Big Weekend for Girl Power and Now the Dreaded "Tallys"

     Three games in three days for Girl Power and the first thing I have to say is "Wow, the weather."  Friday night was a warm, clear evening; the perfect weather for playing into the twilight.  Saturday we found ourselves in a cow pasture, playing a game that was as rough as a rodeo but the weather again was fantastic with bright sunshine and a cool breeze.  Luckily we were upwind from the grazing cattle.   And finally, a most excellent Sunday.  I started the day with a round of golf (75, tying my lowest round ever, thank you very much) then in the beautiful, crystalline sunshine of an amazing autumn afternoon I watched my girls play a game in which they were in full possession of all their soccer powers.  They were graceful, creative, brilliant and tough.  The ref was excellent.  The other team was gracious and their field was good.  What a day.
     The performance by the squad on Sunday was a real crescendo as they dominated the game in a way that no opposing team could complain about.  While they were aggressive in winning the ball they weren't overly so and for the most part kept their elbows to themselves.  It was their skills and their cool headedness that won the game for them as they possessed the ball for at least 80% of the game.  It was their ever developing cooperative play, especially in running what I've called "the Legends overlap", that got the opposing coach's attention.   A real "overlap" in soccer is sort of like a pick-and-roll where one player moves forward with the ball then dishes the ball deftly to a teammate who is "overlapping" their path. So, rather than being a long pass, it is usually just a little touch that deceives the opposition as they don't see that second player coming in to pick up the ball.  The Legends overlap is a somewhat accidental version of this tactic.  Obviously our players are always trying to dribble forward and win all the 1v1s they face but what usually happens is that as they persist in dribbling they pick up a second and then a third defender to the point where the path to goal does become impassable.  What drives other teams crazy though is that with a Legends squad there is usually one of our other players chasing right behind our player with the ball so when the defense knocks the ball loose then that second Legends player picks it up and starts the dribble dance all over.  The girls had this overlap working yesterday and I overheard the other coach commenting on it to his team.  "See how that girl was their to support her teammate and got the ball as soon as it came loose."
     After Saturday's game I spoke to the team about the need for all of them to realize how important playing defense is.  Up to that point there had always been a lot of grousing about being "stuck" in defense, most of the girls apparently seeing it as a sort of punishment or at best a secondary and unimportant role on the field.  Obviously the reality is that your defense is where your offense starts.  You regain possession of the ball in your own half and begin moving back up field with it.  Our defenders aren't there just to clear the ball out, they are there to initiate our attack.  So, on Saturday I asked the girls to please refrain from complaining about being in defense and to make an effort to see while on the field how important the role of defender is and how active a role it is.  We went over all of this again on Sunday pre-game and I think the subsequent performance demonstrated that the team had reached a new understanding of how the various parts or positions on the field can fit together.
     While Emily has been our leader in terms of developing an ease of communication on the field it was Olivia who led the way in Sunday's game in terms of making that defender or fullback position a dynamic one.  Not only was she stopping the other team's runs over and over but then she would immediately get into her dribble and find space, usually headed for a run up the touch line.  Once there she'd either keep taking space or make a beautiful pass to whichever forward teammate was waiting further up the pitch.  She looked like a pro.  Best of all, I think the other players were seeing the work Olivia was doing and they were learning from it.  Most of the training we do is incremental; little steps, building up repetition by repetition a player's confidence with a particular skill.  But sometimes what you need is a cognitive leap, a moment where all the little technical stuff suddenly falls into a larger context, a broader understanding of the field space and the ways they can cover it as a cohesive and cooperative unit rather than as individuals.  Maybe we had one of those leaps yesterday...we'll see.

     As promised, I reviewed Coach Ron's clip board work and with a few amendments here are the "Tallys" from the Sunday game.

