UEFA Cup

Saturday at 2:30 on FOX WXIX it's the UEFA Champion's league final with Manchester United taking on Barcelona FC at Wembley Stadium. Should be awesome.

Week Seven.

I have to be brief this week even though we had three really good games with lots of great play. The U4 Slime were completely dominant in their game and played with their usual, and impressive, amount of teamwork. Maddox had a great goal and an assist. Diego had one hard-fought goal that came after he carried the ball through a crowd with amazing patience.

The Sharks won, I hear. I had to leave early for a Baseball game but I heard later that Jackson and Sam E. both had goals in a 2-1 victory. Well done Sharks. What I saw in the first half was some very good work with everyone staying well spread out but I could also see that we were missing Elizabeth in that front line. Great work in goal from both Sam A. and Jackson. Enjoy your week off Sharks and then come back strong rocking those tattoos! (I'll have extras with me on game day if anyone looses theirs so no freaking out, okay?)

The Wave had a very good game against an opponent that they match up evenly with. It was a fun game with lots of action and everyone of the Wave being a bit impatient to get in on the scoring. That lead to some undisciplined play with players falling out of position but we can work on that in practice. Cody had a stand-out game playing against a couple of elbow-throwing opponents. He gave it right back to them and kept scrapping for the ball. Jake was setting an example with his disciplined positioning in this game. He stayed in his lane, patiently waiting for his chances and attacking the ball vigorously when we needed him. He was in the right spot for a shot on several occasions. Great work everyone.

USA Women v. Japan.

Check out the USA Women's World Cup team tonight facing Japan in an international friendly and cup tune up. Coverage begins at 7:00 PM on ESPN 2.

Week Six Highlights.

The U4 Slime had a great game with very good play from everyone. Maddox lead the way early by picking up a rebound off of someone else's shot and putting it in for a goal. Very smart play there. He also did some excellent work playing defense in this game. Ashley had two goals, a season high for her, and Diego had a pair of goals and two assists as well. Abby had her first big kick in a game and I hope that's just the start for her.

The Sharks were really fired up for their match against Nico and the Black team but unlike their last meeting the Sharks didn't allow their excitement to take them out of their game. They played with the same poise and teamwork that we've seen in the previous three games and the result was an overwhelming barrage of goals. Austin was leading the way again and has developed a new level of speed with the ball that is amazing. On his first goal he was approaching from the right corner and ran into at least two defenders. When he got past them along the wall he took four or five incredibly quick steps and was on top of the goalie in a second. From there it was an easy shot. Sam E. had a goal later on that was a beautiful example of anticipation as he came streaking in from the center to put in the rebound of a shot Jackson took from the left side. What's amazing is that Sam just barely managed to be the first Shark to get there as Austin and Elizabeth both saw the same play developing and were both headed for the same spot. That was Jackson's second assist of the game. He and Austin and Elizabeth have really gotten the hang of how to take the ball wide then come back to the center as a kind of set play.
Everyone else played well too with lots of great work in defense and a lot of very confident dribbling and passing. The starting line-up of Brandon, Braiden, Aiden, Ryland, Kendall and Luke threatened to score repeatedly and did great work keeping Nico and his fellows out of our goal. I think next week we'll change the line-ups to try to get some of our players a bit more time with the ball.

The Wave was playing their toughest opponent and that seemed to get into their heads even before kick-off. I should have seen that coming and tried to prevent them from conceding the game before the whistle even blew but I didn't. They practiced so well last week and so many of the players have shown great development of their individual skills that I thought they'd be coming into this game with a new confidence. But while there were some good moments in the game and some smart play there was also a lot of panicked play. I hate to see that but it happens and I admit I don't really know how to get them past it other than to just keep working in practice on their fundamental skills and try to build their confidence.

Week Five. Teamwork.

All three teams showed their best this weekend and I am, to be honest, quite proud of them all. Obviously with the Sharks and the Wave it is the quality of play that I'm happy about. Both teams work very hard in practice and have consistently brought whatever we do there to the games and then executed what they learned with commitment and teamwork. With the Slime, though, it's more than how they play. They play well to be sure and this week they dominated from start to finish even though a few of our players seemed to have a little less energy than usual. But what I really take pride in with this U4 team is their discipline. They pay attention when we are warming up and they all make a real effort in the drills we do. That shows in the way they play once the whistle blows. Kids their age are going to act up and be rambunctious but compared to what I see going on all around us out there this group is really focused and easy to work with. They set a great example for everyone else in the U4 division, especially for the parents and other Coaches, who get to see what is possible for kids this age. Coaching U4 is difficult and takes patience. Dealing with crying kids and embarrassed parents is part of the job and I'm grateful to all of the parents who stepped forward this session to become Coaches. Part of what I've tried to impress upon these new Coaches at our meetings is that while the hard work of repeating basic skill lessons over and over again can be an uphill slog they will, eventually, be amazed at what kids this age can "get" about the game and the extent to which they really can play the game.

