It's sinking in

I am by no means a megalomaniac when it comes to coaching soccer, I just like working with players and teaching them the sport and about life.  I repeat the same thing over and over sometimes, much to the players groans.

I received a note from a parent this morning that their player would not be at practice and normally this may be all a coach expects to see so they can plan, but the second part let me know (and made me laugh) that it's all sinking in.  

This tidbit is from my U9 girls team who have a tournament this weekend and who I know need to use more than their available fingers and toes to count the number of times I have asked for them to be hydrated before a full weekend of play...

"...won't be there. Sorry. But she's doing some practice and already put herself on a water regimen."

Best of luck to both my U8 and U9 crews this weekend.  Win or lose, play with skill, play with passion, have fun, don't get distracted, and just play soccer!

...pssst...don't forget to drink some water, don't eat too much candy and go to bed on time.

Coach Ben’s Inspirational Academy Pre-Tourney Speech

Throughout this season, Coach Dave and I have been teaching you all to be confident, skilled individual players.  You have worked your behinds off, twice a week with us and at home piling up thousands of touches and hundreds of minutes with the ball.

Every time we see you go out and play and come upon someone from the other team, a teammate in practice or even us as coaches, we can see in your eyes there is no desire to give away the ball, only that you want to win that 1v1, 1v2 or even 1v3.  You ball-hogs, you! :-)

This whole week and throughout the season we trained in cramped tiny spaces and I know just from this week how much you grumble about running into each other and having the ball taken away by your own teammates, but very often now, you are keeping the ball, avoiding the contact by staying on your toes, and finding the tiniest spaces to move through and get off a shot.

Take a look around at the orange cones I set up.  Right now we are standing inside the same amount of space we train on in the indoor field (32’ x 56’).  Now look out at the rest of the field and all that space, almost seventeen times the space we use to train.  Think you can find the green space when you have the ball?  Think you can find the green space when you don’t have the ball?

Win or lose today, tomorrow or two weeks from now, all we want to see from you is running onto and off of this field with smiles on your faces and with no distractions to…just…play…soccer.

With all that said, today let’s have fun, keep the ball…AT OUR FEET…, let’s possess…THE BALL…, play some awesome skilled Legends soccer, take the ball down the field, and score some goals.

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Hope it pumps them up tomorrow.  I certainly can hear music crescendo in my head towards the end!

Now it's not fair? Really?

It's amazing to hear people complaining in the community about something different only when it starts to shake up what they believe is the right way to do things.  No, I am not talking about politics or some other nonsense, only soccer...yup just soccer.  Honestly though it could be anything.

Trying something different, but really entirely so basic in it's simplicity. 

Taking our years of lumps and beatings, people too skeptical to stay the course, having other teams and coaches ask why you would even play that way.  They then use it to their advantage as we are developing only to win a kids game, but then when it all starts to click and the sides turn, it becomes a threat.

"You can't have players with this kind of ability playing with us, it's not fair."

"Stop having your select players in our rec league."

"Why can't you just teach them to play the way we were taught by our volunteer parent and then their volunteer parent before them who learned to coach soccer by playing highschool football or softball and never asked if there was a better way or took the time to level themselves up?"

Of course my favorite at U8, "Why don't you keep your players in positions?"  I won't digress into that one again, but I will on another topic to make a point.

I played on little league baseball team who carried the same roster of players year after year and it was always a dismal day when other teams played us.  They would groan and submit to their lump and every soccer club has their fair share of teams like this or they intentionally are focused so much on winning keep their teams at a lower level so as not to be too challenged.

Although, on those teams not everyone was equal.  Some players are there to fill the ranks, play right field, as it were, and occasionally come in when it was beyond a competitive game.

What if though rather than throwing people into space where they may not be needed because you have a few good players who normally control the game OR take a child who at a meager 6-8 years old is the tallest and who is normally placed in goal or defense to "Kick the ball Johnny!" and instead "teach" all of them equally and train all of them to be the best they can be to play on any team with anyone, allow them to be the most confident they can be, take away any pressure and tell them you could give a rats behind about the outcome, then put them all on the field together and let them play.

Result happy kids playing.

This basic philospohy I fell in love with is gaining a good deal of traction right now and we are picking kids each time we go out there and play so rather than complaining about what we're doing with any, and I mean ANY, kid who wants to play for us, why not trying a bit of it yourself at your next practice.

So yes, that's somewhat of a rosey picture and a bit of an ad, but honestly every group in the program is not there yet (older or younger).  We have a bunch of teams now and continue to take our drubbings so for those who are new to the program, have been used to the old ways, and are feeling some stress:

-I say, patience
-I say, enjoy your player being a child
-I say, ask your child why they play; to have fun or because you want them to
-I say, enjoy watching them learn, having fun, having successes and having failures
-I say, talk about the effort to get there, not the result
-I say, stop looking at pictures of teams with trophies
-I say, what is better, a child with the right tools to succeed or a child who is dependent on a glittery thing to make them happy and give you and them self worth
-I say, if you really want a trophy or a win so bad, you'll forget everything I just said, then get your ass out there and play for one yourself

One Liners

All it takes is a desire to have fun and understanding I want to have fun too, but I am also their teacher so they should treat every training like a classroom and every game like recess.

The Future's Bright...It's Coach Ben's fault...and Coach Dave's First Blog!

The U9 girls had two split up this weekend for the first time...it really felt like separating your identical twin from you.  Coach Dave took the Louisville group and I grabbed our Versailles group.

I asked Coach Dave to put down his thoughts after the weekend and he did a masterful job.  I felt like I was there after reading it.  Before I transcribe his thoughts here, a small bit about the Versailles girls and and some extra weekend activity by the U9 crew.

A big shout out to Payton, Isabella and Karolyn for not only helping out, but giving everyone a glimpse of what all our U9 crew are capable of doing this weekend as they played for our U11 Select team.  I didn't see them Saturday, but got a full belly of them Sunday...speed, ball control, moves, driving to the goal, a good early understanding of the game, and a whole lot of having fun.  

We actually had quite a few parents and players trying to recruit them to play, but for me it was more of how we can show what the foundation of Legends can do at an early age and allow them to play with anyone...and when I say anyone, I really wish I could have had a picture of one drop ball which occurred between Isabella and the other team.  The opposing player was literally almost twice her height, but Iz walked right up with no concern over her opponent's height and faced her down...well at least she faced her belly button down.  

