Just read a good comment from Gallo. Must admit that after my crisis of faith Thursday nite - in the dark hours, and me now running two straight weeks of insomnia (I'd average it out to 4.5 h of sleep a nite, and no nite in the last fortnite w/ more than 5.5h/nite - even on weekends - it's stunning and so unexpected that this has manifested itself), the team itself came after me - like they'd read the post, and they haven't - with full eyes telling me they needed me as coach. I'd woken up Friday - 4h of sleep - w/ that Winters feeling that officers lead and rite now I need to lead. i am th adult, and no more whining and crying to myself and securityout readers (it was a real tough post to write). So I lead.
Rosters
Finally got the roster situation settled. Each game we are supposed to have eligibility rosters of kids who can actually play legally. It's, um, not that big a deal in non conference games - but deadly serious in conference and city and state playoff games. The problem is that our AD is seriously overworked, and has a hard time updating our roster. We were missing a few names last weeks games, but this finally got most of them on for this week. Some names were still not on the sophomore teams rosters, but that was ok - the kids were legal, just on a different roster (still stuck on JV roster). But our pressing problem was that all CPS teams have ONE roster for their teams - but us. We have separate V and JV rosters. For me - until the solution surfaced - this was terrible, because I am constantly raising specific kids for specificc purposes between the rosters, For example, one girl is a senior and has played for 4 years - but to graduate, she has to take a T-TH nite class - there's no way she can make it to the Varsity games. So i offered her a good solution - drive to our game after class and play on the JV squad (which play rite after the VAr. game ends). This will allow her to practice and be in shape - and when we play on days other than T- TH or over break - she's back on varsity. I also need to develop next years players - one of Napoleons maxims was that "Men are lead by baubles" - so in select games, I raise to varsity - if no JV game - those girls I know will be w/ me next year. They get to claim they are varsity, if only for a bit - and get a taste of the VASTLY faster game in the upper level.
Again, the normal CPS thing is to have one sheet w/ all V/JV players on it, and I take my biro beforehand and 'line out' th girls who are on JV and not eligible for my game. The JV coah lines out on his roster those girls playing varsity. It's a simple system and allows me great flexibility to make personnel decisions minutes before the opening whistle. But with our TWO separate rosters, this presented a problem - until a meeting w/ the Ad and an email to the CPS soccer head downtown. The solution is perfect - just staple both rosters to-gether and consider them as one. I will be able to line out who is to be JV rite before the game, as all other coaches have that luxury.
There are still roster questions - but on the V and JV level, they are about over.
Goaliegoaliegoalie.
I just wanted her to play goalie on the JV for one game - one game - because the JV goalie works on Mondays ( I know I know, but its a fact of life in city sports programs), but like last year - and the year before - she pouted and walked away from the game. One game - one game - and pouting terribly. She has a history of this behaviour, but this is the first time it's manifested itself this year.
It's somewhat of an important thing, because all of varsity goalies - we have three - want to be field players. The best goalies I don't want in the goal - she is a superior field player and would be missed in that context. She mite have to lend a hand from time to time in the nets, but she's needed on the field. The next choice also wants to play in the field. She's been a somewhat different case - I hesitate to use the word difficult, so I used different - but has really stepped up this year. She REALLY wants to play the field - and is a plus for us there - but realises that we kinda need her in the nets a lot. I will use her as much as I can on the field - but in big games, she mite be stuck in goal.
And then our third choice. To be fair to her, she never wanted to be goalie - way back before I existed, some one asked her to be and it stuck w/ her. She was my JV goalie last year, although there was a lot of hemming and hawing about it. So my plan was to use her in one half and the other goalie in the other half. This probably would have worked fine - but our next game is on a Monday - so no goalie for the JV. I thought it would be a good solution to have her drop down to JV for one game TO HELP OUT - but instead she FREAKED OUT. Thursday she was with us @ Marquette Park, but wandered away. I was kind disgusted w/ her behaviour, and have decided to let the varsity captains figger out a solution. We'll see. But now JV will have to have an unpracticed goalie in the JV game on Monday.
And I can't shake the feeling that our loss on Thursday - a last minute bouncing ball over the second choice goalie - mite have been played differently by the pouting goalie - because if she hadn't walked away from us and refused to play, she would have had the net in the second half.
Rosters
Finally got the roster situation settled. Each game we are supposed to have eligibility rosters of kids who can actually play legally. It's, um, not that big a deal in non conference games - but deadly serious in conference and city and state playoff games. The problem is that our AD is seriously overworked, and has a hard time updating our roster. We were missing a few names last weeks games, but this finally got most of them on for this week. Some names were still not on the sophomore teams rosters, but that was ok - the kids were legal, just on a different roster (still stuck on JV roster). But our pressing problem was that all CPS teams have ONE roster for their teams - but us. We have separate V and JV rosters. For me - until the solution surfaced - this was terrible, because I am constantly raising specific kids for specificc purposes between the rosters, For example, one girl is a senior and has played for 4 years - but to graduate, she has to take a T-TH nite class - there's no way she can make it to the Varsity games. So i offered her a good solution - drive to our game after class and play on the JV squad (which play rite after the VAr. game ends). This will allow her to practice and be in shape - and when we play on days other than T- TH or over break - she's back on varsity. I also need to develop next years players - one of Napoleons maxims was that "Men are lead by baubles" - so in select games, I raise to varsity - if no JV game - those girls I know will be w/ me next year. They get to claim they are varsity, if only for a bit - and get a taste of the VASTLY faster game in the upper level.
