It's Hard to Hold Them Back

 Once again the boys were completely dominant in a match where our opponent was struggling to play together with any organization in defending or attack.  This happens frequently in league play and in past seasons we've definitely taken our turn as the disorganized team that gets pounded.  Obviously it's fun to go out and win games, especially when we have so many different players getting onto the score sheet.  But at this point in the season it's also become clear that our Cardinal league division wasn't well constructed.  And that's a little frustrating.  The boys are playing well and progressing individually and as a team, but we haven't really been challenged yet by a team that plays as well or better than us.  Like the sorts of teams we're sure to see in tournament competition. 

Last Sunday's loss was a bit of a fluke and I blame myself to some extent.  Every coach should have some ideas ready for how to hold their team back if they are playing against a much weaker opponent, just to keep things from getting out of hand.   I don't like the idea of just holding them back.  As a coach, a match against a really weak opponent usually feels like a wasted match to me.  What I want to do is find a way to make these situations challenging to our players.

So what I've tried to do in these sorts of lopsided situations is to give the players specific tactical "restrictions" that are genuinely challenging.  I will ask them to play in a particular way that is difficult for them but that is also a way of playing they need to learn and master for our future development.  In our Sunday game the first restriction I put in place was that the midfielders and defenders would have to successfully play the ball back to our GK before we could try to take the ball into the other half.  The problem in that game though was that while I was able to explain to the team what I wanted them to do, I couldn't get complete buy-in from many of them and quite a few of the players were irritated with me that I wasn't going to just let them play.  I failed to get them to embrace the opportunity to work on some complex tactical play, and to do so against an opponent who probably wouldn't give us too much trouble anyway.  Rather, the players saw my tactical instructions as mostly just a way to hold them back from beating up on their opponent.  And that's my mistake.  They got the impression that I wanted them to run the race at a slower pace when what I really wanted was them to run their fastest but just to take a slightly longer route.  

In yesterday's match I didn't try to put any restrictions in place.  I figured with the field conditions it would be a slow game anyway.  I was getting concerned in the second half of the match though because we had too many players just sort of hanging out at the eighteen yard box.  I get that they could smell the blood in the water and were circling around expecting more goals to come.  But that's not a game situation we'll get against good teams so I felt like that was a lot of wasted time.  In the future, if we play against a weak opponent you can expect that we'll find ways to avoid that situation and take the opportunity to play in a more complex and expansive way.  One easy way to do that is that I'll ask the team to retreat to the half line every time the other GK either gets the ball in hand or has a goal kick.  By doing this the players will get the chance to re-start their attack from a neutral position every time rather than just pouncing on a poor play from the other team.  If I do put any sort of tactical restriction in I'll try to message everyone on PlayMetrics so you know what to look for.

Now We're Cooking!

 I'd like to share a few notes with everyone about the quality of the boys' performance yesterday and the coaching points Adam and I made with them after the match.  

Obviously they had a great game.  Six goals total from four different players is an impressive amount of offense (Yaseen, Brennan, Gavin and Rome for the Hat Trick!).  Even though we conceded three our defense was very solid too.  And here is what is really telling about those conceded goals...our opponent managed those three goals on maybe six shots total and all three of them came in situations that I would describe as defensive breakdowns where we made some catastrophic mistake.  Their goals were good ones where they took advantage of an opportunity.  But, for the most part, our defenders didn't let them get any real cooperative, creative play going.  We were tough in 1v1s and well organized defensively most of the time, both in transition defense and in our press.

On the other side of the ball, our goals came off what had to be at least twenty shots with something like fifteen of them on frame.  So we had some really amazing creative solo runs in for shots but we also had a lot of really good cooperative play where we were creating good chances.  And the best part was how many times we were able to create multiple attempts out of the same sequence of possession.  That aspect, to me, shows a new level of maturity and cooperation in the team, when they can bring the ball into the opponent third and create a shooting opportunity, see it blocked, but then recover the ball there and recycle it for another attempt.  

Our patterns of play were very consistent too.  We were mostly carrying the ball up the lines then either looking for an early interior pass to one of our dribblers or we were continuing into the corner area and looking for a cross into the box.  And that's another really significant element of their performance.  The goals came off those early interior passes and the shots were mostly from in front of goal following a dribble run.  But we created a lot of opportunities on the deep crosses too that just didn't get finished.

I had three points for the team post-match.

The first was this: As good as you played, you could have scored more.  I was happy to hear them all agree with that.  They had noticed it too.  Specifically, I think they are now fully recognizing how creating shooting chances is a matter of teamwork and cooperation and anticipation and trust.  And this is true even of the situations where we get goals from players who are dribble penetrating on their own.  The ability of our attacking group to maintain their space and move the ball quickly puts any defense in a position where they must hesitate to collapse into a double team on a particular player...until it's too late.  Rome was on fire yesterday but he definitely was taking advantage of a situation he and his teammates were creating with their ball movement.

My second point was that our defenders and GK had saved us a few times with their 1v1 play and their organization and anticipation in situations where our midfielders failed to transition to defense quickly enough.  We play a game called "Over the River" at nearly every training session and that game is all about "Transition".  Transition is when you're going from attacking to defending or vice versa.  It's a switch in your brain that has to flip immediately when the game situation changes.  So when our midfield is pushing into the final third on a promising attack and the defensive line is all pressed up past the half line, every player has to be able to recognize when that attack has collapsed and then turn to run back immediately, picking up the opponent's runners and resetting their positions.  This tipping point of transition requires constant attention from players and for young players it can be mentally exhausting.  But a team of players who recognize most of the transition moments will usually have an advantage over their opponents.

My third point was that we need to figure out how to come out of the gate faster.  We have seen in these first two games that even though we end up dominating the game eventually our team does tend to get started slowly after kick-off in both halves.  If we can't fix this some team is eventually going to take advantage of it.  I was really pleased with the boys when we discussed this post-match yesterday as some of them were definitely aware of it already.  I think Collin, in particular, was really animated in that discussion, like he'd noticed this already last week.