Well, right now your Green Slime is setting the standard and here's what they did this week:
After a great warm-up in which we played some "shooting gallery" the Slime came out strong and controlled the ball basically from start to finish. In the first quarter we had goals from Mason and Diego and Diego had an assist on the goal for Mason. They make a great team as a combination of speed and grace, Diego being the grace part. His natural tendency to carry the ball on one side of his body and shield defenders off the ball is going to serve him well as he gets older. Mason is the speed and his dribbling improves weekly. He had several good runs this week where he took the ball into the corner (the dead corner against the blue wall) then fought through the defense and streaked directly into the goal box. Great stuff. He scored again in the third quarter. Also in the third we had a goal from Eileen off of a beautiful assist from Ashley. Their teamwork on that one was beautiful as Eileen headed straight for the goal when she saw Ashley taking the ball up the side. After getting around the defense Ashley made a nice pass right to Eileen's feet so that all she had to do was turn and put the ball in the net.
Lincoln and Abby did great work in the warm-up but weren't quite as engaged in the game as you'd like but they are improving weekly and seem to always be having fun.

Now, as for the Sharks, they are a fairly disciplined group but they have a lot of energy and I couldn't handle them without Coach Mike's help. Mike has been working them hard at practice and it keeps paying off in really unbelievable game performances. Like the U4 team the Sharks keep setting the bar for what is possible for teams in their age group. As a team they have great fundamental skills with good ball control habits and good field awareness but the thing that is most impressive is their communication. They yell to each other for passes the way you'd want a U10 team to do. Just a few highlights:
Elizabeth received a pass from Sam E. that was right on her feet at the eighteen. She settled the ball smoothly then quickly stepped to her left dragging the ball with her right foot to get around the first defender. A step back to the right took her past the second defender then she let go a nice pass to the right post that found Austin waiting. He was so wide open he could have walked the ball in but of course he blasted it in with authority. That was Austin's second goal of the game.
Sam A. was doing great work playing the left wing and had a few chances too. Jackson was backing them up as midfielder and as usual was always one step ahead of the other team's forwards. One of those forwards, Oliver, is a good player and practices with us on Mondays. Oliver just could not get ahead of our defense to score, though. Brandon's best play of the game was one where he ran back into our half and beat Oliver to the ball then turned in towards the center of the field and shielded Oliver off the ball with his backside (and hip checking him into the wall. oops.) so that he could casually bring the ball back out to midfield for another run. Finally I want to mention the play of Braiden and Aiden this week. Neither of them had a goal but they both played better than they ever have and played smartly too. Their work in practice seems to be taking them to a new level of confidence with the ball and now I can't get anyone to play defense...they all think they're shooters. Good work from Ryland too. For a new player he is really contributing a lot every week. Really fearless on defense too.

The Green Wave had to play one down with only seven players and no subs but somehow that seemed to help them. Zach had our three goals in this 3-3 tie and two of them were strong shots from some distance. He was assisted in the attack by good passing and ball possession from Logan, Jordan, Cody and Ashley (late but not too late!). I hope everyone noticed the courageous play from Cody. He is fearless and fierce and went up against the other team's star player over and over again. During one of those encounters he took a fall and was feeling some pain for a few minutes but in the final quarter he went back out there and kept attacking the ball. Great work Cody!
The Wave was moving the ball with confidence and putting everything we worked on in practice to work in the game. That was a real gutsy performance Wave. Well done.

Week Four. Three Wins!

The U4 Green Slime were on fire this week with some brilliant play that lead to at least four goals. Prior to the game I reminded the kids about the trouble they'd had the week before with getting in each others' way and admonished them to keep looking around to see where their teammates were. Well, they executed that better than I could have expected and I saw them consistently making the effort to get ahead of the ball rather than simply chasing it. Eileen made a great run to the goal as Mason brought the ball up the left side and Mason's pass was right to her feet for an easy shot. Later Mason fed another great pass in to Maddox for a goal. Diego managed a couple on his own with more of that great, patient ball handling of his. He really seems to see a few moves ahead.
Delaney had her best game yet with one sustained run with the ball. Abby was having a much better time this week than last and she shows great potential in practice where she is very interested in working the ball around with her feet. Right now though she's still a bit uncertain about running into the midst of the crowd. Mason was in a head on collision that demonstrated why Abby's attitude is prudent. He dealt with that crash bravely but needed to sit out the final quarter to recuperate. It was a shame Mason got knocked out of the game because he and Maddox were developing some sort of give-and-go play that worked for them twice in a row. Both times Mason ran into a wall of defenders near the glass and smartly turned back to pass the ball(to drop it, as we say in soccer) to Maddox who was a few yards behind him. Each time Maddox calmly settled the ball then turned toward the center of the field and passed the ball up to his open teammates. It's a thrill to see players developing that sort of instinctive teamwork.
The other star of the game was Ashley who had a goal and who was doing great work with the ball. She is so fast and can turn so quickly with the ball. She just needs to develop the kind of confidence in her skills that Diego has then she will easily run around defenders and she'll be putting up hat-tricks every week.
We play at 10:10 next week.