Hailey led the scoring on the tally sheet with two goals in, multiple shots and three attempts at the "double move" or skill combinations that we were looking for in this game.  I was very happy to see every player attempt that sort of "double" at least once.  My goal in focusing on that is to get them to move more laterally from touchline to touchline rather than automatically running straight ahead into the defense.  As we saw in Saturday's game, sometimes the other team is just faster than you so running into them is ineffective no matter how good your moves are.  What I told the girls before the game is that I want them to use these double move combos so that they get more of a feel for how they can draw the defender with them and get them to chase the ball out of their position.  We saw some great examples of just that sort of thing.
     Even though she didn't score as high on the tally, Ava was clearly the most en fuego player of the match.  Her second goal was Messi-esque in it's delicacy as she wove through every defender they had to get face to face with the keeper.  As the goalie lunged forward for the ball Ava cleverly shifted it from her right to her left and with a deft tap she passed it into the net right under the keeper's outstretched hand.  Cool as the other side of the pillow.
     Ashley's goal was an impressive blast and a perfect exclamation point on a really great game for her.  She was dominant on her side of the field.
     Abby came up big for us in goal as she was the only keeper who faced a serious attack.  She had one punt that was at least thirty yards too.  Yikes!
     Anna has been very strong for us on attack recently, especially with some really spectacular passes.  She had one on Friday that showed amazing vision.  But on Sunday her contribution was really some stout play in defense.  She maintained great position on attacking players and then swiped the ball off their feet like a thief over and over again, getting our own attack re-started.
     Zoe's energy, along with Ava, in the first quarter of the game really set the tone for us.  It sort of knocked the other team on their heels and I don't think they ever recovered.  Zoe is just so persistent and tough.
     Emily had another great game of communicating and rotating positions smartly.  She had some very good runs too, coming all the way from our own box into the midfield and capped those with brilliant touches to lead teammates into shooting opportunities.
     Eileen played like herself again and I couldn't have been happier or prouder.  I try really hard not to over-coach her (dad/coach syndrome) so when she's gone through a period recently where she seems tentative on the field I've tried to be patient.  To see her back to herself, making those great deceptive first touches to switch fields while in defense and delivering those impressive free kicks and corners, well, I've got to crow a little bit.
     All the girls played with great skill and energy and our success was the result of all of that, not just the play of any one or two girls.  The tally sheet can look lopsided or even unfair sometimes but it's just a way to motivate and then measure for a few particular areas of interest to me.  In the heat of the game Coach Ron and I miss some things too so the tally sheet doesn't reflect anyone's overall performance.
    

