The girls had a great practice last night and the best part of it was something that I think any experienced coach or teacher would really appreciate. I had the team run one dribbling exercise that they are familiar with, with some variations, then introduced them to a completely new drill that is a little complicated. Then we finished practice with a new scrimmage set-up that is meant to force the players to be more aware of their surroundings. With all three parts of practice it was remarkable how cooperative and eager to get to work the girls were. No excessive goofing off and an excellent level of effort from everyone.
They even impressed me prior to the start of practice by organizing their own relay races. They had two lines set up and as new players arrived they were invited to get in line and join in. Emily's dad and I were talking about the team he coaches and at one point he stopped and watched the girls then asked "is this a new warm-up for practice?" "No" I said. "They're making it up on their own." They're a bunch of old hands at this soccer thing now.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Girl Power is...Durable.
There was a moment during the second game on Saturday where the girls seemed to briefly forget who they are. The team they were playing was easily the toughest competition they'd faced in months. The squad was on average physically bigger than our girls and had some players with real speed and strong strikes on the ball. We gave up a goal early in the first quarter and Girl Power seemed to be set on their heels a bit by the speed and aggressiveness of the other team. There had already been several shots on our goal and at that point I noticed that our girls were all drifting back toward their own goal, sort of conceding our half of the field and crowding into the box. They were instinctively falling into a sort of "bunker" defense, all of them feeling that they had to do something to stop the next shot.
After a little talk at the half they went out and played the way they've learned to play. They possessed the ball more and slowed the other team down. They had to work hard at that as their opponent wasn't simply going to let them have the ball. Playing against better competition forces you to reach a new level of intensity in your own play. You've got to work harder to maintain possession and when you lose the ball you've got to work harder to get it back. But all the while you've got to keep your cool and be patient as your scoring opportunities develop.
Girl Power's second half comeback in that game was the highlight of the tournament and maybe the season. They've had so many games where they were simply masterful in contrast to their competition; so many games where they were imperious in their insistent domination of the ball. And we all loved watching that. But this weekend they had to face a tough challenge and they rose to it. They overcame their fear of conceding goals and instead went on the attack looking to find some goals of their own. And how they were rewarded! A brace for Ashely and another for Hailey is what they found! Magnificent! And to the coach and parents of the other team that comeback was stunning! I didn't enjoy being on the sidelines next to such a screamer but his panicky groaning at his team when Hailey's second goal went in was delectable, I confess. And to his credit, the other coach's comments to me after the game complimenting the girls' skills were in earnest.
Given their performance Saturday I think the girls went into Sunday's game feeling very confident that they could win. In fact they were, as a group a little over anxious to get to the ball and be the one to score and so they gave up some easy goals by leaving our goalies alone too often. That's okay though. Being over anxious for the ball is the type of mistake we can work with.
Regardless of the outcome of that Sunday game I think it's clear that playing against good competition in four straight games had an immediate affect on the girls' play. For most of them it was just a realization that they can play the way they know how to play even when facing faster and tougher opponents. Hailey kept patiently weaving in and out then taking off when the space opened up, simply adjusting her intensity up a few notches to match what she was seeing from her opponent. Ava, Eileen and Zoe, discovered that no matter how tall the other players are the ball gets played on the ground so using your skills against bigger players still works. They were tough as nails. Zoe even had a technically perfect chest trap at one point in Sunday's game and that's huge for her as she's been a habitual hand-baller in the past.
Ava has always been our most precocious player in terms of field awareness. Since U4 she's been instinctively moving in and out of the scrum around the ball, anticipating when to attack and when to defend. Whenever any of our girls starts out in defense I encourage them to be on the lookout for opportunities to move up and join the attack. What usually happens though is that they do move up and then never come back. Ava's the one who knows how to dash up top for a shot opportunity or to just keep the ball in the other half and then turn around and re-establish position in our half. I wish she was a little bossier and would direct traffic a bit as she's clearly got the best vision for the field and is the quickest to react to what she's seeing.
Emily played with remarkable speed throughout the games as well as showing rapidly improving field awareness. She was still charging in on the ball sometimes when her own teammate already had it but now she's looking up and seeing them in time to avoid a collision by leaping, gazelle-like, over the ball! It's like a soccer ballet! Her highlight was in the early game Sunday where she got open on the left half of the field. One defender was herding her that way so to take a shot she had to go with her left foot and she crushed it off the post. In practice if I asked her to strike the ball left footed she'd protest that she can't but in the game it just comes naturally.
