Week Seven

The Spiders were on fire this week with goals from Noah, Xavier and Lucas. Noah dazzled the other team with his footwork and energy and when he stripes the ball with his shoe laces the other coaches always give me a wide eyed "what was that" sort of look. Brennen has that effect on people too. Xavier has apparently become accustomed to scoring as he had no trouble doubling his previous week's total with two goals. And the clear star of the game was Lucas who, after a long drought, broke through with a trio of goals.

The Seals met their match this week. Everyone played very well and maintained their positions with a lot of discipline. Alex had our loan goal on a great shot from just outside the box. Kendall had a great game including a good stint in goal. Kaleb, Justin and Luke played tireless defense but we just couldn't get anything going on the other end. We had no subs so everyone had to play the whole game and they were great, especially Kevin who is at the end of only his first session playing soccer.
Thanks to Ben for running the field with the team for me.

The Bullets played valiantly with barely enough on hand to field a team. Lauren had her first goal of the session and I'm so sorry I missed that. Thanks Lisa and Amy for covering for me. See you all this weekend.

Remember the U4 game is at 8:00 AM Saturday. The U6 is at 8:50. The U10 Tournament is on Sunday.

Week 6 Highlights

The Spiders had a great game Saturday. The big highlight was Xavier's first goal. Jill played hard again and continues to improve every week. Noah had a few goals too.

The Seals were dominant with a couple of excellent goals from Owen and great play from everyone else. Everybody was doing a great job playing off the ball and avoiding being trapped in the corners. Kendall's play was the big highlight of the game. She wasn't just running with the ball. At one point she was dancing with it, trying to get around the other players. Justin, too, was putting his own ball handling skills to the test regularly. I love to see that kind of confidence.

The Bullets got beat but they played really hard this week. I was really proud of all of them. They showed great energy and attacked the ball hard. Still the play, especially in defense, was a bit panicky but it's getting better. Avery led our offense most of the game again with lots of help from Erika and Kyle K. Kyle had our best shot on goal in the first half. Our lone goal was from Helen who put in a beautiful cross from Avery. David is showing great improvement as a defender, playing with the kind of tenacity the position demands. Also of note; I mentioned last week that Jordan was playing so aggressively in defense that I would have to move her up to midfield. Well this week in midfield she began, unprompted by me, to sneak up into offense looking for a shot on goal. Impressive.
We certainly missed Braden and Lauren and look forward to having them back this coming week. Helen, Erin and I will be absent this week as we have a strings recital to attend. Lisa Roedig, Avery's mom, will be filling in for me as coach.

Watch some soccer on TV!

If ESPN and the NCAA stick to their schedule the Women's division I Soccer final should be on ESPN this Friday evening, Dec. 4th, at 5:30. It's Stanford vs. UCLA. Try to get your player to watch at least a few minutes of the game.

Week Five: Smart Play

The highlights for me in each of the games this week were the moments when our teams showed some real "soccer I.Q." playing heads up on defense and cooperating smartly on offense.

For the Spiders it was Noah and Brennen leading the way with both of them playing very intelligently off of the ball. As Brennen's Dad put it after the game, you could see them "cutting off the angles" and anticipating where the ball was going next. That kind of thinking on defense always generates opportunities on offense and so we had a handful of goals again. Everyone else played well too. Xavier and Lucas really turned it on in the last quarter and Jill, again, was very close to having a shot on goal at least twice. She's improving very fast lately.

The key for the Seals was, as always, discipline. Our older U6 players are becoming very accustomed to playing the field as a team, working their positions and making great passes. Owen's goal this game was off a beautiful pass from Alex. Kaleb was solid in goal again and had great help on defense from Justin and Luke. Luke had one of those "I.Q." moments when he dropped back into defense as the other team was making a run along the wall. Rather than go directly to the ball Luke circled around to get in front of the oncoming player and was able to easily take the ball away and send it back into the other teams side. That was a really heads-up play. Kendall and Mac both had some good chances for shots on goal by being in the right place. Next time I just need to be sure that they are watching the ball.

The Bullets were, again, uneven. As with last week's game they seemed frequently to be playing in a panic on defense, sometimes chasing the ball wildly, sometimes standing frozen. Our offense, on the other hand, was very strong. I was really happy to see them running hard to get in position and, as I keep telling them, "taking their chances". Avery had both of our goals and the first was off of a perfect pass from Braden. The best part of that exchange was that Avery was calling loudly to Braden that she was open and he found her with the pass at just the right time. Avery also showed some very creative ball handling moves in the second half which demonstrated her incredible endurance. Erika and Lauren also played great in offense and I think Erika had at least four shots on goal, all of them well struck. Lauren took several hard spills and kept getting up and was even jawing at the opposition like an old veteran. "This isn't football, you know" she yelled at one boy who had bumped her hard. I love that.
Erin was our field general again, directing the ball into our offense and on several occasions sneaking up to take a shot when she could. Jake played courageously in goal again and even attempted a punt. I admire his chutzpah. Kyle D. was in as keeper in the second half and played very well and was especially smart on his throws and kicks.
Katherine played with great energy in defense and is still working hard at learning the game. David got to move up the field from fullback to midfield and he attacked the new position with great energy. Nicholas played both forward and fullback in this game and played both positions with impressive urgency. On offense especially, Nick was doing a good job of trying to stay in open space rather than chasing the ball. Jordan was great in defense, especially in the first half and, following Erin's lead she played so aggressively up the field that she seems to be begging to go in as a midfielder.
Helen had some great plays out of the defensive end and on two occasions took the ball out to the half line herself before passing. I'd love to see more of that. I'd love to see them all playing a little looser, enjoying the game as they play it. Parents, let me know if the kids think I'm too hard on them. It is a rec league after all and we're just here to have fun playing a game that they all already basically understand. My job is just to help them play it better if they want to, not demand that they get me some wins. I hope they all get that.

Week Four: Constant Improvement

The Spiders had a great game including an impressive hat-trick of goals for Brennen. Xavier was a bit confused at times as to who was on his team but he played hard. And keep watching Jill. She's going to break out with a goal soon.

The Seals played well against a tough opponent. Coach Jen's teams always play well and our games with them are always fun. Luckily we had outstanding goalie play from Kaleb that shut the light blue team down for a quarter. Alex had an incredibly long goal and then tried confusing the other team with his flying-shoe-kick. As in last week's game, the Seals did a good job of staying spread out and using the whole field.

I wasn't happy with the way the Bullets game went. They played really well for the first ten minutes or so but then began to break down and play in a panic. I hate to see that because it shows me that they still aren't playing as a team and trusting each other. So it was a tough loss and I had some tough talk for the team after the game. But there certainly were some highlights. Erin continues to develop her abilities as a midfielder and played very tough. Avery played with great energy again, as did Lauren. Braden attacked again and again and is never shy about trying to dribble around somebody. Erika showed great courage in her first game as keeper.
As individuals every member of the team is showing improvement. We just need to develop more team work on both ends of the field. We will practice Saturday at 12:00 and please try to be at Pleasure Isle by 4:30 Sunday so that we have plenty of time to talk and warm-up prior to the game.

Week Three Highlights

The Spiders faced a tough opponent this week so most of our best moments were on defense. Brennen, Noah, Lucas and Jill all showed great progress in knowing how to hustle back on defense to cover the goal. Xavier was a constant threat in offense again this week as was Noah. It was also great to see Jeremy back out on the field playing hard. Karolyn had a fabulous goal this week. Making a beautiful run from midfield, she out paced the defenders around her and put the ball right in the center of the goal.

