I was really impressed with Ryan's team. Our coach told the girls last night at practice that they were the best squad we've faced since this group has been together. They have a couple of boys with skills and athleticism you just don't see in girls.
Youth soccer club
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That's probably the next really great group that TSC will have once they get to the NPL/ECNL levels. Right now the 2004 group is well-known, the 2008s are a really really good group of players, and then the 2011s. That's if the parents let the team(s) sort themselves out. If the politics crap gets in the middle of the development the group will putter out like the 07s
I talked to a number of the parents as our teams waited for the medal to be presented. Seemed like a very nice group. They were very complimentary of our girls and went out of there way to tell my daughter how much they liked her game. You never know about parents though. Highly competitive kids tend to have highly competitive type A parents. We deal with that on our team. I bet our coach is forced to have a "meeting" with one of our parents once a week. I would hate that part of the job.
Yup. I have gone out of my way as a parent to speak with a player on the opposing team who I thought played exceptionally well. I did so to the GK of a team my son's team beat last May. Kid stood on his head to keep them in the game and his teammates kept putting him in bad spots by taking bad fouls in and near the penalty area. I simply went to him and said, "Keep your head up, you played a great game". Maybe being the parent of a GK I have developed sympathy for the opposing keepers.
I only know Ryan, his wife, and their kids as we attend the same church and he and I have talked about youth soccer, the politics invovled, and some TU soccer. When we were thinking about changing my son to Energy to play with a coach that I knew played with Ryan at TU, I asked him what he felt about that person as a coach and a place where my son's game might be able to grow and it was that info that kept us at TSC. I can't imagine Ryan encourages the "cheeseburger" behavior we see with a lot of youth sports. Kids learn to be competitive on their own (or they just aren't that competitive). And it's OK for them to develop that competitiveness. It's OK for them to be disappointed about not winning a game/tournament etc. but they also need to know they need to put in more work if that's their goal. Parents, IMO, just need to chill the f*ck out. Don't coach from the sidelines, don't comment on other players, don't jump all over the referees for every little thing. Enjoy watching your kid play. I guarantee you that if every parent would only say "Good job" or "Keep it going" during a game, your kid would have more fun out there. Let the coach address the things that didn't go right during games/practices.
Use to have a contract kids and parents signed. There can only be one coach. You may only positively cheer, even for your own kid. Good job, get it, way to work and chin up became popular phrases every year. Some years I was lucky and my team's parents would do the same for our opponents, complimenting good plays. Turned out many times those teams were the best ones I had, parents talking about the hard work and dedication while promoting a standard created an ideal positive environment where kids wanted to play and improve. Rarely did I hear good coaches wanting to quit because of the time, the kids, or the work, but bad parents ruined more than just their children's experience.
I coached youth baseball for years and at the time I thought baseball parents were bad. They’re noting compared to soccer parents. Parents going through competitive sports for the first time are generally the worst as they have no perspective. They think 9 year old Johnny has to start for the #1 team or his life will be incomplete. Truth be told it’s their lives which are likely missing something and they’re trying to live vicariously through a child. Our daughter has played rec, lower level club and now highest level club. I can tell you without hesitation the more competitive the team the more bat sh*t crazy the parents become. They don’t pay our coach enough to deal with the moms and dads.
It’s worse in soccer because a large number of parents never played and have no appreciation for how difficult the sport can be to play, coach or officiate. They think you just kick the ball around. Soccer and cheerleading seem to be the most expensive to play and that certainly doesn’t help lower the emotional investment Mom has in the results.
Even your most abrasive Hank Hill at a high school baseball game called balls and strikes at least once or twice when their kid was eight. That keeps a lot of them shut up.
TRUTH.
There is a referee in Tulsa named Brian Barlow who runs a Facebook page called "Offside"...he's the one who calls the crazy parents "Cheeseburgers". Give him a follow. He pays a ransom for "cheeseburger" videos and frequently he will have the viral batsh*t crazy parent video before they are viral. As part of this though he has an initiative (I believe it is called STOP) to stop abusing referees at youth games (and even in college and pros). He's been on the TODAY show and a few other national programs, talks about why there are shortages of referees, etc. We've been fortunate to have him referee some of my son's games and he's very good at what he does. I've witnessed some insane behavior from parents and coaches, bad enough to where it cost a team a game because the players on the field focused on their parents' and coach's screaming obscenities at the ref, they missed out that the other team restarted play after the call and waltzed in unmolested and scored the winning goal.
