September 15th, U6 Sharks Girl Power Day!

     At our last practice the girls on the U6 sharks insisted on playing together against the boys in our end-of-practice scrimmage.  We only had one goal available so I had them playing a version of the game where each team takes turns attacking then defending.  All the defending team has to do is get the ball out of bounds then they go to the circle and become the attacking team.  This game is inherently unfair as it's much easier for the defending team to succeed than it is for the attacking team.  That's intentional though, as what this version of the game re-enforces is the need to possess the ball rather than simply kicking it.  Controlled, aggressive attempts to get the ball in close to the goal are rewarded with shot opportunities.  Wild "big" kicks are rewarded with an almost immediate loss of the ball.
     Well the girls, led by Hailey, got it the idea pretty quick, keeping the ball close, trying to penetrate the defense with their moves rather than trying to kick the ball past the defenders.  Hailey scored twice and I think Ashley had a goal too.  The boys, unfortunately didn't quite get it and in fact they sort of tried to double down as the game went on.  By the time they were down three to nothing the boys were starting out every kick-off with some sort of pointless blast and so they were giving the ball away over and over again.  Hopefully they ultimately learned something from this.
     On Saturday I decided to let the girls play as a group again and recruited Micah to fill out the side by taking a turn in as keeper.  They came on very strong and as in practice their play was characterized by a lot of energetic but fairly controlled runs into the other team's side that resulted in more than a few goals in that first quarter.  Hailey had two then Ashley and Ava each added one.  Micah was rock-solid in at keeper too.
     When the boys came on for the second quarter they played strong too and did so with much more control than they had been showing at practice.  The ball control skills that Diego and Jagger have right now are very impressive and I like seeing them trust in that ability, knowing that they can take on any defender rather than just kicking the ball away.
     Great game little Sharks.

     The U8 Sharks were completely dominant in their game and they were demonstrating some very patient, thoughtful play.  Lots of confident ball control and heads up spacing.  The outstanding players of the game for me were Tyler and Sam A. and Zachary.  Tyler is becoming more aggressive and goal-hungry every game.  He had several really good runs with the ball at his feet where he beat the last defender one-on-one then only had the keeper to face.  One of those led to a brilliant shot/pass in to Austin who sure-footedly put the ball in the net.
      Sam A. shows just an amazing sense of how to move alongside of and interact with his teammates.  He rarely tries to steal the ball from another Shark but rather always knows to get just a few steps out ahead of whoever is bringing the ball up for the team so that he's in an advantageous position.  He runs sideways and backwards with ease, always keeping his eye on the ball.  And in Saturday's game I saw him switch fields intentionally a few times, crossing back over Sam Eppley's path to regain the best position.  That is, when Sam E. would cut to his right, toward Sam A., then Sam A. would quickly run back to the left side of the field, keeping himself open as an option for Sam E. to pass or at least to be in a better position for a rebound.  The first time he did it it could have been a fluke but by the third time it was obvious that he was intentionally playing actively away from the ball, thinking about where to be to take advantage.  Amazing.
      Zachary always wants to start out in a defender/midfield position so this Saturday I told him he could start out there but that if the ball came to him he had to settle it then try to beat at least one defender with his dribble before passing the ball up.  He did so repeatedly and was as cool as he could be about it.  He's got great peripheral vision and most of the time when he would make a couple of moves to get clear of a defender he would then immediately find a teammate in the open and make a sharp pass.  I'm pushing all the kids this session to really test themselves with their ball control skills and to always try to take on the defense with the ball at their feet but I want to always let them know too that their vision for the field and for seeing opportunities opening up ahead of them is a great skill to have too.  Great work Zach.
     Elizabeth got a goal which was great to see.  She's a natural at seeing those opportunities open up suddenly so she likes to hang back at the periphery when we're attacking, just waiting for a loose ball that she can dribble in for a shot.  Austin had a pair of goals that I saw, including the one I mentioned above.  The second was an impressive blast from the penalty area line that he let go of after dribbling past at least two defenders.  His ability to get off a quick shot is a great advantage for him.
     Sam Eppley had at least two goals and played a nice quarter in at keeper.  Jackson had to leave early but his time in during the first half was brilliant, both in keeper and on the attack.
     Thank you all again for your patience with me as my Coaching schedule keeps me running from one venue to another.  Thanks for Mike Seng for taking the team for me the last quarter.  This coming Saturday I'll be out of town coaching my son's team in Richmond so Mike will have the team the entire game.  I hate to miss even one as they are playing so well right now.  Owen's team, the Dragons, are doing well too and I'm having a great time with them putting so much of what I've learned coaching the Sharks to work in guiding another group of enthusiastic players.  Here are a few pictures of the Dragons in action this past weekend.