Anna was typically persistent in her use of her pull-back and play-behind and managed to frequently shield players off the ball for long stretches. As I mentioned above, I didn't like that the team fell into a defensive state of mind in that second game Saturday but in Anna's case I think that was a kind of breakthrough. As great as she's been playing all season I hadn't seen her hustle back to defend very often and this weekend she seemed to suddenly be thinking about the need to do that. That's an experience she can build on.
Finally, for Abby and Ashley this weekend was a true breakthrough. Abby has consistently been our most dedicated and creative dribbler. She loves her spin moves and her play-behinds. Interestingly though, even as the competition we faced this season was not very strong Abby didn't actually manage many goals. She likes possessing the ball and dribbling with it, enjoying the feeling of playing keep-away with defenders without feeling much urgency about finding a path to the goal. In that second game Saturday though she seemed to have stepped up to a new level. Under the sort of pressure we haven't faced all season Abby was suddenly even smoother and more creative with the ball, one move flowing into the next in combinations that, rather than simply maintaining possession, allowed her to slip past defenders and consistently make progress up field not simply across field. In particular I was impressed with a sort of loop combination that she was using repeatedly to amazing effect. She would run into a defender then do a right-footed pull-back and play-behind. When the defender followed Abby to her left after the ball Abby would then step across the ball into a shielding position with her left side now between the ball and the defender. When the defender would then move back to their right to get around her Abby would deftly cruyff the ball under with her right foot, spin to find it and then be well in the clear. The big difference this weekend was that she was executing that with speed and really deceptive smoothness. It was some beautiful play.
And then there was Ashley. Ashley's game has always been based on speed and power. I can't remember a time when she didn't have an excellent shooting stroke. Some of them are born with it. We saw a couple of players on the other team with great natural strokes like that but nothing like Ashley's ball skills and in the second half of that Saturday game she came out on fire, not simply playing hard but seeming to actually get bigger and faster. She was unstoppable, forcing the defense to yield to her. She would run headlong into their line then pull-up fast with a stop and go move followed by a pull-and-play to draw them left. Then a quick cut to the right and boom! In Sunday's game she'd determined that she wanted to keep playing down the left side and try from that corner to cut back in for a shot. It didn't work out and I couldn't talk her out of it but I am so impressed by the consistent effort. She drove to that corner over and over again and danced around with three, sometimes four players on the other team, daring them to steal the ball and letting them bounce off of each other while she kept working toward goal!
The video shows some of that smooth skill that Abby has but it also shows a lot about all the girls on both teams. Note how both Ava and Kathleen come toward the ball with the clear intent to steal it rather than kick it away. Kathleen comes in low with her eyes focused on the ball. Ava reaches once for the ball but then spins, anticipating Abby's next move. Brilliant stuff.
I'm probably forgetting other game highlights that deserve to be mentioned. Here is one non game related highlight though. Prior to the championship game I started teaching them how to run a drill we call "hot corners". It is a great little game that forces them to work as a team, anticipate and to develop solid passing strokes and first touches. It's also a bit complicated and I wouldn't have expected to show it to players this age. Even my U10 players have had a terrible time mastering it and we've invested a fair amount of time in it. I wanted to run the drill with the girls just as a way to kill time prior to the game. Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to see how anxious they were to master it. They had fun obviously, with plenty of silliness but they also were actually running the drill and trying fairly hard to get it right. And they liked it.
The first time I tried to teach this drill to my U10 boys they acted like it was a punishment. But these girls are like soccer playing sponges. They want to play but they want to get better. They like working at it. Their attitude as a team is exceptional and their love for each other and trust in each other is beautiful. They're great kids.
After a little talk at the half they went out and played the way they've learned to play. They possessed the ball more and slowed the other team down. They had to work hard at that as their opponent wasn't simply going to let them have the ball. Playing against better competition forces you to reach a new level of intensity in your own play. You've got to work harder to maintain possession and when you lose the ball you've got to work harder to get it back. But all the while you've got to keep your cool and be patient as your scoring opportunities develop.