Oh, those Sharks. I'll admit that they had me frustrated last week. They were playing their best opponent and didn't put in their best effort, but I did feel that they were playing loose and having fun. They were just unfocused. This week they were very focused and both line-ups just played brilliantly the whole game. We work on game strategy a bit in practice because I think they can handle a bit of it. Our expectations are high because they are a talented and motivated bunch. But when you actually see them, these little kids, playing as a unit like a pack of wolves, and yet they're still loose and laughing with each other and squealing like the kids they are it just takes your breath away. When Elizabeth pulled the ball out of the corner and calmly dropped it to Austin who then smartly passed the ball to the eighteen for Sam E. I was cheering like I was at a World Cup game. It was just beautiful.
The first and third quarter line-up was Brandon, Luke, Sam A., Samuel, Kendall and Braiden. Kendall was in at keeper and the other team's only point came on an own-goal when Brandon did the smart thing by passing the ball back to her. Unfortunately Braiden was in tight to the goal on defense and shielded Kendall from seeing the pass which got by her and into the net. That happens. They were all three playing solid defense but just ran into some bad luck. After that they got the ball out into the other team's end and rarely let it back across the half-line. Sam A. was doing great work sweeping back and forth in midfield and his anticipation is fantastic. The goal for this group came on a nice play where Brandon carried the ball into the corner on the right then brought it through a couple of defenders toward the goal where he let go a great pass to the middle which Samuel easily deposited in the net. Luke had a couple of great chances at goals but got blocked by some tough play from their keeper. Braiden was doing a great job in defense, covering for Brandon in the first quarter when Brandon bolted up into offense, then showing Samuel the ropes in the third quarter. Before the whistle that quarter Samuel asked me what he was supposed to do. "What's defense?" he asked. I told him to just keep the other team from getting the ball to our goal. The other team's best player probably had two inches and ten pounds on Samuel but he did as I asked him and blocked that kid repeatedly, just getting in his way over and over again and stealing the ball. Awesome.
The second/fourth quarter group was Sam E., Austin, Elizabeth, Jackson, Aiden and Ryland. Ryland gave us a solid start in keeper allowing Jackson to play out in that sweeping midfield spot. Aiden and Ryland held down the defensive side solidly allowing Jackson to focus on keeping the ball up in the other half where Sam, Austin and Elizabeth could run their give-and-go drill offense. Austin was the main beneficiary with two impressive goals. On the first Austin dribbled through a couple of defenders to get to the left side of the goal and then fired in a low shot from a very shallow angle that still got past the keeper and into the net. Sam, Austin and Elizabeth were talking to each other constantly and shouting out for passes. Amazing play.
In the last quarter while Sam E. did get a great shot in from way out it was really Jackson's turn to shine and he made some moves to get past defenders that were just fabulous including a little twist-off that faked the nearest defender right out of his shoes. On an earlier run Jackson had shown some unusual speed coming along the wall on the left of the goal and after bulling his way past a defender he went one on one with the goalie and put the ball in. If he hadn't gotten that one we'd have scored anyway as Aiden was right there to get the rebound. Great stuff.

Before the game I asked the Green Wave: to remember what we did in practice and to try to put that to work in the game.
They did that for the most part and the result was a very nice win in which they maintained possession of the ball most of the game and had a lot of good attempts on goal. It was great to have Lydia back to demonstrate for everyone what good ball handling looks like. Twice she dribbled around the last defender to go one on one with the keeper and she'd have had two easy goals if she had just taken a few more steps toward the goal before shooting. Gabrielle was leading the offense, mainly with her speed and had a nice goal from distance. Zach, Logan, Cody and Nabil each had nice turns in midfield and our midfield play was really our strength in this game and we made it so hard for the other team to get anything started or to even get over the half-line. Cody had what would have been our fifth goal but it was disallowed as Cody went into just a bit of a slide to kick the ball and in indoor that's a no-no. Still, it was a great effort. At practice this week we'll be working on learning to use our bodies more effectively to corral the ball. If we add that skill to the ones the kids are already developing we should be in great shape.