i.e., through them. I mentioned to Jagger that he hadn't had a goal in quite a while and sure enough he got one a few moments later after rambling and bouncing through the defense, never giving up the ball and just trudging along till he got in close for his shot. Then we have Ashley and Micah who are working so diligently at bringing their best change-of-direction moves to the game. Carson has those moves too but is still at this point kind of in love with his own kick but I know he'll have days where he puts his head down and drives through the box rather than just shooting from distance. Ava was incredible again in defense and also threatened on offense a few times. Her sense of what is happening on the field is amazing and she anticipates the action so well. Karolyn does that too and her first goal in this game came on an opportunity that unfolded so quickly I can't believe she saw it. The ball was coming out of the left corner along the bumpers and Ashley (I think) managed to get the ball out of the crowd and headed across the goal. Karolyn was at least ten yards out from the goal when that ball came loose but she covered those yards in a flash and easily tapped it in. Crazy!
At practice with the U8 Sharks this week we started out working on some basic ball control technique and then moved into some situational work. Mike and I were trying to get the kids to see the importance of maintaining their spacing and not fighting each other for the ball. At one point as the kids were resting I asked them if they could remember to take what we'd been working on to the game with them. "Can you remember to look around and see each other and not steal the ball from each other?"
Sam E. looked at me and said "Coach, in the game I always try to dribble the ball and Jackson always tries to steal it from me." Even Jackson found that too ridiculous to respond to. He just looked at Sam then at me.
"Sam" I said, "Jackson doesn't steal the ball from you. You steal it from him cause you're a ball-hog."
"No, Jackson's a ball-hog" Sam replied through a grin.
"Dude, you are the world's biggest ball-hog."
"You are, Sam" said Austin. "You are" Elizabeth chimed in. "Yep" concluded Jackson. Then they all laughed.
In the game they did maintain their spacing fairly well and they did trust their skills. Elizabeth got the scoring started with a pair of goals. Drew had four thanks to his persistent ball control! Austin had his first in U8 and Sam had another. We had great play from everyone. Zachary was fantastic, again after a bit of a slow start. Jackson was not moving at full speed much of the game but he continued to trust his skills and always was in control of the ball rather than just kicking at it. The whole team played with a good amount of finesse and with no fear of contact.
The Sharks were joined by a new player today, Daylan, a friend of Sam's. Daylan's skill level for a new player is amazing and I can't wait to see how he'll progress.
Owen had a rough time from his second year of U4 through his first year of U6 and we weren't sure we should keep trying. He seemed to just hate having to run into a crowd to get the ball and having other kids bouncing off of him. Then one day in a U6 game he seemed to just get tired of me yelling at him to "get in there and get the ball" and so he did run into the crowd, stole the ball and then arced around the field towards the other team's goal. He cleared the last defender just as he ran perpendicular to the goal and so when he took his shot he had to sort of go into a half slide and kick the ball back across his own body. He nailed it and the net barely held the ball. I think afterwards he was in tears both because he was so thrilled with what he'd done and mad at me for pushing him to do it. He got over being mad at me but from that day on he was hooked on the thrill of trying to get around other players to get to that shot. If anything now he's too casual about being in a crowd with the ball and often seems to be anything but in a hurry. That's fine. It's another stage and right now he's sort of enamored with the "small" aspects of the game, the close-in foot-work. He doesn't always play as fast as I'd like but he's full of confidence in his ability to control the ball and that's all you could want to see.
This weekend was all about kids making that leap from being kickers to being players. Hunter, William H. and Will Z. in the U4 are, from whistle to whistle, totally focused on the work of getting the ball to the net. There were great moments for their teammates, including some very good work from Payton, but the highlights were all those moments where those three showed that wherever they were on the field, they knew where the goal was and they headed towards it fearlessly. William H. made an incredible spin move to get clear of traffic coming off of the bumpers that showed just amazing awareness of his body, the ball and the field. He over-ran the ball heading along the bumpers toward the other goal and then quickly adjusted his step to pull the ball off the bumper with his left foot. From there he had to spin to his left to follow the ball then tap the ball back toward the goal with his right. A few steps later he was in front of the goal and shooting. It was beautiful. For Hunter it was all about his amazing stutter step. He gets up to full speed with the ball but then knows to go into a tip-toed stutter step that allows him to touch the ball lightly and keep it close. Hunter repeatedly got out ahead of the other team with the ball and then kept it close with that light touch so that he could put it into the net with ease. And Will Z. has that light touch too and an amazing sense of where to go with the ball. Once he finds the goal he finishes with a left-footed blast that seems impossible from such small feet.