Girl Power's second half comeback in that game was the highlight of the tournament and maybe the season. They've had so many games where they were simply masterful in contrast to their competition; so many games where they were imperious in their insistent domination of the ball. And we all loved watching that. But this weekend they had to face a tough challenge and they rose to it. They overcame their fear of conceding goals and instead went on the attack looking to find some goals of their own. And how they were rewarded! A brace for Ashely and another for Hailey is what they found! Magnificent! And to the coach and parents of the other team that comeback was stunning! I didn't enjoy being on the sidelines next to such a screamer but his panicky groaning at his team when Hailey's second goal went in was delectable, I confess. And to his credit, the other coach's comments to me after the game complimenting the girls' skills were in earnest.
Given their performance Saturday I think the girls went into Sunday's game feeling very confident that they could win. In fact they were, as a group a little over anxious to get to the ball and be the one to score and so they gave up some easy goals by leaving our goalies alone too often. That's okay though. Being over anxious for the ball is the type of mistake we can work with.
Regardless of the outcome of that Sunday game I think it's clear that playing against good competition in four straight games had an immediate affect on the girls' play. For most of them it was just a realization that they can play the way they know how to play even when facing faster and tougher opponents. Hailey kept patiently weaving in and out then taking off when the space opened up, simply adjusting her intensity up a few notches to match what she was seeing from her opponent. Ava, Eileen and Zoe, discovered that no matter how tall the other players are the ball gets played on the ground so using your skills against bigger players still works. They were tough as nails. Zoe even had a technically perfect chest trap at one point in Sunday's game and that's huge for her as she's been a habitual hand-baller in the past.
Ava has always been our most precocious player in terms of field awareness. Since U4 she's been instinctively moving in and out of the scrum around the ball, anticipating when to attack and when to defend. Whenever any of our girls starts out in defense I encourage them to be on the lookout for opportunities to move up and join the attack. What usually happens though is that they do move up and then never come back. Ava's the one who knows how to dash up top for a shot opportunity or to just keep the ball in the other half and then turn around and re-establish position in our half. I wish she was a little bossier and would direct traffic a bit as she's clearly got the best vision for the field and is the quickest to react to what she's seeing.
Emily played with remarkable speed throughout the games as well as showing rapidly improving field awareness. She was still charging in on the ball sometimes when her own teammate already had it but now she's looking up and seeing them in time to avoid a collision by leaping, gazelle-like, over the ball! It's like a soccer ballet! Her highlight was in the early game Sunday where she got open on the left half of the field. One defender was herding her that way so to take a shot she had to go with her left foot and she crushed it off the post. In practice if I asked her to strike the ball left footed she'd protest that she can't but in the game it just comes naturally.
Anna was typically persistent in her use of her pull-back and play-behind and managed to frequently shield players off the ball for long stretches. As I mentioned above, I didn't like that the team fell into a defensive state of mind in that second game Saturday but in Anna's case I think that was a kind of breakthrough. As great as she's been playing all season I hadn't seen her hustle back to defend very often and this weekend she seemed to suddenly be thinking about the need to do that. That's an experience she can build on.
Finally, for Abby and Ashley this weekend was a true breakthrough. Abby has consistently been our most dedicated and creative dribbler. She loves her spin moves and her play-behinds. Interestingly though, even as the competition we faced this season was not very strong Abby didn't actually manage many goals. She likes possessing the ball and dribbling with it, enjoying the feeling of playing keep-away with defenders without feeling much urgency about finding a path to the goal. In that second game Saturday though she seemed to have stepped up to a new level. Under the sort of pressure we haven't faced all season Abby was suddenly even smoother and more creative with the ball, one move flowing into the next in combinations that, rather than simply maintaining possession, allowed her to slip past defenders and consistently make progress up field not simply across field. In particular I was impressed with a sort of loop combination that she was using repeatedly to amazing effect. She would run into a defender then do a right-footed pull-back and play-behind. When the defender followed Abby to her left after the ball Abby would then step across the ball into a shielding position with her left side now between the ball and the defender. When the defender would then move back to their right to get around her Abby would deftly cruyff the ball under with her right foot, spin to find it and then be well in the clear. The big difference this weekend was that she was executing that with speed and really deceptive smoothness. It was some beautiful play.