I apologize to everyone for getting the start time for the U6 Seals wrong on my schedule. I'm double checking that schedule to make sure there are no other errors. Starting out the game down a few players didn't seem to upset the Seals at all. We had Kaleb in goal the first quarter with Alex and Justin on the wings and Owen and Kevin sharing the center position. They did a great job of maintaining their positions and the result was a barrage of goals. Alex had three goals total, his first off of a beautiful pass from Justin. After that goal Alex and Justin made sure I knew that Justin had made the pass. It's great to see that they are getting the thrill of working together.
Justin had a goal of his own and Owen and Kaleb had two and three goals respectively.
After Kaleb's first, a left footed tap-in which was the direct result of playing his position and being in the right place at the right time, Kaleb asked me if he could stop playing his position (left wing) and "just go wherever I want". When I said no his response was "aww maaan!" But then he went on to score two more goals.
Despite being in the thick of it constantly Kevin didn't come away with a goal but he did play really well. Once he gets the hang of playing away from the ball he'll be scoring more often. That is what I'll be working on with Maddie and Kendall too. They are both aggressively attacking the ball but they tend to get stuck in the pile. Kendall has made so much progress and she clearly loves to play. As I was setting the team up for the third quarter Kendall announced to everyone that "we're going to play like a team and use team work". Maddie was great during her stint in goal and made one very smart run out of the box to clear the ball away.

The Sapphire Bullets had a good game as a team in a 2-2 tie. Avery had both of our goals this game and I think one of them was even off of her left foot. Both goals were strong kicks from several yards out. We had really great play from everyone and I saw a lot of the ideas and techniques we had been working on in practice put into use in this game. Specifically I want to note Erika's play in defense where she did a great job of controlling the ball before clearing it out. Lauren was fabulous this game, dashing into the goal repeatedly and staying ahead of the ball just as we'd practiced. Jake was solid in goal for us the second half making several good stops. The goal Purple did put in against Jake was so high I couldn't have stopped it. I also want to mention Kathryn and David who have been playing mostly fullback for us. Before they got to go in in the first half they stood on the bench watching intently, comparing notes on how our defense should be playing and asking me lots of questions about how to play the position. As a coach you have to love having players like that on your team. Hopefully the weather will be good Saturday and we can get another practice in.

Week Two

The U4 Grey Spiders were down a player this week but still played strong. Among the highlights were two strong runs toward goal by Lucas Meagher. On his first run he ran past the ball a bit at the end and a defender was able to take it. On his second run Lucas was on a clear path to the goal with Xavier shadowing him on his left to help out when unexpectedly Lucas' shot was blocked by...an adult running around the field swinging their child like a hockey stick. No doubt the child/hockey stick learned a lot from that. I've seen coaches and parents attempt to get a recalcitrant child engaged in the game using that method before but I've never seen it have good results and it's unfair to the kids on the other team. They didn't sign up to play against child-wielding adults. If I see that happening again I'll talk to the Ref and get it stopped. At any rate Xavier was able to collect Lucas' blocked shot and put it in the goal. A very heads-up play. I should have had him run up to the Parent in question and do some sort of Ochocinco-like dance.
Jill and Karolyn both also had excellent games. And Brennen was very solid, mostly in defense, showing off that big kick of his.

The Seals were so fired-up during our practice time, cheering each other on, that I'm a little surprised they didn't dominate more during the game. I'm just thrilled with how tight these kids are as a team. They really like playing together and are learning quickly how to work as a team and rely on each other and that shows in the way we scored our goals this week. Our first was from Owen who was hanging out in front of the goal while Alex followed the ball into the corner. By keeping his distance Owen was in the right spot when Alex got the ball out and across the goal leaving Owen with an easy chip-in.
Our other goal was off of a beautiful set piece. On a hand-ball kick Madeline made a perfect pass to Kaleb who was waiting just to the left of the other team's defensive wall. Kaleb one-touched that pass right into the goal. I don't think the other coach had his team fully set up but Maddie was watching the Ref and the Ref said go. They weren't going to block that shot anyway.
The other highlight of the game was Justin's play. Justin took a ball to the face early in the third quarter and had to go off. When he came back in in the fourth he came in like a lion and seemed intent on dominating the field. He was showing speed and graceful ball handling that I haven't seen from him before. And everyone knows he has a strong kick. His shots didn't get through but it was still a great game for Justin. Kevin, Luke and Kendall all had excellent games too and Mac had a great first half.

The Sapphire Bullets had the game I thought they would after their last one and their last practice. They came out fired-up and focused and they played that first half with great intensity. In a very narrow 5 to 4 loss we had goals from Avery, Kyle K., Erin and Kyle D. Avery's goal was on a perfect pass and shoot combination with a nice assist from Erin whose pass threaded the defense and found Avery all alone in the box. Kyle K. was in the right place at the right time, crashing the box after a teammates' shot he was right there to put in the rebound. Erin had a lovely clean shot from some distance that was the one successful attempt out of what seemed like dozens of good shots. Kyle D. was in the scrum just in front of the goal after a free kick from Erin. As the ball got loose from the pile-up Kyle collected it and quickly pushed it in the goal.
Braden played some amazing offense, tirelessly attempting over and over again to penetrate the defense with his amazing footwork but just didn't get the chances on goal that he was working for. On the other side of the field Erika was again showing her speed and Helen and Lauren gave us excellent games in midfield. Lauren's instincts for the game are getting better every week. She had a great game. Jordan was great in defense and was playing so aggressively up the field that I may have to move her into midfield. David and Kathryn, our two rookies, were great in defense. David is getting the hang of it quickly and he's got a strong left foot. Seth was excellent in goal during the first half with help from Nicholas anchoring the defensive line for him. Jake came in as keeper in the second half and handled himself very well making some fearless stops. Unfortunately the rest of the defense left him in too many one on one situations which is what had happened in the previous game so we know what we have to work on in practice.
The weather for next Saturday looks great so I'm planning to hold practice at Richardson Road again, this time at 2:00 PM and we'll go for 90 minutes. See you there.
Parents, if you get a chance follow this link to view a training video that shows a player demonstrating good ball control skills. View the video with your player if you can. Watching this definitely helped get my kids more interested in developing their ball handling technique.

Teams Debut Strong in Week One

While we have many returning players on each team we also have a lot of new talent on the field so we needed new team names to go with our new colors, and so we are;

The U4 Grey Spiders!

The U6 Sapphire Seals!

The U10 Sapphire Bullets!

Here's a run-down of how everyone did this first week.

U4 is stronger than ever as The Spiders. Jill and Eileen ran a lot and Jill gets more involved in the game every week (and spends less time waving at her parents). Eileen, our youngest player was joined on the team by another youngster, Jeremy, whose brother plays on the U6 team. Jeremy had a great first game getting into the thick of the action right from the start. Lucas and Karolyn played hard too. Karolyn attacks the ball more aggressively each game. Noah had another strong showing with at least three goals. While he misses his partner from last session, Zach, Noah has two new players to work with; Brennen and Xavier. Xavier played with amazing energy for his first game, attacking the ball like a wild man. He had at least one goal, too! Our other new player Brennen has the same powerful right kick as his brother Alex who plays on the U6 team. With Brennen sending the ball up for them, Noah and Alex should be able to score often.

With the addition of Kevin, Luke and Carter U6 has become overwhelmingly strong. The Sapphire Seals were pretty much unstoppable once they got rolling with goals from Kevin, Owen, Kaleb and Alex. Justin was very strong in goal and in defense. We miss Ethan and Nate but Owen, Kaleb, Alex and Justin remembered how to stay spread out and work the ball in a triangle. We'll be working with Kevin, Carter and Luke on that too. Carter and Luke were also very solid in defense, stopping the blue team's attacks cold.
Kendall was great in goal and had a great game in the field, running with the ball and staying in the action. Maddie was good in goal and in the field but her most notable contribution is her attitude. Maddie is always so fired-up to play she can barely contain herself at kick-off. Our other new player, Mac, who played with us some sessions back had a good game too, staying more engaged in the action than ever before.