As we discussed these points post-match it was really wonderful to see how attentive the players have become and the extent to which they are developing their ability to self-analyze their individual and collective performance.  I told them that as good as they played, they can play better and my intention is to keep pushing them so that as we face tougher and tougher competition we will be ready.  

Getting Started: Kids Who Play and Kids Who are Players

     So the U9 Boys are three games in and since their impressive 4-4 tie in our season opener they haven't looked very good.  In that first game they were at their best, showing off their individual skills and intellect and also occasionally managing some connected/cooperative play.  Despite giving up four goals, I thought they looked more stout in defending than I'd have expected and of course having Jonah back there cleaning up the mistakes helps a lot.  But, and this will sound harsh, in their next two matches they were really exposed.

     I haven't lost any of my confidence in the ability of these players to improve and become high performers.  They've got the athleticism and the love of the game and some flair for creativity and they improve every week in their ability to stay focused for longer and longer periods in our training sessions.  Developing that ability to train well is an incremental process and I'm happy with our pace of progress.  But I want to be clear here, for myself and for the parents, what it is exactly that they are lacking and what we will have to accept as the team's main shortcoming.  And this is an aspect of their performance that will probably require a lot of patience from me and from the parents.  One season may not be enough to fix it.

     So what is it?  When I talk to the team at training sessions and matches I frequently talk about what it means to be a "Player" as opposed to being a kid who just likes to play.  Players are obsessed.  Kids who just like to play enjoy the game but they aren't obsessed with it and they can, even during a match, be distracted into paying attention to something else.  I said above that they "have the love of the game".  Well, I think it would be more accurate to say that for most of them they like the game and they like it as much as they like all the other stuff they do when they show up for a match or for training.  They like to play soccer, but they also like to wrestle and spray each other with water and dump other player's water bottles out and kick balls away.  They like to nag and tease each other and argue over unimportant things.  But do they "love" it?  Not most of them, not yet.  And that's okay.  It is what it is.  

    We have one player in the squad who comes just to play soccer, who is focused and even obsessed with playing every time we get together for training or a match.  Luckily for his teammates he's also very patient with their shenanigans.  We have a few players who can get into a very game-obsessed state once the whistle blows for a match but prior to the match they are just as likely to think that pulling a teammate around by his hoodie is the most fun you can have.  But given time they will, I'm sure, come to accept that I won't tolerate any of the nonsense.  They will come to understand that my training sessions and my match days are for Players, not for kids who just happen to like playing a bit of soccer now and then.   Helping them to reach that understanding requires a fine balance between discipline and patience from me as their coach.  I demand a certain level of focus and attentiveness at training and I'm trying to teach them what it means to be committed to each other as teammates, especially in competition.  But I also have to patiently accept that they are a U9 team.  They're little kids and it will take time.

    I've been through this with young teams before and the guiding principle that I will keep trying to teach them is this: "We are here to have fun...playing soccer.  It's got to be fun or there is no point in doing it...but it's got to be soccer fun."  I have and will continue to speak to them about the difference between a kid who plays rec soccer and a kid who has taken the leap into select soccer.  Here is how I describe that difference to them: "A recreational player is a kid who plays some soccer on the weekends.  But for a select player, being a Player is who you are.  You've decided that soccer isn't a game you play, it's who you are."  That may sound a little lofty for eight year olds but I think you just have to look at the difference between the players on our Fusion Grey team and our own team to see that it's not about size or skill, it's about the level of desire to play that the Grey team has.  It's about the level of fascination or obsession the players have for the game.  I use the words fascination and obsession intentionally as distinguished from words like "attentiveness" and "focus" because I don't want anyone to think that I think these boys on the White team just need to "pay more attention and be more focused".  They do need to do that but I know it's not a matter of a conscious choice for them.  Players like Cuttler or Frazier on the Grey team didn't "decide" at some point to be really focused on soccer.  It came naturally to them.  They walk onto the field on match days with a body language and attitude that clearly says "there is nothing else."  

     So that's what I'm trying to guide our boys towards.  I'm trying to create an environment at training and on match days where they can fall in love with the game.  Their skills and game knowledge, their ability to play together tactically will all continue to improve if we work hard in training.  But the secret sauce is love of playing and commitment to your teammates.  We will get there.

