Sunday, April 22, 2018

Girl Power. First Win!

     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.

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