One last item I have to mention, Iz and Payton teamed up Sunday for the U11 team's first score.  Good display of not giving up on the play!

The rest of the Versailles group played brilliantly in both of their matches.  I was fortunate enough to finally be at a point where I could stop asking them to hustle and ask them to slow down, not from a scoring or play standpoint, but to stop following the person with the ball and just move with the game as the second attacker/defender.

We were outscored in our second match, not by much, but honestly it was my fault and I am so glad for it.  The girls had plenty of opportunities to score, but even as they got to right in front of the goalie, I reminded them they were supposed to do a move, which they listened to, then tried and lost the ball.

Could I have let them run loose and score at will?  Sure, but I am more proud of their trust in me to stop and do what I ask, even though it failed and be completely okay with it.  Usually, they would just turn around with a grin and look at me like, "Jeez Coach".

Last item, thanks to our guest players, Hailey, Emily and Cora.  I am glad you had fun and enjoyed the experience!  You all rocked it!

Now on to Coach Dave's Blog...

I was extremely proud how each girl played yesterday. I haven’t seen these specific girls play better individually or as a group than on Saturday. Prior to the game, I had asked them each to possess the ball, give each other space, and trust in their teammates. I believe we possessed the ball nearly 80% in both games. I never saw the girls flocking or herding to the ball, but I was most proud how they trusted in each other. There were multiple occasions where a Legends player had the ball either in the corner, along the sideline or just in the middle of the field, and their teammate gave them the space and trust to work thru the situation. As mentioned, that was most evident when players were either in the attacking or defensive corners. I would just simply say to the players to assess the situation and do what comes naturally. The end result was typically a well-timed move (and go), a shield of their body to advance themselves out of the situation, or a poke (notice I didn't say pass) of the ball into open space where a teammate (who didn't flock) was waiting to continue forward. The girls played extremely well, which resulted in a lot of possession, tons of shot opportunities (I think every player had at least 2 shots on goal), and of course a lot of scoring. Many girls scored that haven’t typically scored so their was a lot of excitement from the player, parents, teammates, etc. After the initial excitement, I was quick to congratulate them on the score but really highlight and praise them for the actions that led to the shot (or goal). I tried to remove each girl after her score so I could deliver that positive reinforcement on the sideline.

Player specific info:

Lilly

After subbing her out for the first time, I challenged Lilly to show me how she could advance the ball vertically. I pointed out to her that she was possessing the ball quite well with under control dribbling, the occasional move, and shielding of her body but she was going from sideline to sideline. I pointed out that she was getting past the attacking defender and that she needed to trust in her skills and speed to just go forward. Once she went back in, you started to see her get more comfortable with this and she started to make numerous, multi-touch runs in open space (generally along the sideline). After the games, I told her how proud I was of her and called out two instances where she actually saw everyone rotating to her side of the field, which led her to quickly reverse course, swing back the other way, use a burst of speed, and advance the ball deep into the opposing teams end. Lilly also played goal keeper for the first time. She was a bit hesitant but I reassured her that she’d be fine. I pointed out that the box was her house and that no one was allowed in her house without her permission. She didn't see a lot of action due to how much we possessed the ball, but she had one instance where she jumped out of the goal and pounced on a ball resulting in a discouraged Lexington FC player. Lilly received a game ball.

Mckenzie

Mckenzie played extremely well. It was like she had the ball on a string tied to her shoe. She was always under control despite giving maximum effort. She played a lot of forward for me, but I was always impressed when we actually lost possession and the other team was on a counterattack that she hustled back, which typically resulted in her getting the ball from behind with a quick stop-hop, 180-turn, and back on the attack. I lost count of how many multi-touch runs she made in open spaces, but it was definitely in the teens! Mckenzie received a game ball.

Mariyah

Mariyah started out a little timid for me even though I had personally challenged her to have multiple touches on the ball before kicking it. I quickly pulled her out so we could talk on the sideline. I reminded her that she played 1v1 against me in the last practice, and that I knew she could possess the ball, make moves, etc. because she made me look foolish in practice. After a small grin, I challenged her again and subbed her in at center forward thinking there would be a lot of action in the middle of the field and force her to have multiple touches. She did not disappoint and I played her primarily there for both games. She got more and more comfortable throughout the games, which led to a goal by her in the second game on a multi-touch run and powerful shot into the right back corner of the net. I don’t think the goalie even moved it went by so fast!

Olivia

I was really proud of how well she played. Olivia was her typical communicative self throughout the game, and while she continued to call out when she had the ball, she also laid off at times when she realized her teammate had things under control. Where Olivia really shined was when she was stuck in a corner or along the sideline (typically surrounded by three defenders). She probably had 4-5 situations like this. On the first instance, I simply said to her that she needed to assess the situation and make a decision. She quickly blurted back, “I know!” and then went on to do a Maradona and went past two defenders straight to the goal, shot the ball and just missed to the right of the far post. After that, I didn't have to say anything to her when she was in those situations. She stayed under control, took her time and generally had a successful result. While I know we don’t typically point out scores, I do have to mention a couple goals players had since they were not the result of poaching. In Olivia’s case, she had a well-timed run with multiple touches on the ball resulting in her being 1v1 against the goalie. She did a Puskas faking the goalie to the left and then followed it up with a quick shot to the right side of the goal. She was excited for scoring and I actually got a little excited myself and ran out on to the field. She said “I scored!” and I said, "I know but I was so proud of the Puskas that you did to fake the goalie out!"

Eva

Eva played really hard for me. She played whatever position (forward, defender, goalie) I asked her to play without complaint. As you know, she loves to play attacking forward. She also has a tendency to herd to the ball, but she really listened to me and kept her space, which typically resulted in the ball ending up to her in open space anyway. The one thing we've been working on at home and I reinforced for her to practice during the game was to leave the “kangaroo” in her pocket on the sidelines. Eva has the tendency to hop too much and doesn't get her weight or positioning right resulting in a misconnect on the ball. I challenged her to work on this throughout the game explaining I understood it was sometimes difficult for her being a lefty. I told her that it was okay to slow down a bit so she could concentrate more on the technical aspect. For the most part, she played under control, had great touches, continued to use her pullback and go move (but I did see a Rivolino and Cruyff from her), and got a lot more pace on the ball when shooting opportunities occurred. With all that, I was most proud of Eva when she was in at goalie. Before she went out, I told her that she had to help direct the players when free kicks or corner kicks occurred. The players still struggle a little bit with positioning on those plays. On one corner kick, Eva started barking at her players to go here, go there, etc. Everybody moved to their spots, we quickly got the ball, and advanced down the field. Eva looked over me with a big grin on her face and I gave her a thumbs up!  Eva received a game ball.

