What We're Working On

I apologize for failing to post anything about the first week of games.  Thanks again to everyone for your patience with me as I try to balance all my soccer responsibilities.

So, what have we seen the last two weeks?  And what should we be working on this session?

With the U4 kids we've seen a group that is, without exception, very engaged during practice and fairly interested on game day too.  For me as the coach that is a wonderful situation to be in with a U4 team.  Our first two practices went very well with no significant melt-downs and lots of consistent participation.  I'm especially happy with how engaged Katie has been.  I think we'll see a lot of progress for her this session.  Nolan and Caroline are new to the game but both have the advantage of having older siblings who already play so, again, I'm seeing two players who are dropping into the routine of practices and games with some ease.  Eiden seems to be doing very well too.  He works hard at practice and is just on the cusp of understanding how to use his skills in the actual games.  Eiden is a good example of where a lot of kids in this age group typically are in their development.  He shows great skills in practice but during the game he hasn't yet gotten the hang of having to contend with other kids for the ball and so he ends up chasing them, the kids, rather than anticipating the position of the ball.  It is the slow development of that ability to anticipate how the action will unfold and understand the game from a broader perspective that we should look for from these kids this session.
     Ironically, it seems though that the way to help them develop that perspective is to spend practice time focused on the ball and building their basic ball skills.  When you see players like Hunter and Damien consistently find their way to the goal you have to realize that they are only able to use their vision to navigate the field because they are now, after a lot of practice, fairly relaxed with the ball at their feet.  And at the very upper end of this sort of development is Will who is so casual about possessing the ball that he can now start anticipating the other team's actions.  We saw him in Saturday's game in several instances peeling away from the swarm of kids to drop back into coverage of our goal.  Now, you see lots of kids begin their field awareness development by playing at being goalie or a defender and that's a great first step.  But what you need to see in Will's actions is that he seemed, to me at least, to be dropping back only as a way to be in position to get the ball.   After one particular run that the other team's best player, Carson, made, Will seemed to realize that rather than contend with Carson and his own teammate to get the ball he, Will, would get out of the scrum and let Carson come to him, one on one.  And in that situation Will knows he can steal the ball.  Defense becomes an opportunity for offense.  Pretty sharp.

     The U6 Sharks are doing great work in practice and I'm seeing some amazing development from all of them.  I'm particularly impressed with the powerful kicks that some of them now have.  Carson in particular has developed a really beautiful power kick off the outside of his right foot.  That's a valuable skill to have and many good players could go for years without mastering it.  Micah's shooting kick, while more traditional, is also impressively powerful.  With Ashley we have good technique...with both feet.  That is probably the most valuable skill any striker can have.  You've got to take your shots where you get them and playing with only one foot can severely limit your options.  I always try to make a big deal in practice or games whenever I see the kids make any sort of touch with their off foot.  They usually look at me like I'm crazy.
     I also get that look from them when I'm talking about how they need to control the ball with their toes.  I think for most of them the work we do in practice on developing their touch must seem completely unrelated to what happens in games.  For kids this age the game is still mostly about moving forward on a straight line toward the goal and to do that you need to kick the ball, then run, then kick again, then run, etc.  I think at this age they are mostly seeing the field in a horizontal perspective where all lines converge on the goal.  After a while though they will start to see the field as an open space in which they can find non-straight paths to the goal.  I hope we'll begin to develop that broader sense of the field space this session through all of our practice work on ball control and touch.  Again, the irony is that in order to get them to "feel" the whole field I need to force them in practice to focus on the ball at their feet.  When they begin to develop confidence in their ability to move with the ball they will be able to look up more and see the field and then be open to whatever options present themselves. Diego is our leader in this regard right now.  He has a beautifully patient, meandering sort of style.  He just pokes and prods the other team's line until he either finds a way through or they just get tired and let him through and all the while the ball is at his feet.  I'm planning to try a few specific games at the next practice to help all of the Sharks develop that ability to move laterally or even backwards in order to find a path.