Lawpoke, I umpired one summer after college for a youth 9-10 year old league, the one I grew up playing in. I had a liberal strike zone (more like I called the entire strike zone). I called a strike on a pitch at the knees and the parents on the one team went nuts. I had a parent threaten me because I called a strike on a kid (he swung) and the pitch hit him in the leg. Then there were modified rules for this league for mercy rule situations. Once a team was up 10 runs, no one walked. If there were 4 balls, you hit off a tee. Parents upset about that. You could no longer take a base on a wild pitch with either team up 10. 1 base on overthrows even if it stayed in the field (it was fenced). This was 25 years ago. To me this league had it right, try to keep the game fun for both sides even though it was lopsided. Parents were like Cobra Kai "NO MERCY".
My rules when I coached soccer:
5) Don't let the other team score
4) Score as many goals as you can
3) Be a good sport (kids always told it to me as "No trash talking"
2) Do your best
1) Have Fun!
I would have my team recite this before we started every game and we'd go from 5 to 1 so the last thing they said was, IMO, the most important...and if they did the other 4 then 1 would certainly take care of itself. And I had to yell at parents to not coach from the other sideline before because they'd be yelling "boot it" all the time. If it's not a term a coach ever uses in soccer, parents should not be yelling it.
Back in my ne’r do well days I would ref and bounce at a friends bar for extra cash. I quit reffing cause the drunks trying to punch me or cripple me were easier to deal with.
The ref experience did come in handy tho. It was a soccer bar. So I did enjoy issuing yellow and red cards to the unruly nerds who would come in there to watch USMNT qualifiers on weekend nights. Much easier than trying to muscle them out while their skinny friends plotted how to tear your ACL. Some thought it hilarious and walked/staggered out on their own.
My son's team got hammered 2X last weekend. They're dealing with a couple of injuries and having to borrow a couple of kids from a lower team. One kid had a seizure on Friday before the games and suffered a concussion as a result of the ensuing fall. His dad says the scan came back clear so as soon as he is concussion symptom free, he'll be cleared to return. Kid is a dynamic outside defender too. Fast, good feet, physical (even though he's small). This forced the outside back to the other side and using a kid with no chemistry on our team on the right side. My son's coach also called in a 2nd GK because he likes to have my son play the field as well because he has a decent soccer IQ (1st time in 5 years he's had any significant field time). My son actually started at left MF over some of the other kids on the team. One thing quickly became apparent...my son lacks some serious endurance (tends to happen when you don't do much running in most games). 2nd game on Sunday my son started in goal and his team got blitzed. Lots of high shots from about 25-30 yards. My son was sleeping on one and the other was well-placed. Even when he did do the right things in goal, an unlucky bounce ended up behind him.
This team has lost confidence and lacks a cohesive team dynamic. Not sure how they get that back.
This team has lost confidence and lacks a cohesive team dynamic. Not sure how they get that back.
Hate to hear that. Hopefully they can find their swag and turn this fall season around.
John Michael has been training the top 5 girls on my daughters team every Weds evening. He works those girls as hard as I've ever seen a coach work young kids. I go just to watch him do ball skills. Guy has amazing feet.
John Michael has been training the top 5 girls on my daughters team every Weds evening. He works those girls as hard as I've ever seen a coach work young kids. I go just to watch him do ball skills. Guy has amazing feet.
My son's team played a WSA Tornadoes team last night. Lost 4-0 but that score is really misleading. The boys actually played really well for 60 minutes out of the 70 and pretty much dominated the 1st half. They had 4-5 really excellent chances on some nice thru balls. My son's team lacks a pure finisher though. They've got a kid who is as fast as all get out and they created a number of chances for him. He also made a brilliant run and was hit with a perfect ball over the top. My son had to make maybe 2-3 saves in the 1st half and also took a pretty heavy knock attacking a corner. Got a foul called but has a pretty painful charlie horse.