Elissa

Elissa played a very well-rounded game. It’s evident that she’s really mastering her skills thru repetition (i.e. homework). When she wants to, she can advance the ball thru a myriad of defenders. On multiple occasions, she dribbled the ball left-right-left-right-around players on very lengthy runs. If I didn't know better, it was like she way toying with the opposing team. She played wherever I asked her to play and always gave maximum effort. She would have gotten a game ball from me except for some issues on the sideline. We talked about it after the game, and I told her how proud I was of her play on the field but she couldn't be a distraction on the sideline. I advised her that being a good player, teammate mattered as much off-the-field as it did on. It was a good lesson for her and I think one she will remember going forward.

Kelsey

What can I say about Kelsey? I really enjoy watching her play. You can tell that she’s really starting to understand game situations and making great decisions that result in a positive outcome. She played a complete game for us wherever she was positioned, but I have to call out one particular play that is the best I've seen this season. The ball was rolling towards me on the coach’s sideline in the attacking end for us. Two Lexington players were quickly chasing the ball down, but before the ball could roll out Kelsey touched it with her left, spun to shield both defenders and drug it forward with her right (i.e. a Maradona), which kept the ball in play and created space for her. She followed that up with a couple more touches and then a powerful shot that found it’s way into the back of the net. She was so excited that she scored that she ran over to me and Liz. I said “I know you scored but do you realize what you just did on the sideline!”. I told her that that was probably the best skill move I’ve seen any player execute this season. 

Cora

Cora has the heart and courage of a lion. I can’t believe this girl is only six years old. She is fearless! It only took her a couple minutes to start feeling comfortable on the field. She was always in the mix, never shying away from the ball. She plays much bigger than her size, which I’m sure is due in part to having an older sister. This was evident on a few occasions. The first being that she scored the team’s first goal on the goalie from the week prior (U10 girl) that we couldn't score on. It was a powerful kick that I think surprised the goalie. This goal also woke our team up because I think they realized if Cora can score on her so can we. From that point on, the flood gate was open. Then in the second half the Lexington team put that girl on the field to help their team possess the ball. There were several opportunities where Cora was either defending against or taking it to that girl, who (let me remind you) was twice her height and weight. Cora quickly became a fan favorite as parents were constantly heard cheering her on. Lastly, this was maximum effort and energy from a girl who had played for her normal team in the morning before playing a double header for us. If she plays this well for our U9 academy team, I can only imagine how Cora does on her Legends team. Cora received a game ball for her overall play, courage and tenacity.

Same old song, but it just keeps getting better

This past weekend my U8 Rec and U9 Academy teams took the field and showed again why focus at an early age on foot skills and encouraging 1v1 play to beat defenders and gain confidence with the ball are so very important.

For the U8 group positions and passing are just ridiculous to conceive when many times their greatest challenges are keeping their heads up, knowing where the goal is, and trying not to defend against their own teammate.

I watched as the other team patiently set up their players at the beginning of the game into 3 forward and 2 goal box fence posts then struggle the rest of the match to keep them in these spots or get them to move from them; how confusing for a 6-7 year old.  "What the heck do you want me to do coach?!"

Once again, I set all of our players up on the bottom of the midfield circle with their only instructions to possess the ball, keep it at their feet, and do a move and head to the goal.  This time, even the referee looked over at me in the beginning to see if I really wanted all five girls in this odd formation.  Absolutely!

The girls never gave up throughout the whole game; in fact, they picked up on my own cheering of the team with their own chant of "Don't Give Up! - Don't Give Up!" when a group of our players were working hard near our bench to push it towards the goal...even the other coach was getting a kick out of it.  Definitely the kinds of cheers I prefer to those which focus on the win or the score; motivating, yet not antagonizing the other team.

I passed out two game balls to Ava and Dakohta.  Ava's enthusiasm, attitude and effort to encourage her teammates to try harder were wonderful.  She was constantly challenging them to "DO A FAKE SHOT!" and she did quite a few of her own.  After one game, she herself has really honed in on to what is happening in the game and is less solely ball focused; great progress in such a short time.  Dakohta was a picture of perfection when it came to playing up and down the field and tirelessly pulling the ball away from attackers’ feet resisting the urge at this age to just kick it.  She was very cool and calm no matter where she was on the field, especially gaining control in front of our own goal and like a seasoned vet moving it out and away from the goal box and down the field and even once going from goal line to goal line for a near score.

Other notables...AUBREY!!! Whose shirt was not in the mouth and she was fierce on attack, even throwing out some moves.  Lilly the mosquito had an "AHA!" moment and after once or twice of on field direction, she stopped trying to grab the ball from her team and made her way to the front of the goal to poach.  Brooklyn helping coach and getting her team set up on the field during dead ball kicks and throw-ins.  Everyone else is showing so much improvement I really look forward to each training session with them.

Great work girls, I loved watching this game!

U9 had their Academy opener in Lexington and as I put it on the club Facebook page, "Put on a talent show of skill."  The end resulted in the host club director telling our girls, "We now know what we need to work on."

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see all the action as our girls were split into two squads, but the host club was kind enough to let us play fields side-by-side so I could at least turn around and glance at the action and talk to them at half-time.  Besides one veteran in Karolyn, my group was all new Legends girls and some younger guest players, but you wouldn't have known it from the effort and product they put out.  I could have given game balls to each player, but my four over the two games we played went to Maryah-Y and our three guest players; Hailey, Abby and Ashley.  Maryah was crazy with the ball at her feet, throwing in turns, carry-overs, stop hops, and I believe a scissor or Rivelino.  This kind of improvement for less than 2 months as a Legends player and coming from a local rec program is pretty impressive.