And then there was Ashley. Ashley's game has always been based on speed and power. I can't remember a time when she didn't have an excellent shooting stroke. Some of them are born with it. We saw a couple of players on the other team with great natural strokes like that but nothing like Ashley's ball skills and in the second half of that Saturday game she came out on fire, not simply playing hard but seeming to actually get bigger and faster. She was unstoppable, forcing the defense to yield to her. She would run headlong into their line then pull-up fast with a stop and go move followed by a pull-and-play to draw them left. Then a quick cut to the right and boom! In Sunday's game she'd determined that she wanted to keep playing down the left side and try from that corner to cut back in for a shot. It didn't work out and I couldn't talk her out of it but I am so impressed by the consistent effort. She drove to that corner over and over again and danced around with three, sometimes four players on the other team, daring them to steal the ball and letting them bounce off of each other while she kept working toward goal!
The video shows some of that smooth skill that Abby has but it also shows a lot about all the girls on both teams. Note how both Ava and Kathleen come toward the ball with the clear intent to steal it rather than kick it away. Kathleen comes in low with her eyes focused on the ball. Ava reaches once for the ball but then spins, anticipating Abby's next move. Brilliant stuff.
I'm probably forgetting other game highlights that deserve to be mentioned. Here is one non game related highlight though. Prior to the championship game I started teaching them how to run a drill we call "hot corners". It is a great little game that forces them to work as a team, anticipate and to develop solid passing strokes and first touches. It's also a bit complicated and I wouldn't have expected to show it to players this age. Even my U10 players have had a terrible time mastering it and we've invested a fair amount of time in it. I wanted to run the drill with the girls just as a way to kill time prior to the game. Imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to see how anxious they were to master it. They had fun obviously, with plenty of silliness but they also were actually running the drill and trying fairly hard to get it right. And they liked it.
The first time I tried to teach this drill to my U10 boys they acted like it was a punishment. But these girls are like soccer playing sponges. They want to play but they want to get better. They like working at it. Their attitude as a team is exceptional and their love for each other and trust in each other is beautiful. They're great kids.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Girl Power vs White Tigers.
I've been coaching soccer since my oldest was three...so...that's eleven years now. During that time I've also been a league administrator. I've seen a lot of soccer. The quality of play that we saw last Wednesday night from two U8 girls teams was kind of astounding. Control, skill, purposefulness. Patience...and then speed. Toughness...but grace and creativity too. Man, do I love watching these girls play!
Can you believe how much Ron's Tigers have improved? They are fierce and they play with plenty of skill. I'd say ball possession in that game was just about 50/50 despite the outcome. Each player has improved so dramatically since last fall. Girl Power got to face the toughest team in the league every week at practice. What a luxury that has been!
As for Girl Power...what can I say about them. Their confidence with the ball has become almost nonchalant at this point. But to see them maintain that same calm attitude about ball possession while dealing with the fierce pressure that the White Tigers were putting them under was truly amazing. Both teams were dribbling rather than kicking so the game was an exhausting battle of short runs back and forth, every player on both squads getting and relishing the chance to carry the ball through heavy traffic. And both teams were showing their new found understanding of how to maintain just enough space. That awareness of their spacing resulted in many exchanges for both teams that looked suspiciously like overlaps and give-and-gos. I think these girls are on the cusp of a whole new dimension of play.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Girl Power is a pretty good team...whether you like it or not.
Okay, before we get to some highlights...
At one point in Saturday's game one of the coaches commented loudly to her partner that "this team just doesn't play defense, I guess." I assume that she was referring to the fact that while our girls might start out with two players in our own half we don't keep that shape for long and the girls feel free to roam around the field finding opportunities. I know how that must look to another coach. If our players weren't so competent with the ball then we'd look like a bunch of five year olds chasing around in a pack. But given the team's overall level of skill, the fact that we usually end up with all five field players moving up into an attacking position must look to other coaches like we're running some sort of full court press. I guess that's what it is. Our defense isn't about position, it's about possession. We keep the ball and you can't have it. It's fairly effective.
I don't like the thought that perhaps we have developed some sort of negative reputation around the league. But if we have that's the fault of all the people who have seen these girls play and failed to appreciate what they've accomplished. These girls love the game. They love to work at getting better. They're tough and fearless and they play with real joy in their skills. No apologies. Give us your best game because that's what you get from us.
Some parents and coaches in the NKSL may wonder why we are even in this league. They may complain that our team and Ron's team shouldn't be playing in a rec league. I get it. But barely a year ago we were getting beaten regularly. Ron's team couldn't win a game in the spring. Now both teams are undefeated and that's the result of just one year of training and hard work from the girls. We didn't get to this point by accident. So my response to the rest of the clubs in NKSL is why aren't your teams getting better? Why not mimic what we're doing? Why not assume that if our girls can learn to play this way then yours can too? I ask these questions as a coach who is genuinely concerned about the growth of the game in this area. When I see one of my teams play a better team, a team that has worked to build their skills, I don't see them as a threat. I see that team as an example and I say to my players "if they can do it we can do it too."
