Good Game for Girl Power! Provides One Perfect "Teachable Moment"

     Once again the Girl Power! squad had a very good performance against a physically bigger team.  They played with consistent intensity throughout the game, staying within striking distance till the end and forcing the other team to play hard to the final whistle.  I saw plenty of good skill on display too.  Abby, in particular, was really impressive in this game.  She took an elbow to the face too and bounced back from that quickly.  She's tough.  By the way, the other coach called me after the game when he heard about that thrown elbow from one of his team parents who was right on the other side of the glass when it happened.  He apologized, assuring me that he'd never condone that sort of play and that if he'd seen it when it happened he'd have pulled his player off for the remainder of the game. 
     I mentioned in my last Girl Power! post that we are seeing other teams playing with more discipline in their "position" play.  Spacing on the field was an issue again for the girls in this last game as they continued to chase, sometimes aimlessly, after the ball.  So often they seem to be utterly oblivious as to where their teammates are and instead are entirely focused on the ball.  It can be comical...when it's not annoying.  But it takes time to develop that awareness of what's going on around you and to have a more 3D perception of the field.  Some players are farther along in that respect than others and they all just need more game experience.
     There was one really valuable teachable moment in the game.  I had hoped to be able to convince players on the bench to watch the game closely so that they might see what I was seeing and realize that crowding the ball thoughtlessly doesn't help.  When Maya was standing next to me early in the game she offered her opinion that she and her teammates needed to play better defense and that she'd like to play defense when she was on the field.  "What does that mean, to play defense?" I asked her.  She immediately pointed at the 1/3 line on the field and said "It means you stay behind that line."  That answer demonstrates clearly why I hesitate to work with the players on staying in positions.  When we talk about "positions" we don't mean so much an area on the field as a set of responsibilities,  a job, if you will.   So, when I talk to the team about playing defense I don't give them instructions as to where they should position themselves.  Rather, I talk to them about what their job is in simple terms:

Know where your teammates are (defenders have the field in front of them so this is a little easier for them than for a striker).

Move to stay between the ball and your goal and close the gap quickly to get to the ball.

Make your first touch smart so that we don't just give the ball back to the other team.

Dribble the ball out when you can, again so that we can keep it rather than just give it back. 

     Often when you hear coaches yelling at their defending players from the sidelines you can hear the tone in their voice communicating "please don't screw this up!"  The message I'm trying to communicate is "be aggressive to the ball  and try to take it away from them."  In other words, learn to defend by going out and defending.  I see a lot of young players who look like they are nailed to the floor they are so intent on following their coaches "position" instructions.  My own feeling is that if I encourage my players to use their eyes to see their teammates, the field and the ball they will, slowly, begin to develop a sense of how they can most effectively be involved in the flow of the game.   You've probably heard me talking to Legends players about being willing to try their dribbling moves in games since that's the only way to learn how to make them work against real competition.  Knowing how to execute a move in practice and knowing how to make it work against another player are two very different things and, again, lots of experience is what's needed.  Lately I've been thinking that playing defense should be handled the same way.  I can talk to them about some specific aspects of good defending but the most important thing I can do is encourage them to get out there and try to defend without being afraid of getting beat.  Don't hang back giving the opponent space, rather, go to them quickly and challenge them.  Learn by doing.   I think it's working...slowly.