Again, the normal CPS thing is to have one sheet w/ all V/JV players on it, and I take my biro beforehand and 'line out' th girls who are on JV and not eligible for my game. The JV coah lines out on his roster those girls playing varsity. It's a simple system and allows me great flexibility to make personnel decisions minutes before the opening whistle. But with our TWO separate rosters, this presented a problem - until a meeting w/ the Ad and an email to the CPS soccer head downtown. The solution is perfect - just staple both rosters to-gether and consider them as one. I will be able to line out who is to be JV rite before the game, as all other coaches have that luxury.
There are still roster questions - but on the V and JV level, they are about over.
Goaliegoaliegoalie.
I just wanted her to play goalie on the JV for one game - one game - because the JV goalie works on Mondays ( I know I know, but its a fact of life in city sports programs), but like last year - and the year before - she pouted and walked away from the game. One game - one game - and pouting terribly. She has a history of this behaviour, but this is the first time it's manifested itself this year.
It's somewhat of an important thing, because all of varsity goalies - we have three - want to be field players. The best goalies I don't want in the goal - she is a superior field player and would be missed in that context. She mite have to lend a hand from time to time in the nets, but she's needed on the field. The next choice also wants to play in the field. She's been a somewhat different case - I hesitate to use the word difficult, so I used different - but has really stepped up this year. She REALLY wants to play the field - and is a plus for us there - but realises that we kinda need her in the nets a lot. I will use her as much as I can on the field - but in big games, she mite be stuck in goal.
And then our third choice. To be fair to her, she never wanted to be goalie - way back before I existed, some one asked her to be and it stuck w/ her. She was my JV goalie last year, although there was a lot of hemming and hawing about it. So my plan was to use her in one half and the other goalie in the other half. This probably would have worked fine - but our next game is on a Monday - so no goalie for the JV. I thought it would be a good solution to have her drop down to JV for one game TO HELP OUT - but instead she FREAKED OUT. Thursday she was with us @ Marquette Park, but wandered away. I was kind disgusted w/ her behaviour, and have decided to let the varsity captains figger out a solution. We'll see. But now JV will have to have an unpracticed goalie in the JV game on Monday.
And I can't shake the feeling that our loss on Thursday - a last minute bouncing ball over the second choice goalie - mite have been played differently by the pouting goalie - because if she hadn't walked away from us and refused to play, she would have had the net in the second half.
Looking for leadership
So, @ division, after waking up and feeling the leadrship gene back in me, I went and got both cptains out of class for a little bit for a discussion- a short discussion. I wanted their thoughts on other players, positions, and sub patterns. In many ways, my team is an inherited team, so I make sure that I got their opinions on these questions - I'm not gonna radically redo positions when these girls have been playing to-gether. I expressed my fears to them - well, not really, like you readers know - but I asked for more of their imput on field personnal situations so I can be a better coach - and it was good. Tomorrow I will do the same thing - call them out of class and then form up a line up for the game. This will allow me to ponder on it all day - which will be good for me. We talked about the goalie situation. I informd them that I and the coach who handles the money have agreed that if they fund raise $100, we'll pay for 1/2 of their uniforms (we issue them uni's , but we get them back. If they ant thier name and number on them, then they gotta pay for it themselves). We watched the division 'news' program - in which the team is always noted (I write up our press releases - and yes as I get more used to them, they will get more securityout like) Then I sent them back to class.
Friday was a conditioning day. Our 'Chief Financial Officer' runs them, and I let the girls go afte that. I really wanted to work w/ the sophmores, and thiswas a good solution. I met the varsity as they were resting, and the (one of the) captain and another player expressed fear that I was spending too much time w/ the young girls. I told them that there will be times - when they are conditioning - that I will not be there, and that I will spend other time w/ the young girls on a sparse case by case basis (I realise now that mite not totally be the case - I have to be VERY careful). I addresses the varsity during their meeting, just a bit. But this issue - me feeling confident in myself in being a good field coach (not just the Technical Director of the program) was mollified a lot.
Funny - Saturday nite, afte the NCAA's and the Bulls and the Fire games were all over - I took my practice books, notebooks, and a pen to Keegans to kick back and plan out some practices w/ a few Black Velvets. Sure, there was three drinks - but their were also assured practice plans for the week ahead addressing issuse that I think we need to work on.
So, as a coach, my confidence is back. It needed to be. Our team plans on doing great things.
Funny - Saturday nite, afte the NCAA's and the Bulls and the Fire games were all over - I took my practice books, notebooks, and a pen to Keegans to kick back and plan out some practices w/ a few Black Velvets. Sure, there was three drinks - but their were also assured practice plans for the week ahead addressing issuse that I think we need to work on.
So, as a coach, my confidence is back. It needed to be. Our team plans on doing great things.
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