2nd half...they just fell apart for about 5-6 minutes. 1st goal came on a defensive miscommunication leaving a kid wide open at the top of the 6. Next came a couple minutes later on a rocket from the top. 3rd was a PK (legit call). PK taker was really good and hard to get a read on. My son had saved the last 5 PKs against him in games. This kid stood straight on and ultimately took the shot with his left foot (he'd been hitting shots with his right all game). Then the game went back and forth but by this time my son's team had lost their energy to keep attacking.
Next game is Sunday in Stillwater. Added bonus: I get to coach that one as the team's coach will be in Dallas with his girls NPL team.
2nd half...they just fell apart for about 5-6 minutes. 1st goal came on a defensive miscommunication leaving a kid wide open at the top of the 6. Next came a couple minutes later on a rocket from the top. 3rd was a PK (legit call). PK taker was really good and hard to get a read on. My son had saved the last 5 PKs against him in games. This kid stood straight on and ultimately took the shot with his left foot (he'd been hitting shots with his right all game). Then the game went back and forth but by this time my son's team had lost their energy to keep attacking.
Next game is Sunday in Stillwater. Added bonus: I get to coach that one as the team's coach will be in Dallas with his girls NPL team.
Sounds like your son is playing very well. That's exciting as a parent. The WSA boys team we played in their Labor Day Tourney was the WSA Tornadoes. I didn't realize that the Tornadoes were a separate branch of WSA. The 2010 WSA Tornadoes were Hispanic. It's odd that we don't see very many girl dominated Hispanic teams.
Yeah, what WSA has done over the past 2 years is buy/merge a bunch of smaller clubs in the surrounding area. This way they get to take the best players from those clubs and incorporate them into their NPL program. They've also absorbed clubs in Claremore, Fort Gibson, and a couple in OKC. I believe they are also trying to get to ECNL status BUT that will take some more doing on their part as their facilities are a little bit lacking. While the fields at River City are playable, it was anything but good. The flooding left the field patchy with a ton of weeds and the ground was really bumpy and uneven, almost like someone had driven on it right after the flooding and the ground was still soft. The grass was too thick so it was hard to pass correctly and it didn't look like it had been mowed recently. Also our game got moved from 7:00pm to 6:00pm because Sand Springs/WSA haven't addressed the electrical issues at the park so they had no lights. This is fine until you realize most of our kids are coming from south Tulsa, Bixby, BA, and Jenks and trying to get to the opposite end of the county during rush hour traffic with every highway under some sort of construction.
Tornadoes is mostly a club made up of hispanic kids from the west side of Tulsa. One of my son's previous coaches (who is Hispanic) called it little Tijuana. One of my son's former teammates' parents told me to watch closely as they always have just enough players to start a game and then 4-5 will show up about 10 minutes in and never get checked in by the ref. She also knew a lot of the parents. Whenever we played them before the OPC platform, each club was responsible for assigning referees for their "home" games. Come to find out that the ref crew who did most of the Tornadoes home games was led by the brother of the guy who was the director of the club. My son's team lost a game to this same team about 4 years ago 3-2. In the final minute my son's team had a free kick from about 5 yards outside the box. Kid took the kick, hit the bottom of the crossbar and hit down on the ground behind the keeper who was standing on the line and the ref waived it off saying it never fully crossed the line. Last night the team we played, half the roster didn't have any numbers so you can't tell if the kids are actually part of that team or not.
That's funny. When we played them a few weeks ago they had six players to start the game. Three more kids show up a few minutes into the game and immediately start playing for them. No check in...nothing. (This is a tournament btw) They had a few boys with some skill but they played rather poorly as a team. Believe the score was 6-1.
