Game 3 Notes

Parents,

 

Once again, I'm very proud of the way our girls played.  We are showing tremendous progress.  I can't tell you how proud I am of the intelligence with which our girls are playing.  They are making so many good decisions.  With a little more improvement in technical skills (which are improving rapidly), we should break through some scoring barriers.  Once we start scoring more, that will be fuel for their tanks.

 

One way you can help our team is to emphasize to your daughters the importance of preparation.  They need to understand that preparation is an integral part of any activity we pursue.  They should savor preparation knowing that they are doing everything they can to do their best every time they play the game.  Like pouring chocolate syrup into your milk, you smile while doing it because you know its going to taste so good.  We must support them in this. 

 

This may seem like a small thing, but it brings the point home.  One way you can help is to make sure your daughter's shoestrings are double knotted for every practice and game.  If they are too short, buy longer ones.  If they won't stay tied, buy new ones.  Shoes coming untied while we're playing is a real sign of a lack of preparation.  Please help with this.  Tying a shoestring in practice or a game should be a very rare event.

 

If you'd like to take it one step further, working with your girls to improve technical skills (dribbling, kicking, receiving, anything involving her and the ball) would be great.  Even if it's just kicking the ball around with good form for 5 minutes an evening, the brain will "chew" on these physical motions overnight and her skill will improve quickly. 

 

Finally, please DO NOT help your players with tactical skills (positioning, where / when to pass or dribble, etc).  I firmly believe these tactical skills are best learned at practice with a method called Guided Discovery.  You cannot teach these things with words or diagrams; the girls must learn these through experience.  If you try to teach your daughters tactics, it will only place doubt in their mind, lessen their self confidence and will cause them to hesitate on the field.

 

One more thing.  I will aim to end the Wed practice no later than 6:30 (starting at 5:30 of course).  Since this is a school night, I don't want things going too late.

 

Thanks,

Bill

 

Superstars 2008 Fall Game 1

Parents,

I do want to note a couple of things from game 1. First, I've very pleased to see that girls having such a good time. This is our # 1 objective. Second, I was very pleased with how hard the girls played the entire game. Third, while many children in this league have played upwards of 50, 60, 70+ games in their lives (it was Cassie's 80th MSA game), over half of our team had yet to reach the 10 game mark. For 3 of our players, this was their very first game. Clearly we have a lot of room for technical and tactical improvement (including the head coach), however, we are most certainly at the bottom of a very steep learning curve where rapid improvement will occur.

If we keep it fun and encourage preparation and effort, results will follow. Focus on the positive. Don't focus on the score even if we win. Ask the girls what they liked the best. Tell them you're proud when you see them try something difficult, especially if it didn't work. Ask them what they plan to work on and accept their answer even if you think it should be something else. This is all part of keeping it fun and allowing them to express themselves through the sport. This will keep them playing soccer for years and years.

Thanks,
Bill