Kinda Cold. Kinda tired. Very satisfied. After six weeks of preparing my JV girls, our season opened finally yesterday (field unplayable for our scheduled opener Tuesday). Yes, we won, and we looked pretty good -but not great.
Hardest thing is trying to figger out where the team will benefit best by putting which kid where- and then selling the concept of TEAM to them. usually it works pretty well - and I now know that I've won them over. Not just cause we won - but because they understood that they are now a team, and that they all must play their part ensemble. I love it. The stuff of life, for me.
So, the hardest part is usually picking a goalie. This squad had their goalie already picked out (she volunteered) - until last years goalie rejoined the team (Somehow she got out of her babysitting duties for the rest of the year - yes, these are the things coaches have to deal with). So, I started the volunteer (Green) for the first half, and then put in last years goalie (Chivas)in the second half. The future is to put Chivas in goal full time - she's good - and deploy Green in the field (Midfield - slow, but good ball handling and leadership skills)- she's also good. It's a nice problem to have - two good goalies. The key is to gracefully switch players - I was thinking of putting Chivas starting next game and then Green second half, and then game #3 just to use Chivas full time - we'll see.
Then the defense. The middle is as strong as hell. M. is the stopper - played in fron of the defense and "Stops" anyhting before it starts. Shes a strong girl with a strong presence who is not afraid. She wanted to pay mid or forward (They all do) but shined in a scrimmage against the varsity. I realised what I had and did the selling job on her - and then both she and her teammates saw her value in this position - and now she loves the spot. Good work on the coaches part. Behind her is another girl who is tough and big (A.)-although not as confident. She's my sweeper - the player who sweeps up all the messes that threaten the goal. She missed the game because of a field trip, so I had to go to someone who also played well in the position - Diamond. Diamond is a smallish girl who doesn't mark man to man well - but she has a knack for - uh - sweeping up mistakes in front of our goal. When the regular sweeper comes back - well, the decision is easy, but I'll have to shield Diamond from disappointment of not being the regular sweeper. However, I have a lot of options in the back.
The wing defenders. Works in progress. On the flanks of the sweeper are two defensive positions where I have put three girls in a rotation. I am taking a gamble here. All three girls are among the ones who have the most work to do so that lut team will be as solid as possible. I toy with the idea to put someother girls back there to make the defense as strong as possible - but our team is a work in progress. I have an eye to the future in developing these girls over their career in high school. One - E. - is among the leaders of the school. The other two were goofy girls who initially were hard to corral. However, as I wrote before - I feel I have won them over. Both S. and D. -as well as E. - have so much work to do to mark better and understand the positions better. Too often inexperienced defenders will not know how to harry and harass an opponent and where exactly to play. Defenders have to balance being ON the opposing forwards and AWAT enough from the opposing forwards so that thye will not be beat in one move. My mantra is "Don't try to steal the ball, just do not let them beat you" - often an attempt to steal is clumsy and produces the enemy forward racing by the girl and onto the goal. Again - a lot of work in both areas for all three defenders in the rotation. And we will be getting another defender for the next game - she'll be worked in as well.
The midfield - and the team - is built around L. Strong, skilled, willful, spirited, relentless - L. is the centerpiece. She will be taken up to varsity before long - and our team will suffer deeply - but she is great on defense and skilled as hell on "O". She scored both of our goals yesterday. She wants to play offense, but in my system it's always the midfield that carries the attack. My guess is that she understands now. In the offense I've partnered her w/ D.a - skilled, fast, but w/out the full knowledge of a soccer player. She is terrible @ positioning herself so far - but she will learn. I'm thinking of putting her @ forward, but more on that later.
The other midfieldersare projects in progress. There is one girl - M. - who has some skills and speed, but God is she non agressive. My mantra to her is "Agression!". She could be areal force, but she hasn't the confidence to confront the other players. She is a special project of mine. The goalie Green will also be in the mix. She's a team leader who has some skills - she will be a good addition to the midfield both for D and O. There is another girl in the mix as well.