I knew the U10 game would be a tough one since most of the kids are new to each other and we haven't had much time to practice together but the Sapphire Bullets showed a lot of heart and toughness as well as some impressive skill and speed... lots of speed! In the second half Braden and Erika lead the attack with speed that seemed to really get the black team back on their heels. This lead to goals from Avery and Braden! If we can get Braden, Avery, Erika and the rest of our offense working on the same page we should be able to play with anybody. We also had great games from Helen, Erin and Kyle Duncan who played tirelessly and showed a lot of ball handling skill. Kyle Kruthoffer is our other speed merchant, zipping around on defense and darting up field for a little offense when needed. Nicholas had a tough time in goal in the first half facing a barrage of shots but his sense of the game is good and he's a hard worker in practice so I know he'll have better days. While we had great individual play from our defenders, including Jordan and Seth, we need to work on playing as a unit to contain the other side and protect our keeper from having to face so many one-on-ones. Seth was great in goal the second half, taking a charge on one play that, to me, looked like a yellow card offense. But Seth popped up smiling and put the ball back in play like it was all part of the plan. Jordan and Lauren played very well, crashing into the oncoming attack repeatedly. I know the score was lopsided but our defense stopped a lot of attacks. I was thrilled to see Jake have such a good game as he hasn't played in a while. And our defense is tough. Jake took a ball off the noggin in the second half and kept on going. Lauren took one in the gut and she kept going. Jordan was chasing and clearing fiercely and our two new defenders, Kathryn and David, had great games for kids new to the game.
So, while the score wasn't pretty I saw lots of potential. If everyone is interested in doing the work we'll keep practicing as long as the weather permits.

Code of conduct

If you have a player in the NKYA youth soccer league this session please take a moment to read the Parent/Spectator code of conduct. The indoor soccer session always seems to be a richer environment for contention between Parents, Coaches and Refs. Probably because the game is faster indoor, there is only one Referee on the field and the Parents are sitting so close together.
If you are new to the game yourself there are two aspects of the way games are refereed that you need to be aware of:
First,in NKYA youth soccer there are very few situations where a direct free kick would be allowed as the result of a penalty, such as a hand-ball, being called. Rather, when one team is called for a foul the opposing team will be awarded possession of the ball through an indirect free kick, meaning the ball must be touched by a second player before a goal could be allowed. Because of this rule penalties rarely result in goals and therefore the calls a referee makes, good, bad or indifferent, rarely affect the outcome of the game directly.
Second, Referees calling our games will identify fouls keeping both intent and advantage in mind. This means that if a Referee sees, for instance, a player touch the ball with his hand the Ref will hold off on calling a penalty if in the Ref's opinion the touch was unintentional/unavoidable. Even if the Ref believes the offense was committed intentionally he may still hold onto his whistle if it appears that the result of the offense, i.e., the direction the ball goes, is to the advantage of the opposing team. So if, for instance, little Timmy on the other team reaches out and knocks the ball down with his hand but the ball subsequently bounces right to one of our players' feet and our player then has a clear lane toward the other teams' goal, well, in this situation the Ref would correctly hold off on whistling the play dead since the foul committed by one team ended up being to the other teams advantage.

Gear for new players

I've received some questions from parents of first time players about the necessary gear for soccer. Sorry I didn't think to address that earlier.
The only indispensable equipment is a pair of shin guards and a pair of soccer socks to wear them in. As for shoes, any comfortable pair of athletic shoes that you can run in will do fine. Indoor or outdoor soccer shoes will work great on the Pleasure Isle field surface. No football or baseball cleats, please. Any sort of athletic shorts are good. The league provides the t-shirts and I'll have those at the first game. Good sources for gear are Meyer, Biggs, Dick's, KMart and Play it Again Sports.

Also note the updated links to the right. The newest team rosters and game schedules are up.

Blueberries and Blue Jays finish on a high note

The Blueberries really missed Karolyn today but they muddled through with great efforts from everyone. Noah met his match against a player on the yellow team who seemed equally tenacious. But as the game went on Noah rose to the challenge. Zach also was improving as the game went on and given the way the session started for him I'm thrilled with his progress. Zach seems hooked on the game now.
Luke had a goal and was proud to tell me that when I arrived late. Jill was more energetic and engaged than ever. And then there is Eileen who just loves her "tocca team".

The Blue Jays were unbelievably poised today, playing every position well. Alex thrilled us with some crazy powerful kicks and then in the second half he and Owen, Nate and Justin all showed us how to get the offensive triangle working. These guys play so well together, Kaleb included, and it is making them each develop so rapidly. It is really fun to watch. Ethan played in defense for me all game and he was a wall the other team couldn't get past. Frequently putting his backwards-running skills to good use, Ethan didn't let the ball get past him even once. Solid.
Kendall was moving in and out of the action better than I've ever seen her and again as over the last few games she showed flashes of really starting to take control of the ball and run with it. Kendra had a great game too and was really in the thick of it a lot and so was Maddie who was solid in goal for us during the first quarter.
I'll admit that of the three teams I coach I'm especially proud of the the Blue Jays. They are something else.

Thanks to Ben Lighthall for his help coaching and also to Chris Meaghers, Chris Michels and Mike Ramsdell for all of their help. And thanks to all of the parents for getting snacks, bringing the kids out in questionable weather for practice and for your general support. It's an honor to coach your kids.

One session ends...

Saturday's Tsunami game was much better than the score would indicate. We had a lot of shots on goal but just couldn't find the net. And all in all the kids adapted to the indoor field quickly. I want to thank each player for the work they did this session and I want to congratulate them all for the amount of progress they made.

In the last game William and Nick both showed, again, that they are poised and fearless keepers. William had the benefit of being protected by Nick at fullback in the first half and I'm sorry that in the second half I left Nick less well protected. He had to stand in there and take a lot of shots, including a loose shoe, and he took it all like a man.

Lauren helped out in defense most of the game along with Jordan and Madison and all three of them have shown remarkable improvement throughout the session. Lauren especially, being new to the game, really worked hard at it at every practice.

Justin and Bryce had good games and certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves. They worked hard at practice and always had great attitudes. Justin in particular carries himself with a bit of "Joe cool" swagger. Bryce claimed to have a special move, the "triple kick", in reserve but unfortunately we never got to see it. Maybe next year.

My midfield corps was led, again, by Olivia and Maddie who both have just amazing endurance and quickness. And Liz and Avery led the offense again and had some beautiful scoring attempts with some good passing. Avery made sure that I noticed the passing by pointing out to me "see we did the triangle thing just like in practice".

And the other point on that triangle was usually Erin who was firing shots from the right and the left as the situation demanded and with equal ferocity. Backing up our offensive triangle and sending the ball back up for another try was Helen. She played Saturday with great grace and imagination and really surprised herself with her ball handling skills, fearlessly attempting to dribble through traffic a number of times.

I want to thank Lisa Roedig, Amy Holthaus, Chris Holthaus, Roz and Dale Forshee and Dale Mahaney who all helped out at our practices and games. With their help we were able to get a lot of work done. Thanks to Nancy Roether for photographing the team in action. Thanks to all of the parents for helping out with snacks and for bringing the kids out to practice so consistently. And thanks for letting me share the game with your kids. I'm proud of each of them and it was an honor to coach them.

Looks Like We're Moving Inside

As of last night the fields at Richardson Road were still unplayable. I'll get final confirmation later today but it seems certain that we will be playing at Pleasure Isle this weekend.

12:25 PM Update: All games moved to Pleasure Isle.

Rain-out Plan

The forecast for this weekend doesn't look good so we have a "plan b" schedule ready. If the Richardson Road fields are unplayable we will move to Pleasure Isle to play.

U10 Tsunami will play Saturday at 12:00, same as the outdoor schedule.

Unfortunately we can't get all of the games in on Saturday if we play at Pleasure Isle so the U4 and U6 games will be played on Sunday afternoon. The U4 Blueberries will play at 1:00 PM and the U6 Blue Jays will play at 2:00 PM. I know this could be inconvenient if you have church to attend or perhaps if you have been tricked into climbing back onto the Bengals band wagon (the game will be on at Pleasure Isle, by the way). If that is the case and you can't make the game let me know and please know that I do apologize for the way the end of the season has kind of spun out of control. The outdoor session is the most fun of the year, I think. But when we play outdoors we are always at the mercy of the elements and we have to deal with that as best we can.