     The U8 Sharks are playing with remarkable skill right now.  Lots of very good ball control and movement and lots of very constructive communication on the field.  When you combine that with the way some of them are maturing physically you get a team that is overwhelming the competition again.  Austin, Sam E. and Elizabeth are all hitting the ball with ferocious velocity right now.  Austin, in particular, seems to have crossed some new threshold, especially with his right foot, and is now just punishing the ball.  Early in Saturday's game he took a corner kick for us and Mike and I were trying to get the other Sharks to move in front of the goal but in the near-post area, so closer to Austin so that he could get the ball to them.  Karolyn wasn't hearing us and so she stayed where she was in the far-post and it turned out that she was in the right spot.  Austin's kick nearly hit her in the head on a fly.  That's about 15 yards in the air and that's very impressive for a six year old.
     I think that developing a more powerful kick for all of the U8 Sharks should be a goal this session.  I'll want to combine that with their normal work on ball control and touch.  I really want to press all of them to trust themselves to try and dribble through the traffic, using their moves to find a path.  I coached Owen's club team in a couple of KYSA Academy games this weekend and the teams we played each had players who pressed forward with the ball every time they got it and their skills, for seven and eight year olds, were just astounding.  I'm very happy to report that Owen and his teammates responded in kind rather than falling into bad old habits of playing kick-ball.  The Dragons (Owen's team) pulled, spun, scissored, stepped over and did everything else they could think of to break the other team's defense and when they lost the ball they just went back to get it and then tried again.  I know eventually the kids have to learn how to anticipate each other and start making passes in order to really penetrate good defenses.  But I remain convinced that right now, at this stage in their development, the key is to stay focused on individual ball control so that as those skills become second nature to them they will be able to look up and see those passing opportunities that appear so obvious to those of us on the sidelines.
     I would point to one game highlight as a demonstration of what I want the kids to be developing this session.  Sam E's second goal was from a tiny two yards out as he crossed from the left side.  He had one defender in front of him and Karolyn was wide open about eight yards away with a clear shot at the goal.  Obviously Sam could have passed to her and she'd have scored easily.  What he did instead was make the simplest cross-over move, just a step left then, when the defender bit on that move, a quick step to the right and he found himself wide open for a chip in.   My goal this session is not to convince Sam that he should pass the ball rather than penetrate and shoot.  My goal is to get the other kids to do more of what Sam does.  Attack.
     So for this session...more foot skills and first touch practice.  More tutoring on the finer points of a powerful kick...and very little discussion, let alone practice, on passing.  Attack, attack, attack.

U8 Sharks Give 3v3 Another Try

The U8 Sharks looked much more relaxed this time around playing in the 3v3 Live Regionals.  The fields were beautiful and the weather was great.  The Sharks came out and played with the confidence and intensity we expect from them.  So, all in all it was a great weekend of soccer.  We had plenty of time between games to get some very good practice in so that was a nice bonus.  And of course the kids had a good time just hanging out with each other between games.

On Saturday we played the Norwin, PA Rowdies three times and they were all good games with the Sharks usually dominating the ball.  However the Rowdies came out on top in two of those games.  For the weekend Sam E. was our leading scorer but Sam A. got a goal in too, as did Jackson and Austin.

On Sunday we played the Rowdies again, this time to a 4-4 tie and then also played a couple of older teams.  In those games the Sharks played with lots of energy and were never backing down from the bigger kids.  That last game was really a good one.  All in all I was really happy with the way they played and the experience they're getting is invaluable.  Even though we took 2nd place in the U6 division with the Rowdies we managed 3rd place on Sunday in the U7 group as we beat out the Rowdies on goal differential.  Great tourney Sharks!

3V3 with the U8 Sharks.

On June 30th some of the U8 Sharks participated in their first 3v3 tournament.  Here are some highlights.

Sharks!

After the game I told them that they are the best team I've ever seen in their age group.  