Homework Assignment: Watch Some Soccer!

The US Men's National Team plays Tuesday night in Columbus versus Jamaica in an important World Cup qualifying match.  You can catch the action on ESPN2 beginning at 8:00 PM.  I'll try to post more info here about local High School and College games too.

Sept. 8th Games Canceled

All fields are covered with standing water.  Games canceled.

Practice On

I won't have a chance to see the fields myself today until after work but I expect there will be some areas that are usable so we'll go ahead and plan on practicing.  Be prepared for some mud.  If the weather is bad at practice time then use your own judgement.  If there is any lightning or thunder we'll cancel for sure.

What We're Working On

I apologize for failing to post anything about the first week of games.  Thanks again to everyone for your patience with me as I try to balance all my soccer responsibilities.

So, what have we seen the last two weeks?  And what should we be working on this session?

With the U4 kids we've seen a group that is, without exception, very engaged during practice and fairly interested on game day too.  For me as the coach that is a wonderful situation to be in with a U4 team.  Our first two practices went very well with no significant melt-downs and lots of consistent participation.  I'm especially happy with how engaged Katie has been.  I think we'll see a lot of progress for her this session.  Nolan and Caroline are new to the game but both have the advantage of having older siblings who already play so, again, I'm seeing two players who are dropping into the routine of practices and games with some ease.  Eiden seems to be doing very well too.  He works hard at practice and is just on the cusp of understanding how to use his skills in the actual games.  Eiden is a good example of where a lot of kids in this age group typically are in their development.  He shows great skills in practice but during the game he hasn't yet gotten the hang of having to contend with other kids for the ball and so he ends up chasing them, the kids, rather than anticipating the position of the ball.  It is the slow development of that ability to anticipate how the action will unfold and understand the game from a broader perspective that we should look for from these kids this session.
     Ironically, it seems though that the way to help them develop that perspective is to spend practice time focused on the ball and building their basic ball skills.  When you see players like Hunter and Damien consistently find their way to the goal you have to realize that they are only able to use their vision to navigate the field because they are now, after a lot of practice, fairly relaxed with the ball at their feet.  And at the very upper end of this sort of development is Will who is so casual about possessing the ball that he can now start anticipating the other team's actions.  We saw him in Saturday's game in several instances peeling away from the swarm of kids to drop back into coverage of our goal.  Now, you see lots of kids begin their field awareness development by playing at being goalie or a defender and that's a great first step.  But what you need to see in Will's actions is that he seemed, to me at least, to be dropping back only as a way to be in position to get the ball.   After one particular run that the other team's best player, Carson, made, Will seemed to realize that rather than contend with Carson and his own teammate to get the ball he, Will, would get out of the scrum and let Carson come to him, one on one.  And in that situation Will knows he can steal the ball.  Defense becomes an opportunity for offense.  Pretty sharp.

     The U6 Sharks are doing great work in practice and I'm seeing some amazing development from all of them.  I'm particularly impressed with the powerful kicks that some of them now have.  Carson in particular has developed a really beautiful power kick off the outside of his right foot.  That's a valuable skill to have and many good players could go for years without mastering it.  Micah's shooting kick, while more traditional, is also impressively powerful.  With Ashley we have good technique...with both feet.  That is probably the most valuable skill any striker can have.  You've got to take your shots where you get them and playing with only one foot can severely limit your options.  I always try to make a big deal in practice or games whenever I see the kids make any sort of touch with their off foot.  They usually look at me like I'm crazy.
     I also get that look from them when I'm talking about how they need to control the ball with their toes.  I think for most of them the work we do in practice on developing their touch must seem completely unrelated to what happens in games.  For kids this age the game is still mostly about moving forward on a straight line toward the goal and to do that you need to kick the ball, then run, then kick again, then run, etc.  I think at this age they are mostly seeing the field in a horizontal perspective where all lines converge on the goal.  After a while though they will start to see the field as an open space in which they can find non-straight paths to the goal.  I hope we'll begin to develop that broader sense of the field space this session through all of our practice work on ball control and touch.  Again, the irony is that in order to get them to "feel" the whole field I need to force them in practice to focus on the ball at their feet.  When they begin to develop confidence in their ability to move with the ball they will be able to look up more and see the field and then be open to whatever options present themselves. Diego is our leader in this regard right now.  He has a beautifully patient, meandering sort of style.  He just pokes and prods the other team's line until he either finds a way through or they just get tired and let him through and all the while the ball is at his feet.  I'm planning to try a few specific games at the next practice to help all of the Sharks develop that ability to move laterally or even backwards in order to find a path.

