The Stripes.

     Something happened to the U11 boys a couple of weeks ago.  We played in Richmond against a fine MUSA squad and despite taking a loss our boys suddenly seemed to find themselves as a team.  They played with a high level of energy and ,most importantly for me, with a high level of accountability.  That is, they played like they wanted to cover for each other, to do their various jobs for each other.  There was good communication and cooperation on the field and their was a generally relaxed attitude amongst the squad.  They were having fun playing.
     Coming into the games this past weekend, one of which was a rematch with MUSA, I was really hopeful that they would carry that attitude into competition again and they did not disappoint.  At the Saturday game vs MUSA on our home field the boys were full of energy and ready to play.  Both teams played beautifully and the result was a truly enjoyable game.  The goal keeping performances alone were spectacular.
     Then on Sunday we headed to Lexington to play on a really awful field (sorry CSC but it's true) and again the Stripes played beautiful, high energy soccer with an excellent combination of skill and cooperation.  They took a tough 2-3 loss but within minutes of the game ending their mood was great.  They knew they'd played well and that the game itself was a fun, energetic match full of quality play from both sides.
     I'm hoping that the team has turned a corner and we'll keep seeing this sort of play from them.  Coach Ben helped me capture some video from both games and I've roughly edited together some highlights.  Enjoy.