Ball Hog, who?

When a team has a player who has the ability to possess and control the ball all the way down the field and score, opposing teams, coaches and especially parents who find themselves being beaten or unable to possess the ball tend to start muttering or more vocally calling out the player as a 'Ball Hog'.

What if you have a whole team which can do this?  Well, they all can't be ball hogs, can they?  Sure they can, but not in the bad sense and because the whole team's a ball hog, the normal muttering of the infamous phrase disappears once this becomes apparent to the opposition, which is what occurred in our most recent U10 girls game.

The game prior to last week was a great confidence builder, which showed the girls what they could actually do with the ball at their feet.  This carried over into the next game, which happened to be back on the dreaded small field, but this time the results were different for our girls.

Out of a roster of ten, eight different girls were able to put the ball in the back of the net.  Of the two who didn't, Josie and Emma, they actually had control of the ball numerous times for runs down field and set up more than one goal for someone else.

And once our normally non-agressive players got a taste for the net they all fell into a constant frenzy to get to and to get after every ball near them.  I was very impressed by the progress Madison D has made over the short time she has been with us.  Her patience has grown tremendously and ability to be unafraid to push through defenders is outstanding.  It paid off for her as she moved through two defenders to score, one did grab the ball, but was unable to get it completely off Madison's feet.

Great job girls!

However, the next opportunity we have where the girls are in such a commanding position, we'll be sure to set some challenges for them prior to being able to move in for a scoring opportunity.

Small field kick ball leads to big field problems

Our U10 girls team had been feeling pretty down since the beginning of our winter indoor session.  While we stress maintaining individual ball control and possession and not on the win or loss, one could tell getting beat week over week was noticeably wearing on them.  Most of the girls are new to the program and have different expectations, which is totally understandable.  However, two weeks ago they went from a small field venue to a large field, which is about 3.5 times the small field size and they dominated.

Why?

Ball control and possession.  For the most part, it was the same exact scenario which played out in our U10 boys game a week earlier.  A team which was used to being able to take one kick and have the ball go near or into the goal on the small field now had to contend with it not even getting beyond their own eighteen and having go right into the feet of our girls who were now able to use the larger space to deceive the defender and turn on the gas into the open green space.

Well done girls!

And the Crowd Goes WILD!

I hope all the Buzz parents enjoyed the sneak peak of World Cup fervor as much as I did for our most recent game.  I half expected a shirtless drum section and a number of vuvuzelas (those plastic horns) to begin blaring.  It was either that or a reenactment of trying to break down the Berlin wall with parents bare hands.  In either case, it was tough going trying to cheer our players on, much less try to give them instruction from the bench, with sheer volume around them.

I personally love an enthusiastic crowd and even get a little pumped up when our kids start cheering for us during our adult games.  What gets me for youth games is the slightly out of mind competitiveness, which prevents parents (sometimes on both teams) from cheering on both teams for good play.  Saying things which are damaging like "get that brat" or "if they're going to play with it, just take it" doesn't teach the kids anything and if I can hear those things from the bench, you bet both teams' players can.

Nevertheless, our girls seemed unfazed by the wild crowd and continued to play a cool calm ball control game.  The so called "playing with the ball" was very effective and I would say beat the other teams defender 1v1 (even 3v1) four out of every five times.  What will eventually happen with our players is they will continue to build on their ball controlled deceptive foundation, their body strength will eventually catch up, and woe to any keeper who is in front of them after they beat the last defender for a clean shot.

All the girls have finally picked up on how different as a team our style of play is from those we've played this session.  When they come off for a break, I usually hear "they just keep kicking the ball" or "they only just keep kicking at our feet."  If you think of the game as a win from the amount of time, which a team was able to do something with the ball, then we are undefeated this season.  If I counted, I bet, the other team for this game probably had under 50 touches on the ball the entire game.  Our girls were consistently getting 3-5 touches every time the ball got to their feet.

This is also what I asked of them before them game, "Every time you get the ball, I'd like at 3 touches minimum." and they gave me their best effort.  I also asked for them to try one Puskas move during the game anywhere on the field and I feel confident we had about 90% participation in this effort.  Not all attempts were completed, but they were there.

And as I mentioned after the game to them, trust Coach Ben.  If I ask you to do something and it doesn't work or the other team scores as a result, don't worry, blame Coach Ben.

Our notable players tonight were Payton and Lilly.  Lilly has been super consistent every game trying to keep her feet on the ball and get as many touches as she can.  She has some heavier feet and the ball gets away from her sometimes, but she gets after it and keeps trying.  Her body and feet will eventually even out and all her hard work will pay off.

Payton has had a challenge with managing the different playing styles she has been getting from playing on different clubs with some different philosophies, but a few minutes into the game she gets into it and turns it on for us.  Tonight she completed a couple nice combinations of successive moves, one which included a Maradona (see the Found Moves page for glimpse of this sweet step, if you haven't seen one before).

Lastly, I wanted to give credit to the parents for your commitment to the improvement of your player.  Even through all the noise tonight, I heard you cheering on individual effort of each of the girls.  I clearly picked out David H for congratulating Elissa for making a good deceptive turn in our defensive end.  Thanks Parents!

Coach Ben

Patience can be MADDENING!

Our U08 Buzz had a super close and competitive game last night and while it ended in a suspect call late in the last minute and a half of the game, the girls played wonderfully.

It is not many times, or even any time at all, which I can say an entire team I've coached played with the patience I saw the Buzz exhibit last night.  I told them all they did a great job of keeping the ball at their feet, but after revisiting how things played out, I came to a much different viewpoint.