If you've signed up for the next session the first games will be the weekend of October 24th. I don't have the rosters and schedules yet but I expect the U4 and U6 games to be on Saturday mornings and the U10 games to be on Sunday afternoons.

See you all Saturday. Go USA v Costa Rica! ESPN2 at 8:00.

October 3rd

It was a bit chilly to start but the Blueberries had a great game. Lots of running but a little less focus than last game. Eileen had a great (if unintentional) header off of a throw-in from Noah who also had a pair of goals. Zack made two great throw-ins. The Blueberries seemed to really enjoy the game.

The Blue Jays were dominant in this game with great goalie play from Kendall, Kaleb, Maddie and Kendra. While in goal Kendall made some good stops followed by good throws. Back on the field Kendra made a stunning ninja-like stop on a well struck kick-off. We had great field play from everyone including three goals from Owen and two from Alex. I was so glad to see the kids slapping hands and celebrating after the goals. They play more like a team together than any other team in the league and that's a big step. I've got to mention a run on goal that Kendall had while in the field. She took the ball out of the pack at about midfield and headed right for the goal. I think she was about one step from a shot when the other players caught up to her and kicked the ball out. It was a great moment for Kendall and I know she'll get a goal soon.

A brilliant game from the Tsunami in a 1-1 tie. Our lone goal was from Olivia off a pass from Erin. Throughout the game I saw many of the things we've worked on in practice being put into play, especially some aggressive ball stealing by Erin, Helen, Justin, Nick and Jordan. Jordan was especially solid for us in defense and she is clearly getting a real sense of how to play that position, moving up and down the field as needed. I saw real toughness on display, especially from Lauren, Olivia and Helen who all took some hard hits but kept going. Nick and William were great in goal as usual and William has become our smoothest ball handler. He's showing great confidence dribbling one-on-one against opponents and plays like he thinks he can get past anyone. And they played the whole 50 minutes with no subs. It was a great game.

September 19th

U4 had another great game. As usual Noah stunned everyone with the velocity he puts on his shots and had one goal. Zach seems to have settled in to the routine of playing completely and is really enjoying himself. Luke had a good game as did Eileen and Jill. The highlight of the game for the Blueberries was a long distance goal from Karolyn on a kick-off. Crazy!

The Blue Jays had an amazing game! Madeline, Justin and Kendra each took turns in goal and were excellent. Maddie made some great stops and also played very well in the field. Justin also had two good stops followed by two excellent throws and was very solid playing fullback in front of Kendra. Kaleb, playing mostly defense, showed some amazing anticipation and really contained the other side. Ethan, who is a big brother now (congratulations Angela and Mike), also made some great stops in defense for us. Kendall played with a lot of energy and had an assist on one of Nate's two goals! She was disappointed with that as she desperately wants a goal of her own. Nate's other goal came off of a perfect corner kick from Owen. It was breathtaking. Then a bit later Owen had a goal of his own; a low spinner that slipped through the goalie's hands. Great work everyone!

The Tsunami didn't have their best game and we have plenty to work on in practice. For one thing, we'll talk about how to deal with rough play from the other team in situations where the Refs seem oblivious. Kung Fu may be involved. For another we'll be working on losing our reputation as the most polite team in the league.
We did however have two highlights: A nice goal from Avery and another from Bryce, his first. Bryce's shot was from at least 15 yards out and seemed to take all day to find its way in past the goalie. Bryce later described it as a "slow motion" goal. I'm sure it won't be his last.

September 12th

What a great day for some soccer. We are starting the registrations for the next indoor session already but when the weather is like this you hate to think about playing the games inside. So let's enjoy it while we have it. All three teams had great games this weekend, especially U4 and U6. The Blueberries and the Blue Jays work hard at practice and they bring what they learn there to the games. It's fun to watch.

In the U4 game we had enthusiastic participation from everyone with lots of good touches and throw-ins from everyone. Luke played with great energy and was really trying to control the ball. He was just a hair off on a few good shots on goal. Karolyn also was making a great effort this game to move the ball and had one excellent chance at a goal. Eileen and Jill had great games, running the field tirelessly and trying to stay involved. And Eileen showed Jill how to do the "fireworks" high-five. The highlight of the game was a great throw-in from Zack that lead directly to a goal by Noah. Just like we drew it up!

The Blue Jays had a very close game against a tough opponent. Kendall took a turn in goal and although she didn't get challenged I'm glad she wanted to try it. I wish the games were a bit longer so everyone could get more playing time because they are all really enjoying themselves and playing very hard. Kendra and Maddie were in the thick of it the whole game and I think Maddie was really starting to get the idea of getting into position to play defense. Kaleb had his most active game ever, running the whole field repeatedly to stay with the ball. Nate and Justin were solid as usual. Justin had some great throw-ins and clearing kicks. Nate didn't get the kinds of chances he usually does but he was still all over the place pestering the other team. Ethan was solid in defense for us. Our big goal came on a set-piece with Owen taking the kick and delivering a perfect pass to Alex who gracefully tapped the ball into the net for a goal to keep us tied. That was a great game.

My Tsunami had me frustrated during the game because they seemed to be playing in a very panicky defensive mode compared to their previous outing. They were unable to keep the ball in the other team's end for more than a few minutes the whole game and our offense seemed very sluggish. I was surprised by this given that the weather was so nice and our practice earlier in the week went so well.
But in retrospect, despite our poor offense, this was a good game for the Tsunami. We held the best team in the league to one goal thanks to great defense. Obviously Nick and William were excellent in goal. Nick tipped one shot up over the cross bar in a move that you wouldn't expect from a teenager let alone a nine year old. William showed great composure as keeper in the second half even after taking a shot to the head while in the field for the first half. So those guys were great again. And they were helped by their fullbacks a lot. I'd like to highlight Jordan for some great clearing kicks in the first half and Maddie for a particularly excellent play in the second half. Late in the game Maddie came cutting across the center of the field to intercept the ball and made a nice clearing kick, driving the ball out toward the bench side touch-line. But rather than stop there Maddie continued running, circling back toward the goal and then around the other teams forwards toward the touch-line anticipating that the opposition's midfielder would probably try to return the ball up the line. That's what happened and Maddie was waiting. She dashed out from between the forwards and struck the ball again clearing it past the half-line and then she zipped right back to her original defensive position. It was a little thing that happened fast and didn't affect the outcome of the game but it showed so much presence and game-understanding. Well done Maddie.
I'd also like to note that along with William, Helen and Erin took some rough spills during this game and they kept on playing. Well done.
See everyone at practice.

The Tsunami get their game face on!

The Tsunami rolled to an impressive 3-3 tie in this week's game. We had great play from everyone and every team member showed great energy and complained when I took them out to rest (those are the complaints I like to hear). I want to note the excellent goalie work we got from Nick and William. Those guys are solid.
Erin had two goals including one that really had to thread the needle to find the goal but Erin let it fly like she knew it would go in. Avery had our third goal. She really showed everyone her skills in this game. I also have to mention the throw-in from Olivia that led to one of Erin's goals. It was about the best throw-in I've ever seen.

I want to thank Amy and Chris Holthaus and Lisa Roedig for their help in last week's practice. It really helped and everyone seemed to be playing their positions with more confidence this week, especially our defenders.
We'll practice this Wednesday then take a weekend off for the holiday and get back to it on Wednesday the 9th.
Click on the image below to see more photos from the last two games and from the U4 and U6 teams. Thanks to Nancy Roether Miller, Mike Ramsdell and my dad Wayne Michels:

Tsunami

Saturday is Picture Day!

This coming Saturday the 29th we will be squeezing the taking of team pictures in between games. Always a thrill. Here is the schedule for each team:

U4 Photos to start at 9:20...Game at 10:00.

U6 Photos to start at 12:00...Game at 12:15.

U10 Photos to start at 10:40...Game at 11:00.

I will pass out the order forms at practices and on Saturday there will be a tent set up where you can place your order for pictures if you're interested.