Lessons Learned

     My Girl Power squad played in a tournament in Gatlinburg this Labor Day weekend and it was a great experience for everyone.  They had the opportunity to play against some fine competition on some really beautiful fields while also getting a three-night sleepover, parents and siblings included.  Thanks to the suggestion of our team manager we did the crazy thing and stayed all together in one huge house and it was simply delightful.  I try to mention frequently that I feel lucky to be coaching such a great group of kids but I need to also note that I'm lucky to know this group of parents.  What a lovely, good-humored and generous group of people!  Just hanging out with them at our chalet rental for meals was tremendous fun and we got to watch our kids play a sport we all love!  That was probably the best vacation I've ever had.
     We had three games over two days and the squad enjoyed themselves, embracing the atmosphere of pressure that comes with playing in a tournament rather than being overawed by it.  A crowded field complex on a tournament day is exciting, with parents cheering the games in action and teams walking around in their colors.  The intensity of it leaves you itching to play.  My girls jumped right into it and were their usual goofy selves but they were also displaying a developing sense of discipline and awareness of their own accomplishment.   They know they can hang with good teams and I'm proud of the fact that while they were excited to play they enjoyed the event for what it was...just another chance to play the game together.
     Our first game was a bit of a blow-out with the other team dropping ten on us, unanswered too.  The opponent we faced was a Knoxville team and they showed a lot of the typical qualities of well experienced teams: they were physical and aggressive, winning most of the 50/50 balls and pursuing us relentlessly.  I did see quite a few uncalled fouls in the first half and I (and the players) could hear the parents side complaining loudly to the referee.  But there was only one foul I saw that I'd call dirty.  It was a two handed push from behind and was actually egregious enough to deserve a card.  The referee seemed oblivious.    
     By halftime my team's mood was a bit down and their main complaint was that they felt they were getting hacked a lot.  My response to the team was simple.  "I can't change referees mid-game.  We've got to finish with this one even if he's missing a lot of stuff.  In this game right now the other team can get away with whatever the referee lets them get away with.  Play through it."  Ashley's response was interesting.  "Can we do it too?"  My reply was a definitive "No."  I went on to explain that I don't want to see them play that way because to me that sort of thing is just lazy and undisciplined.  Consider the example of the girl who committed the two handed push I mentioned above.  The reason she resorted to that sort of thing was that she was in a bad position.  She'd let one of our girls get past her and was now shielded off the ball so she responded petulantly.  I don't want that from my team.  I want my players to learn how to not get into a position where they are shielded off the ball.  I'm constantly admonishing them to think their way around the field, to anticipate and maintain an advantageous position.  If you get beat then hustle back to go at the ball again.  Pushing from behind though, that's letting the infantile part of your brain get the better of you, irrationally demanding that the reality of the situation be what you want it to be.  Just like a toddler, right?  A mature, disciplined player takes the situation for what it is and responds with skill and intellect.
     I'll admit that I am attempting in all of my training work with my teams to foster an attitude in them that reflects my own vision of an ideal player:  be cool headed, don't let emotion make you irrational or indecisive but at the same time do bring an intensity of focus to the game and be insistent about possessing the ball; be relentless on defense and energetic on attack without "running down hill";  be patient and take the long path to goal; trust your teammates.  Sometimes it may appear that my approach to my teams, especially while on the sideline during a game, is soft.  I do want them to play skillfully and with a joyful, creative flair.   But make no mistake, my goal is also to develop players who are disciplined, even cold blooded in their pursuit of victory.  So, when I discourage hacking and that sort of thing it is because I feel that ultimately, against a truly skilled and disciplined team that kind of undisciplined play is ineffective.  I'm not trying to teach our girls to just "take it" when hacking teams are dishing it out.  Rather, I want Girl Power to be the team that takes advantage of a hacking team and that lack of discipline.  I want our girls to gracefully disassemble our opponents.
     In the second half of that first game the girls came out and competed well with more energy and resolve.  They got into their groove and played with the skills they have and that's what I wanted to see.   In our team meeting afterwards I asked them what it was about the other team that made them so successful and of course "they fouled us a lot" was the first answer,  Then it was "they passed the ball a lot" and even "they took more shots" which is hard to argue with.  I told the girls that from my perspective on the sidelines it appeared that the real difference was that the other team had a much better first touch on the ball than we did.  They were very efficient with the ball, never wasting a touch by clumsily kicking it away.  That takes focus and a commitment to the importance of every touch you get.  I assured our girls that while they generally work hard at practice the drills we run for "first touch", like "hot corners" tend to be the ones that they lose interest in most quickly.  You can't expect to play skillfully in a game if you don't work at it in training.  "Remember that at our next practice" I said and left it at that.
     So we won the next one and tied the last game, missing the final by one goal on a tie breaker (goals allowed).  From a coaching point of view I felt good about getting the opportunity to guide the team through two very important "lessons" about the game: one, take the game you get, including the referee and figure out how to play through it;  two, having a good touch is critical so take it seriously in training.   After that it was all just fun, as it should be.  I used to come to practices with a plan that included, like, ten teaching points.  Now I look to just get them going through their dribble progressions, getting their touches on the ball and if I get one cogent teaching point in through the energetic din then it's been a good session.  Patience.

     As it turned out I had an opportunity to learn something at the tournament too.  I feel that my strengths as a coach are mostly on the training pitch.  As a sideline coach I don't like to yell a lot so I'm not much of a game manager.  However, there was a situation in our final game where, in retrospect, I realize that the girls really could have been helped by some guidance from me.  It was a free kick situation that I think even the ref would admit he screwed up.  In any case while I did question the ref's call and tried to get an explanation from him I then failed to give any guidance to the team as to how to deal with the situation as it was.  I was caught up in arguing with the official about what I thought the situation should be rather than helping the team to deal with the reality in front of them, which, by the way, was still an easy scoring opportunity.  I'll be looking for the next opportunity to get that sort of thing right.