End of rant.
As for the game, I'd say that the most impressive aspect of Girl Power's play was their sudden grasp of the importance of spacing on the field. We played a little game at practice Wednesday that was meant to help them understand what it means to play in a supporting position for a teammate who has the ball. I called the game "Shadows" and while I'm glad that they enjoyed it I'm a little surprised that it seemed to have such a dramatically quick affect on their play. The basic principle is simple; when a teammate has the ball be close enough to help but not so close that you're in the way. It's something I've talked to them about forever but something about the analogy of a shadow seems to have really clicked for them.
Zoe, for example, has always been a player who is so aggressive and anxious to get to the ball that she will frequently steal it from her own teammate. But in Saturday's game she showed remarkable awareness of when to go in close and when to drop back. There was one moment in particular when Zoe was moving behind Anna in a good supporting position. When Anna decided to do a pull-back and actually head backwards Zoe quickly began back pedaling to maintain her space and give Anna room to work. I'm obviously thrilled with how skillful a dribbler Zoe has become but to see her reacting to a teammate in a game situation in that way was really wonderful. It's the start of developing some real team cooperation and that's the next step for these girls even as we continue to build their repertoire of deceptive dribbling moves.
We also had a preview in this game of how devastating the team can be when they combine good individual ball skills with heads up field awareness. Hailey had two beautiful goals off of perfect crossing passes from Ashley and in both cases it seemed clear to me that every moment of those exchanges was intentional. Ashley carried the ball in and saw Hailey in position. Hailey saw Ashley working and headed straight for the goal. Brilliant! Can't wait to see them in action in their tournaments.
At one point in Saturday's game one of the coaches commented loudly to her partner that "this team just doesn't play defense, I guess." I assume that she was referring to the fact that while our girls might start out with two players in our own half we don't keep that shape for long and the girls feel free to roam around the field finding opportunities. I know how that must look to another coach. If our players weren't so competent with the ball then we'd look like a bunch of five year olds chasing around in a pack. But given the team's overall level of skill, the fact that we usually end up with all five field players moving up into an attacking position must look to other coaches like we're running some sort of full court press. I guess that's what it is. Our defense isn't about position, it's about possession. We keep the ball and you can't have it. It's fairly effective.
I don't like the thought that perhaps we have developed some sort of negative reputation around the league. But if we have that's the fault of all the people who have seen these girls play and failed to appreciate what they've accomplished. These girls love the game. They love to work at getting better. They're tough and fearless and they play with real joy in their skills. No apologies. Give us your best game because that's what you get from us.
Some parents and coaches in the NKSL may wonder why we are even in this league. They may complain that our team and Ron's team shouldn't be playing in a rec league. I get it. But barely a year ago we were getting beaten regularly. Ron's team couldn't win a game in the spring. Now both teams are undefeated and that's the result of just one year of training and hard work from the girls. We didn't get to this point by accident. So my response to the rest of the clubs in NKSL is why aren't your teams getting better? Why not mimic what we're doing? Why not assume that if our girls can learn to play this way then yours can too? I ask these questions as a coach who is genuinely concerned about the growth of the game in this area. When I see one of my teams play a better team, a team that has worked to build their skills, I don't see them as a threat. I see that team as an example and I say to my players "if they can do it we can do it too."
End of rant.
As for the game, I'd say that the most impressive aspect of Girl Power's play was their sudden grasp of the importance of spacing on the field. We played a little game at practice Wednesday that was meant to help them understand what it means to play in a supporting position for a teammate who has the ball. I called the game "Shadows" and while I'm glad that they enjoyed it I'm a little surprised that it seemed to have such a dramatically quick affect on their play. The basic principle is simple; when a teammate has the ball be close enough to help but not so close that you're in the way. It's something I've talked to them about forever but something about the analogy of a shadow seems to have really clicked for them.