Hailey, Abby and Ashley got a taste of some leveled up competition from what they were used to and didn't disappoint me, their parents and the other teams' coaches.  Cryuff turns, Maradonas and play behinds helped create the space they needed to walk a tight sideline.  Hailey set herself up in space for numerous poaching opportunities; Ashley was stalwart in her ability to get back on the ball and place her body between her and the oncoming attacker and then turn things into an attacking opportunity for herself.

Abby had the other coach scratching his head on how she moved so gracefully.  She did finally begin to realize she couldn't make it all happen and showed a nice head up thoughtful pass to center.  She began to tire out and made on last move to create space between her and a defender, saw a teammate in center and put it right at her feet as they moved downfield.  Right after she got the pass off, her hands went to her knees and she took a mighty well deserved breath.

Karolyn, Isabella, Ellis and Mariyah-I have to be mentioned here to as they continue to put in serious effort and have outstanding moves of their own.

Coach Dave led a group of veterans against the host club's most experienced group in their first match and made it a possession nail biter.  What they didn't know and I knew is they had the draw of trying to score on an older U10 player who was helping out due to the host club being down a few players.  I had complete confidence in them to handle the challenge and even if they failed would put on a good showing.

I could hear Coach Dave asking them to get back on defense several times and when I turned around, I usually saw Kelsey taking the ball back before the other team had a chance to go on the attack.  I did get to see Caitlyn move around confidently in our own goal box doing a Maradona turn to go out to the sides of the fields.  They both received game balls along with Payton and Olivia.

I know Payton was throwing moves around and made her way to the goal several times for her effort.  Each time she made sure to let me know about it, which is great, but my question to her every time was "How did you do it?"  She said, "By doing moves, like Maradonas."

What's most impressive as we go along with these girls is not just that they are doing the moves, but they are continually increasing the speed at which they do them and at more and more of the right times.  We are also seeing small blurbs of active team work regardless of the combinations of players...why, because they are all growing each and every week as individual players and they too know each and every one of them are growing and can trust in one another to be there and handle the ball.

Not all our games and outings will be as glowing as this past weekend and I expect us to take more than our fair share of clobberings, but I do know each we will learn something new about ourselves every time no matter the outcome.

Go Bananas! - U9 Girls doubleheader #1

I started this a week and a half ago and fortunately I started keeping notes.  Better late than never right...kind of??  :-)

Well it looks like our between game bah-nanananas took a few minutes to take full effect Saturday (8/23), but once they did...well, it was possession domination, but we'll go over that later.  Now to match number one of our double header.

We played a position/pass team and this can either be problematic for us or to our advantage.  As I have mentioned before, we will be susceptible to breakaways and may get real backed up by a team if this occurs early on in a game.  However, we played very attack aggressive, which put this particular team on their heels and tired them out quickly even though they put in the first point.

The coach of the other team kept asking his players to glide with us and take the ball away when we were off balance performing our deceptive dribbling.  However, our girls are getting better at staying low, knees bent and on their toes, which really prevents them from being off-balance in the first place.

I had to give a game ball to Olivia for her tireless effort to perform her moves at speed.  She had one pullback-play/behind near me, which made her look like she was gliding atop the grass...BUT...probably her biggest effort came from our pre-game chat.  Olivia still struggles keeping her head up and recognizing her teammates around her.  I actually had a picture to show her of what I meant, with her in it, where she was moving her teammate off of a ball.  We chatted and and I asked her to really put in effort to keep her head up and move away from the ball if she saw a teammate with it, even if it originally cam off of her foot.

Well she did just that and for both games.  I think I even recall her looking at me once when she moved away from a play to let me know she was working on it.  The conclusion of all of this was on a drive she made deep into the offensive corner of the bench side where she had tried twice to get the ball towards goal without success by skirting the back line.

Her last attempt saw her take a big leap in her play.  She looked up and saw Karoyln poaching right in front of the goalie, pushed it hard to her away from the back line, through two players for Karolyn to pop it into goal.  Awesome!

We also had another thoughtful pass during this match, in which Elissa was making some moves and ended up being trapped on the sideline by two defenders.  They closed in on her now knowing our possess the ball mentality.  When up past their backs comes Maryah-Y who rather than call out for a pass, patiently kept her space and waited.  Elissa popped her head up, saw Maryah and pushed it between the defenders for Maryah to keep moving the ball forward.

Maryah, like our other new girls had been accustomed to asking for the ball by saying "Pass" rather than just making sure they were in the right place as an available option.  Also, by not saying anything, she did not alert the defenders to her presence.  Big in-game step forward for both girls.

Overall, our girls continue to give no space through the middle of the field forcing other teams to respect the center line and stay on sides.

This broke down a bit in the first 10 minutes of match 2 and we got ourselves chasing the ball.  Although as I said at the beginning, this was, in my mind, due to getting our legs back after a full game then playing against some fresh legs.  We ended up down by three quickly, but our girls are doing great with not seeing points and just getting themselves back to playing.  For the next 40 minutes, we had the ball minus a couple long kick breakaways, which were easily taken care of by Karolyn in goal.

It was so dead back by goal in the last 15 minutes of the first half that Maryah-Y did not touch the ball once, much to her dismay, but to the delight of her parents (or so I hear!)

Karolyn summed up this game to me by a footnote she recapped after the game where she was bringing the ball up from our defensive half and had one defender on her with another in waiting.  The 2nd defender told her teammate to "Just KICK the ball!" to which the teammate replied, "It's NOT that easy!"  Exactly!!  It is never easy against everyone of our players in a 1v1 situation!

Caitlyn, Mariyah-I and Kenzie received game balls for their in game efforts.  

Mariyah is still not comfortable with having the ball at her feet in game and kicks it away immediately.  I told her during a substitution she must get at least 5 touches before giving it away from now on.  Reluctantly at first she moved with 2, then 3 touches...then all of a sudden the ball was getting more than five touches and she ended up with a couple shots on net; one even getting neat ping sound as she hit a corner post.  She then did an even better thing than just dribbling...she followed her shot and almost got one in the net.

Caitlyn also has a tendency to get rid of the ball even though she has really good footwork and agility.  She never ceases to surprise though as she grabbed a ball in our defensive half drove straight through the middle of the field, beat three defenders and put one into the back of the net.  It wasn't a drive full of maradonas or puskas moves, but one full of ball control, slight head fakes and light direction changes and sometimes, that's all it takes.