Technical Skill Development is the Easy Part

     My son started playing when he was three and back then he showed potential to have what I know now is the most valuable combination of attributes for a player.  He had natural athleticism, he loved playing with the ball at his feet and he always seemed to know where he was on the field.  So, fundamental physical ability combined with a genuine interest in technique combined with that most elusive of skills, Field Awareness.
     After his first season of playing H.S. Freshman ball he has taken a few seasons off from playing.    His decision left me sad but I understood it.  He's a player who likes to play lightly and with finesse, up on his toes all the time, dancing with the ball and threading clever passes and then when defending he plays more like a pick-pocket than an NFL linebacker.  So for him the Thunderdome quality of the High School game really took the joy out of it.
     Happily, we did get him back on the field to play in the Fusion Adult Futsal league this past fall and in that setting he found his old soccer self and seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly.  And I loved getting to play alongside him.   It was fun seeing him take on and win 1v1s against older players but what I really loved was seeing him show that field awareness again, those times when he'd come out of a 1v1 and immediately deliver a pass to the feet of a teammate on the opposite side of the field or into their path as they made a sudden run to goal.
     As much as I love great technical skills, deceptive tricks and subtle ball control, the aspect of play that I honestly enjoy the most these days is that elusive field awareness.  Given how little of that talent I've been able to develop myself, when I see it on display at a high level I feel like I'm watching a kind of magic or Jedi-mind-trick.  In fact I have a player on one of my teams whose skill for picking out an unlikely pass is so constant we've nicknamed her The Jedi.  She can receive the ball, look up to check the field, take on the 1v1 in front of her and then, as she's emerging from the pressure, she somehow manages to put the pass where her teammate is now, several seconds after she last looked for her.  Think of pro players like Kevin De Bruyne of Man City or Tobin Heath on the USWNT who look sometimes as though in addition to their eyes they are also scanning the field with some sort of sonar.
     Of course the supreme skill that players like those have is the foundation of their game.  But even as I harp on my players about the need to work diligently on their technical skills (and I do the same in every conversation I have with fellow Coaches and parents of players) I have been thinking a lot lately about how to teach that other aspect of the game.  How do you teach players to be better at understanding the space they are in when they are on the pitch in the middle of a game?  To simplify that by narrowing that field awareness to just one direction, how do you teach them to be aware of what's behind them.   I feel like since I began coaching I've come up with a few clever ways of teaching particular technical skills and of course I've learned a few such methods from other coaches.  But when I ask myself that question above...how do you teach that?...I usually end up staring blankly at my session planning notebook.
     If you look on YouTube for ideas on teaching spatial awareness you'll see some interesting session exercises, many of them a little complex to run and typically focused on one player at a time...so not efficient for large group sessions.  Here's an example:  "Joner" Awareness Drill.  I spent some time at Griffin recently with a small group of players running some of these exercises and I'd say that with a group of players where you can have one coach for every 4 players you can actually get a lot of reps in and the players seem to respond quickly.
     You will also see a lot of suggestions to play rondos.  Here is a great blog post by Todd Beane of the TOVO Institute, Barcelona about the value of rondo training:  Rondos are the Tip of the Iceberg  Beane writes "I need a Rondo as it is one of the best ways to bring forth my players capacity to be players of great cognition, competence and character".  It's a game your players will like that puts a high premium on technical execution and it is a setting that allows you to move around the rondo coaching players directly about technique and awareness.  But I have one caveat, especially for coaches working with players ten years and under.  There is a fair amount of scientific evidence that the natural variation we see among kids in their ability to understand the space around them might be largely due to aspects of the physical development of the brain.  In other words, the kids who seem really precocious in their ability to know what's behind them all the time may simply have a physical/developmental advantage.  And the kids who lack that sort of awareness aren't necessarily lazy or unfocused or inattentive...they may just be developing at a different pace.  This doesn't mean that as a coach you don't start working on field awareness early.  Of course you do.  Everything is incremental anyway so teach your U8s rondo and start getting those players some reps as soon as possible...but be patient.
   
     As I mentioned above, my son seems to have rediscovered a little of his love of the game.  A couple of his friends urged him to play the winter indoor session with them and he agreed without hesitation.  Yesterday I watched him play his first game.  I also got to see some players I coached when they were younger and seeing them now and where their development has taken them was fascinating.  One player in particular, one who I think I started coaching when he was ten, had made so much progress I had to talk with him after the game and compliment him on it.  When I first met this kid he stood out in two ways: he was desperate to play and just loved the game...and he was as awkward, uncoordinated and two-left-footed as any kid I'd seen.  I mean hopeless.  And he wanted to be a GKeeper so I'm looking at him  thinking, no way this kid ever develops a good stroke on the ball since he can't seem to use anything but his toe and he falls down every time he takes a swing.   But he worked at it.  I admit that the last time I saw him I wasn't sure he was making much progress but he was trying and I'm confident I was at least showing him the direction he needed to go.  Now five years later I see him on the indoor field and he's playing keeper.  Three times in the first half he gets called for a three lines violation on his goal kicks which he's hitting at least 45 yards each time.  He worked at it and worked at it and here he was now, a competent player with the basic skills.
     The point of the story is that while teaching field awareness can confront a coach as something of a mystery, teaching technical skills, even to kids who may seem too clumsy at first, is mostly a matter of patience and repetition.  So if you have players who don't seem to have good field awareness yet you can at least be sure to stay focused with them on the part of their game they can develop if you'll help them so that when they finally start to be aware of what's behind them (usually open space) they'll already know how to manage the ball.

   
   
   
     
   

For my new players...a few notes on my approach to teaching the game.

(I've edited this recently to reflect some things I've learned. The new stuff is in green. 4/5/2022)

Way back, fourteen years ago now, when I first started coaching one of my kids in recreational league soccer it occurred to me that for some of the kids on the team the first step was not learning some basic soccer skill but rather just learning how to run or how to maintain their balance. This was U6 soccer so for some of them it was even questionable as to whether they understood the fundamental concept of "a game"  Based on these observations the guiding principle for all the coaching work I've done since has been “nothing is obvious”.  I try to pay close attention to every player during practices and games to assess where they each as individuals need help.  With some players I might be working on helping them to add a new deceptive move or sharpen their shooting skill.  But with some players it might be that we need to actually work on their posture or their running stride, something so basic that you might take it for granted. Some players might have some basic athletic ability but need lots of help learning how to actually understand the flow of a game.  With each basic skill that I try to teach, including the mental skills, I consider it important that I be able to break that skill down into smaller parts so that when necessary I can teach it gradually and in a way that will reach every player, not just the more advanced players.

    When I begin working with new players I need the player and the parent to buy in to what I’m doing.  What I need the players to get is that I’m going to be encouraging them to try new things, to struggle with new skills and to put those skills into play in games.  My attitude is always going to be “let’s play to win by just playing.”  In that way I want to foster an atmosphere of casualness about the game so that the kids feel free to try their skills without fear that I’ll be upset if we don’t win.  Then I have to sell the parents on this idea too since for most of them it will be hard if they see their kid’s team getting clobbered.   They’ll be yelling for me to keep them in position.   They’ll be yelling for the kids to “kick the ball” when that’s not what we really want.  We can set the kids up to play “effectively” as a team now so that they might get some wins but what happens when they reach the next age level or next competitive level and only a few kids on the team actually have real ball skills?

     As coaches and parents we do want them to compete and to love to do so but they need to know that the competition is its own reward regardless of outcome.  Some parents may hear this and think that I’m trying to teach their kids a wishy-washy “winning isn’t everything” point of view.  That’s not the case.  You compete to win.  But if you do not love the competition for itself you are not likely to stick with it when you aren’t earning victories.  I’ve heard many athletes, most notably Michael Jordan, say that if you are afraid to fail you’ll never win because the path to victory at the highest level leads through many small failures.  For players on Fusion teams those “small” failures begin in training settings where we challenge them to master difficult ball control skills, skills that they may not think are obviously valuable for game situations.  Then we’ll push our players to try to execute those same skills in actual game situations where they will most certainly fail many times.  Yet that is how they’ll learn to use those skills and how to win with them.   A critical factor though is that players trust their coaches and their parents to be proud of them for playing fearlessly and creatively, for struggling to put those difficult skills to use.  Players have to know that that’s what you’re looking for and that you really do think winning is secondary.   But again, not because winning isn’t important but rather because competing is more important and I want them all to be unrepentant soccer field-rats who’d take a pick-up game in a pouring rain if it was their only chance to play.

