The Percolators

     At a Fusion coach's meeting in the spring, right after tryout week, one of the other coaches commented to me that "Girl Power will probably be stronger than ever." I appreciated that but I also knew it probably wouldn't be true, at least not immediately. The players we were able to bring into the club after tryouts are all excellent prospects but soccer is a team sport and a team's quality is never just the sum of all the individual players' skills. A team has to develop a bond and an understanding of how to work in concert and that takes time and a lot of game experience. With that in mind it's obvious that Girl Power will need some time to figure themselves out.
      At that meeting the same coach then asked me about the Ninjas and without hesitation I replied that I thought they would probably come into the fall season as a very strong team. It's a squad filled with athletes and they have developed a wonderfully strong connection with each other. Their first appearances together in the spring season were a bit rough but by the end of the season they were looking like a real team. The individual commitment of players to developing their skills was showing results too and with the benefit of some game experience the Ninjas were starting to show that they could work together effectively. Also, they had become, by the end of the season, a really focused squad in training with a real desire to improve rapidly.
     So I wasn't entirely surprised that the Ninjas looked so strong in their first game. I wasn't even surprised that they were able to outplay Girl Power. What I didn't expect was the ferocity of their attack, the constant pressure they were putting on their opponent and the skill and intelligence with which they created so many scoring chances. The Ninjas were a multi-dimensional barrage of offense! Shots coming from everywhere! Well organized and energetic, their defensive play was outstanding too.
     The two teams had fared very differently against the ISC team we met for those friendly matches. Girl Power lost too but they kept the match much closer throughout and they did manage some goals. What so impressed me from the Ninjas Saturday was that they seemed to have really internalized everything they could learn from that friendly match and took the field against Girl Power and played like a new team. It was like something had suddenly switched on for them. Not only was their attacking play expansive and at a high tempo but their defense was intense, even imperious. They simply would not concede a goal without a fight.
      That is something I've experienced before in coaching, that sudden improvement in a player or team where different things they've been working on suddenly come together, suddenly become who they are. At halftime I told the Ninjas that they seemed to have been "percolating" on their skills over the summer months. Rather than coming back from the summer break needing to knock the rust off they actually seemed stronger than they were at the end of the spring season, like they'd all made some leap forward. I know there was some skills training and endurance work going on during that time for some of the players but the overall improvement in their performance was still amazing. As a coach I accept that a lot of the work I do with players requires me to patiently allow them to slowly build their skills. Progress on the technical side of things is necessarily incremental. But on the tactical side, in the players' ability to work effectively together, there can be sudden change as if many pieces of a puzzle had suddenly fallen together. That's what I felt I was seeing on Saturday from the Ninjas and it was awesome.
     While Charlie and Annabelle were setting the tone early, firing shots in at Beanie, it was Kylee who actually broke through with the first goal of the game.  She received a brilliant crossing pass from Cameron G. that found her practically standing on the penalty spot and from there she easily put it away.  That was followed by a goal for Annabelle and then one for Megan.  Mehrin and Charley combined for the real peach of the game when Mehrin sent a perfect corner kick right onto Charley's feet for an easy re-direction from just a yard or two out.  Erin put in the game capper off a nice pass from Charley.  Those are the scoring highlights but we had excellent play from everyone.  While Ashley, Addison and Ellie didn't get on the score sheet themselves they did amazing work just controlling our possession of the ball throughout the game and helping to create all those chances.  And our newest player, Jade, came up big on defense throughout the game and also was involved in some shooting chances.  Great first game for her.