End of the Season

The season is over for my kiddos' teams. I'll try to get out with them and have some fun with the ball, but with it getting dark so early (I hate the time change), it's tough. My U10 girls have actually expressed a desire to have some Saturday get-togethers where they can kick the ball around. They're growing up. They're getting to the age where they can choose for themselves if they want to play or not. And you know what...it looks like they all can't wait to start practicing for the next season, everyone of them. That is how I, as a recreational soccer coach, gauge success. I can't wait either.

Endurance, Character, Hope

I can't claim credit for combining these words, but when I heard them, I had to share them. It is when we persevere and endure trials, that we build our character. It is that character, that gives us hope during the next trial. Our girls endured some trials. Judging from the results of the last game, this season must have built some character, because they did not loose hope. Though the other team scored first, our girls kept going and in the end, the result was theirs. That is a good way to end the season.

Speech or Subs - Something Worked

It may have been the speech on perseverance I gave in practice. It may have been the fact that we had substitutes. I may never know the truth, but the results were obvious last night. The girls played their hardest and had a blast. No matter that actual score, it was a great success.

Perseverance - Never Quit

With all the rain, we haven't had any practices. With all the H1N1, we haven't had an abundance of players either. In the last 2 games for my U10 girls, we've had zero and one substitute. In one game, all 3 girls that usually play keeper were out with fevers. It's been tough. Toward the end of these games, when the girls were tired and the win out of reach, I saw too many slumped shoulders and not enough effort.

So the sun finally came out and we had a practice. We worked on some defensive skills at first, but midway through practice, we had a talk. I told them what I'd seen in the matches; concrete examples without using names. I told them they were letting each other down when they didn't give it their all. I then told them that our next match would be the toughest one yet. I then told them we'd be playing everyone at keeper in this game...everyone. The fear was in some of their eyes.

But then I told them a story about our adult team from a few days ago. We'd played a team that was clearly better than us. But we took care of each other out there on the field. We ran our butts off. And you know what? We won. We were sore like you wouldn't believe the next few days, but we'd given it our all. I told them I expected them to take care of each other with 100% effort. If they weren't going to give it their all the whole game, then they needed to stay at home.

Then we talked about when you give it your all and they still score, what do you do? Do you say, "They're too good." Do you say, "We're going to lose." No, you say, "She beat me there, but she won't beat me that way again!" "They may be tough, but they're making us tougher." "This isn't hard, it's challenging!" We worked on giving them thoughts to help them turn around the bad moments and focus on the possibilities. Finally, I told them they needed to talk to each other on the pitch to help them remember what we need to do.

After that, I asked who would be at the game. Every hand went up. I asked them what they'd do different. I got a variety of answers, but the most memorable was from a girl who would never have said this before. She said, "Play goalkeeper." I sent them off to scrimmage for the rest of practice and they played like I knew they could.

It's been a tough couple of weeks, but you know what...I think it's going to make them stronger.