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So I coached my first game in 5 years yesterday. Son's team went to Stillwater to play Apex FC. Best part was that the game got moved from their regular fields (which lacked regular maintenance and mowing the last time we were there) to Stillwater HS Pioneer Stadium because of all the rain. Boys loved playing on turf. True rolls. My son was never tested really. Everything was from distance and he was able to get his hand on them. He also had a pretty nice punch out. Apex was very good at passing the ball and keeping possession but their passing had no purpose as they rarely were able to move the ball into the attacking 1/3 with any real numbers or presence. My son's team didn't hold the ball well at well in the middle 1/3 but they were able to connect on some passes up to the attacking forwards and mids and from there they created some really good chances. Apex had a good GK. Best chance of the game came when our forward took the ball from the top of the box, hit a laser to the back post that the GK couldn't reach and it hit the post and rattled out.
Game ended in a 0-0 draw and since we were playing with 12 kids that's not a bad result.
Game ended in a 0-0 draw and since we were playing with 12 kids that's not a bad result.
Not bad at all. Congrats to your son on the shutout. We played in the Kia Ciup at Keas over the weekend. Looked like the sky would open up at any moment but never got a drop of rain. Happy we got the tourney in with no delays. Waiting out weather at these tourneys is the worst.
My son’s team won a hard fought 3-2 come from behind victory over the same team that shut them out 2 weeks ago. My son gave up one on a 1v1 break and the other came on a PK. He did make 2 late saves.
All the parents knew that once the team scored a goal things would take off and it certainly did. They started seeing lanes and through balls and they actually put together the winning play without the best player on the field. They’ve got some confidence now heading into a tournament in Little Rock next weekend
All the parents knew that once the team scored a goal things would take off and it certainly did. They started seeing lanes and through balls and they actually put together the winning play without the best player on the field. They’ve got some confidence now heading into a tournament in Little Rock next weekend
Congrats on the win and good luck next weekend We play an ODA 2010 boys team tomorrow then two Celtic Boys teams next weekend. So much for being a girls team.
My friends daughter guest played with a US Soccer DA club today in OKC. He was telling me about the time and money it takes to play at that level. Crazy.
My friends daughter guest played with a US Soccer DA club today in OKC. He was telling me about the time and money it takes to play at that level. Crazy.
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The ODA teams are usually pretty good....but they also seem to be a little sketchy in terms of age groups.
Depending on which Celtic teams you get ( #1 vs #2) it could be a good test. Celtic seems to always have a really good #1 team in the age group but the drop off after that is pretty steep. I know my son's team would get hammered by the #1 team i the '06 age group, but my son's team is clearly better than the #2 team in the same age group.
Good luck
We beat the ODA Boys team 5-1. They were about what I expected. A few really skilled players but lacked overall team spacing and physicality. They could flop like no team we've ever played. I've never seen 9 year old boys hit the ground like that group. Every time one of them would lose a challenged ball the next move was a dive.
Looking forward to playing the Celtic teams as we've never played them. Are they an OKC area club?
Looking forward to playing the Celtic teams as we've never played them. Are they an OKC area club?
On Celtic, they are the competitive side of Norman Youth Soccer,so yes. I don't know if you're going down there or if they are coming this way. They've put a ton of work into their complex. If you're going that way, my suggestion would be is get on 40 East when you hit OKC, and then exit Sooner Road and head south from there. The soccer complex is on your right hand side at the corner of Sooner Road and Robinson in Norman. It's a lot less hassle and a lot less traffic (at least on the way in).
As for ODA, I know what you're talking about. Hopefully I am not offending anyone, but the clubs made up of a lot of Hispanic players almost seem to teach The Art of Chicharito to the kids. I have even seen some roll around on the ground for 30-454 seconds grabbing their ankle after they were knocked off the ball with a good shoulder to shoulder challenge. I really wish refs wouldn't be so careful about throwing around yellow cards in those situations. The only way to break the endless diving when they get older is to stop it when they're kids.