For the Buzz fans who were there it was a constant and maddening site to see the girls in their own end with the ball at their feet slowly trying to work it around and away from an attacker.  Sometimes away from goal and up the wall and sometimes back towards the goal causing minor strokes from the Buzz fans.  I even overheard one say, "CLEAR THE BALL!" and yes, I know who it was and I will be after you about it for the next couple weeks.  :-)

There were also instances where our players were in the attacking end very near the goal and as a coach, and as a Buzz fan, we saw openings for them to put one in the net and the opportunity ended with a missed hit into the other team or a choice to move the ball around just a bit more.

Was it maddening to see it happen and play out?  

Yes, but spin this around and think about how much patience and confidence it took for each 6, 7 and 8 year old Buzz defender to slowly and methodically make a choice to work the ball out rather than with a panicked kick, which more than likely would have gone to the other team anyway.  Or for each Buzz attacker to take the time and continue pressure and push toward the goal for the best opportunity for a scoring chance.  Most of the individuals I play against in adult soccer can't show the level of patience these young soccer players did.  

Our game balls went to Eva and Mckenzie for some outstanding work they did during the game in this same area.  

Eva finally gave me the touches on the ball I was looking for making some great turns with the ball to shield it from the other team and line herself up for scoring chances.  I can't say enough about what an important game this was for her having the confidence to not just listen to me say to try it, but to actually do it.

Mckenzie grabbed a bit of speed on her runs, which made her deceptive moves more effective.  During her most impressive effort, she made two spectacular fakes going by two defenders and then beating the goalie for a score.  She did one better by solidly foot trapping one of Karolyn's keeper punts at mid-field while every other player on the field backed away. 

Congrats again to a well played game of patience against another aggressive team who was incidentally led by a coach of one of our local HS girls teams.

Coach Ben

While you're out here, check out this link to a great article posted via our NK Legends Facebook page.  It really speaks to the Legends philosophy of player development versus the win attitude as a measure of individual success.

The Talent Code: http://thetalentcode.com/2014/01/13/parenting-a-talented-kid-a-new-approach/

Sparks, confidence and effort

One really great thing about being a coach is the opportunity to get to know each one of your players; where they are when they showed up at your first training session until the last day they part from your tutelage.

Watching them progress from the bench and the training field and then catching the little glimpses and sparks of applying what they've learned, being imaginative, and growing self confidence are wonderful.

Sparks

Last week, I watched Brooklyn have a break out game.  Her head was up looking at defenders almost asking for them to come at her.  She kept the ball at her feet and was throwing out a few head fakes and stutter steps with her dribble.  Normally, her first instinct is to kick the ball forward and follow.  I was blown away by the performance.  

And having Mrs Coach Ben on the parent side is a great thing because she is really seeing these things now.  She too saw Brooklyn on top of her game and pointed it out to Mom and Dad Wagner.  I am not sure they realized how big of deal it was even after she grabbed a game ball for her effort.

Confidence

Lillian didn't grab a game ball, but she showed growth in a different way last game and I wanted to point it out.  She is excellent at shielding the ball and always refuses to let the other team get the ball from her.  So much so, she tends to carry the ball backwards all the way into our defensive third.  Going backwards to go forwards is a great step forward in any player because it show the ability to think about moving the ball in more than one direction. 

Her growth in the game was however the ability to take direction from me before the game started, and not only remember it, but put it into play when faced with the pressures of a game situation.  I told her taking it backwards was absolutely fine, but she needed to make a decision before she got to our 18 yard line, or defensive third, on what to do with it; turn it back up the field or try to find green space.  She applied our talk and multiple times was able to take it back and turn it towards open green space.  One of those times it was in the attacking half of the field and she almost had herself in position for a scoring chance after she completed the run.

Effort

It is rather hard as a coach and parent to analyze the efforts of your own soccer player on the field and it usually ends up where you never call out what they do.  Karolyn has made it a point so far this session to really make sure she is getting back into the play.  Having coached her for a few years now, I know this has not been the case.  Normally, it has been make the run with the ball and if it gets taken away, well, it's just the other person's turn with the ball or an "I really don't want to try" attitude.  Not giving up is something we try to impart to all players and as much as coaches try to get them back in the play, it is up to the players to accept they can and want to, which makes it work.

In all cases, no goals were scored on these efforts.  It was however the continued desire to become better soccer players, which made this a treat to watch for their coach.

Fútbol...Fußball...Football...Soccer - Whatever you call it, let's get out there and play!

I'll play almost any sport you throw at me.  In my maturing years, I fallen back on hockey and soccer.  I like playing hockey a lot, but it's being a soccer player and soccer coach, which drives me.  I'll play almost anytime anyone asks me and if you get me going, I can talk for quite some time about it.  It drives my kids and someone very-very close to me crazy when they want to get going after a game or practice.

My wife, or said person very-very close to me, told me once (well more than once), "You know, your game recap emails tend to be a bit long."  I brushed it off as complete foolishness, but as I sat down last night to type up a simple note to say training was still on for Sunday, I noticed I had already gone past the point I tried to make and into a 3rd or 4th paragraph.  Maybe there is some merit to that comment from some time ago...maybe.

So, taking a hint, and the current methods of my good friend Coach Pat, I've decided to try and keep those emails simple (game reminder/practice reminder) and do the very important thought pondering and game and training recaps out here on Coach Ben's Huddle.

Why name it Coach Ben's Huddle, well, first NK Legends Soccer was taken and second, I always like to bring it in after the game or a practice to get players attention and focus on the message.

I look forward to many future enlightening entries.

Coach Ben