Cheetahs (indoor)

[Jeepz72]

I'm on my third year coaching my daughter's team (U7). Our home league is a fall outdoor league, which I've had 5 or 6 of the girls from peewee on, with others adding/dropping over the years. This year, after the fall season, we got the girls entered into an indoor season to keep the skill development (and the fun) going in our off-season. Five of them decided to play indoor, and we added another 8, some from another team, some being friends of my players. In essence most of the girls have never played together, and many of them haven't played indoor soccer before. So that's where I'm starting with things.

We're four games in with a record of 2-2, having lost to the 1st and 3rd place teams (we're currently 5th but have only played four games where many have played five already). I'm very impressed with the way the girls have gelled. You wouldn't know that half are from one team, a few from another, and still more only knowing one other girl on the team. While I had started to work on defensive positioning with my girls last fall, I had to introduce the concept to the new girls on the fly (we don't have practice in this indoor league) and all of them really took to it. There are a lot of soccer smarts going on out there, and a lot of teammate awareness that I just love to see.

Some highlights so far:

We held the first place team to 3 goals where they've scored 4 or 5 on the other four teams played. AND we're the only team to put a goal on them yet this season.

Last weekend we won 5-1. After every one of our goals the girls were high fiving each other, even those on defense. It was wild seeing them celebrate as a team (and I'm sure my enthusiasm has nothing whatsoever to do with it ). Before then the celebration was pretty subdued and with only a couple players. And when the other team scored their goal in the last 2 seconds of the game on a HUGE kick from one of their littlest players, many of them actually came off the field smiling because they were surprised and happy for her (rather than hanging their heads that the other team scored). It was pretty cute to see.

Lastly, for now - I'm starting to hear talking going on on the field. Only by a few players, but it's there, calling for the ball or encouraging a teammate to attack while they move towards the goal. It's fun to watch. As we don't have practices during this session I get what coaching I can done in-game, but the chatter is on their own as their awareness unfolds. It's pretty awesome to see the development happening before my eyes.

Yes, I'm one proud coach

[Jeepz72]

So last week we played our arch rivals from our outdoor league who are also playing indoor this spring. This is a team that came in at peewee with us, has always played us tough, and have some kids that play very rough. My girls hate playing them because of the rough play. They get intimidated or just outright frustrated as they try to battle through all the pushing and jersey pulling. I had hoped that since half of the indoor team was "new" and didn't know the other team that it wouldn't be as much of a factor, but after the first half all the new girls felt the same way and there was constant chatter about how much pushing was going on. It was hard to get them to focus, and hard to keep telling them to stay in their game and not retaliate.

They scored first, and we equalized in the first half. They scored early in the second, and we had a full 8 minutes to try and tie but couldn't do it. We had three free kicks on penalties (at least they called some of the infractions), but nothing we could really use. Besides the hard play one of our other situations was getting caught with mismatched sides - players that like offense on defense at the same time we had our top defensive players on offense. It was the first time I really wanted to "specialize" and keep players in their favorite positions. But then I am approaching this indoor season as one big long practice (we don't get any practices between games) and filing things away to practice and introduce when the outdoor season rolls around. So I think I did right in trying to keep the girls playing both sides of the ball and learning all the positions (such as they are at this age - U7), but it certainly didn't help us last week.

After the game they were very very frustrated, at the loss yes, but at the fact that the other team, the winning team seemed to win BECAUSE of their rough play. Comments like "we would have won if we'd played like they did" and "how come we don't get extra points for playing fair" moved about the team circle. I told them that I know it was rough out there, but that I was proud of the way they played and that they stayed within their own game and didn't retaliate. I told them that they only one by one goal, and needed to be pushing and shoving to get that goal, and that maybe next time it breaks our way. After our team cheer they walked back to their parents, and I had three parents tell me that this was the most demoralized they had seen the team ever. Hopefully short memories and a victory on Saturday will cure all ills, but it was a frustrating weekend.

As a side note, I found myself having to work through it all Saturday afternoon as well. I probably carried it around more than the girls did. I really wanted to win, and we had a real chance to win it, even with the rough play and lineup difficulties. I can't help feeling that if I'd have changed things up, we would have. Keep the same girls on defense, keep the most aggressive scorers on offense and go win the game. There likely wouldn't be any longterm effects, and we could go back to rotating next game. So why didn't I? Also, it's hard to make them feel good about the game when I was really down myself, and that was another challenge I haven't had to face before. I think I did ok.

[Jeepz72]

Nice 4-0 win by the Cheetahs this morning. They played very well, creating a bit of space and shifting on defense. We played something of a modified 3-3 formation, perhaps could even consider it a 2-1-3, where the up defender moved up over the midfield line, but it was a different player in the midfield depending on how the defense was shifting. It forced a few of them to think about where they were on the field and caused a bit of running to get back on help when there was a big kick deep into our area. But for the most part having the up defender kept the ball on their side a lot more, and I think they really liked it because it kept them closer to the action.

Also, some of the girls are getting "it" on offense, and they were taking up more space, even putting themselves in the center of the goal box instead of all three clustered around the ball. We actually had some girls taking big kicks to the center (rather than trying to dribble the ball into the crowd to shoot) and we actually scored two goals off of centered passes! It was so great to see. And two of the girls scored their first goals of the season (one her first goal ever) so needless to say there were a bunch of smiling faces.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but at this age (U7) we're able to have one coach on the field, which is where I'm coaching the game. About half way through I started to realize that my assistant coach was letting the girls pick their positions, and that most were choosing to stick with one side of the ball or the other (there were a few that played both sides of the line). It really helped on continuity of the sides, especially since I was having them try something new with the midfield defender. I wish we would have played this way last week, as I think it might have made a difference. But it's a learning process, an evolution, and I can't kick myself too much. I think Tammy thought it helped her sub players in and out, but I noticed a real advantage in play on the field too.

