When you are coaching U4 and U6 players you notice that many of them have difficulty at first understanding how the conventions of a game or sport are different from the social conventions they've been learning at home and school. At home you're taught to be polite and to be honest. At school you're taught to take turns and be considerate of others. Don't bump into other kids. Respect their space. But a game, especially in a team sport, is a very different social situation. We don't take turns, the ball is mine as much as it is yours and within the rules I'll take it from you if I can. We'll bump and jostle to get the ball and it's nothing personal. Most importantly, I don't have to be honest or polite all the time. I can fake going left then go right. I can pretend I'm going to pass the ball but then keep it and shoot. I can make you think I'm going to kick the ball right at you but then make a move to one side to get open. In short I can be deceptive and within the context of the game that's acceptable and even normal.
It takes some kids a while to get to the point where they are comfortable with being a real player, with being the sort of person who will bump into someone else intentionally, who will steal the ball, who will intentionally deceive. But they do get there eventually.
Before the start of the Sharks game Sunday I was watching another U8 game and one player in particular got my attention. I've coached him some before and he's got very good skill and a good awareness of the field but as I watched him working with the ball in the game I noticed that while he was making a good effort to control the ball and attack he was also frequently giving up on his dribble. It was like sometimes he was letting the ball get a step too far away and he'd just let it go assuming that the other team would get to it first. A couple of times I saw him make one good move to get clear of a defender but when it didn't shake them completely he'd hesitate before trying another move. I kept thinking, I've seen him in practice and I know he has the skills to dribble around every one out there, he just doesn't know it himself yet.
Then in the Sharks game I was able to see the same sort of player, our own Zachary, have that epiphany, that eureka moment where he realizes that all the skills he's been developing the last year or so will actually work against good players. Zach had two amazing runs in the game where he carried the ball for more than half the field and each time he beat at least two defenders with his dribble move. And to add to the achievement the moves he was using were more than just simple zig-zags and speed bursts. He was breaking out some really deft Puskas moves, it's a sort of fake pull-back. He was using his speed but in combination with a really delicate touch on the ball. As he ran off the field at the end of that quarter I said to him "you are putting on a clinic today!" I asked him to remember from now on that he can dribble around anybody, from one end to the other. That's how I'd like to see it go for all of the kids, that they should have a game where they realize "hey, I can do this." Well done, Zach.
The rest of the Sharks were playing very well too. I was so proud to see them playing the trap-and-dribble game that we always talk about in practice because, again, the idea is for them to learn that the moves we work on in practice will work in game situations if they will just let themselves try it. McKenzie was a particular stand out in this game in that regard. I know she was aware of the quality of the team we were playing but she still played with great discipline, staying in control when the ball came to her, trapping and dribbling.
Of course we have a few kids on the team who have already crossed over into being confident players, and at least one who seems to have just been born that way (Jackson). Sam A. and Samuel were showing their amazing skills throughout. Sam's got some really crazy footwork lately and Samuel, again, showed that incredible gift he has for stealing the ball right off someone else's feet. Wyatt stepped up as keeper and was astonishingly good. His reflexes are so fast he was able to win in two separate one-vs-one situations where I thought we were giving up a goal for sure. Tyler, Lillian, Braden and Brandon all played very well too and it was a beautifully played game from start to finish. The score aside, when I see them playing with control and trusting themselves to carry the ball on their feet, that is when I know they're playing well.
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