     The U8 Sharks are playing with remarkable skill right now.  Lots of very good ball control and movement and lots of very constructive communication on the field.  When you combine that with the way some of them are maturing physically you get a team that is overwhelming the competition again.  Austin, Sam E. and Elizabeth are all hitting the ball with ferocious velocity right now.  Austin, in particular, seems to have crossed some new threshold, especially with his right foot, and is now just punishing the ball.  Early in Saturday's game he took a corner kick for us and Mike and I were trying to get the other Sharks to move in front of the goal but in the near-post area, so closer to Austin so that he could get the ball to them.  Karolyn wasn't hearing us and so she stayed where she was in the far-post and it turned out that she was in the right spot.  Austin's kick nearly hit her in the head on a fly.  That's about 15 yards in the air and that's very impressive for a six year old.
     I think that developing a more powerful kick for all of the U8 Sharks should be a goal this session.  I'll want to combine that with their normal work on ball control and touch.  I really want to press all of them to trust themselves to try and dribble through the traffic, using their moves to find a path.  I coached Owen's club team in a couple of KYSA Academy games this weekend and the teams we played each had players who pressed forward with the ball every time they got it and their skills, for seven and eight year olds, were just astounding.  I'm very happy to report that Owen and his teammates responded in kind rather than falling into bad old habits of playing kick-ball.  The Dragons (Owen's team) pulled, spun, scissored, stepped over and did everything else they could think of to break the other team's defense and when they lost the ball they just went back to get it and then tried again.  I know eventually the kids have to learn how to anticipate each other and start making passes in order to really penetrate good defenses.  But I remain convinced that right now, at this stage in their development, the key is to stay focused on individual ball control so that as those skills become second nature to them they will be able to look up and see those passing opportunities that appear so obvious to those of us on the sidelines.
     I would point to one game highlight as a demonstration of what I want the kids to be developing this session.  Sam E's second goal was from a tiny two yards out as he crossed from the left side.  He had one defender in front of him and Karolyn was wide open about eight yards away with a clear shot at the goal.  Obviously Sam could have passed to her and she'd have scored easily.  What he did instead was make the simplest cross-over move, just a step left then, when the defender bit on that move, a quick step to the right and he found himself wide open for a chip in.   My goal this session is not to convince Sam that he should pass the ball rather than penetrate and shoot.  My goal is to get the other kids to do more of what Sam does.  Attack.
     So for this session...more foot skills and first touch practice.  More tutoring on the finer points of a powerful kick...and very little discussion, let alone practice, on passing.  Attack, attack, attack.

U8 Sharks Give 3v3 Another Try

The U8 Sharks looked much more relaxed this time around playing in the 3v3 Live Regionals.  The fields were beautiful and the weather was great.  The Sharks came out and played with the confidence and intensity we expect from them.  So, all in all it was a great weekend of soccer.  We had plenty of time between games to get some very good practice in so that was a nice bonus.  And of course the kids had a good time just hanging out with each other between games.

On Saturday we played the Norwin, PA Rowdies three times and they were all good games with the Sharks usually dominating the ball.  However the Rowdies came out on top in two of those games.  For the weekend Sam E. was our leading scorer but Sam A. got a goal in too, as did Jackson and Austin.

On Sunday we played the Rowdies again, this time to a 4-4 tie and then also played a couple of older teams.  In those games the Sharks played with lots of energy and were never backing down from the bigger kids.  That last game was really a good one.  All in all I was really happy with the way they played and the experience they're getting is invaluable.  Even though we took 2nd place in the U6 division with the Rowdies we managed 3rd place on Sunday in the U7 group as we beat out the Rowdies on goal differential.  Great tourney Sharks!

3V3 with the U8 Sharks.

On June 30th some of the U8 Sharks participated in their first 3v3 tournament.  Here are some highlights.