[Jeepz72]

Wow, not much to say tonight except sometimes a win is a win, even if it wasn't the prettiest game we've ever played. There were four free kicks, two per side, one each was just outside the goal (though neither team was able to capitalize). There were three injuries on my side (a ball in the face, a kicked knee and a kicked hand) and two injuries on the other side. There was a lot of swarm ball to start the game, as we just didn't have the sides mixed quite right, but in the end we squeaked out the 2-1 win after going into half-time down 0-1. I'm proud of how they kept battling, how they really picked up their energy in the second half, and it took every bit of coaching and rotating and keeping girls fresh to get the girls in position to win.

The biggest thing I had to work through tonight's game was that my daughter's best friend and two other school-mates were on the other team. She was really really torn by this, I had to help her work through it. She played hard, but didn't go full out when it was her friend coming at her (my daughter is a defender). She said she didn't want her to score, but she wasn't going to hurt her by putting her full foot into the kicks to get the ball. I was ok with that, she found the right balance for herself. It was cute.

[Jeepz72]

Very frustrating game last Sunday. Not from the play of the girls, which was really quite good (some parents said the best they've seen them play all spring), but from the way we lost: 3-4 with two goals not counted. Ref said the first didn't completely cross the line, second the ref didn't see the ball strike off the inside post and quick rebound to the keeper, so he thought she'd pounced on it straight away. The parents, my assistant, and several of the girls were very chippy about the second one, but there was no point in arguing (or arguing too much, I did mention this was his second miss).

So, the positives? As I said, the girls played a very good game, playing very good team ball. There was some great offensive spacing, some really great centering passes, and even a few girls in the box to try and shoot off those passes (with mixed results). It was good (and frustrating) to watch them be in the right position for a center or a rebound only to miss-kick because they don't quite have the coordination/skill to one-touch a crossing pass. Still, they created several opportunities, they were in the right place, they had their shots, and it's only a matter of time before they'll capitalize more consistently. One of my smallest girls actually did one-touch a rebound from about 12' out into the top of the goal. She was jumping up and down so excited by her first goal of the spring season, it brought smiles all around.

One thing I noticed is our disadvantage on offense. Because there is still defensive swarming going on, we end up playing 3 v 5 or 4 v 6 when we're on the attack. We've got space, but because we're not quite fast enough with making decisions, or skillful enough to keep control or keep head up while dribbling, we end up losing the ball to the defensive swarm. Then, if they have one or two good girls or get a solid one kick across midfield, we can get caught out of position, which happened a few times. I did notice that they started looking to center much more quickly before the defense collapsed, and hopefully it'll keep improving, but in the mean time it's a bit frustrating for everyone. I suspect this is going to pay dividends, and I just need to be patient.

Up next this Sunday - the top team in the league with only 1 loss and 29 goals for/11 goals against.

[Jeepz72]

Indoor Cheetahs - 17-April, 2011

So. I'd been really thinking about my pre-game speech for the girls today. Several of them are always so worried if the team we're playing is "a hard team". I've told them it doesn't matter if they're hard or easy, we should be playing our best every time. In fact, last two games we'd been playing one-win teams, and both times I told the girls we needed to play hard, that just because the other team has only won a single game doesn't mean they'll be easy. In fact they'll play extra hard to try and win their next one, because they don't want to lose any more. In fact, we lost to one of those one-win teams last week.

This week we were playing the top team in the league - only one loss, 29 goals for, only 11 goals against. I gathered the team and had them settle down and listen. I told them flat out this team is at the top of the leader board. They've only lost one game. But you know what, they've lost a game, so they CAN be beat. We need to play our best soccer out there, play great teamwork and really concentrate on the ball. If we do that, we can win. We can give them their second loss. Then I asked them, holding up one finger, "How many games have they lost?" They all said, "One." Then I asked, "After today's game, how many do we want them to have lost?" They all shouted, "Two!" I brought them in, hands-in, and said, "Teamwork on three!" and the girls shouted out One Two Three Teamwork!

The scoreboard was out. No clock. No score tally. Everything was being kept with the ref. I don't know if that was a blessing or not, not being able to see the time. At the end of it all I think it really helped to not be able to see how much time was left.

The pace of the game was very fast today. The other team came right out of the gates, and the Cheetahs had to figure out pretty quick what it was going to take to keep pace with them. It didn't take long before things balanced out, and we managed to keep it scoreless until we got in rhythm. Once the Cheetahs were up to speed, there was a lot of back and forth, digging for the ball, big kicks from both sides and lots of good team play. Both teams were playing hard, and the substitutions were pretty regular. Occasionally it made for some unbalanced sides (where we had good defenders on offense, and vise versa). but the girls really stepped up. There were actually two penalty kicks, one for each team, which were automatic scores (the goalies just aren't used to defending PKs yet). T here were a few handballs for both sides, but no rough play and no penalties. It was a good, clean, hard fought game all around.

As I said, the scoreboard was out, so we had NO idea how much time was left on the clock. Parents and coaches that were watching their own watches knew when time was getting close, but nothing official until the ref blew the final whistle and sounded the game buzzer. At the end of the 45th minute, the Cheetahs had won the game by a score of 4-3! Everyone was sooo tired and soo happy. They played their hearts out and played a great team game and got rewarded with a wonderful win.

Also, rumor has it that the league website is wrong and the other team hadn't lost a game yet. So you know what, we might very well have handed them their first loss of the season. Win or lose I'm so proud of my girls and the way they played today. But I am happy for the win.