The U6 Sharks were, as a team, playing with confident ball control and sureness about finding the goal. Crashing into other players and contesting for the ball is just part of the game for these players now. Contact is normal...if you want to get to where you can take a shot you've got to accept the contact. Jackson and Jagger really lead the way in this regard. These two clearly see the best way around defenders as being the shortest way, i.e., through them. I mentioned to Jagger that he hadn't had a goal in quite a while and sure enough he got one a few moments later after rambling and bouncing through the defense, never giving up the ball and just trudging along till he got in close for his shot. Then we have Ashley and Micah who are working so diligently at bringing their best change-of-direction moves to the game. Carson has those moves too but is still at this point kind of in love with his own kick but I know he'll have days where he puts his head down and drives through the box rather than just shooting from distance. Ava was incredible again in defense and also threatened on offense a few times. Her sense of what is happening on the field is amazing and she anticipates the action so well. Karolyn does that too and her first goal in this game came on an opportunity that unfolded so quickly I can't believe she saw it. The ball was coming out of the left corner along the bumpers and Ashley (I think) managed to get the ball out of the crowd and headed across the goal. Karolyn was at least ten yards out from the goal when that ball came loose but she covered those yards in a flash and easily tapped it in. Crazy!
At practice with the U8 Sharks this week we started out working on some basic ball control technique and then moved into some situational work. Mike and I were trying to get the kids to see the importance of maintaining their spacing and not fighting each other for the ball. At one point as the kids were resting I asked them if they could remember to take what we'd been working on to the game with them. "Can you remember to look around and see each other and not steal the ball from each other?"
Sam E. looked at me and said "Coach, in the game I always try to dribble the ball and Jackson always tries to steal it from me." Even Jackson found that too ridiculous to respond to. He just looked at Sam then at me.
"Sam" I said, "Jackson doesn't steal the ball from you. You steal it from him cause you're a ball-hog."
"No, Jackson's a ball-hog" Sam replied through a grin.
"Dude, you are the world's biggest ball-hog."
"You are, Sam" said Austin. "You are" Elizabeth chimed in. "Yep" concluded Jackson. Then they all laughed.
In the game they did maintain their spacing fairly well and they did trust their skills. Elizabeth got the scoring started with a pair of goals. Drew had four thanks to his persistent ball control! Austin had his first in U8 and Sam had another. We had great play from everyone. Zachary was fantastic, again after a bit of a slow start. Jackson was not moving at full speed much of the game but he continued to trust his skills and always was in control of the ball rather than just kicking at it. The whole team played with a good amount of finesse and with no fear of contact.
The Sharks were joined by a new player today, Daylan, a friend of Sam's. Daylan's skill level for a new player is amazing and I can't wait to see how he'll progress.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Winter/Spring Week One.
Week one of any session is usually more hectic than fun with players trying to find their Coaches and Coaches trying to find their team shirts and parents wanting to sign a player up at the last minute. It can be crazy. But even with all the administrative house-keeping we still did get to play some soccer. So how did it go?
What I saw from the U4 team was impressive. Hunter and William have definitely both made a leap into a more focused awareness of the game. They were relentless in their attack and the next step for them is to little by little gain peripheral vision and awareness so that they can work as a team rather than only as individuals. But they are off to a tremendous start and they will be a great influence on the rest of the team. Will Z. joined the team and his precociousness is a welcome addition. He has that singular focus on getting the ball into the net that every player needs. Most kids probably show that sort of focus when playing at home with mom and dad but then can't seem to find it at their first actual game. But our other teammates did get off to a good start too with varying levels of participation and with no flameouts. That is a great thing. So long as the kids are on the field and at least enjoying running around we're good. Their awareness of the game will come with time. Thanks to all the parents for their patience with the initial craziness of week one and many thanks to Mike Seng for taking charge of the team so I could help out with the Black team for this week.
The new U6 Sharks are a wonderful mix of talents and their first game together was a good one. Returning from the previous Sharks group are Ashley, Jagger, Karolyn, Ava, Austin and Luke. They were joined by former Bears Micah, Eileen, Jackson and Zychik and by a long-lost teammate from the Summer session, Carson, who announced his return with a beautiful goal. Carson jumps right in as the teams best combination of aggression and skill and I know his lead will be one the others will follow. He wants the ball and when he gets it he's cool headed.
In this game I could see Jackson, whose game is usually all speed, making strides in slowing down enough to control the ball. He had a couple of great runs where he kept the ball in front of himself and pushed through his opponents toward the goal. Ashley was also expanding her game this week by putting the skills she has to work in the actual game situation. She's still a little shy when someone else has the ball but she is improving every week. Zychik was solid as ever in at keeper and highlighted his own good work with some balletic flourishes. He has style!