Lightning Safety

Sorry U10 Players and Parents for ending practice so abruptly yesterday but when it comes to lightning there is no gray area. If we see lightning or hear thunder during practice or a game we will stop and seek shelter immediately regardless of how benign the weather seems generally. If you're interested you can find more about lightning safety at the NOAA website. Saturday's weather forecast looks great. See you then.

August 15th

U4
A very good game today, especially since we got Karolyn and Zach involved (with some help from their dads). Zach even had a goal. Luke and Eileen both had great games and Noah "The Hammer" Roach pounded in three goals including an effortless left footer. Thanks to Noah for the snack.

U6
The Blue Jays had another strong performance with three goals. Owen had the first one and was followed by Nate who drove the ball in thanks to a perfect pass from Madeline. In the second half Alex scored off an assist by Owen. There was lots of passing today!
Kendra had a breakthrough day putting to use the ball skills she's been working on in practice.

U10
The Tsunami were a bit overwhelmed this game by the other teams efforts to take advantage of the offside rule and "trap" our offense (We'll be working on that in practice this week). I felt that we were much less organized as a team than in our first game. We played in a bit of a panic. I'll try to address that in practice too. Keep doing those ball handling drills at home. It pays off.

USA v Mexico. 3:00 PM on ESPN.

Opening Day

The first day of the session was a great success and there are many people to thank for that. Thanks to Andrea Sipple, Tod and Stacy Kielborth, Tim Cahill, Lori Thomas, Dave Schaffer and Tim Sutter for getting the fields set up for game day. Also my personal thanks to Ben Lighthall, Roz Forshe and Chris Michels for their help in managing the teams. And thanks parents. All of the kids showed up ready to play and all three games were great fun.

U4 I was thrilled with how much of an actual game this turned out to be. The kids were really moving the ball all over the field. Karolyn Lighthall had an especially good game and showed some real toughness and determination. Noah Roach showed some amazing skill and enthusiasm and Jill Riedmatter would have played the whole game if I'd let her.

U6 I feel lucky to have a group of players this strong and I'm hoping that playing together will allow all of them to develop rapidly. Kendall and Kendra, our youngest players, were completely engaged in the game and I see them improving with every game and practice.
It was great to have Ethan back on the team and despite some head gear problems he was in the thick of things all the time.
Kaleb had a breakthrough game in that he had a greater focus and determination to get to the goal than we've seen before. His goalie skills didn't get tested much but he took his opportunity on offense to shine.
Alex's goalie skills did get tested and he showed his quality repeatedly. The dude can play that position! And can he throw it!
Justin was strong in the field with some big kicks and throw-ins, and at least one assist.
Owen had a good game too and showed grace and endurance. He had a lot of shots on goal that were blocked but he did get an assist on one of Nate's goals.
Which brings us to our star, Nate Griffith. This little guy loves the game and he goes at it full tilt, taking on bigger kids and driving the ball right through them.
Great game all around.

U10 This was such a good game with both teams playing really well. I was most impressed with how the kids dealt with the heat. They all showed great toughness. Olivia and Lauren were very impressive despite having been away from the game for a while. Erin was her usual strong self with a pair of goals and an assist on Avery's beautiful goal. Helen had a great game with one especially thrilling drive to the goal. Justin came on strong in the second half with two good attempts. And William has developed into a great (and tireless) player since the last time I coached him.
The stand out player of the game was Maddie Griffith who played her usual energetic midfield despite the heat. Just so you know, Maddie is playing up a division. She could be in U8 but Avery, Erin and Helen couldn't play without her so she had to move up to U10 with them.

Laws (rules) of the Game highlights.

It is going to be hot and sunny this Saturday so please remember the sunscreen and the water. I'll be picking-up the snack this first week. Everyone's been great at practice and I know opening day will be great fun.

A few things you might want to know about the games:

U4 will play 3 versus 3 with no goalies. Games will be played on half of the U6 field that we've been practicing on and we will be using small pop-up type goals.
U4 games will be divided into 4 equal 5 minute quarters with 2 minute breaks between each quarter. There will be free substitution meaning I can take players on and off the field as necessary. I will also be on the field with the team during play helping them.
Players may wear running shoes, soccer cleats, indoor soccer shoes or any athletic shoe but no baseball or football cleats that have a toe cleat will be permitted. Shin guards are mandatory and must be covered.
Players may not have in ear rings or be wearing any loose necklaces or bracelets or any sort of hard barrett or hair band.

U6 will play 6 versus 6 with a goalie. The goalie will be permitted to handle the ball within the goalie box.
U6 games will be divided into 4 equal 6 minute quarters with 2 minute breaks between each quarter. There will be free substitution and I will be on the field with the team during play.
Players may wear running shoes, soccer cleats, indoor soccer shoes or any athletic shoe but no baseball or football cleats that have a toe cleat will be permitted. Shin guards are mandatory and must be covered.
Players may not have in ear rings or be wearing any loose necklaces or bracelets or any sort of hard barrett or hair band.


U10 will play 9 versus 9 with a goalie. The offsides rule will also be in force.
U10 games will be divided into 2 equal 25 minute halves with a 3 minute break between halves. Unlimited substitution will be permitted although there will be only specific times when a substitution can occur, i.e. whenever play has stopped and we are in possession of the ball.
Players may wear running shoes, soccer cleats, indoor soccer shoes or any athletic shoe but no baseball or football cleats that have a toe cleat will be permitted. Shin guards are mandatory and must be covered.
Players may not have in ear rings or be wearing any loose necklaces or bracelets or any sort of hard barrett or hair band.

U6 Chose a name too!

They are The Blue Jays.



I'll be bringing a snack sign-up sheet to practice Thursday. Once it's filled in I'll add that to the Game Schedule.

U10 has a name.

At our first U10 practice we got one very important task taken care of. The players chose a team name. I like the choice because it has a certain ambitiousness to it. And I think they'll live up to that name given how hard they worked at the first practice.
At this Wednesday's practice I expect to work the Tsunami hard again on their ball handling and throw-in drills. I'd also like to get in some game situation practice, especially for my goalies, and to do that I'd like to extend practice by an extra half hour. If you can't stay past 7:30 though that is not a problem. See everyone Wednesday night.

NKYA August Session Begins!

Well here we are in the first week of practice with barely ten days until opening game day and the weather is perfect...if you're a farmer. Hopefully U6 practice will not be rained out and I'm also planning to schedule a U10 practice for this Saturday the 1st. (I'll be calling)
All of the rosters and schedules to the right are up to date and I'll add in the snack dates as we work that out at practice.
Just for reference the practice times are:

U4 and U6 Thursdays at 6:30

U10 Wednesdays at 6:30

Weather permitting we'll practice throughout the season.

August Session. U10 plays Offside

The August outdoor session will be starting soon and I'll be contacting everyone about practice times when I have a schedule. The U10 division will be playing with the Offside rule in force and getting the kids familiar with that will be one of the big challenges for this session. I've embedded a power point explanation of the rule that I found on YouTube. It's fairly straightforward so take a moment to watch it and if possible have your player watch it too. And the MLS season is in full swing with 2 or 3 games a week on ESPN. Try to get your player to watch a bit of these games. That also might help them understand the offsides rule.

Last day of the session

The U5 game was great fun. If Owen, Nathan, Kaleb and Camden stay together they will be unbeatable. Nate's goal was so perfect, he was in just the right spot to take a pass across the goal from Camden. The U.S. team should learn to do that. Kaleb had a great break-away from goal, playing the ball up the middle into the open field like a pro. Kendra and McKenzie combined for a goal (I don't know who actually put it in). Kendra has developed a real drive and focus to get the ball and go to the goal. Kendall and Karolyn had good touches and were engaged in the game the whole time. And Luke had a great game, jumping into the scrum over and over. It was a great session and I hope I see everyone in August. I'll be taking a U4 and U6 so there should be room for everyone. Thanks to everyone for helping with snacks and on the bench or during the practices. E-mail me if you have any questions about the next session.

