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.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
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
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
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Footgolf!
Because we need another way for us to get out and kick the ball around.
http://magis.to/JiMyRFFaQl0nPn8BDmEwCXx8
http://magis.to/JiMyRFFaQl0nPn8BDmEwCXx8
Thursday, August 7, 2014
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.
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.
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