Girl Power! Game One: What to watch for.

     At our last practice session I was trying to introduce the team to a concept that I've been turning over in my head for a few weeks.  We don't spend much time in our Legends practices working on "defense".  I and the other coaches take it for granted that if you work on learning the ball control skills you need to attack you can figure out on your own how to apply those same skills to the task of stealing the ball from an opponent.  So, our consistent mantra with regard to defense is to keep pointing out to the kids that the goal when approaching an opponent who has the ball should almost always be to come away with the ball in your possession.  "Clearing" the ball is a necessity sometimes but let's avoid that if we can.
     After watching a game at the T&C field a few weeks back it occurred to me that we would actually have a good opportunity to work on our defensive skills while playing there.  The field is a fast turf and it's not all that big.  The goals, however, are enormous for U8 players.  The result is that games are fast paced and high scoring.  The temptation for many players in a situation where the goals seem to be going in easily is to fall into playing a kind of preventative defense where you just try to maintain position between the ball and the goal.  Instinctive but ineffective.  We want players who attack the ball, "closing the gap", as we say, with real fierceness and confidence.
     On the attacking side of the ball, when we're working with Legends players on developing their deceptive dribbling skills, we frequently ask them to be willing to try their moves in their games.  The reasoning is, the only way you'll learn to really use those moves effectively is to put them to the test in game situations.  So forget about the outcome, forget fearing failure and just try it.
     Well, with all of that in mind I've been thinking about how to help our players learn to play better defense by talking about defensive play the same way we talk about attacking play.  This week at practice I tried to get the girls to understand that if they hang back from an attacking player and don't close the gap they aren't playing defense nor are they giving themselves the chance to learn to play defense.  So, I said to them, think of those situations in the same way you would situations where you have the ball.  Go to the ball, close the gap quickly and try to steal it.  Sometimes it will work, sometimes you'll get beat but we've got to begin with gaining some experience.
    Tonight let's keep an eye out for the defensive performance of the team in particular.  And keep in mind that what I'm looking for is that they'll take chances and play boldly.