   With all of this in mind I have a few simple principles that guide my coaching approach:

1) Be Patient.   Obviously I try to be patient myself as a coach but I’m also trying to instill that willingness to be patient in the players and in their parents.  Learning a new skill can take time and many repetitions and a lot of failures.  It can be a struggle.  I try to show my players and their parents through my words, my attitude and my body language that I am patient and will work with them for as long as it takes.  I try to impress upon them that struggle is just part of the work and they shouldn’t waste time with any unrealistic expectations as to how fast they can master something, nor should they make any unfounded assumptions about what their “natural abilities” might be just because it’s taking a little while to learn a new skill.   Stay focused and be patient with yourself and remember why you’re working on developing new skills...so you can take them with you into the game.  

2) Nothing is obvious.  Take as much time as necessary to teach a skill and don’t hesitate to break it down into its smaller parts.  Don’t assume one way of demonstrating a skill will work with every player.  Observe the players closely and coach to their individual strengths while trying to expand their abilities. From the players' perspective this means never be afraid to raise your hand and ask for another demonstration or a clearer explanation.

3) Stick to Fundamentals.  The primary focus has always got to be on skill development and so even when we're doing some tactical exercise at training I want it to be one that demands ball skill competence from every player.   With the younger age groups, U6 through U8, I generally avoid any sorts of tactical drills that might leave players standing in line for more than a few seconds. I will always favor practice work that gives the players lots of repeated touches on the ball. I've continued to maintain a focus on technical ball skill work with my teams even as the players mature and reach a point where they can grow very rapidly in their understanding of the game, their field awareness and their ability to anticipate each other's movements. My experience has been that players who have real technical competence with the ball will get the most out of any sorts of tactical drills we might run at training so developing technical competence is always where we start. By U9 we are regularly incorporating small "pattern" passing exercises that begin to introduce players to specific individual tactical concepts like "received with your back foot (or across your body)" or player communication (calling for the ball) but these exercises will also always be designed to give every player a lot of reps executing particular technical skills in a short period of time. So for a long time, up through U10 at least, what tactical I do design into a session will always be built on a foundation of getting lots of technical reps.

4) Teach them to be unafraid of situational failures.  If we spend time in practice learning a new deceptive move I want them initially to feel free to try it in the very next game without worrying about when is the right time to use it or when it will work.  Only game experience can teach them how to use their skills effectively so I encourage them to just go into the competition committed to trying to use those new skills.  Let's say we work in training one week on doing a step-over combination. I could use a skill like that as a player in a game situation to actually win a 1v1 or maybe just to get a defender to hesitate for a moment, just long enough for one of my teammates to get open for a pass. Either way though, if I don't actually try to use that skill I'll never get a feel for when or how to use it effectively, and no doubt, the first time (and a lot of times after that) that I use that skill I'll use it ineffectively or just mess up technically. As a player I've got to feel that getting to the point where I can reliably use a skill under pressure is worth all the times I have to struggle just to get it right and for that I need to know that my Coach and my family have my back in the whole process.

As a parent you've got to really be prepared for what this means. What if your kid or one of their teammates decides the right time to try out their new skill is just as they are dribbling through our own penalty area...and they mess up and lose the ball...and the other team scores. Will your emotional response be "Oh no! Don't do that!" or will it be "I saw what you were doing! Try it again! Take it to 'em!"?

Of course, at some point we may get frustrated that a player continues to use a particular 1v1 skill in dangerous situations, seeming to stubbornly refuse to learn from their experience. But I expect that to happen with some kids and it's okay. Just as some kids start early having a really good ball strike and then as they develop they continue to think that the solution to every problem on the field is to hit the ball hard, there will be kids who are so proud of their "Maradonna turn" that they'll just assume it's the magical skill to use in every situation. But given time they will eventually understand what's effective and what's not in particular situations.

5) Keep the focus on playing and competition.  A lot of what they need to learn as players they must learn through game experience so I try to keep a balance in my practices between focused technical work and teaching through playing games.   We spend half the practice working on a skill then the second half playing 1v1, 3v3, etc. or even a full scrimmage, situations in which we can put that new skill into action right away. And, I will always try to inject an element of competition into almost everything we do in a training session, even our warmups. If we do a dynamic warmup like the FIFA 11 then players will be doing that in pairs and I'll challenge each pair to "be more perfect" than the others. If we do any sort of running or dribbling work we'll make it a relay race. If we run any small passing pattern exercises, like Hot Corners, I'll challenge each group to try to be more perfect in their execution with more complete passes than the other groups. And, of course, once we get to the small sided play part of our sessions I'll be pushing them to win, not just play

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.

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.

Girl Power Now

     When I write one of these posts I like to have my general observations of my team's play and development organized around some narrower observation, some small detail of a game or a training session that, I think, in turn will bring the overall picture of where the team is now into sharper focus. I'm not having much success though in finding such a theme for Girl Power right now.  The obvious observation is that not only is this a new season for Girl Power but this is in fact a new team, a team yet to develop a consistent style of play or character.  Among the players who left our roster last season there were a couple who really dominated our play, who set the tone for us as a high-energy attacking side.  As we saw in Saturday's game returning players like Jolie, and Zoe are happy to dash boldly into the space left open by those departures as are our new players like Sophia. But right now there's a quality of recklessness and exploration to all these efforts.  It will take time for this team to find it's rhythm and style, to get really acquainted with each other so that we can see better anticipation and cooperation.
     The team isn't without some continuity of character though thanks to our returning players.  Eileen, Ava and Peyton all know how to play that strong full-back wing role that I like and so our style of play will still tend towards a fully committed possession-dominant attack.  Natalie's casual confidence in the keeper spot helps us in that regard too as she knows our attack begins wherever we regain possession and that informs her style of play.  With the help of the core group of returning players I have no doubt that this new Girl Power will become a skillful, aggressively attacking side that plays with a real joy and creativity.  In fact we're already seeing that so I'll let that be the loose theme for these early observations: "joy and creativity".