They are.  They improved so rapidly over their play from last session and now show so much self-confidence that the transformation is almost hard to appreciate, as though when you see them play now you think, well, of course, they always play this way.  The truth is though that at the start of the last session things were rough for a few games and some of those games were hard to watch.  I don't mind the losses at all but watching the kids in games that they clearly aren't enjoying is difficult.   It's difficult when you see how hard they work in practice and how excited they are when they arrive for a game to then see them on the field with looks on their faces as though they are being punished.  They turned things around by the end of the session though and in this session, with the competition watered down a bit, the little Sharks and the big Sharks came together and developed a consistent style of play that served them well in every game (every victory).  These are great kids.  Thanks for letting me coach them.

Week Seven: Control.

The Sharks are a very strong team right now.   And I do mean "team".  The quality of their play as a group, their cooperation, anticipation and communication with each other is remarkable.  As strong as each of our individual players is they are, as a team, simply overwhelming because they play with such calm confidence and patience.  They control the game and dictate the pace and they know that they are doing that.  To see how far they've come from the somewhat panicked play of last session is wonderful.

I want to recognize the contribution that Drew and Owen make every week by setting such a great example of the style of play we want; that controlled, cool-headed style that allows them to stretch the field and and create opportunities.   And it's important to recognize that Drew and Owen and all the Sharks do this, not because we've harped on them to pass, pass, pass.  Rather it's because we've harped on them to develop their ball skills and to get comfortable with the ball at their feet.  When they begin to do that then everything else, from maintaining their spacing to seeing passing opportunities, can just fall into place naturally because they'll be playing with their heads up and their eyes taking in the whole game not just the small circle of turf right in front of them.  I'm so proud of how hard they've worked and of how fearless they are.

The big highlight of today's game had to be the goal for Daylon, his first.  That he just began playing and yet already plays with such poise is hard to believe.  If Drew and Owen set the tone for the team then Daylon has been the most conspicuous emulator of that tone.  He's as cool and un-panicked in the midst of the action as any player I've ever coached.

The Sharks have one more game together then it's Summer break and Drew and Owen will be moving up to U10.  I know those two have both relished their roles as the "big kids" on the team and they'll miss the little Sharks.  But who knows, in a few years they might all be back on the same team again.  In the mean time they'll just have to become the core of a new U10 version of the Sharks and get on with showing their new teammates how it's done.

Brilliant!

The U8 Sharks game this week was easily the team's best performance ever.  The final score was impressive to be sure but the real beauty of this game was in the team's ability to compose themselves at the half.  The first two periods were played at a very frenetic pace and with the score close all the way to the half-point the team was playing too fast with too much kicking and not enough control of the ball.  I took a moment with them in the bench to remind them that they should ignore the score and just focus on playing the game the way we like to play: cool-headed with good ball control, dribble first, pass second.  In the second half they went out and did just that and the result was a barrage of goals, mostly in one-on-one situations where the Sharks' patient attack had allowed them to get past the opposition defense for clear shots.

Drew had a goal for us early in the game then Sam E. put one in before the half.  In the third quarter the game was a 2-2 tie.  In those early quarters we'd had great play from everyone even if the pace was faster than I like.  That pace was working for us at first, especially with the play of Sam A. who was showing some amazing athleticism and speed.  Coach Mike and I both noted that he seemed to have really reached a new level in terms of his anticipation of the action and his touch on the ball.  He and Drew along with Sam E. were the brunt of our attack early.

In the second half the Sharks started playing with that beautiful calm ball control that just drives other teams crazy.  Again and again Daylon would hold the ball for a few extra ticks, like a point guard looking for an open man, then he'd send a pass down field that would lead either Sam E or Austin right into a shot.  Elizabeth was seeing those passing lanes too and made some beautiful passes up to the strikers.  I talk to both players a lot about trying to use their skills to get around the other team and do some attacking of their own but I think that with both kids they have such a soft touch on the ball and such confidence in their control that they can use their peripheral vision freely and see those obvious passing opportunities.  Most of the time they are sending the ball up field to a target, not just clearing it wildly.

