Week Three

Man, are those U6 Blue Angels good or what? I'll note that we had goals from Nate (one off his left foot!), McKinley and Alex. Owen's goal was called off by the Ref because he went into a slide to kick the ball but it was still a beauty.
We had great play all around and great stints in goal for McKinley, Maddie and Mason. And we had lots of great play on defense, especially from Brennen, who has amazing instincts for where to be. We had great passing and lots of communication. But the big highlight of the game was a pass that Nate made to Alex. Nate had carried the ball in toward the left side of the goal and realizing that he was in too deep to have a good shot he turned the ball around, saw that Alex was directly in front of the goal about 6 yards out, then called out to Alex before delivering a perfect pass. Unfortunately Alex wasn't able to convert but I told Nate afterward that that was about the best pass I'd ever seen. I call that the big highlight because it's indicative of how these kids are playing as a team. They talk to each other, they look up to see the field, they cover the open space, they anticipate. And when the game is over they're excited about winning but they handle themselves with class and give the other team an earnest "good game". I love being out there when they're playing. Obviously it's fun to have a team that wins but what really makes this group great is that they all feed off of each others enthusiasm and they really want to play better every week.

The U4 Blue Ghosts are great fun too. Noah, Sam and Lucas are improving at an amazing rate going beyond their natural talents and developing real game understanding. Jill is just waiting to find her higher gear. She is in the right spot often enough but just a tick behind on her timing. And Will is right where he should be, hanging out on the field and getting used to it all. The rest will come soon enough.

The Sapphire Bullets had their best game yet despite losing and I'm pretty sure they had more shots on goal than the other team did. They're playing loose and talking a lot on the field, working together more. It's great to watch them develop into a team. They asked me at the end of the game why they always loose. I told them to be patient, keep doing what you're doing and trust each other.
Great work in goal from Nicholas and Helen. Fearless play from both of them. Having Helen in goal allowed us to have Kyle in midfield during the second half and he was great there. Avery, Braden and Nate were relentless in the first half, taking a ton of good shots and Erin did great work in midfield keeping the ball up there for them. Erin has, I think, established her reputation in the league and now most of the other kids know that when she's lining up to kick it you'd better get out of the way.