There was a moment in the Girl Power match versus British Elite where that team's lead player, a real quality player with an angelic face and a merciless strike, shouted to her teammates to "just let them do their tricks with the ball, just stay in front of them." I've heard that sort of thing before in rec league games but was a bit surprised to hear it in a competitive match. And I have to admit that hearing that sentiment, that my player's skills are just tricks, always makes me a bit salty. Yes, by all means let us hold the ball...we'll be needing it to score and you can't score without it.
Of course the Girl Power players reacted to that call to "let them do their tricks" as well and if anything they redoubled their efforts to embarrass their opponents in those 1v1 situations. They notice that sort of frustration coming from opposing players and their parents and it just fires them up to go harder. Eileen was positively giggling as she took two players 1v1 even as the British Elite field general was admonishing her troops. I'm sure Sophia was similarly tickled as she executed her "step-over-pull-back-push" flawlessly over and over again even as a dad on the other side could be heard yelling "WATCH FOR THE PULL-BACK!" And Izzy's brilliant goal to grab the win came after she'd beat two defenders using her favorite pull-back-play-behind trick. It could only have been better if she'd celebrated the goal by shouting "AND THAT IS WHAT TRICKS WILL GET YOU!" Izzy's pretty reserved though and she'd never do that.
The performance of the entire team was brilliant and it was a really fun match. The fact that they were playing a team that would not play kick-ball but was rather trying to move the ball thoughtfully with skill gave Girl Power the opportunity to really explore their own ability to work together. What I saw was the beginnings of a more cooperative effort where players were maintaining possession of the ball using their skills while still looking up to find opportunities to move the ball quickly into space with a pass. Obviously for that to work we needed to see our players off the ball moving more fluidly into open space and supporting the player on the ball by being available. We did see more of that and I heard plenty of communication as well.
So compared to their first match this was a much more dynamic performance and I hope it has sort of opened the horizon up for them. My sense is that as a group they are beginning to sense their potential. At training this Thursday night they were fiercely competitive in their small sided game and that is something we really need in order to improve. In training situations I need them to play each other hard, to defend hard and to drive hard for their shots. I'm generally even okay if in these training competitions they get a bit chippy with each other and there are some fouls, even hard ones. In the end even that sort of thing can draw them together more tightly as a team. I've seen players who didn't get along particularly well suddenly ally themselves in game situations when they realize that their competitiveness with each other in training is a bond they share. It's as though in the midst of a game they suddenly think "Hey! it's okay for me to foul her in training but it's definitely not okay for you to foul her so back off."
This is a group of real players and athletes and I look forward to every match.
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Girl Power. Learning How to Play Together.
I only had two coaching points to make with the team prior to the first match of the season, the one at McClure against the Lakota team. My first was to point out the field conditions. Wet, long grass does not make for ideal conditions if your goal as a team is to possess the ball by dribbling and passing. I warned the team to expect their opponent to try to play long balls over the top often. Then I suggested that despite all of my coaching to the contrary maybe we should do the same. I was happy to see that for the most part they insisted on dribbling anyway, insanely (or bravely) continuing to try to work the ball up field through 1v1s.
My second point was to ask them to be patient with each other. The players on this team generally get along with each other just fine at training and in games. But they aren't what I'd describe as "tight" just yet. There are moments when you can see that they frustrate each other and there are shifting alliances among them. That's to be expected and we will work through it. With that in mind I asked them all to be aware of just how few games this current group has played. Be patient, even generous, I asked them. Trust each other because you're all working toward the same goal and over time as you get more playing experience you'll get a feel for how to work together.
For some time my approach to coaching the game has been to focus mostly on developing fundamental skill competence in my players and then let them discover cooperative play on their own during scrimmages and games. We talk a lot about field positions and our tactical shape on the field, about what responsibilities the various positions entail, but my assumption is that players will largely learn those tactical aspects of the game by exploring them for themselves during play. My reasoning in taking this approach has always been that players have to be motivated to improve in any aspect of the game by their own joy in the game, they have to want to be better because they love how it feels to play well. So, the first step in that process is the joy they all feel in putting the ball in the net. This drives them to want the ball in games and to want to attack. Then comes the joy they feel winning individual 1v1s either attacking or defending and this drives them to work on their dribbling technique and their touch on the ball. The final big step is learning the joy of playing as a group, or better, as a pack. For me personally as a player, as good as it feels to school an opponent in a 1v1, maybe even nutmeg them, the greatest joy in the game is in creating a goal with your teammates in an effort that feels both spontaneous and coordinated. It's that feeling of imposing yourself on your opponent together like a pack of wolves driving their prey with every member of the group bringing their individual skills to bear in a coordinated way. It's thrilling and I think that when players catch that feeling it can change their attitude toward and understanding of the game.