As mentioned, Sam E and Austin were the beneficiaries of some fabulous support from their midfielders and so they got up into the box often enough to score a combined 5 goals in the second half.  Sam E had 3 for a game total of 4.  Austin put in two, one on a rebound.  The other was a blast from 8 yards out that he really hustled to get open for.  Elizabeth had sent a nice ball up the wall for Austin and as he raced along with it toward the opposition's right corner he got tripped up by a defender and took a nasty spill.  (after the game he was showing off his turf-burn to the other kids)  There was nothing malicious there but it might have been called a foul.  The ref saw it otherwise and let play continue.  Now you need to know that up to this point the other Coach had been chirping a bit about the officiating and Mike and I were just a bit annoyed by this since we do try to constantly impress on the Sharks that they must use their skills, not their elbows.  We want them to play as clean as possible while never conceding the ball.  So hearing complaints that the Sharks might be playing too rough is hard to bear.  At any rate, after that fall Austin took and the ref's no-call Mike was a little fired up and he called to Austin to shake it off and go take the ball back.  Austin did just that and as he circled back around for his shot Mike couldn't help but call out "make'm pay!"  Austin delivered...all shoe laces then straight into the net!  Competing hard is its own reward...but winning is a nice bonus.

Zachary and Jackson both did well for us in this game too and were both a big part of our attack and defense.  They both had moments of really wonderful, un-panicked ball control.  Zachary did give me a pull-back or two this game and he did make a couple of nice runs around his opponents.  And more than once his big kick saved us.  Jackson was cool as a cucumber in midfield and repeatedly made nice first touches to settle the ball then look for a pass.  He told me after the game though that he just hadn't had time for a pull-back.  So now he owes me two.

I'm really proud of them this week.  That first half had them moving towards that panicked, frenetic play that uses a lot of energy but isn't particularly effective.  But they pulled it together in the second half and settled into their own beautiful game.  Like I said above, winning is a nice bonus.  But what I like to see is that they are all building the confidence in themselves and each other that will allow them to gladly compete against anyone. Well done Sharks.

U6 Sharks Return to Form. U8 Sharks Continue Run of Fine Play.

     First, my thanks for Mike Seng for covering for me at the U4 game.  I hear the team played well again.  That has become a very strong group of players.
     Thanks to Coach Ben for running the U6 Sharks through their pre-game routine.  He certainly got them motivated to play.  What I saw from them Saturday was some of their best play yet.  Special congratulations to Micah for picking up a goal.  He was really on fire this week and found himself in the right position repeatedly.
     The U8 Sharks played beautifully in another great game.  Before the game I asked them all to show me how they do a "pull-back", a basic ball control technique.  When we were sure they all had it Mike and I let them know that we expected to see them all try it at least once during the game and if they didn't do at least one "pull-back" they'd owe us two the next game.  The idea is to keep them focused on stretching their skill set rather than on getting wins.  I want to see them all progressing at about the same rate and by keeping them focused on those individual skills I hope to avoid having anyone getting left behind or hanging back from being involved in our attack as a team.  Well a lot of them did try to demonstrate that move and frequently it was at sort of the wrong time strategically, which I think is a good thing.  That means that they were able to get their heads out of the rush of the game just long enough to think about performing this task we'd set for them and I think that when they can do that they can get to the point where the game slows down for them a bit.  By the way, Zachary and Jackson owe  me two pull-backs next week.

The star this week was Sam A. who managed his first goal in U8.  Sam just gets right in the thick of things and always knows which way to the goal.  We had great play from everyone this week with the scoring spread out among several players.  Austin had the first, then we had goals from Drew (3), Sam A., Sam E. (2) and another from Jackson late.  We had very good midfield play again from Zachary and Daylon and a lot of great ball control from everyone at both ends of the field.  I have some video below (it's a bit shaky) that shows some of the scoring and other good plays.  We added a player this week, James, and you'll see in the video that he nearly turns a rebound on one of Sam's shots into his first goal.  There's also a clip of Elizabeth attempting something close to a bicycle kick.  Crazy!