Kenzie, is super comfortable with the ball and I can tell she enjoys being challenged by defenders when they are up close.  Although she got into a bit of a pickle with three defenders down in one of our offensive corners.  For what seemed like 90 seconds, they went back and forth.  She would do a few moves, get them off balance and start to break away when a stray leg would push the ball slightly away.  What got her the game ball was her attitude during this event.  She never gave up and kept going after the ball.  So much so, at one point, I heard a lion roar from a quiet mouse as she growled out in frustration over the situation, then she grabbed the ball back and went back at it again.

Time well spent - U8 Girls fall opener

Before I go on about this U08 group, I'd like to note this is the first time I have coached a team, which did not include one of my children.  For sure I have worked with and trained many groups, which did not include them, but this is the first time prowling the sidelines without one of them on the field or nearby so a bit of a change for me.

This group, along with Coach Brad's team, has been a blast to train so far.  It's great seeing the genuine enthusiasm on their faces with everything being so new.  In fact, I believe this was the first time for the majority of the team to, not only play in a competitive environment, but outside and not to mention in sweltering conditions.

With a new group, there are always challenges and fortunately Coach Brad and I were able to get the girls out early on, to assess where they are individually and with playing in as a group as well.  

Everything was going great with dribbling, deceptive moves, and 1v1, but it quickly became apparent, through one scrimmage, we weren't getting them to start out on the field in some sort of up and back spacing.  

We don't ask them to stay up or back during our games so why even spend the time to start them there?  I am sure the other team was surprised when all of our girls, minus the goalie, lined up at the bottom of the kick off circle like some sort of defensive line in football and I am sure there will be a coach or parent this season asking why we aren't playing positions.  

My response, and I am sure Coach Brad's will be, "Why? Why spend the time right now?"  We'd rather focus on each one of them mastering basic footwork, possession skills, confidence with the ball, and a desire to drive toward the goal.

All the girls in this first game gave great effort and especially by their desire to keep the ball in play and an ear for my voice the entire time.  I really liked how they started getting back to midfield after goals, either for or against.  This will only work to create a desire to get back to playing rather than dwelling on points.

Speaking of points some quick notes on our players:

Cora - Was our first keeper and did a lot of work.  She got down and covered the ball up like a pro and got it back out into play in a hurry.  While her throw wasn't mighty, it was quick enough to get out beyond the other teams forward players.

Dakohta - Showed me what great technique she has on her initial first touch; toe pointed down and shoelaces on the ball every time just like a baseball fielder's glove.

Lilly - Is a ball of no fear, pushing through and under the arms of groups of players and coming out with the ball and a desire to go to the goal (although we had to point her in the right direction once). : )

Ava - Oh Ava, she never wants to have the ball stop...much to the chagrin of the ref.  She's full of a lot of energy and never lacks for a question or anecdote on her day.  You'd think she wasn't listening or paying attention, but she definitely is and after a fierce look when a goal was scored on her, I knew there was a monster competitor hiding in there too.

Kate, Lydia and Aubrey - Needed a bit of a push to get them going and that's fine.  There's a lot going on and it's easy to get lost in knowing what to do.  Although when I gave them a bit of direction, they went right to it.  Kate especially surprised by her very concerted efforts to move to the sidelines on her down-field runs.

Kayla - Was tireless.  Up and back and up and back and always ready to go back on the field even when a few of her teammates were giving some worn out looks.  She received a game ball for her hustle.

Brooklyn - She played for me in the winter as the youngest on a team which is now part of the U9 Academy and got some great experience there.  I knew she would be headed for the goal constantly and let her run with it a few times.  After that, I told her she needed to start doing some moves.  They didn't all work, but one time it was at the right place and right time and it worked; a successful Puskas move.  I didn't hear her talk about her goals at all when she came off the field...all she wanted to know is if I saw her do the move.  She received a gameball for risk taking and implementing instructions from coach during the game.

I won't always have this much each game, but it is important to let parents know that while I am constantly teaching the girls on the field and on the bench, I am watching for all the little things, on which they are improving.

What's in Legends win?

Whenever Legends coaches get a chance to debrief about a game, the question always is "How'd your team do this weekend?"

We usually go right into the players' effort, how the competition was, what players may have accomplished, and ultimately the final score as an after thought.  This past Saturday our new Academy group took to the pitch for their first match together and came out where I expected them to with quite a few unexpected surprises.

What to expect is really the same every match.  Coach Pat posted this in his blog recently and I couldn't have put it any better,

..."We insist on ball control and stubborn ball possession and all of our coaches try to discourage players from defending by wildly kicking the ball.  We don't call for clearing kicks or teach our players to boot the ball out of bounds.  Everyone on the field has the same job wherever they are: have a soft touch on the ball, use your moves to get into space and head toward the goal."...

I know several Legends parents actually approached and admitted how frustrating it has become to see an opponent continually as a matter of habit, or coach direction, kick the ball out of bounds while our players will go out of their way to stop a ball on their own back line so they can dribble it up the field.

My unexpected surprises came from the newest members to Legends SC.  The players who have been with me and the club know we expect up and back play and are always on the attack, which is why we mostly have our players in the other team's attacking half.  This is why we are always susceptible to counter attacks, but I would rather have ball and goal hungry players pressing forward than players lounging in goal box recliners.

Our new teammates fell right in line to the team's style of play, most notably one of our game ball recipients, Isabella.

I remember Isabella from tryouts and specifically hearing during one scrimmage that four letter word, which is most terrible to hear...pass.  I told her at that time she would never hear me as her coach ask her to do that and however long she wanted to hold onto the ball that was her business.  She has taken this to heart and was putting on some footwork displays, which she didn't even remember doing.  Lots of her own creativity, which for her and others only can come from really working on our homework assignments.

Our other game ball went to Karolyn.  She, along with a few others, is a Legends veteran, beginning her days three years ago in HappyFeet and having already played in the Academy.  This group often doesn't get highlighted because they have a bit higher bar now, but she had some really nice 1v1 battles against opponents, which left them on their figurative rears.

So how do we measure a win?