Forwards are in flux. I employ a 'runner' in one of the spots - someone who chases and chases and chases to put pressure on the opponents defense. Mi. fits this roile well. She tends too run and run and run - but was always put in defense by her other coaches. She doesn't mark well or fully understand tactics so far - so I knew the team could maximize her potential by harnassing all that running. She tired herself out several times - but that's what I want. ZZ has been used as a forward as well. She very short, but has some nice skills on the ball. I now know that she is ill fitted to the rrole I want her to play, so I am changing her to midfield to better make use of her ball handling and minimize her lack of breakaway speed. Porsche is another forward. She was taked up by varsity for this game - but then put back down when varsity discovered they had enough players (players miss games left and right, and oftEn JV will lose some players in times of need). She has skill and is speedy - I really fully didn't appreciate her until the varsity coach told me last week she was thinking of promoting her to varsity. Now I know. Finally, there is the old midfielder D.a. I'm thinking of pairing Mi. and D.a. up front with some sub spelling them.
So -the game. We won 2-0, and played well. L. was the star, but it wasn't just her. The goal was great, t'ever goalie was in. The defense presents a problem, because they have the farthest to go, but I have faith. And I'm gonna have to run them silly. I have been very lax in exercising the girls - it's a long game on a giangitac field - and I have to get better. They run today @ practice - but also we will have small scrimmages. Let's let the good feelings from yesterday linger.
Let's let the good feelings from yesterday linger. It's always funny to watch a team celebrate. Boys teamswon't go wild. neither do varsity girls. But J V girls, who are just learning to play and just learning that they are on a team - go nuts. It was great to hear the happiness from them. On each goal they were screaming like it was Xmas, and then with the whistle I had to quiet them down and get inline to 'shake hands' so that the other team would not feel bad.
They'll get better.
Varsity got a tie and looked good. They also will get better.
These two games were the first of three soccer games I watched this day.
This was the last game I witnessed. (Lynx fritz fer now)
Hardest thing is trying to figger out where the team will benefit best by putting which kid where- and then selling the concept of TEAM to them. usually it works pretty well - and I now know that I've won them over. Not just cause we won - but because they understood that they are now a team, and that they all must play their part ensemble. I love it. The stuff of life, for me.
So, the hardest part is usually picking a goalie. This squad had their goalie already picked out (she volunteered) - until last years goalie rejoined the team (Somehow she got out of her babysitting duties for the rest of the year - yes, these are the things coaches have to deal with). So, I started the volunteer (Green) for the first half, and then put in last years goalie (Chivas)in the second half. The future is to put Chivas in goal full time - she's good - and deploy Green in the field (Midfield - slow, but good ball handling and leadership skills)- she's also good. It's a nice problem to have - two good goalies. The key is to gracefully switch players - I was thinking of putting Chivas starting next game and then Green second half, and then game #3 just to use Chivas full time - we'll see.
Then the defense. The middle is as strong as hell. M. is the stopper - played in fron of the defense and "Stops" anyhting before it starts. Shes a strong girl with a strong presence who is not afraid. She wanted to pay mid or forward (They all do) but shined in a scrimmage against the varsity. I realised what I had and did the selling job on her - and then both she and her teammates saw her value in this position - and now she loves the spot. Good work on the coaches part. Behind her is another girl who is tough and big (A.)-although not as confident. She's my sweeper - the player who sweeps up all the messes that threaten the goal. She missed the game because of a field trip, so I had to go to someone who also played well in the position - Diamond. Diamond is a smallish girl who doesn't mark man to man well - but she has a knack for - uh - sweeping up mistakes in front of our goal. When the regular sweeper comes back - well, the decision is easy, but I'll have to shield Diamond from disappointment of not being the regular sweeper. However, I have a lot of options in the back.
