Tournament Weekend.

     Once in a while at a practice I'll let my teams finish a session with a little scrimmage.  When we're nearly out of time I'll yell out "next goal wins!"  That's a great way to motivate them to give all of their energy for those last couple of minutes but it also re-enforces an attitude that I'd like them to have toward playing and competing in general.  Regardless of what the score in a game is, regardless of how hopelessly out of reach victory may be, every chance you have to get to the ball and to take on another player, every chance you have to attempt to beat them with a move, in short, every moment of the game is still a competition.  Don't let the score take you out of the competition.   Literally, don't let your expectations about the outcome rob you of the chance to keep playing, to  keep coming for more, to keep giving yourself over to the game.  It's an easy lesson to learn on the practice field where they're naturally comfortable playing hard against each other, where the game really is just a game.  But can they bring that attitude with them on match day?
      I'm proud to say that my Legends teams did bring that "next goal wins" attitude with them to this past weekend's tournament play.  Neither team managed any wins but they played every minute of every game as though the next goal they put in would seal the victory.  They played with skill and patience, creativity and speed against some very good competition and I enjoyed every minute of it.  Girl Power, especially, was challenged in a way they hadn't been during the regular season.  Every team we faced had at least a couple of bigger girls with some real speed and skill.  But rather than being tempted into trying to play at a speed that is beyond their abilities right now they just kept plugging away using their moves, getting space as best they could, doggedly running down opponents to steal the ball when they had to.  It was a beautifully confident and committed performance all weekend for the girls.
     The U10 boys stayed committed to their skills for the most part too.  I was especially happy with the fact that they were generally playing with a very high level of mental and physical intensity without much accompanying emotional intensity.  Something we've talked about throughout the season is that they've got to be able to play with intensity without being angry.  What I saw on Saturday and Sunday was a lot of very intense effort and real commitment to possess the ball without a lot of emotional nonsense.  They were strong but cool headed most of the time. 
     Thanks to everyone for participating.  For me, to be able to hang out in one spot basically and watch our teams play game after game, that's just an amazingly great way to spend a weekend.  I hope everyone had fun.