Week Six. In the Zone Now.

Everybody was in a soccer groove this week!  We saw some really spectacular play in every game.

     In the U4 Yankees game it was all Damien all the time as far as the goal scoring went.  He was weaving in and out of traffic, keeping the ball lightly at his feet.  When he does get challenged he's tough as nails and never concedes the ball.  With Will backing him up as a sweeping midfielder Damien had one opportunity after another and he took advantage.
     I'm trying to encourage Will and the other kids to play the way Damien does, to keep the ball close and beat the opposition player with your dribble moves, but I can't complain about the natural instincts Will has for the game.  He stays back in midfield so much because he is so good at anticipating the action and he knows that a ball that comes loose from the pack can lead him right into an open shot.
     Addie had a great game, putting three shots in the net.  She was headed the wrong way each time but I don't mind.  Watching from up close I could see that she was looking up from the ball to find the goal and that's the first step.  She's off to a great start.
     Caroline's performance in this game was a real revelation.  She was playing with some real fire, staying low over the ball and using her body to maintain possession.  She always shows flashes of skill but in this game there was a new intensity in her play.  She was clearly determined to get the ball to the goal.  Great work there.

     Here is some video of the U6 teams.  There was a lot of great play all around in both games.  The video focuses mostly on Diego and his determined effort to get to the goal but there was a lot of other good play I should note.  I was especially impressed with William and Ava in the Lions game.  William is a whirlwind of energy on the field and I expect him to become a really dangerous attacking player as his touch gets better.  He's got a motor!  And Ava was right there with him several times.  She's toughened up a lot and doesn't seem shy of the in-game contact.  These two might become a really formidable tandem as strikers.



     In that Lions game Anna played really well too.  She is not shy at all about trying her skills and I love that.  Jeremy was rock solid in keeper as usual too.  For the Bats while it was the girls showing off the foot skills it was the boys who were demonstrating the value of communicating.  Maddox, Luke E., Henry and Micah were doing a lot of talking on the field, calling out for passes, etc. and that was very impressive.  We don't ever work on passing in our practice sessions, devoting all of our time to developing individual ball control skills.  In a game situation, moving the ball from one side of the field to the other to find scoring opportunities is a problem the kids have to solve on their own.  If their skills are solid they'll find more than one way to solve that problem and if they find on their own that one solution is to cooperate...wonderful! 

     Well, those Sharks were masterful this week.  I could not have been happier with their play.  I had told them after last week's game that in order for everyone to get their jitters out they were all allowed one big kick in the first quarter of every game.  Get that out of the way then be cool and use your skills.  As the first quarter progressed this week Sam A., who started on the bench, pointed out to me that so far no one had used up their "big kick" yet.  He seemed proud of his teammates for that.  "Are you going to use yours when you go in?" I asked him.  He held his hands up and shrugged.  "Probably not."
     I lost track of the goals eventually.  Sorry.  I do remember that Samuel had one early.  Sam A. scored as did Elizabeth and Jackson.  Jackson's was off an amazing pass in that he one-touch blasted into the net.  Like a pro.  McKenzie had a great game and was close to getting off a shot a couple of times.  Wyatt played with his new solid composure both on the attack and on defense.  Brandon was fantastic all game, playing with his new-found finesse.
     Zachary got a goal too on a weird late opportunity.  He was in defense and the ball was on the opposite side of the field and down in the corner.  I think Elizabeth and Tyler were down there trying to get it out.  The ball came loose and rolled fast out of the keeper box toward Zach.  He came racing in from half-field and blasted the ball into the net from beyond the top of the key.  The game ended a moment later and when he came in to the bench he sort of apologized for coming up out of position.  "But I could just see that open shot."  Dude, no complaint from me.  After next week's game I'll post some more on how putting the players into a defensive position with specific instructions to attack the goal from there is turning into a very valuable coaching tool.

Week Five.

