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/
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