     In no particular order:

>At training last week I worked with the team on a "pull-back-play-behind" move that is basically a combination of a pull-back with an immediate Cruyff turn.  Izzy's efforts at it were nearly flawless from the start so I made a point of telling her that if she could pull that off in game situations she'd be able to get around anyone.  I say that sort of thing to players all the time.  "Oh, you're so good at that...I want to see it in the next game...that's you're move!"  Sometimes they follow through...usually they need more prodding.  But Izzy got to Saturday's game itching to try her move.  She even asked me prior to kick off if it was okay for her to try it.  "What!  Of course it's okay.  I insist!"  Lucky for me I was just yards away from her when she did break that move out and she was nearly successful on that first try.  After the game her attitude was still overwhelmingly positive.  "I almost did it...the ball just got stuck on my heel."  That's the attitude we want to foster, that desire to play fearlessly and creatively, even to show off a bit.

>Jolie is joyfully imposing herself on the game, seemingly filled with energy following her long injury layoff.  For the first 20 minutes of Saturday's game she was everywhere across the attacking half, getting on the ball over and over again.  Watching her play you can clearly see how happy she is to be back on the field.

>Zoe is testing her ball striking.  It's been a long road to get her to the point where her technique is approaching an effective consistency but I think we're almost there and it was wonderful to see her making shot attempts from outside of ten yards Saturday.  I think we had her for three such attempts and while they weren't thunderous strikes they were solidly struck.  She's putting in the work.

>So much good communication going on on the field Saturday.  I love that and I'm really trying to consistently encourage the players to be constantly engaged with each other in the game, to chat, coach, admonish, demand, whatever, just be connected.  With Sophia and Lauren the team has two players who are never shy about communicating with their teammates.  Lauren is good at both letting her teammate with the ball know where she is and at delivering the ball when a teammate calls to her.  And with Sophia I think I have a true field general.  She's constantly offering direction to the team and doing so in the right "coach's" tone of voice.

>Julia, Kennedy and Jayden gives the team a defensive solidity we haven't had before and these are all players, along with Lauren and Sophia, who recognize the opportunities for creating attacking play that can be had when your central defenders can possess the ball rather than booting it.  That being said, I have to admit that Julia's ability to crush a moving ball has certainly saved our bacon a few times!

>Finally, I want to note, if it's not obvious from the parent's side, that the girls are really enjoying playing together.  They are working hard at training and playing hard for each other in games and they all show up just itching to play.  I'm a lucky coach.

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.

For my new players...a few notes on my approach.

Way back, twelve years ago now, when I first started coaching one of my kids in recreational league soccer it occurred to me that for some of the kids on the team the first step was not learning some basic soccer skill but rather just learning how to run or how to maintain their balance. This was U6 soccer so for some of them it was even questionable as to whether they understood the fundamental concept of "a game"  Based on these observations the guiding principle for all the coaching work I've done since has been “nothing is obvious”.  I try to pay close attention to every player during practices and games to assess where they each as individuals need help.  With some players I might be working on helping them to add a new deceptive move or sharpen their shooting skill.  But with some players it might be that we need to actually work on their posture or their running stride, something so basic that you might take it for granted. Some players might have some basic athletic ability but need lots of help learning how to actually understand the flow of a game.  With each basic skill that I try to teach, including the mental skills, I consider it important that I be able to break that skill down into smaller parts so that when necessary I can teach it gradually and in a way that will reach every player, not just the more advanced players.

    When I begin working with new players I need the player and the parent to buy in to what I’m doing.  What I need the players to get is that I’m going to be encouraging them to try new things, to struggle with new skills and to put those skills into play in games.  My attitude is always going to be “let’s play to win by just playing.”  In that way I want to foster an atmosphere of casualness about the game so that the kids feel free to try their skills without fear that I’ll be upset if we don’t win.  Then I have to sell the parents on this idea too since for most of them it will be hard if they see their kid’s team getting clobbered.   They’ll be yelling for me to keep them in position.   They’ll be yelling for the kids to “kick the ball” when that’s not what we really want.  We can set the kids up to play “effectively” as a team now so that they might get some wins but what happens when they reach the next age level or next competitive level and only a few kids on the team actually have real ball skills?

     As coaches and parents we do want them to compete and to love to do so but they need to know that the competition is its own reward regardless of outcome.  Some parents may hear this and think that I’m trying to teach their kids a wishy-washy “winning isn’t everything” point of view.  That’s not the case.  You compete to win.  But if you do not love the competition for itself you are not likely to stick with it when you aren’t earning victories.  I’ve heard many athletes, most notably Michael Jordan, say that if you are afraid to fail you’ll never win because the path to victory at the highest level leads through many small failures.  For players on Fusion teams those “small” failures begin in training settings where we challenge them to master difficult ball control skills, skills that they may not think are obviously valuable for game situations.  Then we’ll push our players to try to execute those same skills in actual game situations where they will most certainly fail many times.  Yet that is how they’ll learn to use those skills and how to win with them.   A critical factor though is that players trust their coaches and their parents to be proud of them for playing fearlessly and creatively, for struggling to put those difficult skills to use.  Players have to know that that’s what you’re looking for and that you really do think winning is secondary.   But again, not because winning isn’t important but rather because competing is more important.  I want them all to be unrepentant soccer field rats who’d take a pick-up game in a pouring rain if it was their only chance to play.