Headed to Tucson this morning so not much time for blogging.  It was a weekend full of soccer though so I need to post something!  The U4 and U6 games on Saturday were excellent with some really great play all around.  Just a few highlights...
In the U4 Yankees game E.J. executed a pull-back and cut combination that was so sharp you couldn't believe it.  Isabelle got off to a weepy start but after some commiseration with her teammates she rallied and played with very impressive anticipation,  breaking off from the pack to get into a forward position.
In the U6 Bats game Ava was holding down her usual midfield post when she saw the chance at a goal unfolding for her.  The ball had gotten into the right corner with Abby and Hailey both working to get it out.  I think Ava could see that with only two defenders in Abby's way if Abby got the ball out across the goal Ava would have a one-on-one with the keeper.  So she came streaking into the goal box and sure enough Abby got the ball to her.  From there it was just a tap in for Ava.   Great anticipation there, like Jedi soccer.
I saw a lot of very good ball skill in this game and the Bats are making great strides.

Later in the afternoon it was the Legends Academy team tryouts and that was a great success.   All the kids were wonderfully focused and showed us great energy throughout.

On Sunday the U8 Sharks recovered beautifully from a shaky first quarter where we saw a little too much kicking without much control.  The rest of the game was beautiful.  The first highlight was a goal from Samuel that came after a great, slashing run through the defenders.  Samuel has very good tackling technique when on defense.   He knows how to get the ball off another player's foot cleanly with minimal contact.  I'm starting to see him use that technique in his attacking skills too.  He doesn't run away from defenders but rather he goes into them fast, cutting to one side at the last moment and dragging the ball with him just as the defender kicks at it.
We had excellent play from everyone and multiple goals.  One particular beauty was a powerful shot taken by Sam after he'd made a couple of sharp moves to get in the open.  When he broke past the defense at midfield Elizabeth took off to get up ahead and when Sam let go a real blast from about 18 yards out she was in position to give the ball just a slight redirect to keep it away from the keeper.  Amazing team work based on solid individual skills!  That's how the Sharks do it!

The Titans had a great game, lead to victory by Drew , Morgan and Justin.  Justin took a chance early in the first half, putting the ball on the floor and dribbling out of the goal, trying to get all the way up the field for a shot.  The other coach was really taken back by that, like it was totally crazy, but I loved it.  Great instincts and creativity there.
Another big moment in this game was a defensive play by Karah.  A player on the team got loose in our goal box.  Karah chased him down and fiercely got in between him and the ball.  Their feet got tangled and the other player went down.  Maybe it was a foul but even so I can't fault Karah for playing with such intensity and refusing to concede the ball.  That's something I'd like to see from every player, that drive to always make an effort to get to the ball.  I see far too many instances of kids conceding possession of the ball,  apparently assuming that it's out of their reach.  Part of what I have to do as a coach is convince them to test themselves rather than just assume that they know what their own limits are.  Don't be afraid to struggle.

Week Four. Titanic Struggle.

     Man was that a game!?  At first it looked to be a low scoring battle of the keepers with Justin and the other team's goalie, Chandler, trading amazing stops and great punts.  But then things broke open a bit.  We brought Justin in for the attack which helped enormously on offense but also left us exposed in defense.  Drew, Morgan, Ryder and Justin were attacking fiercely for most of the second half and getting great support from Danielle, Karah and Will but we just couldn't keep the other team from answering.
     I saw great play from everyone and I especially want to note the dramatic improvement of Kailey and Michael-Michelle.  They are playing much better than they were at the start of the Fall session and in Sunday's game I saw some flashes of really good play from both of them.  Great work.
    

Week Four. Why They Are Called the Sharks.

     I was thinking about what we saw from the Sharks Sunday and I recalled writing something a year ago about the team's signature style. 

