Frustrated then Fun - A Girls Soccer Team's Coach's Progression

Frustration.  That's what I felt.  Given time, space, and a ball, why wouldn't the girls be having a blast?  I would.  But they weren't.  Was it the heat?  It was the first hot practice of the year.  Were they getting "tired" of soccer?  It's getting late in the season.  Was it a side effect of a couple of girls not feeling their best and it spreading through the team emotionally?  Was it a lack of motivation?  We've been winning rather handily lately, but against some fairly inexperienced teams.  I don't know.  I do know I just wanted them to play some soccer, run around, and have fun.  However, several of them wanted nothing to do with it.  

Next practice - Fantastic.  I started it off with a little sit-down.  The first thing I did was apologize for getting frustrated the previous practice.  Some said they didn't even notice.  I guess I wasn't as obvious as I thought.  We also talked about the 3 most important parts of being a soccer team.

1. Try your hardest all the time.  This includes preparation in practice as well as effort in the game.
2. Take care of your teammates.  If you don't get back and support your teammates or push forward and support your teammates, you're letting them down.  
3. Play with a smile.  Tell your teammates good job and never say anything mean to the other team.

We actually discussed these points for several minutes just sitting in a circle in the middle of our practice field.  The girls told stories and extrapolated on all the points.  After that, practice picked up and they had a really good time.  It was very refreshing.  Was it the talk?  Was it the slightly cooler weather?  Who knows, but it was fun again.

-Bill