   With all of this in mind I have a few simple principles that guide my coaching approach:

1) Be Patient.   Obviously I try to be patient myself as a coach but I’m also trying to instill that willingness to be patient in the players and in their parents.  Learning a new skill can take time and many repetitions and a lot of failures.  It can be a struggle.  I try to show my players and their parents through my words, my attitude and my body language that I am patient and will work with them for as long as it takes.  I try to impress upon them that struggle is just part of the work and they shouldn’t waste time with any unrealistic expectations as to how fast they can master something or make any unfounded assumptions about what their “natural abilities” might be just because it’s taking a little while to learn a new skill.   Stay focused and be patient with yourself and remember why you’re working on developing new skills...so you can take them with you into the game.  

2) Nothing is obvious.  Take as much time as necessary to teach a skill and don’t hesitate to break it down into its smaller parts.  Don’t assume one way of demonstrating a skill will work with every player.  Observe the players closely and coach to their individual strengths while trying to expand their abilities. From the players' perspective this means never be afraid to raise your hand and ask for another demonstration or a clearer explanation.

3) Stick to Fundamentals.  The primary focus has always got to be on skill development with much less time spent on development of tactical understanding of the game.  Teach the kids how to control the ball first then put them in game situations and with a little guidance they’ll start getting the foundations of tactical understanding on their own.  With the younger age groups, U6 through U8, I generally avoid any sorts of passing drills or any other tactical drills and always favor practice work that gives the players lots of repeated touches on the ball. There is no doubt that at some point players reach a point where they can grow very rapidly in their understanding of the game, their field awareness and their ability to anticipate each other's movements. But if we jump into working in tactical training situations before most of the players have some basic ball competence then those training drills will be a mess and of little long term value.

4) Teach them to be unafraid of situational failures.  If we spend time in practice learning a new deceptive move I want them to feel free to try it in the very next game without worrying about when is the right time to use it or when it will work.  Only game experience can teach them how to use their skills effectively so I encourage them to just go into the competition committed to trying to use those new skills.  Let's say we work in training one week on doing a step-over combination. I could use a skill like that as a player in a game situation to actually win a 1v1 or maybe just to get a defender to hesitate for a moment, just long enough for one of my teammates to get open for a pass. Either way though, if I don't actually try to use that skill I'll never get a feel for when or how to use it effectively, and no doubt, the first time (and a lot of times after that) that I use that skill I'll use it ineffectively or just mess up technically. As a player I've got to feel that getting to the point where I can reliably use a skill under pressure is worth all the times I have to struggle just to get it right and for that I need to know that my Coach and my family have my back in the whole process.

As a parent you've got to really be prepared for what this means. What if your kid or one of their teammates decides the right time to try out their new skill is just as they are dribbling through our own penalty area...and they mess up and lose the ball...and the other team scores. Will your emotional response be "Oh no! Don't do that!" or will it be "I saw what you were doing! Try it again! Take it to 'em!"?

5) Keep the focus on playing.  A lot of what they need to learn as players they must learn through game experience so I try to keep a balance in my practices between focused technical work and teaching through playing games.   We spend half the practice working on a skill then the second half playing 1v1 or other small sided games where we try to put that new skill into action right away.

Time

    During the mid '90s Chris and I were living in Chicago and like everybody else there we were fans of the Bulls.  I hadn't followed basketball very closely before then but watching Michael Jordan could make anyone a fan.  While watching a Bulls playoff game during one of those championship years I had a realization that has stuck with me since and has informed a lot of what I try to do as a youth coach.  In this case it was a game situation that the Bulls and their fans were familiar with; less than twenty seconds on the clock, the Bulls tied or down by one or two and of course the play would be to get MJ the final shot.  As Jordan received the in-bounds pass you could see how relaxed he was, in no real hurry to take the ball up the court, just casually letting the seconds burn off.  He floated up the court drifting to his right then cutting left.  Just getting to the three point line he rises up and as he falls back away from the basket he lets the ball fly.  Bulls win.
     After the game in conversation with some friends I said out loud what I'd been thinking as I watched Jordan move toward that final shot.  "It's like to him, ten seconds is a long time, right?"  The moment was so tense for everyone watching but Michael seemed calm, as though the seconds we agonized over were actually stretching out for him, as though time were moving more slowly.  Every fan in Chicago was yelling at their TV screens "hurry, hurry!  Only ten seconds left!"  while in his own mind I imagine Jordan was thinking "relax, plenty of time."
     Think about it this way:  Looking at the clock as the game winds down you or I see 00:20:00 and think "twenty seconds! that's not enough time" because what we're really seeing is that twenty seconds is all that's left of the game.  This is the last twenty seconds.   But I tend to think that a supremely gifted and trained athlete like MJ or Lionel Messi or Megan Rapinoe would reply "yeah, but it is still twenty seconds and I can do a lot in twenty seconds." In other words it's a matter of perspective.  While I might panic in a late game situation and think 'I've only got twenty seconds to get the ball up field and create a shooting opportunity...that's only time for one try" one of the athletes mentioned above might reply "Yeah, but I only need one chance and twenty seconds is plenty of time for one chance."  That is, they go forward without a thought about the limit the situation places on them and rather embrace the opportunity the situation presents.  The pressure of a last minute game situation could be crushing if your mental focus is on the dwindling amount of time you have.  But a player of a resilient frame of mind is one who views the time remaining as just more time to act.
     My tendency to focus all of my team's training activities on fundamental skills is obviously informed by the fact that for high-level performers those fundamentals are indispensable.  No amount of tactical training can overcome poor technical execution so I think I need to devote the majority of my training sessions to skill development.  As all the players reach a higher level of broad technical competence we can then afford to devote more time to tactics.  I have begun introducing some tactical training exercises to my teams, especially Girl Power, as I think that these exercises help to drive them to improve their technique.  You can't effectively run a passing pattern drill if your first touch and passing stroke are not consistently good so my hope is that by being put under the pressure of running such drills my players will experience and internalize the necessity of technical excellence.  As Coach Eric used to say, "don't just practice until you get it right...practice until you can't get it wrong."
      And when you do that, when you make a set of skills so second-nature that you can't get them wrong, that's when game time starts to slow down for a player.  So that's the other reason for insisting on a focus on technical excellence.  When players can really rely on their skills under pressure then they are more mentally resilient.  They see pressure situations in games as opportunities rather than limits.
     I'm a little concerned that recently I've not properly helped my Girl Power team to remain focused on that long-term goal of skill development.  When they aren't having a good game it's easy to focus on the tactical shortcomings of the team, their failure to cooperate more.  Conversely, it's easy to overlook all the little technical mistakes and deficiencies, mostly because they pass by so quickly in games it's hard to even place them into the overall context of the flow of the game.  Maintaining a disciplined detachment regarding wins versus losses is difficult but necessary...assuming, that is, that the point really is to train them all to be the best player they can be.
   