Zoe, for example, has always been a player who is so aggressive and anxious to get to the ball that she will frequently steal it from her own teammate. But in Saturday's game she showed remarkable awareness of when to go in close and when to drop back. There was one moment in particular when Zoe was moving behind Anna in a good supporting position. When Anna decided to do a pull-back and actually head backwards Zoe quickly began back pedaling to maintain her space and give Anna room to work. I'm obviously thrilled with how skillful a dribbler Zoe has become but to see her reacting to a teammate in a game situation in that way was really wonderful. It's the start of developing some real team cooperation and that's the next step for these girls even as we continue to build their repertoire of deceptive dribbling moves.
We also had a preview in this game of how devastating the team can be when they combine good individual ball skills with heads up field awareness. Hailey had two beautiful goals off of perfect crossing passes from Ashley and in both cases it seemed clear to me that every moment of those exchanges was intentional. Ashley carried the ball in and saw Hailey in position. Hailey saw Ashley working and headed straight for the goal. Brilliant! Can't wait to see them in action in their tournaments.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
U10 Boys Fearless in Brilliant Draw.
"Wait...did we win?" One of the boys asked me that as they came off the field after Saturday's game. I realized that he was asking earnestly because even though the game ended 2-2 it certainly felt like we were in control throughout. The boys played with so much grace and patience and excellent ball control that it did seem odd that the game ended up being a draw. But no one was disappointed. The boys were effervescent after the game, and throughout, really. They were clearly feeling the freedom and confidence that their commitment to skill gives them. The game is simply more fun when you can play with sound fundamental skill and they were clearly enjoying themselves. I know I loved every minute of it.
From my spot on the sideline I saw so many beautifully executed turns and feints, so much smart ball control and aggressive defense. But what I was most thrilled about was their new sense of how to play smartly away from the ball. Something seems to have clicked for them. My goal is to have each of them feel they can confidently possess the ball even when pressed but at the same time to be open to finding a teammate, to be open to other attacking opportunities.
I've used the phrase "all strikers" before but I think a better way to understand what we're trying to do would be to say that we want "all point guards". We want every player on the field to be able to create opportunities both with their ability to penetrate and shoot and with an ability to distribute to teammates. The problem we've had consistently is that while all of the boys on this team play confidently with the ball they don't always play smartly away from the ball. Saturday was a new story though. In practice Thursday we'd worked on getting the concept of "shadowing" your teammate when he has the ball; giving him space to work while still being close enough to support. That seemed to have stuck with them as not only did we see them more effectively "shadowing" each other but I even heard some of the boys using that phrase on the field and talking to each other about who was who's shadow. What a leap forward!
Quinn put in our two goals and he was just on fire in this game. His ability to dribble around defenders, sometimes using complex moves but sometimes using nothing more than a deft hip fake, all showed amazing confidence. His elation after the second goal, that triumphant "Yes!" as he turned back to his teammates, it was wonderful to see. That little guy is a straight up baller! Here's some video showing exactly the sort of "fake" that Quin has now mastered:
There were too many highlights from this game to cover. They all played so well. Thanks for the great game boys.
From my spot on the sideline I saw so many beautifully executed turns and feints, so much smart ball control and aggressive defense. But what I was most thrilled about was their new sense of how to play smartly away from the ball. Something seems to have clicked for them. My goal is to have each of them feel they can confidently possess the ball even when pressed but at the same time to be open to finding a teammate, to be open to other attacking opportunities.
I've used the phrase "all strikers" before but I think a better way to understand what we're trying to do would be to say that we want "all point guards". We want every player on the field to be able to create opportunities both with their ability to penetrate and shoot and with an ability to distribute to teammates. The problem we've had consistently is that while all of the boys on this team play confidently with the ball they don't always play smartly away from the ball. Saturday was a new story though. In practice Thursday we'd worked on getting the concept of "shadowing" your teammate when he has the ball; giving him space to work while still being close enough to support. That seemed to have stuck with them as not only did we see them more effectively "shadowing" each other but I even heard some of the boys using that phrase on the field and talking to each other about who was who's shadow. What a leap forward!
Quinn put in our two goals and he was just on fire in this game. His ability to dribble around defenders, sometimes using complex moves but sometimes using nothing more than a deft hip fake, all showed amazing confidence. His elation after the second goal, that triumphant "Yes!" as he turned back to his teammates, it was wonderful to see. That little guy is a straight up baller! Here's some video showing exactly the sort of "fake" that Quin has now mastered:
There were too many highlights from this game to cover. They all played so well. Thanks for the great game boys.
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