The U9 game was a tough one. We were down three players (Erin, Nicholas and Christian) and that had the team a little nervous at the start but I was impressed with how they managed to keep the ball in the Blue team's end for most of the first quarter. Paisley and Liz were relentless up front and Helen and Maddie were great in midfield, really containing the ball a lot. We had strong defense from Madison, Blake and Jordan (Jordan had two really good clearing kicks) and Justin did all he could in goal. Avery played a very strong goalie in the last quarter. But in the end the Blue team just overpowered us. They had a slight size advantage to be sure but mainly they play patiently, maintaining their positions well. That's what saves you even when the other side gets break away opportunities. But I still feel that we gave them a game though and I'm very proud of the effort I saw from the Green Aliens. They've all worked hard in practice and I can see real improvement in every kid. They've all become players. I hope to see everyone back next session.

USA vs Italy

2:15 PM Monday the 15th- USA versus Italy live on ESPN!

Green Alien (boogers) rock!

This was easily the most fun game I've ever been part of. Both teams played beautifully. I'd especially like to recognize the amazing improvement achieved by Blake, Jordan and Maddie. Maddie has turned into an excellent midfielder. As with Nicholas in goal, I feel like I really need to leave Maddie in all the time because she plays the position so well. Blake and Jordan extend themselves more every week and now Blake has become a serious goal-scoring threat. Look out Blue team!
We had goals from Helen, Paisley, Avery and Erin (3).
Our game next Sunday is at 3 PM. We will have practice Tuesday night. See you then.

U5 blowout

Unfortunately the Orange team was several players short this week so the game was not very competitive for the Green Goblins. We used the situation to make sure that all of our players got lots of touches and McKenzie, Luke and Kendra took advantage and scored some great goals. Karolyn carried the ball (dribbled it) for a good 20 seconds over about 30 yards. It was a real breakthrough day for everyone.
The Hero of the day was Kaleb who helped the Orange team out by playing goalie for them during the last quarter. Owen, Nate and Camden were unstoppable when on the field and scored a bunch.
We will have practice Tuesday night. Then next Sunday is our last game this session.
See you then.

Must see TV

The US soccer team hosts Honduras Saturday night at Soldier Field in Chicago. The game will be on ESPN at 8:00 PM EST. Don't miss it.

May 31st: U9 Doubleheader Effort!

Obviously we didn't get a win but I couldn't have been much more impressed with the effort we saw. With only one sub on the bench the kids ran for two games and gave it everything they had. Special kudos to Erin and Paisley for giving it their all and getting us a pair of goals. Great work by Liz and Justin too on offense and Nicholas in goal.
See you Tuesday night.

May 31st: Camden Goes Crazy!

Camden Schwartz ran off an amazing four goals in today's game. He was on fire! We had excellent goal coverage from Kaleb too. One of Kaleb's clearing kicks missed the opposite goal by inches. That would have been the longest goal in the history of U5 soccer. Owen had two goals himself and had to deal with some flying elbows. McKenzie really came alive this game too and, after making a beautiful steal, came within inches of putting the ball in the net. Kendall was in the thick of things a lot this game as was Luke.
At this weeks practice I'll be trying to keep things a little more casual. Feel free to come onto the field with your camera if you want to get some action shots. See you Tuesday.

U5 May 16th and 17th

Great games both days. Thanks to Mrs. Lighthall for covering the bench for me in Saturday's game. See you tonight at practice. No games this weekend.

Schedule notes

Don't forget that U5 has a game this Saturday at 9:35 AM and then a game Sunday at 1:00 PM. Also, pardon my typo on the original version of the U9 schedule. There is no game on the 19th. We will have practice that evening though.
Tuesday's practices were great. See everyone this weekend.

May 3rd U5 game

Despite being down two players we had a great game. At first glance it looked like the other team had a real size advantage on us but our kids handled it wonderfully. Nate and Owen were unstoppable when in together with three goals, one for Owen and two for Nate, and with an assist by Nate on a goal by Luke. From the bleachers you may have seen Luke a bit red-faced and upset but he really had a great game. He's right at a stage that I've seen a lot of players go through, including Nate and Owen not long ago. He really works hard to get to the ball but due to his size he can't always beat the older kids to it. So he gets frustrated. But he kept running back in there and his tenaciousness paid off with a goal. If anyone got pictures of that or any of the action please forward them to me.
Our second quarter line was anchored by Kaleb who proved to be untouchable in goal. We had very strong kick-offs from Karolyn and Maddie with Maddie's leading directly to a goal. Kendall had four (four!) touches this week. Two of those touches were one after the other with Kendall deciding to put off her obligatory wave to Mom and Dad until after the second one. That's a big deal.
We will practice Tuesday but there will be no game next weekend because of Mother's day. Happy Mother's day Moms. Remember that we will make up that game by playing games the following weekend on Saturday and then on Sunday.
Special thanks to Ben Lighthall for leaving the building to get the snacks. That's dedication.

May 3rd U9 game

Despite the lopsided score this was a good game for us. Our offense, led by Paisley, Erin and Avery, showed great improvement in terms of thoughtfulness and patience. I saw many good efforts at passing and I heard lots of talking amongst the players. I still need to work more with our midfielders on getting back on defense and on helping to contain the ball in the other side's half. Also we'll be working on playing a less passive defense. Nicholas did a great job in goal, he just had to face too many shots.
We will practice Tuesday but remember our game this week is on Saturday, May 9th, at 9:00 AM. Try to be there by 8:45 please so we can get good and warmed up.

April 26th U5

This was a very good game for us. We had goals from Nate, Owen and Camden. The goal by Camden was especially sweet as he had to fight his way through a crowd. Good stuff. I was also really impressed by the effort I saw from Luke. He ran hard and made some good defensive stops. Kendra, McKenzie and Maddie were also keen to get to the ball, at least at kick-offs. Karolyn is still warming to the game. No worries. Her brother, Kaleb, did his usual solid job as goalie for us.
You may have noticed that the other team had two or three really strong players and that they didn't always face our most experienced team. Going the other way, when I had Nate and Owen on the field they weren't always facing the other team's best lineup.
I spoke to the other coach after the game and next time we play we'll be sure to arrange our lineups so as to give our experienced players a chance to compete against each other and to give our newer players the space to get a better feel for the game.
Thanks to the Schwartz's for the snack.
See you Tuesday.

April 26th U9

Excellent game! I'm really happy with the effort everyone is showing. We did a much better job this week of playing our positions effectively and it paid of with two great goals for Paisley and a handful of really good attempts from Erin. We had great goal keeping all around again including from our newest goalie, Avery, who seems comfortable just using her feet. We'll work on that. I'm lucky to have so many eager goalies.
I had told the kids before the game that if we could get two goals I'd get them a snack after the game. They definitely earned it.
See you Tuesday.

U9 Games 1 and 2

Game One was great fun and everybody really played well. We kept it close and with a little better defense we should be able to handle any team. I was thrilled to see some really tough goal keeping from Nicholas and Justin. Fearless! Christian gave us everything he had, running all over the field. Maddie and Madison played very tough, energetic defense. By the second game Jordan was really getting back into the soccer groove and when she went in on offense she was all over the field attacking the ball. Liz, Erin, Avery and Helen, being the players who have played with each other previously naturally form the core of our offense and Erin had two sweet goals in game one. But the obvious spark to the offense was Paisley with her speed and determination. Just a great game all around.
In game two it was obvious that everyone was getting tired and despite some great play including some very well coordinated attacks on goal we just couldn't keep up enough to prevent the opposition from dominating. I'm proud of everyone though. They all wanted to play the whole game and only came off the field when I insisted.
Tuesday in practice we'll work on a few basics of the various field positions in order to build on some of the good team work we saw today. See you then.