 I would describe that "style" in one word: "fearless".  You'd assume that by fearless I meant their willingness to crash into other players for the sake of getting the ball.  Certainly every player on the team  has that quality.   But what I'm thinking of is a fearlessness when trying new things, when daring to use a new move or learn some new skill or trusting your teammate to play his position while you play yours.  In short, they don't fear failure.  They take chances and risk stumbling over their own attempts to expand their skills all for the sake of getting better at the game they love, and it seems that for them, for these ... players, that has always been their natural attitude.   If the Sharks have a style it is "fearlessness" and the foundation of that style is joy.

      The team roster has changed some since then but not the style and yesterday we were all treated to a joyful display of beautiful soccer.  This wasn't a runaway scoring romp either.  The Sharks managed four goals to the other side's one and the other team played hard, pressing us physically at every point.  Sam A., Jackson, Brandon and Wyatt put in our goals and they were each beauties.  But the overall quality of the game was the way our players built, minute by minute and move upon move to a crescendo of fearless, creative, exuberant play.  Watching from the bench I was flabbergasted over and over.  Sam put in the first goal after gracefully negotiating the traffic.  Then it was Jackson putting one in after zig-zagging through the other team's entire defense.  Brandon got number three for us, finally trusting himself to keep the ball close and dribble in for a shot.  Then last came Wyatt, who had played so beautifully all game, including throwing in a jaw-dropping scissor move.  Wyatt dashed across the goal area to his left chasing a loose ball and caught it just as it was leaving the box.  He ripped it, left footed, right out of the air.  Luckily no one was hurt!  What a rocket!  At that point on the bench it felt like we were at a rock concert.  The team went crazy! 
     And those were just the goals!  Everybody played so well and with so much energy.  I don't want to go on too long but I do want to mention a few other highlights. First what about Samuel and the great runs he made?  And the great defense he played?  His tackle step is really kung-fu like in its precision and I've asked the rest of the team to take note.  And how about Lillian?!  She was fierce in this game. What a game!

Week Four. Saturday Ups and Downs and Ups.

     The weekend got off to a great start with the U4 team.  I wanted early on in this game to work with some of our players on staying more focused on the game, to extend the amount of time that they stay really engaged.  It's something you can only build on incrementally, I just want to be sure I'm always paying attention myself to where each kid is in this process.  So,  I told the team at one point that the ancient kung-fu secret of great soccer was to never take your eyes off the ball.  One of my repeated themes with every team is that if you use your eyes to really see what's going on your brain will know what to do, so keep your eyes on the ball.  Well it usually works but Dakota was a hilarious exception to that in this game.  In the third quarter he was about five yards out from our goal when a player on the other team got possession and started to move toward Dakota to get to the goal.  Dakota had his eyes on the ball.  So firmly on the ball that in order to continue to have a good look at it as the other kid approached Dakota made a little step to one side to make a path for the kid, all the while keeping his head down and eyes focused on the ball.  He dutifully watched it all the way into the net.  I said "hey, Dakota?" and kind of held up my hands in a "what was that" gesture.  The look on his face made it clear that he was actually expecting my approval since he had really, really kept his eyes on the ball!  Later on he nearly had a goal and he probably had his best game yet in terms of being actively engaged, even as he took moments out here and there to talk to me about his dogs at home.
     And that's how it is with the little ones.  They're in the game then they're out of it and you just take what you can get and let them feel their way, slowly building experience on experience.  When they are anxiously talking to me about other things, like what they'll be doing later in the day, I don't necessarily consider that distracting.  Often when the little kids are functioning at a really high level, like their caffeine and sugar are balanced just right (you know the feeling), they can focus on more than one thing at once or just bounce easily in and out of being focused on different things.  I'd always rather have them like that than in a mood where they just want to shut down and nothing shuts them down faster than pushing them at the wrong time.  Patience.
     It was a really good game overall with lots of good skill in play from both teams.  Diego and Will managed goals and so did Caroline.  Isabelle didn't manage a goal but she certainly did manage to get in the right position a couple of times, breaking out of the pack to cross to the goal when her teammates were pushing the ball to a corner.  Excellent instincts there.  Her brother Samuel was like that at the start too and I expect that before long she'll be the same sort of goal-hunting ball hog.  I love ball hogs!