GP vs Nelson County, 4/1/2017

   



   

Nobody likes losing but I hope everyone can appreciate what a good game that was yesterday for Girl Power.  They played a good team that had a lot of very skillful players and they had a considerable size advantage too.  Girl Power never backed down, never fell into a panic defense, and they showed repeatedly how reliable dribble skills can be effective even when you're opponent is a little taller than you.  I hope everyone also noticed the team's efforts at moving the ball around more often with passing.
     At the end of my last post I highlighted a brief passing sequence involving Ava, Abby and Peyton.  I was trying to describe a moment where it was clear that the players involved were anticipating each other's movements in a way that allowed them to essentially decide what to do with the ball before they'd even received it.  In the situation I was describing from that game Peyton received a pass from Abby and made an immediate one touch pass back to Abby, not directly to her but rather to open space about five yards to Abby's right.  So before Peyton had received the ball she had already anticipated that possible pass, had already anticipated that Abby could follow a pass into open space past two defenders.
     The exercises we ran at training this week are meant to encourage more of that sort of thoughtful cooperative interplay between players.  We ran the familiar Hot Corners game and then we worked on learning a new pattern passing game that is somewhat more complicated than Hot Corners and that really emphasizes the concept of a "give and go" movement with the ball.  I'm very encouraged at the extent to which our players are picking up the idea of moving the ball cooperatively, especially their individual willingness to release the ball when their dribble options don't look so good.  Where we're lacking, and this showed in yesterday's game, is in their individual willingness to anticipate that a pass might be coming their way.
     A great example of what I mean happened right in front of me in the second half.  We were headed down hill in that half which I hoped would give us the same advantage it had clearly given the other team.  And it did as our attack certainly became faster and more penetrating.  So at one point Zoe is bringing the ball up the line after a brilliant tackle to repossess and she makes a beautiful hesitation move to dance around the biggest player on the other team.  But then as she continues her run along the touch line she looks up and sees three things: two more defenders closing on her; Peyton running with her about four yards to her right; wide open space up the line.  Zoe took one more dribble touch and to me her intentions seemed clear.  She was going to release the ball up the line for Peyton.  Zoe made that pass flawlessly with her left foot.  Well struck with just a little left to right hook on it so it hugged the line without going out.  Peyton made the effort to run onto the ball but unfortunately she had started about two steps too late.  She hadn't "read" Zoe's intentions early enough.
     That was typical of the whole team's performance yesterday and I don't want it to sound like a criticism.  Rather it's meant as an observation of how close they are to some really brilliant play.  There were many other instances of sequences of play where one or two of our players would demonstrate wonderful individual skill to regain and possess the ball.  We had lots of fantastic 1v1 victories.  But we also did have a lot of really great penetrating runs into the final third that did end with very smart through ball or crossing ball passes.  The problem was simply a matter of timing and of touch.  Sometimes the through ball was hit too hard and sometimes the intended target player hadn't taken off early enough.
     So I'm not disappointed by this performance in any way and as I told the team after the game I'm actually thrilled about the potential they're showing.  Their technical skills are solid and still improving so each of them is formidable in those 1v1 situations.  And now they're showing that on the tactical side, the cooperative aspect of the game, it's really just down to needing more experience so they can hone their timing.  Throughout the game yesterday I felt they were consistently only a knife-edge away from finding that first goal and they kept up the pressure right to the end.  We can go back to the training field knowing what we've got to focus on and knowing that we're at a point where a lot of what we're doing in training is fine tuning.

KSSL season opener for Girl Power.

     It is so hard to be focused when you're cold.  When you play in the heat you may be uncomfortable and it can sap your strength but you can have long stretches in a game where you're so caught up you just don't notice the weather.  But the cold nags at you, pulls you down, makes you feel smaller.  And it hurts.  In Saturday's KSSL season opener for Girl Power I saw girls with hands and ears as red as an apple but rather than being weighed down by that they played beautifully and energetically and with a wonderful gamer's attitude.
     Best of all, despite the cold and wind they largely did maintain their focus.  You've probably heard me say to them before that there are three things they have to know "where-it's-at" all the time in a game: the ball; the goals; the players (both teams).  That's a lot to keep in focus all at once and raw weather conditions make that even tougher but our girls were doing their best and it showed in their play.  Their defense was organized and smothering.  Their attack was a great combination of individual skill and cooperation.  It's been a long process to get to where they are as a team now and I'm really proud of their progress but in this last game I was most proud of their toughness and grit.  Despite the weather they came out anxious to play and they were upbeat and supportive of each other from start to finish.
    I was really happy to see that the FC Kentucky team we faced seems to have adopted a training strategy similar to ours.  When we faced them last season they were kicking the ball a lot but in Saturday's game I heard their coach frequently admonishing them to dribble rather than kick it away.  Possession of the ball certainly made the difference in the game and Girl Power's combination of good first touch and good dribble skill meant we had the ball more often than they did.  We only managed two goals, one for Hailey and one for Abby, but I feel like we had a ton of good chances.  Both the goals were the result of some really fabulous skill too.  Hailey beat a couple of defenders to get into the box and then held the ball right until the keeper stepped out for it then she took a calm touch to her right and put it away.  Abby's goal was off a corner kick and she received the ball with her back to goal then made a lovely turn to beat two players before firing the ball into the net.
     I also want to note a beautiful little passing sequence we saw in the first half where we had a throw-in from Ava to Abby who then made a quick pass up the line to Peyton.  Peyton then brilliantly one-touched the ball splitting two defenders to put Abby open and headed into the penalty area.  It happened too quickly for Peyton to have time to think about what to do with the ball after it came to her.  Rather she'd already seen the situation unfolding before Abby sent her that pass so when the ball arrived to her she'd already decided what to do next.  That ability to anticipate, to see the situation so that you know what you're going to do with the ball before you get it is something that will be a point of emphasis in our training this season.
 