The wing defenders. Works in progress. On the flanks of the sweeper are two defensive positions where I have put three girls in a rotation. I am taking a gamble here. All three girls are among the ones who have the most work to do so that lut team will be as solid as possible. I toy with the idea to put someother girls back there to make the defense as strong as possible - but our team is a work in progress. I have an eye to the future in developing these girls over their career in high school. One - E. - is among the leaders of the school. The other two were goofy girls who initially were hard to corral. However, as I wrote before - I feel I have won them over. Both S. and D. -as well as E. - have so much work to do to mark better and understand the positions better. Too often inexperienced defenders will not know how to harry and harass an opponent and where exactly to play. Defenders have to balance being ON the opposing forwards and AWAT enough from the opposing forwards so that thye will not be beat in one move. My mantra is "Don't try to steal the ball, just do not let them beat you" - often an attempt to steal is clumsy and produces the enemy forward racing by the girl and onto the goal. Again - a lot of work in both areas for all three defenders in the rotation. And we will be getting another defender for the next game - she'll be worked in as well.
The midfield - and the team - is built around L. Strong, skilled, willful, spirited, relentless - L. is the centerpiece. She will be taken up to varsity before long - and our team will suffer deeply - but she is great on defense and skilled as hell on "O". She scored both of our goals yesterday. She wants to play offense, but in my system it's always the midfield that carries the attack. My guess is that she understands now. In the offense I've partnered her w/ D.a - skilled, fast, but w/out the full knowledge of a soccer player. She is terrible @ positioning herself so far - but she will learn. I'm thinking of putting her @ forward, but more on that later.
The other midfieldersare projects in progress. There is one girl - M. - who has some skills and speed, but God is she non agressive. My mantra to her is "Agression!". She could be areal force, but she hasn't the confidence to confront the other players. She is a special project of mine. The goalie Green will also be in the mix. She's a team leader who has some skills - she will be a good addition to the midfield both for D and O. There is another girl in the mix as well.
Forwards are in flux. I employ a 'runner' in one of the spots - someone who chases and chases and chases to put pressure on the opponents defense. Mi. fits this roile well. She tends too run and run and run - but was always put in defense by her other coaches. She doesn't mark well or fully understand tactics so far - so I knew the team could maximize her potential by harnassing all that running. She tired herself out several times - but that's what I want. ZZ has been used as a forward as well. She very short, but has some nice skills on the ball. I now know that she is ill fitted to the rrole I want her to play, so I am changing her to midfield to better make use of her ball handling and minimize her lack of breakaway speed. Porsche is another forward. She was taked up by varsity for this game - but then put back down when varsity discovered they had enough players (players miss games left and right, and oftEn JV will lose some players in times of need). She has skill and is speedy - I really fully didn't appreciate her until the varsity coach told me last week she was thinking of promoting her to varsity. Now I know. Finally, there is the old midfielder D.a. I'm thinking of pairing Mi. and D.a. up front with some sub spelling them.
So -the game. We won 2-0, and played well. L. was the star, but it wasn't just her. The goal was great, t'ever goalie was in. The defense presents a problem, because they have the farthest to go, but I have faith. And I'm gonna have to run them silly. I have been very lax in exercising the girls - it's a long game on a giangitac field - and I have to get better. They run today @ practice - but also we will have small scrimmages. Let's let the good feelings from yesterday linger.
Let's let the good feelings from yesterday linger. It's always funny to watch a team celebrate. Boys teamswon't go wild. neither do varsity girls. But J V girls, who are just learning to play and just learning that they are on a team - go nuts. It was great to hear the happiness from them. On each goal they were screaming like it was Xmas, and then with the whistle I had to quiet them down and get inline to 'shake hands' so that the other team would not feel bad.
They'll get better.
Varsity got a tie and looked good. They also will get better.
These two games were the first of three soccer games I watched this day.
This was the last game I witnessed. (Lynx fritz fer now)
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