     The U6 teams had strangely opposite sorts of games.  The Lions played first and they were just weirdly out of it the whole game.  Chris and I couldn't make sense of it and after the first quarter we backed-off on trying to motivate them to play harder.  Sometimes when they are playing tentatively you know you can motivate them to get into the game and get past their hesitancy but in this game it just felt like they weren't going to be talked out of it so we just let them play.  Ava and William were all in and they played with great energy but everyone else seemed clearly to be saving their energy for something else.  Oh well.
    The Bats, on the other hand, were full of energy and they played with a lot of discipline too.   By "playing with discipline" in this case I mean that most of the Bats were playing with good awareness of where they were on the field and where their teammates were.  We still had plenty of incidences where they got into each others way but they are improving as a team.  Ava sets the standard in this regard.  She hasn't developed the slashing/penetrating style of play that you see from Ashley, Haley and Maddox (and now Luke E. too), where they just crash into the crowd to take the ball to goal, but Ava has always had the best sense of the field and how to use/play in it of any of the kids in this group.  Anticipation comes to her naturally and you saw that Saturday in a couple of instances where she dashed out of the midfield into the goal box because she could see that things were developing in a certain way.  She was anticipating that the ball might come loose in the middle and she ran in to take advantage.  She didn't get the goal she was working for, missing on one shot just a bit to the right.
     Late in the game I tried setting some of the other players up to play on only one half of the field, hoping that that would help them to start to see the field the way Ava does.  I think it did help and I saw signs of better off-the-ball play.  I don't generally like to talk to them about playing a position.  Rather I talk to them about getting in the habit of looking around and knowing where the ball is and where their teammates are.  I won't discourage kids from going aggressively after the ball but I do try to get them to start thinking about where the ball is and where they are and to ask themselves "is running to the ball the best thing to do here?"  Some things, like dribbling technique, I can teach them, but getting the feel for the field space and how to use it/play in it is a problem they sort of have to solve on their own.  I'll try again next week to get them to keep working on this. 

Week Three.

     The snow on Saturday morning made for a strange situation.  When I got up to head to the field at about 7:30 the roads were fine but then it started coming down hard.  As game time approached it became obvious that the snow was going to make driving difficult in some areas.  It was too late for me to officially cancel the games but I certainly wasn't surprised when so few people showed up.  We'll add a game onto the end of the session to make up for the lost day.

     Some players did show up though so we made the best of it.  Most of the U4 team was there so after a long practice session we played a quick game against the few players that Coach Niemeyer had on hand.  It was fun and the kids played well.  Will Z. was showing some great skills and heads-up play.  He always gives me a funny look when practicing, as though he's not sure that he's really interested in learning whatever skill I'm working with them on.  But then in the games he always demonstrates so much skill and real touch on the ball.  He made a couple of cut moves Saturday that were just amazingly sharp.
     E.J. had a heck of a game too.  He played with great energy straight through and was very determined to possess the ball.  At one point I talked to him about trying to play with his arms down and to make himself "skinny" when trying to get through a crowd to the ball.  He took me at my word and began to play with his arms and hands plastered to his side!

     The Bats had just enough players this week due to the snow but they made the best of it and no one complained about not getting a rest.  Ashley was at it again, possessing the ball and making run after run at the goal.  She had lots of help this week from Haley too, who was getting into good position repeatedly.  Despite their efforts I don't think we managed a goal.  The highlight of the game was really the defense the team played as a whole against a very strong opponent.  Coach Durik's team is very disciplined at possessing the ball and using their skills so they were pounding shots at us all game.  But the Bats held them off, only giving up three but rejecting more that twice that many.      
     Abby had a fantastic game in at keeper taking two quarters for us.  At one point she got a bit flustered as she tried to throw the ball out to Ashley while the other team was marking Ashley very closely.  I took a moment to point out to Abby that the other kids were running to get in front of Ashley because they could see where Abby's eyes were looking, "so you've got to try to trick them with your eyes" I said.  The next chance she got she did just that.  She looked at Ashley and then as two players on the other team sprinted to cut that path off Abby turned quickly and passed the ball out to Haley.  She was so tickled with how that worked she actually started laughing.
     Henry was part of that good defense too and gave us our most consistent period of attack by virtue of the great punts he was sending out.  Those long kicks of his gave Ashley, Abby and Haley some of their best attacking opportunities.  Micah and Zoe had great games too with some very good ball control and energetic defense.