Ava and Micah had the two standout highlights of the week. Ava has such good field awareness and anticipation that she can't help but constantly be in motion, darting back and forth across the field in an effort to always stay ahead of the ball. At one point in the game when she did get up ahead of the ball into the other team's side she was loudly calling back to Zychik for a pass. "Send it all the way up" she yelled. Just amazing. Then there was Micah, who drove up into the left corner with the ball and in a moment of brilliant calm actually stopped with his foot on the ball and looked up and around to find a teammate. He was cool as he could be and made a smart pass to the center that Ashley nearly put in the net. That was also amazing. That's the stuff we want to see, those signs that their awareness of the game is expanding. They would have managed a nice draw but for the last second goal by Owen of the green team that was one of the best shots I've ever seen. Great game Sharks!
Despite some significant changes to their roster the U8 Sharks started the session off with a nice win. Elizabeth had a beautiful goal that came as a result of her dogged efforts to get rebounds in the middle. Then as a game capper Sam E. put one in too after several great attempts. While we lost Addie, Nathan, Kaleb, Jaden and Connor this session we did pick up Drew, a great player with a huge right foot and a growing confidence in his ball control skills. Drew and Owen very effectively held down the defensive duties in the first two quarters allowing the other Sharks the time to work the ball around in offense the way we like to see. They were talking, staying spaced and making some smart passes. Most importantly, they were trusting their skills and trying to possess the ball rather than booting it. That's what I want to see, regardless of the score. Sam E. was amazingly tenacious in his attempts to move with the ball and in the end was successful, getting several good shots off. Sam A. was following that lead and in the final quarter showed some really cool-headed ball skills in the mid-field. And the passing! There was so much good passing, especially some very smart field-switching passes that really opened up the other team's defense.
Sam, Sam and Austin did the keeper work for us and did so admirably. We needed that as we lost a few good keepers this session, especially Kaleb who now leads the team the Sharks faced. Kaleb was joined in this game by his sister Karolyn who is now the sixth of the U6 Sharks to precociously make the leap to U8. And she played well in her U8 opener.
A big highlight of the game for me was a little play Zachary made that might easily have gone unnoticed. Zach was a little shy in the first two quarters but in the third he loosened up and started taking some chances by streaking up into the other team's end when he saw an opportunity. On one of those runs he ended up in the left corner with the ball. The other team gave him just a bit of space and time and Zach took advantage of that. He was facing the wall with the goal on his right and the ball at his feet. He seemed to be about to start dribbling toward the goal when I saw him glance out toward the eighteen (the top of the penalty arc) and he clearly saw Elizabeth standing out there wide open so he quickly blasted the ball off the wall in front of him, intentionally rebounding it out to Elizabeth. That was so heads-up and yet executed so casually that I just went crazy. Developing that sort of presence of mind in games is such an enormous step for the kids that you can't praise them enough for it when you see it. And it isn't an enormous step simply because it's that sort of play that will lead to goals which will lead to wins. Rather, that development is critical because it means the kids are beginning to experience the game as it's played by a team. That feeling of executing your attack as a unit, sometimes wordlessly, is so thrilling it is what I think really gets kids hooked on team sports. So, big steps for the Sharks this game. I think having a smaller roster was definitely beneficial too. See you all at practice next Saturday.
What I saw from the U4 team was impressive. Hunter and William have definitely both made a leap into a more focused awareness of the game. They were relentless in their attack and the next step for them is to little by little gain peripheral vision and awareness so that they can work as a team rather than only as individuals. But they are off to a tremendous start and they will be a great influence on the rest of the team. Will Z. joined the team and his precociousness is a welcome addition. He has that singular focus on getting the ball into the net that every player needs. Most kids probably show that sort of focus when playing at home with mom and dad but then can't seem to find it at their first actual game. But our other teammates did get off to a good start too with varying levels of participation and with no flameouts. That is a great thing. So long as the kids are on the field and at least enjoying running around we're good. Their awareness of the game will come with time. Thanks to all the parents for their patience with the initial craziness of week one and many thanks to Mike Seng for taking charge of the team so I could help out with the Black team for this week.
The new U6 Sharks are a wonderful mix of talents and their first game together was a good one. Returning from the previous Sharks group are Ashley, Jagger, Karolyn, Ava, Austin and Luke. They were joined by former Bears Micah, Eileen, Jackson and Zychik and by a long-lost teammate from the Summer session, Carson, who announced his return with a beautiful goal. Carson jumps right in as the teams best combination of aggression and skill and I know his lead will be one the others will follow. He wants the ball and when he gets it he's cool headed.