Enjoy the wins, endure the losses and always love to compete.

     A few years back I started telling all of my players that there are three things they need to be aware of at all times while playing.  I introduce the concept by asking "what are the three things that you need to know where-it-is all the time while you're playing?"
     Players usually get the first one easily.  It's the ball.  The second is the goals.  That's your basic orientation for the play of the game so you've got to know all the time where the goals are and which end is which.
     The third "where-it-is-all-the-time" is the players...your team and the opponent.  So, as players we have to keep these three things in the front of our mind at all times.
   
     I have to know where the ball is, where the goals are and where all my teammates and my opponents are...all the time.  And my coach is yelling to me to remind me of that...and to remind me of what position I'm playing...and to remind me of what's behind me...and to demand that I use a particular skill.  And then it's cold...and snowing a bit...and windy.  Or it's hot and this one girl on the other team keeps grabbing my shirt from behind...and then there's my mom or my dad...what are they saying?  Are they mad?  Now, what was I supposed to be remembering all the time again?  

     It's a lot to ask of a ten year old to remain focused enough to be aware of all three of the where-it-is-all-the-time things simultaneously and the ultimate goal is to get them to have that focused awareness as their default position, as simply the way they approach the game naturally, reflexively.  It takes a lot of time, a lot of patient development to get players from their precocious "me and the ball" phase to a more subtle team oriented understanding of how to play.  Keeping in mind of course that as players develop more of a team mentality for the game they aren't shedding that early "me and the ball" selfishness but rather finding a way to incorporate that into the team effort.
     As with the players and their where-it-is-all-the-time attitude, the coach also has to have a sort of default position for approaching the game.  It's patience.  The arc of player development is long and there are no shortcuts.  Every minute of training and game time my players get is part of that development and it's all valuable, even the failures and at the most basic level a coach's job is to let the players have those experiences and then to let them "percolate" on them, as it were.
     So this past weekend one of my teams came away with a lot to percolate on.  Their opening game for the KSSL season was a tough one played in raw conditions.  Despite the score it was a good game for them and I was generally happy with the level of skillfulness and the overall commitment to energetic play.  Then in the evening they played their final indoor game of the season and, again, took a tough loss.   But again, they played with good energy the whole game, constantly pressing to come back.  And there was plenty of great skill on display.  The team had, throughout both games, what I'd call a "gamer's" attitude, meaning they played like they were there for the love of the competition, regardless of the outcome.  As a coach I can't ask for more.  If I watch them compete with real commitment and even some joy but they finish with a loss I cannot go into the post-match chat with them with anything but a positive attitude.  The moment the final whistle blows in a situation like that I have to immediately let go of any disappointment I might feel at the loss and begin thinking about how to talk to the team positively about how they played and how we can build on it.
     My comments to the team after that evening game ended with me telling them that I was glad to be their coach, that I love watching them play and I love training with them.  I told them that being a select player means you've made a commitment to the game, to your teammates and to your own longterm development.  "That development is a long arc" I said.  "And if you're committed to following it I'm committed to guiding you.  I'll be with you all the way."

Spring 2017 training goals

One of the training goals I have for Ninjas and Girl Power this season is to help everyone perfect the "roll-over" dribble touch.



I think most of my players can execute this skill but very few of them will use it in games so that's what I'll be focusing on this season, getting them to adopt that skill as a regular part of their game.  This dribble skill is valuable for two reasons.  First it allows a player to move quickly with the ball in a way that keeps the ball moving at the same speed the player is running.  Secondly, it can be used as a simple and effective deceptive dribble skill too.

Tactical Thinking and the Three Questions

     I've been reading a wonderful little book on coaching called Soccer IQ by Dan Blank, a coach for the women's squad at the University of Georgia.  In each brief chapter of the book Coach Blank shares his observations on what constitutes the "soccer iq" that good players have in common.  You might think this "iq" would include a lot of technical skills, things like having a good passing stroke or having mastered some particular deceptive dribbling skills, the sorts of things I work the most on with my players.  But for Coach Blank those skills are the tools you have to have in order to make and execute tactical decisions in games and it's in that decision making that we find the soccer iq that separates great players from good ones.  It's qualities like speed of thought, empathy and anticipation and developing a habit of observing the game closely even as you're playing.

     For some time now anyone attending one of my teams' games would be able to hear me calling to my players to "use your eyes" as I encourage them to know what's going on around them.  So I was tickled to get to chapter 10 of Soccer IQ, and find Coach Blank emphasizing just how important it is for players to really learn to use their eyes.  Here are a few passages from the chapter which is entitled Three Questions:

     "A soccer player's most important body part is her pair of eyes.  Your eyes are your very best way of collecting information...Your eyes prepare you to make the decisions that enable you to play quickly and keep the ball for your team.  And too many players don't utilize them very well.
     In a ninety minute soccer game you will probably spend between two and three minutes on the ball.  That means that 87 minutes, roughly 96% of your day, is spent off the ball.  Smart players understand that when they don't have the ball, they've got to plan for those moments when the ball finds them.          

     A smart player is constantly asking herself, "What if?" and "What's next?"
     What if the ball comes to me?
     What's next when I get it?
     What if we give the ball back to them?  What's next?
     What if they give the ball back to us?  What's next?
     And she is always asking, "What's behind me?"
      

Average soccer players make their decisions after they've already received the ball. That's not a good thing...Smart players make 90% of their decisions before the ball ever gets to them.  Even if that decision is to face up a defender and take her on the dribble (1v1), the smart player already knows that's what she's going to do before the ball gets to her."

     Share that with your player if you can.  I think all of the players I coach are capable of understanding what this is about.  If you're interested in hearing more of Coach Blank's ideas on Soccer IQ you can go to his website www.soccerpoet.com and he's also got a SoccerPoet channel on YouTube where he actually talks through and illustrates some of the book's chapters.  Good stuff.