So for the players on Girl Power who've been around the longest, they've known that feeling. They've played games where they dominated the ball and their opponents with a gracefully knit combination of skill and cooperation. And now they're starting over again with the addition of some wonderful new teammates. That's why my advice to the team is to be patient, even generous with each other. Give yourselves time to get to know each other and when it starts to happen for you the progress will be rapid.
That first game showed that they can achieve a team unity. There was lots of insane individual dribbling into pressure situations where a bit of cooperative play might have been wiser. But throughout the game they were regularly chattering on the bench about "that big girl" on the other team and by the end of the match they'd dubbed her "Gigantor". That was a great sign for me as it shows them recognizing some aspect of the game as a challenge they can face together. Even if their overall performance was a bit flat it seemed to me that they still came away from the game feeling positive, even excited about how they'd played. That's where it starts, with them knowing that they can endure a loss together.
The team's shared effort to stand up to Gigantor was a sign of progress and that would become apparent in their very next match.
My second point was to ask them to be patient with each other. The players on this team generally get along with each other just fine at training and in games. But they aren't what I'd describe as "tight" just yet. There are moments when you can see that they frustrate each other and there are shifting alliances among them. That's to be expected and we will work through it. With that in mind I asked them all to be aware of just how few games this current group has played. Be patient, even generous, I asked them. Trust each other because you're all working toward the same goal and over time as you get more playing experience you'll get a feel for how to work together.
For some time my approach to coaching the game has been to focus mostly on developing fundamental skill competence in my players and then let them discover cooperative play on their own during scrimmages and games. We talk a lot about field positions and our tactical shape on the field, about what responsibilities the various positions entail, but my assumption is that players will largely learn those tactical aspects of the game by exploring them for themselves during play. My reasoning in taking this approach has always been that players have to be motivated to improve in any aspect of the game by their own joy in the game, they have to want to be better because they love how it feels to play well. So, the first step in that process is the joy they all feel in putting the ball in the net. This drives them to want the ball in games and to want to attack. Then comes the joy they feel winning individual 1v1s either attacking or defending and this drives them to work on their dribbling technique and their touch on the ball. The final big step is learning the joy of playing as a group, or better, as a pack. For me personally as a player, as good as it feels to school an opponent in a 1v1, maybe even nutmeg them, the greatest joy in the game is in creating a goal with your teammates in an effort that feels both spontaneous and coordinated. It's that feeling of imposing yourself on your opponent together like a pack of wolves driving their prey with every member of the group bringing their individual skills to bear in a coordinated way. It's thrilling and I think that when players catch that feeling it can change their attitude toward and understanding of the game.
So for the players on Girl Power who've been around the longest, they've known that feeling. They've played games where they dominated the ball and their opponents with a gracefully knit combination of skill and cooperation. And now they're starting over again with the addition of some wonderful new teammates. That's why my advice to the team is to be patient, even generous with each other. Give yourselves time to get to know each other and when it starts to happen for you the progress will be rapid.
That first game showed that they can achieve a team unity. There was lots of insane individual dribbling into pressure situations where a bit of cooperative play might have been wiser. But throughout the game they were regularly chattering on the bench about "that big girl" on the other team and by the end of the match they'd dubbed her "Gigantor". That was a great sign for me as it shows them recognizing some aspect of the game as a challenge they can face together. Even if their overall performance was a bit flat it seemed to me that they still came away from the game feeling positive, even excited about how they'd played. That's where it starts, with them knowing that they can endure a loss together.
The team's shared effort to stand up to Gigantor was a sign of progress and that would become apparent in their very next match.
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