In this game I could see Jackson, whose game is usually all speed, making strides in slowing down enough to control the ball. He had a couple of great runs where he kept the ball in front of himself and pushed through his opponents toward the goal. Ashley was also expanding her game this week by putting the skills she has to work in the actual game situation. She's still a little shy when someone else has the ball but she is improving every week. Zychik was solid as ever in at keeper and highlighted his own good work with some balletic flourishes. He has style!
Ava and Micah had the two standout highlights of the week. Ava has such good field awareness and anticipation that she can't help but constantly be in motion, darting back and forth across the field in an effort to always stay ahead of the ball. At one point in the game when she did get up ahead of the ball into the other team's side she was loudly calling back to Zychik for a pass. "Send it all the way up" she yelled. Just amazing. Then there was Micah, who drove up into the left corner with the ball and in a moment of brilliant calm actually stopped with his foot on the ball and looked up and around to find a teammate. He was cool as he could be and made a smart pass to the center that Ashley nearly put in the net. That was also amazing. That's the stuff we want to see, those signs that their awareness of the game is expanding. They would have managed a nice draw but for the last second goal by Owen of the green team that was one of the best shots I've ever seen. Great game Sharks!
Despite some significant changes to their roster the U8 Sharks started the session off with a nice win. Elizabeth had a beautiful goal that came as a result of her dogged efforts to get rebounds in the middle. Then as a game capper Sam E. put one in too after several great attempts. While we lost Addie, Nathan, Kaleb, Jaden and Connor this session we did pick up Drew, a great player with a huge right foot and a growing confidence in his ball control skills. Drew and Owen very effectively held down the defensive duties in the first two quarters allowing the other Sharks the time to work the ball around in offense the way we like to see. They were talking, staying spaced and making some smart passes. Most importantly, they were trusting their skills and trying to possess the ball rather than booting it. That's what I want to see, regardless of the score. Sam E. was amazingly tenacious in his attempts to move with the ball and in the end was successful, getting several good shots off. Sam A. was following that lead and in the final quarter showed some really cool-headed ball skills in the mid-field. And the passing! There was so much good passing, especially some very smart field-switching passes that really opened up the other team's defense.
Sam, Sam and Austin did the keeper work for us and did so admirably. We needed that as we lost a few good keepers this session, especially Kaleb who now leads the team the Sharks faced. Kaleb was joined in this game by his sister Karolyn who is now the sixth of the U6 Sharks to precociously make the leap to U8. And she played well in her U8 opener.
A big highlight of the game for me was a little play Zachary made that might easily have gone unnoticed. Zach was a little shy in the first two quarters but in the third he loosened up and started taking some chances by streaking up into the other team's end when he saw an opportunity. On one of those runs he ended up in the left corner with the ball. The other team gave him just a bit of space and time and Zach took advantage of that. He was facing the wall with the goal on his right and the ball at his feet. He seemed to be about to start dribbling toward the goal when I saw him glance out toward the eighteen (the top of the penalty arc) and he clearly saw Elizabeth standing out there wide open so he quickly blasted the ball off the wall in front of him, intentionally rebounding it out to Elizabeth. That was so heads-up and yet executed so casually that I just went crazy. Developing that sort of presence of mind in games is such an enormous step for the kids that you can't praise them enough for it when you see it. And it isn't an enormous step simply because it's that sort of play that will lead to goals which will lead to wins. Rather, that development is critical because it means the kids are beginning to experience the game as it's played by a team. That feeling of executing your attack as a unit, sometimes wordlessly, is so thrilling it is what I think really gets kids hooked on team sports. So, big steps for the Sharks this game. I think having a smaller roster was definitely beneficial too. See you all at practice next Saturday.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Back at It
The final session of the indoor season starts this weekend. If you are on one of my teams and you haven't heard from me let me know. The schedules for U4, U6 and U8 can be found in the links list to the right. We'll be fielding just one U6 team this session. The U8 team will have practice the first two Saturdays of the session at Noon.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Sharks Travel for 3v3 Tournament.
A group of your U8 Sharks will be traveling to Indianapolis today to compete in a 3v3 tournament. The kids, Sam E, Sam A, Elizabeth, Jackson and Austin, were supposed to be playing in a U6 division but tournament organizers couldn't get enough teams for a full division of five year olds so they opted to blend some age groups together. So, your littlest Sharks will once again be battling kids that are older and bigger than them. The smaller field and rules of 3v3 should suit these kids though as this is a version of the game where the strategy is to always be shooting. If you see the goal you shoot. If you catch a little glimpse of the goal you shoot. If you suspect you're headed in the general direction of the goal you shoot. I think in this format the Sharks could surprise some of these older teams, especially if those teams make the mistake of trying to play a typical defense.
My advice to the Sharks then is to always be shooting and relax...play your own game...do what you know how to do.
My advice to the Sharks then is to always be shooting and relax...play your own game...do what you know how to do.
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