Well, when we play like Legends:

-When we dominate possession
-When we blow away the opponent with touches on the ball
-When the match ends and our players are upset because they don't get to play anymore
-When there isn't one player on the field the other team can say, "let's take the ball towards them because we can beat them or they'll give up
-When there isn't one player on the field the other team can say, "Oh, here she comes, this one is easy to take the ball away from."
-When the other team walks through the line after they've won and there is no life in their "good game"
-When we walk through the line after a loss and there is life in our "good game"
-When coaches from the other team compliment us on what great skills and footwork our players have
-When parents from the other team exclaim, "Wow, what was that move!" or "How did she just do that!"
-When we just plain have more fun

Footgolf!

Because we need another way for us to get out and kick the ball around.
http://magis.to/JiMyRFFaQl0nPn8BDmEwCXx8

First Touch on the Ball

The following are links to two blog posts by Coach Pat and Coach Mark of our own Legends SC.  The first are Coach Pat's remarks on first touch and a drill we will be using to help emphasize it.

My goal was to run this last week for our Girls Academy, but one other drill took a bit longer than anticipated.  He has a video which goes along with it and hopefully everyone will get a chance to watch it before next Monday's training. 

http://nklegendssoccer.blogspot.com/2014/08/first-touch-drill.html

The second is a clip of a video which Coach Mark found of Ronaldinho showing how crucial it is to have a great first touch, keep the ball at your feet and maintain possession.  Read through Coach Pat's commentary before passing over to Coach Mark's blog.

http://nklegendssoccer.blogspot.com/2014/08/coach-mark-finds-ronaldinho-video-that.html

Oh and if you're thinking all Legends SC coaches have blogs, it's not true...only the ones who have lots of extra free time do.  

Training Should Be Draining

My players may think I only know two or three words sometimes, as I am always trying to motivate them to train with more effort.  They usually hear the phrase, "Come'on, I need to see more effort."  Of course, I always explain to a new group what I mean by this so they're not surprised when I say it.

Why do I say it though?

Well, I am not trying make them into mindless zombies who need to "make the donuts" every morning, but training should be draining for both the players and the coach.  It's about trying things over and over again and messing up over and over again so that one time when a player starts getting right, it's like they just scored a game winning goal.  For the coach it's about supporting and encouraging them over and over so the one when a player gets it right, you feel like you just watched them score the game winning goal.

I know it works too...not from soccer, but from watching my kids try something in a video game over and over until I hear, "YES!  I did it." or working on a trick one other player started doing before practice and now the pressure's on to be able to do it themselves and when they do it, I hear, "YES!  I did it."

The result of it all is watching the pressure melt away when it comes time for game day when they confidently say to themselves, "I've done this before, it's no sweat and now I can just have fun with it."

...and for the coach, game day is then all about thinking, "They've all done this before, it's no sweat and now I can just have fun watching it."

It's almost here!

Fall Soccer is fast approaching and just like school, we shouldn't take the whole summer off from learning otherwise our minds and skills get rusty.  Unlike school, keeping the rust away from our feet is fun.  
Get a ball out, finds some friends and play!

Dynamite Effort at Spring Explosion Tournament

I have been absent for a while due to some life events over the last month, but had to jump after the last weekend of soccer this spring to rave about our players along the same lines as Coach Pat did in his recent blog http://nklegendssoccer.blogspot.com/2014/05/tournament-weekend.html.

The recent Memorial Day weekend tournament showed how our players and parents aren't looking for instant gratification with end of game results and know it is for the longer term growth of the player we do what we do.  However, the tournament setting was an opportunity to have the players placed into a more competitive environment to see if what we are teaching them holds up or if they would fold and go back to where they were at the beginning of the season.

I am pleased to say my two teams, as Coach Pat explained in his blog, brought a next goal wins attitude with them for the duration of the tournament.  Neither team fared well in their first match.   Our co-ed team being a mix of 4 different teams coming together and our girls’ team, as they had all season, were playing above their age group.  The one thing they had in common during their remaining games was never giving up on their Legends training.

Girls U10

Our girls played four matches over two days.  They lost game one 2-8, game two 0-4, and game three 0-2…notice anything?  Each game they played was better than the last and no matter what the score; they possessed the ball, worked it down the field and had a bunch of opportunities.  The fourth game began with the other team scoring right off the bat and I was a little worried they might actually get demoralized.  Instead they actually picked it up a notch and played with even more intensity.  After being down 0-2, they came back on some aggressive individual work, tiring the other team out and with a nail biting 2 minutes left in the game, held the other team off for a 3-2 victory.  Each of the players had some great moments in this game and throughout the tournament.

Isabella missed our games Sunday, but took our tourney team training and put it into play during game one making sure she was in good second attacker position for a ball pushed to center in front of the goal and a poaching opportunity.  She scored her first goal “ever” according to her mom, who for sure thought there would be a bit more jubilance out of Isabella.  The only thing which happened was a cool turn, slight smile, and run back to center, as if to say, “Yup, I have been her before and that’s how we do it”.

Karolyn had many fast breaks down field forcing her longer legged adversaries to work hard to stay with her.  Her ability to instantly stop and change direction to goal was frustrating the other team, but her missed shots were making her own scowl deepen.  Fortunately, she had the same presence of mind to be not only a 1^st attacker, but go to goal to support  Olivia as a 2^nd attacker and was able to poach a game winner in thanks to Olivia’s efforts to get down field through defenders and with speed…scowl to smiles.

Olivia herself had a slow beginning to the tourney and I was getting her on and off the field more than others to keep her fresh and coach her back into things.  It was in game four where she really turned it on.  Again working with what we stressed in practice to make a move to deceive the defender, create space and get down field faster.   One thing I did notice and I can’t confirm if it was chance or not, but in game four, she happened to remove her sport glasses and very nearly around the same time began her blitz…coincidence…or hidden supergirl?

Our second game was officially what will be known to me as the Game of Ryan.  She played field one half and keeper in the other.  In the field, there wasn’t any defender she wouldn’t run through with the ball and any attacker she would not quickly close the gap on when they had the ball.  In goal, I don’t think there was anyone watching the game who wasn’t impressed with her dives and ground tumbles to get after the ball.  Not only those, but the quickness she demonstrated when one ball in particular bounced off her, hit the cross bar and she had the quick mind get up from the ground to grab it out of the air and fall back down on it.

