Winter Finals.

You'll have to forgive me for not posting sooner after the weekend's games.  I was really happy with how everyone played in the final game of the session but I'm a little busy with organizing the next session and managing what's left of the tournament so I didn't get to put down my thoughts on the teams right away.

In the U4 game William and Hunter both managed goals.  Real goals.  Not accidental goals.  In each case they got possession of the ball, kept it close and moved through traffic toward the goal and in the end finished with a tap in.  I tried to impress on them both that what they'd done looked easy, like they should do it all the time.  Keep your fingers crossed.
We were shorthanded in that game and so William and Hunter, Ruby, Sammy and Ava had to play the whole game.  That seemed to be good for them.  Hopefully this next session all of our U4 teams will be smaller.  The more playing time the better.  Ruby was dominant, always possessing the ball rather than kicking it.  She'll be moving up to U6 now.  I don't think she'll have too much trouble there either.

In the titanic struggle between the Sharks and Polar Bears we tried mixing the teams a bit at first by putting Samuel in as keeper for the Bears.  He was great about doing that for me, a real good sport.  And he's an amazing keeper too.  In the next quarter Zychick came in and played beautifully.  He gets right down on the ball to make those stops and seems unafraid of the players charging in at him.
We saw lots of good ball movement from the Sharks with some crazy good dribbling from Samuel and Diego.  Ashley and Abby tried to get some of that going too and they played well.  The overall highlight of the game was a break-away goal by Micah.  He got into the clear from the Bears' side of the field and headed toward the other goal with no one in front of him but the keeper.  The beautiful thing was that even though he took off at full speed he made nice soft touches on the ball to keep it close to him.  When he reached the penalty box he was flying but the ball was right at his feet so it was an easy thing to zip a low shot to the keeper's left and into the net.  That was his best moment of the session and I hope he can carry that with him into the next.

The U8 Sharks played valiantly against an incredibly tough opponent and managed one goal, Conner's with an assist from Sam E, I think.  We had very good play in keeper from Nathan and Zachary against an opponent that had many players who could shoot with power.  The overall effort from everyone of the Sharks was really good and I was happy with the spirit they showed.  They never let up in that game and there was plenty of quality play.  That's all I need to see.  Just keep trying to do the things that we've worked on and don't fall into playing in a panic.  It'll all come together eventually.

This has been a great session and I want to thank all the players for the hard work they've done.

To win you have to show up.

     Final score aside that was a great game for the U8 Sharks.  The first quarter was a little bit like last week's game but then they came alive and played with energy.  Sam E. was clearly setting the tone for the team and he was relentless in his attempts to possess the ball.  He was also fierce on the attack when the other team had the ball and that was a great improvement over last week.  And he had his first goal from the field.  He was hitting the ball hard all game and finally got one to go in.
     My plan for the game was to focus on defense with our older players, Owen, Conner and Nathan, and keep the younger kids up in offense as much as possible.  Coach Cook's team is very disciplined about staying in their positions so I figured that if Sam, Elizabeth, Austin and Jackson could get into their space with the ball they'd have some room to work and probably be facing a lot of one-on-one situations.  Their team also has a couple of really skilled players who'd like nothing more than to have you crowd your whole team into one corner chasing the ball on defense so it was best for us to have Owen and Conner back there alone facing them one-on-one.  Before kick-off I told Austin, Sam and Elizabeth that they should not go back into defense but should try to stay up the field all the time, save their energy for attacking and trust Owen and Conner to get them the ball.  Sam bought in right away but the other two seemed skeptical and couldn't help but chase the ball all the way back to our goal repeatedly.  As a result, whenever Sam did make a few moves and get out into the open in the other team's side he had no help and so ended up taking good shots from too far out.  I do think that by the end of the game Austin and Elizabeth were starting to get what I was asking them to do so we'll see what happens next week.

Week Six.

I didn't like what I saw on the field from the U8 Sharks yesterday.  I don't know yet what I should have done differently to motivate them but I know I didn't get the best out of them.  The kids were very energetic when they took the field.  The bench was lively.  But by the middle of the second quarter it was clear that something was wrong.  The kids seemed to generally be having fun all game.  There was lots of laughing and talking on the field and the bench which is good but there was still a lot of timid and disorganized play.  It's puzzling.  I made it as clear as I could to the Sharks after the game that I'm not concerned about the score.  What I want to see is quality play.  I want to see them committed to the game and to each other.  But yesterday each group on the field looked like seven individuals most of the time.   Maybe yesterday should just be filed under "experience" and let go.

There were moments:
Addie was great in goal.  We asked her at the start to remember to look for Conner on one side whenever she needed to get the ball out and she did that consistently.  They worked that very well together, with Addie even pausing to direct Conner into position at one point.  And all of the kids did have moments where they bravely tried to use their skills to possess the ball rather than just kicking at it.  Jaden was tremendously tough, coming back into the game after taking a brutal shot to the nose.  She set a good example for her team and they should be proud of her.

The U4 and U6 teams played well this week and everyone was making some visible progress.   Small steps.

Week Five. Learning to Read a Map.

From outside the glass the path to the goal is usually obvious.  You can see all the open space and you can, as an adult, anticipate which direction might make for the easiest route to either get around the defense or intercept the ball.  Everything I practice with the kids as far as basic techniques for kicking and controlling the ball is ultimately aimed at getting these young players to develop the ability to see the field as clearly while in the game as someone outside the game does.  It's like teaching them how to read a map only the map has to be in their head.  Think about this; to be effective players the kids need to be able to spin around, fall, get up and run, track the ball and, all the while, know where the two goals are.  And then we also want them to know where their teammates and opponents are.  That doesn't come quickly.  But they can all get it with time.

In the U4 game there was a moment when Ruby and Lauren were chasing the ball into the bumpers.  Ruby got their first and turned to be on the back of the ball so she was facing the goal.  As Lauren caught up to her she realized that she was now in Ruby's way so she stepped away from the bumper to let her pass.  That was amazing and both girls were demonstrating there that they are developing that map in their heads, they do know where they are on the field.
The other Lakers played well too.  Emma was really trying hard to control the ball and she brought the moves she had shown in practice right into the game.  Very impressive.  Hunter had a couple of goals this game and is getting more focused every week.  Sammy was very much involved this week too and I'm glad to see that.  William and Ava both played well but are still working on staying focused on the ball.  They'll get it.