U5 First Game

Today's game was a lot of fun. Our more experienced players, Nate, Owen, Kaleb and Camden showed some amazing teamwork today and managed some beautiful goals because of it. Kaleb had two of those goals and they both looked easy thanks to good passes from Nate. Among our newer players Kendra, Maddie and McKenzie all showed great enthusiasm. One thing I like to impress on the kids is that soccer isn't a game where you have to wait to take a turn. When the game is on you go get the ball. So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I always ask them just before kick-off "whose ball is it" and the right answer is "mine". At the very start of the game today I asked the question to the kids I had on the field and all of them but McKenzie knew what I expected them to say. When I tried to explain to McKenzie that in soccer "it's always your ball and you just have to go get it" she walked up to the center spot, picked up the ball and brought it back to me. I think she'll get the idea quickly.
Our youngest players, Karolyn and Luke aren't getting the idea yet but every minute on the field is part of the process. They'll get it.
See you Tuesday night at 6:30 for practice.

First Practice

U5
Practice was a bit chaotic at times but thanks to a lot of help from my wife Chris we were able to keep things moving. The goal in our practices will be simple. You'll see us do simple drills that look like a game of kick ball over and over again to work on the kids' kicking technique and get them used to running into the ball. I know it gets boring to watch but it's the one drill the kids all get and they really do benefit from the repetition. When I can I'll add in some dribbling and settling practice. And we'll run a lot.
First Game Sunday at 1:00 PM. See you there.

U9
This is a great group of kids with a lot of energy. During practices we'll mostly work on endurance with a lot of running. The remainder of the time I'll try to focus more on game IQ than on the particulars of ball handling technique. That is, I'll be spending most of the time trying to teach them to understand the field and their positions on it so that they can effectively work together as a team. I ran them a lot this first practice but they all seemed to have more than enough energy left. So next time we'll run more.
First Game Sunday at 3:00 PM. See you there.

The Schedules Are Out

The schedule for the Green U5 team is here.
And the schedule for the Green U9 team is here.

Please note the following about the schedules:

The U5 team does not play on May 10th or May 24th but does play on May 16th which is a Saturday! We play at 9:35 AM that day.
You will also notice that the schedule has the early and late games separated by only a few minutes. Since we have practice times available during the week this session the game schedule has been compressed a bit. When we have a late (1:35) game we will have a quick pre-game warm-up but no practice. For the 1:00 PM games we can probably show up a little early and practice some if we like but the games will start at 1:00 PM.

The U9 team has two Double Header days, April 19th and May 31st. That will be fun.
Also, we play a game on Saturday May 9th at 9:00 AM in order to avoid playing on Mother's Day. The last weekend of the season, June 14th, their will be a tournament. We'll get the schedule for that later.

Gear

I've received some questions from parents of first time players about the necessary gear for soccer. Sorry I didn't think to address that earlier.
The only indispensable equipment is a pair of shin guards and a pair of soccer socks to wear them in. As for shoes, any comfortable pair of athletic shoes that you can run in will do fine. Indoor or outdoor soccer shoes will work great on the Pleasure Isle field surface. No football or baseball cleats, please. Any sort of athletic shorts are good. The league provides the t-shirts and hopefully I'll have those at the first practice. Good sources for gear are Meyer, Biggs, Dick's, KMart and Play it Again Sports.

Welcome the the Spring session

Hi, U5 and U9 parents. On the Blog here you'll find weekly updates on our games and practices. To the right you'll find a permanent list of links to rosters, schedules and other useful information.
If you received my e-mail you saw my comments regarding the NKYA code of conduct. Hopefully you have followed the link to the published version of the code and read it over. If you have any questions about it let me hear them. I want to elaborate a bit here on the code and NKYA's mission as well as the rules of the game and how the Referees enforce the rules during a game.
Here are some things to remember:

NKYA soccer is a recreational/instructional league. Our first priority, especially for the younger divisions is to teach the game. U5 parents need to keep this in mind. We are not looking for wins, we're looking for improvement. Be patient. U9 parents need to remember that this isn't select soccer. We don't have try-outs. We take anybody who wants to play. So please temper your expectations about the level of competition with that in mind. I'll work to get the kids to give the game everything they've got and really put their hearts into it. If we get that, win or lose, we should be happy.

The Referees in NKYA games are typically kids themselves. Part of what we do at NKYA is train Referees. Be patient with them. Our Referee administrator does monitor their performance closely and we are looking for constant improvement but no matter how young and inexperienced a Ref is we all need to show the proper respect and be sure the kids see us setting that example. If you have a concern about the way a Ref worked a game bring it to me and I'll discuss it with the Administrator. What you should be most concerned about is that the Refs are doing what they can to keep the game safe not how they call every handball you see.

The Referees are instructed by the league to consider both "intent" and "advantage" when calling fouls. The foul most people are familiar with is the "handball", where a player touches the ball with some part of his arm from about the armpit down. When watching a game keep in mind that the Ref may not call every handball he sees and this is for two reasons. If the Referee judges that the foul was unintentional and does not affect the immediate course of the game he will hold his whistle and let the game play on. If the Ref judges that a handball or any other foul actually works out to the "advantage" of the opposing team, the team that didn't commit the foul, he will let the game play on rather than interrupt that advantage. So if you see a handball but don't hear an immediate whistle take note of how the game is playing out and consider whether or not stopping the game for a penalty kick would actually be to our advantage.

In NKYA indoor soccer leagues there are no "direct free kicks" meaning that if we get a penalty kick, even within the goalie box, the ball can not be kicked directly into the goal for a score. The ball must touch another player first to count as a goal. Now if you are familiar with professional soccer you know that a penalty kick from anywhere within 40 yards of the goal is considered a scoring opportunity. David Beckham has made a career out of such kicks. But since penalty kicks in our league are nothing more than changes of possession (turnovers) it is very unlikely that any one bad call or even series of bad calls could affect the outcome of the game. Even if I thought a call had affected the outcome you would never see me demonstrating that in front of the kids. My goal is to be sure that they never feel the outcome is out of their hands. I want them to play knowing that the outcome of the game will be determined by the effort that they put forth. Coaches and parents who constantly snipe at the Ref about missed calls are sending a clear message to their kids: "the game isn't in your hands". I'm not interested in that. What I'll be looking for from the Referees is that they keep the game safe while letting the kids play hard. I'm satisfied that that is what we normally get with NKYA.

Ok, enough pontificating. I'll see everybody at practice Tuesday the 14th.

No Game Schedule Yet

Going forward I'll be using this blog for both U5 and U9. I still don't have the game schedules in hand but I expect them soon. I do, though, have a practice schedule. NKYA has managed to secure some weekly practice times at Pleasure Isle for the U5, U7 and U9 teams (Thanks, Andrea.) I have the U5 team set up for Tuesdays at 6:30 PM. U9 will follow immediately, Tuesdays at 7:30 PM. First practice will be next Tuesday the 14th.

Watch This Space!

The coach's meeting in preparation for the spring session is this Sunday so I should have the game schedule up by Monday morning.

Great Last Game

Firstly I want to thank all the parents for their patience in dealing with the fact that our team was crowded. The enrollment situation at the start of the session was such that there were enough total players in U5 to make five teams but not enough to make six and since a five team field doesn't work scheduling wise the only thing to do was to divide the kids up into four teams so some of the teams were over the normal ten player limit. I personally prefer to have fewer than ten players since it seems that on every team I've had I have players that need to be coaxed just to play one quarter and other players who would play the whole game if I let them. But anyway, thanks for your patience and help and I hope each of your kids got something out of this session. They were all a joy to work with.
Now, as for that last game...you may have noticed some strange behavior in the last quarter. The other coach, Scott, and I agreed before the game to use the last quarter to try and get any kids who had no goals this session a chance at making a goal. This involves pulling your players aside and giving the other team a head start as it were. This failed hilariously as Greg's players couldn't get the ball in the goal even as I had to practically sit on Nate and Mason to keep them from playing defense. And on our end Maddie and Kendall were both in position a few time to get their shots on goal but each time they seemed to be looking at something other than the ball. All the same it was fun.
It was a great session and I hope to see everyone when the spring session begins. Don't forget to watch that USA soccer qualifying game on the 28th. Oh...and Go Cardinals!