Caitlyn “up and back”.  Caitlyn was Ms Consistent during throughout the weekend.  Whenever she was on the field, she was all go; up on offense and back on defense.  Her first instincts to obtain the ball were wonderful; out running attackers and either putting herself between the attacker and the ball or pushing the ball forward away from the attacker to possess it.

Payton gets my brick wall award as she has really taken to playing goalie and over the course of the tourney, especially game one, was really unafraid to get herself in front of some hard shots.  Hopefully she doesn’t get too comfy back there because she has some excellent individual skill as a field player and we need to keep it going, which will make her an even better keeper in the long run.

Lilly was our ‘out of the corner’ master.  She had the purest form of confidence in her ability to possess the ball, shield and make a quick deceptive move to go up the field and even if an attacker won the ball off of her, it never shook this confidence.  She got back to it again and again.

Kenzie was a sleuth.  She seemed to be able to find the smallest spaces between defenders or attackers who she fearlessly closed the gap on and stole the ball from them.  She also has sprouted these long legs recently and was able to move down super-fast field time and again as a second attacker keeper them other team and their goalie honest.

And Kelsey was towing the line nearly all weekend.  She would consistently make a run for the sideline with the ball and use it to her advantage to shield a defender who was reluctant to get to close to going out of bounds and when they would move to get around behind her, she rolled the ball on the sideline, keeping it just in bounds to move past them.

I was very excited to hear all of them really communicating, not only calling off one another on the ball, but also giving each other direction.  It’s like another set of eyes…and saves my voice for another game.  : )

Mixed U10

A big ‘thanks’ to Coach Mark and Coach Les for leading the mixed team during their first game as I coached the girls at the same time.  The team had their troubles not gelling, but this was a group of some of our most talented Legends players and there was no stopping them after they got it all going.  They played Coach Pat’s boys team for their second game and it was a wonderful game, as they all are between any two of our Legends teams. 

Their game three however was what I termed a ‘Legends Showcase’.  It wasn’t that they won; it was how they did it, which was great.  Even with an opposing coach who seemed to think he was coaching football, not fútbol, it was set the ball up and play the whole match and if the ball went in, there wasn’t any smugness or over celebration, only a smile, a ‘congrats’ and right back to the midfield to play again.  There were so many things each player did; I can barely scratch the surface. 

Kaleb and Drew constantly pushed their way through players and when you might think the other team had the ball, they came out of the mix with it, made a deceptive move to create space and moved the ball forward or got off a shot. 

Connor had crazy at speed ‘play behinds’ and ball juggling forward moves, once having two headers followed by a thigh down to his feet.  Nathan found impossible seams between players to get off shots or centering passes…if we could only get him to shoot away from the goalie! 

Wyatt had downfield runs, lefty angle shots, and fought off insect attacks while playing goalie.  Madison found a ball through the air, brought it down with her chest and moved it downfield in fluid motion.  Maddie faced up to opponents, baited them and danced around them with the ball on her feet. 

Daphne bullishly and deceptively moved between players and the ball to gain and regain possession then threw in stop hops to create space.  Last but not least, Josie used her gymnast skills and a lot of self-confidence to perform a few forward flip throw-ins in front of a bunch of parents and players.

What was best about 4 teams coming together so easily is it shows how having a club philosophy where everyone...EVERYONE...is trained equally and asked to step outside of their comfort zones over the course of a season and allows for any group of them to be together on the field and relax and trust in each other’s’ ability to just play.

Excellent work from everyone and we all thoroughly enjoyed the spring season!

Team 2 Red Plays a Tight Game - Coach Tries to best Noise from Highway

Team Red played some hard fought games last week and the adversity helps them to improve each week.  Their trust in me continues to grow and they are responding to the things I am asking them to do despite their misgivings.

The final score of 1-2 doesn't give justice to the amount of time our younger team had possession of the ball and how much more talented each of our players were.  Two goals, one a fluke and one well over Kelsey's small frame gave the other team the edge.

However, this doesn't account for the numerous times we were inside the other team's penalty and goal box and the only thing keeping the ball from going in was the other team having every single one of their players swarmed in front of us.  In the future, this will be the down fall of any opponent who focuses solely on one player with the ball.

I personally was trying to do my best to talk to them on the field, but realized after the first half, none of the girls could hear me from the highway noise so I took to more frequent subbing to bring girls off to talk to them.  Kelsey, especially, was very receptive to my chats and did her best to replicate our talks on the field and the sideline before going back in to play.

All the girls had their own bright spots, to name only a few, we had Eva with another staunch effort to control the ball on a bouncy field and eventually made it down to put in the team's only point.  Others had similar runs, but the bouncy field and a team putting two of their players permanently on the corners of the goal box created a last wall which was tough to beat.

Elissa finally gave me the trust I asked for in the last 7 or 8 minutes of the game.  She is so unselfish with the ball, dishing it to others after she has taken over the midfield line, but I asked her to be a ball hog and take it all the way into the goal.  I knew she was capable of beating every player on the other team.  Did she score, no, but she took it down to the goalie three successive times and once she develops her shot, woe to the goalie in her path.

Caitlyn A. got the toughness award after a crowd hushing ball to the face, which actually gave her a cut, but amazingly she just went ahead and walked over, picked up the ball and gave it to the other team for their goal kick...game on!

Caroline and Sophia had shell busting days with their aggressiveness.  I don't believe I have seen Caroline so determined to get into it physically and put on a run to get to the play.  Sophia got the game ball for not only her physicality, but her game awareness.  She was a little sluggish in the first ten minutes, but afterwards, there was not a single dead ball play where she was not in one of the other team's faces preventing them from being effective.  She also had multiple breakaways showing her ability to play up and back this past weekend.

I really enjoy coaching these girls!  Every week is like a leap and bound in their development.

Team 1 Black Changes Direction after Halftime Huddle

Team 1 Black got caught in the most typical of game time tragedies, playing the other team's game.

As I watched the first half of our game Saturday, I noticed the other team had one thing in mind, get the ball, even if it meant having literally everyone around the player with the ball.  Our girls being their age fell right into the same mode; ball chasing, swarming, and running uselessly around the field resulting in only one ball in the back of the net despite all the running they did.  The brightest spot in the first half ended up being Olivia completely surrounded by the other team in the right side attacking corner, not only doing some tremendous work in the midst of a swarm, but actually coming out with it and moving the ball back into the field of play.