     The Lions consisted of Jagger, Eileen, Ava B. and Diego this week.  They were undeterred and played valiantly to a 1-1 tie.  Diego was tireless and he and Jagger were trying to get their passing game going again.  Ava was fantastic this week and she had one "close out" that was jaw dropping.  She and another player were both headed to the ball as it bounced off one wall.  Ava got there just a step ahead and she used that bit of a lead to get her body turned and in between the other player and the ball "closing out" the ball so that the opponent couldn't touch it.  Once she gets going she definitely has the desire to be a real player.  I could teach players that sort of "closing" technique but if they don't really want the ball they won't use it.  Ava figured out that move on her own, or rather it came to her naturally, instinctively, because she wants the ball.

     Elizabeth was out this week and I figured that would give some of the other Sharks a chance to "run point".  The truth is that most games our offense really runs through Elizabeth even if she doesn't get any goals.  She possess the ball, calls out for players to get in position or to send her a pass and generally sets the tempo and tone for the team.   As grateful as I am to have Elizabeth setting such a great example it was very nice to see how well the team adapted in her absence.  Ryder, Sam, Jackson, Wyatt and Zach all got their chance to play that point position and control the attack for us and they each did very well.  Ryder does so at a frenetic pace, always looking like he's running down hill toward the goal.  Wyatt has that quality too.  You can tell that they love the feel of being up to full speed, like they're flying.  Zach's thing is speed too but you can also see him throwing in just a slight hesitation move when he faces a defender.  Just a little change of speed to throw them off then he's zigging off to one side to get clear.  Sam and Jackson were relying more on a deft touch than on speed and I like that.  Speed doesn't work forever.  Samuel and Tyler were using their ever developing skills too, making a strong effort to just possess the ball for as long as possible.  Lilly had a good game coming back from a cold last week and McKenzie looked good for a lot of the game too, if she could just stop worrying about her hair!
     We had goals from Sam A., Samuel, Ryder, Brandon, Wyatt and Jackson.  Braden was great during his stint in goal too.  The outcome was lopsided but I'm happy to say that the Sharks just played better, with more skill and desire, not with more muscle.  They set a good example for the league that way.

     The Titans came very close to hanging even with the best team in the division.  You saw how well disciplined Coach Cook's team is in terms of ball skill, soft touch and organization.  They possess the ball easily and they see opportunities and act on them quickly.  They had some very good goals off shots from in-traffic but their most impressive shots were those that came on fast breaks as those are the ones that show their conditioning and their ability to anticipate how their defensive play will suddenly turn into scoring opportunities.  The Titans responded well, especially when we got Justin out of the goal and onto the field.  His energy level really changes the way the other team has to play defense.  Drew had a huge game too and the other team was definitely impressed with his skills.  He had several beautiful runs where he showed amazing control and creativity, feinting right then going left with a deft touch that kept the ball just out of the opponent's reach while still in his control.  His last goal of the game was especially impressive in that he seemed to just will his way to the goal in a very impressive individual effort.
     Morgan and Karah had great games, playing with everything they had energy wise.  Owen did some very solid work in keeper for us as did Will and both of them had their flashes of brilliance on the field too.  Danielle played with a lot of energy and was very committed to playing some good defense.   Kailey and Michael-Michelle have improved dramatically since they started and yesterday they played with great energy.  I see improvement from them every week and they should be proud of the effort they are making.  Pretty good game Titans.