Football Au Printmps : Moral Force, Youth, and Money

Wednesday was glorious for me. Funny* how life ebbs and flows. These days, truly, I wear the uniform of a Marshal of France, circa the retreat from Moscow not that of November 1815- unless it's an "E" company uniform c. June 1944 (not Feb. 1945) or, perhaps, a Kaiserliche Marine Zeppelin unit c. 1916 (not 5 August, 1918). Battle decorations adorn it, the boots are polished, the ranks arrayed in order, salutes snapped off . I'm feeling good, and it's been a few weeks.

Moral Force

On Wednesday it was about soccer. we had a half day, and since I am a sub only, I was in the library Dept meeting but excused myself early. I've arraigned a nearby park to have their gym held for us on these days - about every other week these days happen. So, I know that I have been pushing the varsity a bit for all of us to get more professional - and on this day I realised that they accept my authority fully - they'd been under another coach for three years - and that they like the fact that I am pushing them. I was a bit hesitant to ask the girls Hey, lets start our season about 1 1/2 m early, and lets get you guys running several miles in circles around the gym building! YAYYYYYY!!!

They are a unit - the varsity- that are about all upperclasswoman - and they have that moral fiber to not let the other girls down. It's lovely to watch this unit that I inherited in that regard - they show up and do the work. My captain (I have two, but one I tend to go to more for now)- the one I'm running most stuff through - is a very quiet leader w/ tremendous moral force amongst the others. I like to go to her and say these are the plans, is what we're trying to do, whatta you think?, and ok then, lets get it done. If she's into it, its easy shorthand to know they'll all know what they are expected to do.

And I need the varsity girls to also demonstrate that to the younger ones - both the junior varsity and those girls who'll be on our freshman team. It's deeply needed - next year, all those upperclasswoman will be in university, and our team mainly will be the younger ones. the younger girls need to grow up - but luckily we still have a year to rough 'm up enough so that they're ready. Still - we'll need help.


Youth

And... help is arriving. Oh the laughs - just the gidded laughs - when a city girls soccer coach has reason to exclaim - we gott'a freshman! So, deeply giddy for us: so far, there are two girls who have shown up who have made me deeply hopeful. They may actually make varsity, but I'll put that decision off for a bit - maybe 1 March. The smaller of the two is fierce - skilled, ball control, nice shot, a battler. The entire varsity snickered when she and another fierce battler - a senior - went to the wall battling for control of the ball. Funny that, too - as thinking evolves w/ actually watching the girls play, it seems that possibly she will eventually play the same position - pesky forward - @ least for her first two years here or so. Unless I leave her on J-V.

Our other, bigger freshman , also causes great movements of hope. Now, it took her , say, a minute to announce herself to us - the first girl it took only maybe 3-4 seconds (honestly, too - her team kicked off). But- great hope. Like the other girl, she plays in club teams, and her skill is apparent. Plus - she (#5) has more of a physical presence than the first girl (#99). It's a big deal -you wanna have girls who have that presence - soccer is a very physical game.

And then there is the problem of where to put these girls. On Wednesday, we had the luxury in the one hour @ the gym to halve the court bisecting it into two manageable fields. Since we had an over flow crowd of girls - not just the V., but six of last years JV and maybe 10 new girls (Godd showing) I separated the V. from the JV and let V. start them selves up (A simple gruff c'moonnnn usually suffices to motivate this group). The JV and new girls I had to divide up and push them the way forward. Soon enough, #99 and #5 's game became apparent. I sent #99 over 15m in, and then I sent over #5 after a bit. But the very real question arises when the season progresses: V or JV? The V.'s starting squad is very set - these girls would get minutes - but is it better to keep them as starters on JV so they can play most of the game? I dunno.

And all the other girls! Some who had shown up earlier showed up again - this is great and shows the glimmer of dedication. There was another girl who showed some skill - noticeable, but not blazing as the other two - who I can tell rite now will factor in the JV. And the rest? We'll see.

We played an hour. We had two games going on @ the same time until about 10m left when I opened the curtain and opened the entire gym for one game. I believe it's a good thing for the JV to be exposed to the suprior skills, hustle, and presence of the V. girls. They need to see how it's 'supposed' to be done so they can emulate.

Went really well. There was that problem with too many boys escorting their girlfriends to the gym and then hanging out - too many - but elsewise, it was kinda great.

Money

Went to Nek HS to talk to those guys. I went up to see the coaches, and caught them luckily - they were waiting around to take their girls to an indoor game on Ashland. They'd gotten 15 of the girls into a team - cost each girl $50. I wish I'd been able to duplicate the effort for us- but maybe next year.

We also firmed up a date for our game. In order to spend as little as possible, I wanted the game played over spring break and @ that school - it's in a near neighbourhood and it's easy enough to get the field. This means we do not need to hire a bus. And then I also discovered that we mite not even have to pay for a referee. As it was explainned to me, as long as both coaches work for the school and both agree that they can use - say, a student or a coach - to ref the game, it IS OFFICIAL. Oh, lovely. Refs can cost us, say $100 for both games. A bus would be.... $150-175. That's a glorious savings, and I'd love to explore it. So - in the game w/ Nek, it'll cost very little.

Money is such a concern. I'll need all cyclinders for fund raising - buses, refs, a training goal to shoot @.....

But, a dedicated varsity, a couple of arresting freshmen, rememnants of last years deeply loved by me JV, and the promise of savings stewed up such a streching day before me.

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*sick of me using this? So sorry for my cliched crutch