At halftime, we talked about the issues and that we weren't playing Legends soccer; ball control, finding space and working on supporting each other in the 2nd attacker or 2nd defender role.  We also talked about the long, sticky grass issues and how Maradonas, carry overs, and hop stops, would work best.

From the start of the second half on, it was like a whole new team.  Everything we talked about, put onto the field.

Coaching bonus for the game was when I took out my notebook and pen at half.  I wanted to show them a couple things I saw and without asking, every eager little face leaned in on the notebook before I said a word (it was the first time I'd done anything like this with them).  I love eager to learn students!

Game ball went to Caitlyn K.  Her effort this season from when I first coached her two years ago has been amazing.  She still has her free spirit attitude, but she is quietly and steadfastly engaged in learning everything shown to her and this week she listened to coach and used it on the field.

There was definitely more great stuff by all the girls and I keep it all upstairs to motivate them each week.

Well played by all Black!

Double Header Tests Team 2 Red

Our U10 Girls Team 2 Red had their own rust to shake off just like our Team 1 Black.  They had their first game a couple weeks ago and did great with outstanding individual effort by Kelsey, Elissa and Caitlyn.

It was their first ever outing together and they even came out on top with a win so I believe there were high expectations this past Saturday and I had to reassure the girls after both games this was not about the final score and only about what they each did today, which made them a better soccer player than they were the last time they played.

Our home field is more of an appropriate size field and this was much different from the smaller field we played on in our first game.  This along with the warmer weather challenged the girls.

In our first game, a couple weeks ago, the girls were able to all chase after the ball a bit, or as what you may hear me call swarming the ball, and the small field forgave them for their enthusiasm.  The bigger fields start to tell them , "nuh-uh" and they eventually learn to pull back and move into the 1st attacker/2nd attacker and 1st defender/2nd defender mode we talk about.

Throughout both games I saw wonderful individual work and a real effort to try some of the things we have worked on recently.  I also saw some smart individual awareness on the field.

Caitlyn once again showed me how much of a passion she has to compete and is relentless out on the field.  While it may look like she is head down much of the time, she is quickly picking up some on field awareness as highlighted by her decision on our attacking 18 to make a thoughtful pass backward to Elissa after she saw she was not going to be able to make it past the oncoming defenders.  This was great because it created space for Elissa to move up after the defenders were drawn away and push it forward for a team goal.

We are also fortunate to have a second team member who has a similar drive like Caitlyn.  Eva picked it up a notch during the second game when everyone was getting worn down.  She told me during a sub out how she just couldn't get the ball in the goal even after numerous attempts.  I told her to have patience and keep doing what she was doing and it would come, which it did.  On a very similar setup as Josie on Team 1, Eva had a physical encounter with the keeper, but pushed through it and was quick to pick herself up and score.  She was pretty sore after it and was back and forth the remainder of the game about going back in, but we decided she had enough and to let her teammates finish it out.

There were many other individual displays of effort.  Sophie was putting on some good defensive work running back ahead of the play and taking it away from oncoming attackers.  Mckenzie had a great run down the field doing her thing, methodically making her way through defenders for a goal and Maya stood tough after some bent fingers in goal and came back out on the field to play.

Probably my most entertaining moment of the afternoon was the big smile I got from Sophia who had been attempting to get a successful Stop Hop and Play off and she did one right next to me.  I casually said to her, "I saw that!" and she stopped and turned with a big smile.  I then had to let her know the other team was sneaking past while she enjoying the recognition.  She had a surprised, "OH!", and promptly got back after it.

Great job to everyone this past weekend and thanks to Karolyn and Mckenzie for helping out.

As a final note, we almost had a team name picked out Saturday and then backed away from it because it took too long in the huddle to say.

U10 Girls Team 1 Black Shakes Off the Rust

It was a long Saturday of soccer matches this past weekend beginning at 10:15 AM with the boys followed up by games going through 4:30 PM.  While we were all a bit tired afterwards, my face took a beating from the nice day of sunshine.  Hopefully, my lobster face will subside before next weekend.

The day had Team 1 Black on deck for one match and Team 2 Red up for a double header.

It was Team 1's first match of the season and by the end of it, they were dragging.  It's one thing to put a lot of energy out during training, but to play at game speed for fifty minutes is much more demanding.  While they had their mojo going it was fun to watch.  The majority of these girls have been together for a season already and it shows in their trust of one another and in their abilities no matter who the opponent is.  They never seem to worry about sizing up the other team.  They ask who the other team is and that's it, time to play them.

While everyone was doing their thing, I saw some really good things out of Lilly, Payton and Josie.  Lilly was constantly frustrating the other team with her persistent patience no matter where she was on the field.  It was a pretty simple game plan she had; put herself between the ball and the attacker or defender, push it backward a step or two, turn it and move.  What was great to see was she wasn't doing the work just to show her skill, but with a purpose.  Last session she sometimes got stuck in one spot, turning the ball one way then another, but Saturday she seemed to have figured out it only took one move to beat her opponent.

Josie subbed in to help out from her team and had already had a match that morning.  She has been working very hard over the last couple years going from not ever having played to being one of our best ball control specialists.  Her one frustration has been finishing.  She gets it all the way down the field and isn't able to score.

Now I have always told all of my players, the person who consistently takes the ball down field is usually not going to the one who scores, it's the poacher who ends up with most of the goals.  However, today she was able not only put one in towards the end of the game, but she had to fight through a keeper who knocked her down and have the persistence to get back up quickly and get the ball into the net.  She came off limping a bit, but seemed to be more okay with her result.

Payton, like her sister, has had pains finishing off and putting it the net, but for different reasons.  She really has a good understanding of where other players are on the field and is looking to advance the ball up as far as she can, which includes thoughtful passing.  While this is great, I am looking for her to step outside her comfort zone and hold onto the ball longer and use her skills to take it in herself.  The result Saturday was one in the back of the net.  She also kept the team on top in the final seconds of the game by making a great save as keeper after her team just quit running back to help her.  She didn't waiver and stood up a 3 on 1!

One last brilliant display of the trust this team has in each other was off a throw in by Josie from deep in the corner of our attacking end past defenders to Jenny who made it past two more defenders making a thoughtful pass to Karolyn who was poaching in front of the keeper for a score.  It was as if they'd drawn it up as a play, well done ladies!