Highlight-free game

Well...we did have a very good pre-game practice. And then there was that one kid on the Orange team who had a great game. And then everybody had a snack, which was nice. (Thanks to Cole's parents for that). So not a bad day really.
After the game the coach of the Orange team apologized for leaving the scoring-machine kid out on the field so much. Orange was a few players short so the coach figured he'd let the kid (Logan) get some extra playing time. I told him "it's cool. Facing a better opponent isn't going to hurt anybody." Some of the kids will be moving up to U7 soon so they will be seeing a lot of that sort of thing. Aside from a slight size advantage, what makes a player like Logan stand out is his single mindedness when it comes to what to do with the ball. We have that on out team in the form of Nate and Mason. When Nate has the ball he is frantic in his effort to get to the goal but he doesn't panic when he's in close contact with the opposition. I saw him twice step gracefully over the ball to shield it from the opposition and start moving toward their goal. He keeps his head under pressure. I ask the kids every week before the game starts "who's ball is it?" and I expect them to answer "mine!" I never have to ask Nate twice.
And every week Mason shows a better understanding of where he needs to position himself off the ball to defend effectively. He has a great sense of the field.
I should also note that Annie played some fierce defense when she was in goal. And Kendall Romito now has a baby brother, Gabriel.
Everyone is making steady progress and it's been a good season despite our over-crowded bench. Next week is the last game of the season. Camden's mom will be picking-up the snack. See you then.

Playing like a team

The level of "team" play in this week's game was excellent. In our first quarter line-up we had great goal coverage from Kaleb which allowed Mason, Nate, Owen and Camden (!) to really attack the other goal. They combined for two great goals and we saw lots of cooperative play with good passing and a lot of talk.
On the second quarter team it was Chase who took charge of the goal coming up with some excellent stops and allowing Annie, Ethan, Maddie and Max to keep pushing into the other team's side. In the fourth quarter Annie and Chase switched. Annie made some good defensive stops and Chase had some good shots on goal.
Two games left on the 8th and 15th. Sign-ups for next session going on now if you're interested.

World Cup Qulifying

The US national team plays its next World Cup qualifying match on March 28th at 9:00 PM, live on ESPN2. That's a Saturday so everyone can stay up for at least the first half.

Great Game!

What a great game today! We got our roster back in order, the Romitos came through in picking-up the snack and Nate and Owen executed a perfect pass-and-shoot just the way we'd done it in practice. Other highlights were: two very energetic "own goals" by Camden, an impressive defensive stop by Kendall (with happy dance), a fantastic "heel" pass by Kaleb and a couple of great defensive plays by Mason. Kaleb was great in goal, especially during the fourth quarter, nearly taking the ball from our end to theirs for one more goal. Ethan showed some amazing improvement today. He was really in the game.
Sign-ups for the next session are going on now. If you're interested I will be coaching U5 again, assuming we get enough kids signed up to make a team.

How could we not win? Our team has like a million kids on it!

We faced this same team a few weeks back and in that game their strongest player kind of dominated the Apples, mostly by liberal use of his elbows. This week we kept him in check with some very good defensive play. We especially had some very good goal coverage from Chase in the third Quarter. I saw several of the kids beginning to get the idea of converging on our goal to defend when needed. That's great and our offense can build off of that.
We had a goal from Mason and another one shared by Mason and Nate. Nate also went for an own-goal but was, luckily, stopped by Owen. This week we switched sides at the half for the first time and some of the kids were clearly disoriented. Maddie got so close to putting in our third goal but then got confused as to which goal was the right one. Next week she'll get one.
Thanks again for everyone's patience, especially Caleb's dad. He was ready to provide the snack after this week's game only to discover that the parents of our surprise 13th (!!!) player had also picked-up the snack. I'm trying to find out where this new player came from. If she wasn't actually signed up by the league administrator I'll have to tell her folks she can't play, obviously.
See you all next week.

Good practice, not-so-good game.

Practice went very well with everyone really paying attention and working hard. Most of the kids are developing a very solid kick with at least one foot. I pulled out some of the older kids to work specifically on passing. I don't know that it helped but we'll keep working on it
Once we got to game time there was suddenly a lot of timidity about going to the ball. Everybody wanted to be goalie but nobody wanted to actually block a shot. Not everybody, of course. Nate played like a crazy person as usual and Mason showed some Premier League quality defensive play including a slightly illegal but nonetheless beautiful slide tackle. His dad taught him that.

Super Sunday

Only one goal today, this one from Owen on an easy breakaway. But the low score wasn't for lack of trying. Nate ran himself ragged trying to get one but was just a bit unlucky. Next week when we have Mason back we'll try to work more on passing so that we get more shots on goal.
Cole, Ethan and Maddie had their best games yet. At one point Cole played some very solid defense and surely saved a goal. Kendall came tantalizingly close (again!) to scoring as did Caleb, both of them swinging just a fraction too late. Max played hard. Chase started slow then really got going. And Annie had another good game although by the end she had decided that she might prefer Karate.
Thanks to the Ramsdell's for the snack. See you Sunday.

Game Three. Snowflakes and Elbows were flying.

With only eight players on hand everybody got a real workout. Thanks to the snow the kids all showed up in a very up-beat mood and were anxious to play. We had at least two goals from Mason and another that Mason and Annie basically shared. We really had a lot of great chances where one or more of our players was in position in front of the goal and just missed their shot. Also we again had some good defensive play although we really missed Nate.
Thanks to the Hammons for the snacks.

Game Two

We only had eleven players for this game and that made it easier to get everybody their minutes. I did however get one complaint after the game that the playing time wasn't getting shared evenly. If that is happening I apologize. I want to assure all the parents that I and everyone else who volunteers with NKYA want every kid who participates to have a positive experience. I love the game myself and I take the opportunities I get to share it with young players very seriously. I want them all to have fun and really get hooked on soccer and want to work at learning the game. So if anybody feels that their kid isn't getting enough out of our practices and games talk to me. I want to hear it.

As for the game...I think we had four goals, a couple from Owen and at least one more from Nate I think. I want to especially mention Nate. He is a fireball on the field and at two points in the game when the other team was right on top of our goal Nate stubbornly refused to let them put it in. It was awesome.
Kendall also had a great game and came very close to scoring a goal. She has come so far since the summer. It's great to see.

Thanks to the Romitos for this week's snack. The Hammons are on deck for next week. See you then.

The Big Apple

With our new red shirts the name "Apples" occurred to some of the kids so we are the Fierce Red Apples. (They always want to include the color in the name!). Our first game and practice went very well even though, to state the obvious, we have a large roster. Two players were added on game day to give us a total of twelve kids. I'm ok with this. I hate to turn away kids who want to play. I'll manage the playing time to get everyone plenty of minutes and I expect that we'll have more than a few weeks where less than the full roster shows up.

A few of the kids will be due to move up to U7 soon and that can be a big jump. I'm going to try having those older 4s play together at least one quarter each game as I think that beyond ball skills or size the thing that will serve them best as they move up is a well developed sense of how to play as part of a team. As I said in an earlier post I think that for the younger kids the goal is to start them on developing some basic ball skills and get them to grasp the basic concepts of the game, i.e., what your supposed to do with the ball when you get it. But for the older kids the big conceptual leap is in learning to cooperate and take in more of the field. I can say from experience with my daughter's U7 and U9 teams that the first time the kids get that feeling of running together with a purpose, like a pack of wolves, that's the moment they really get hooked on the game.

In our first game our one successful shot on goal was from Chase. The shot was from about 10 yards out! A very strong kick. Annie gets credit for an assist on that one. Everyone else played well. Lots of good effort.

Next weeks game is at the same time and the Romitos will be providing the snack.

Winter II starts January 11th

The new session starts this week and we have a full roster of 10. I've got four returning and six new kids. Here's the line-up:

Mason Hammons
Camden Schwartz
Nathan Griffith
Max Lause
Kaleb Lighthall
Madelyn Schroth
Kendall Romito
Collin Flaherty
Chase Beck
Owen Michels

See everybody Sunday!