My son's team went 2-1 this weekend in Little Rock. Unfortunately there was an odd bracket (7 teams) and they only put 3 through to the playoff. Didn't make it based on GD. 1st game we played a really good team from Clinton, MS Brilla FC. This team simply had giant, athletic kids. My son's team managed some good chances early. 1st score came on a free kick from just outside the box. My son got a hand on it, but not enough of one to keep it out. Final ended up being 5-0....second half was much better and more competitive. 2nd game started a lot like the 1st. Played a team called "Real Arkansas". Again, a giant 6 foot kid playing forward knocked in a beautiful cross against the grain. They had another chance a couple of minutes later as the right MF broke into the box and my son came out and made a nice 1 v 1 save. My son's team rebounded quickly and scored the equalizer on a nice run of play and through ball to the striker. Added a 2nd before halftime and led 2-1 at half (although it could have been 4 or 5 to one...my son's team has trouble getting shots on frame). My son would have gotten a secondary assist if soccer awarded those as he found an open teammate with a controlled punt and said teammate sent the forward on. 2nd half TSC just scored 1 but could have added 2-3 more. It was weird b/c the team from Arkansas took the 6 foot forward and put him in goal (and significantly weakened the team's ability to create offense IMO). My son wasn't tested in the 2nd half of this one at all. At one point the Real team played a ball over the top that went into the box and my son went over and trapped it with his foot and stood there for 30 seconds before the team from Arkansas realized what he was doing. Apparently the forward told my son he was going to get a card for wasting time and my son said something back. Found out he came back with "For what? The ball is still in play. It's not my fault you're just standing around." Almost lost it. 3-1 win.
Sunday we were one of 3 teams tied with 3 points at 1-1 and got relegated to the consolation 4th place game because of GD. Played a team from Memphis who was coached by a guy with a thick European accent (couldn't tell if it was German, Dutch, Hungarian, Croatian). I couldn't understand a word he was saying....I wonder if his team understood him. They liked to pass the ball around but didn't really have a purpose. And they had 1 forward who was extremely talented and fast and skilled. My son's team scored 1st directly off of a corner. TSC kid curled it in. GK from Memphis butchered it (this kid was a GK only in the sense he had a pair of gloves and a different colored jersey). Super forward from Memphis tied it a few minutes later on a brilliant run and work through about 4 defenders. Hit a nice curling shot to the back post. My son got a little unlucky as he came out to cut the angle, he did the GK "make yourself big" move and the ball actually went right under his arm and slightly off his rib cage. Right after that his team went to man marking that player and really got physical with him. You could tell he got frustrated. He got through coming down the right wing a couple minutes after that and sent a cross through to an open teammate and my son was able to smother the cross before it got there. The team from Memphis only had 1 really testing chance in the 2nd half as a kid beat a defender and hammered a close range shot that my son made a kick save on (and it then ricocheted off the post and to a defender who cleared). They took a few other long range shots but nothing my son had to really get to. TSC scored 2 in the 2nd half (and probably should have been 4-5; 2 posts on one play,a couple chances just wide, and a PK skied over the bar. There was one play that really impressed though. In a tense moment of having to defend in the area, the defender pushed a ball to the right MF in the corner who was about to get trapped...he pushed it back to the defender and took off..defender pushed a nice pass on the give and go to the MF who then took off on a 90 yd run all the way into the other penalty area...struck a nice shot that went off the near post. If my son's team could finish their chances they could actually be pretty good. They're starting to get more confidence though and you can see it. Positive results in 4 out of their last 5 games. Now for a month layoff (UGH).
Sunday we were one of 3 teams tied with 3 points at 1-1 and got relegated to the consolation 4th place game because of GD. Played a team from Memphis who was coached by a guy with a thick European accent (couldn't tell if it was German, Dutch, Hungarian, Croatian). I couldn't understand a word he was saying....I wonder if his team understood him. They liked to pass the ball around but didn't really have a purpose. And they had 1 forward who was extremely talented and fast and skilled. My son's team scored 1st directly off of a corner. TSC kid curled it in. GK from Memphis butchered it (this kid was a GK only in the sense he had a pair of gloves and a different colored jersey). Super forward from Memphis tied it a few minutes later on a brilliant run and work through about 4 defenders. Hit a nice curling shot to the back post. My son got a little unlucky as he came out to cut the angle, he did the GK "make yourself big" move and the ball actually went right under his arm and slightly off his rib cage. Right after that his team went to man marking that player and really got physical with him. You could tell he got frustrated. He got through coming down the right wing a couple minutes after that and sent a cross through to an open teammate and my son was able to smother the cross before it got there. The team from Memphis only had 1 really testing chance in the 2nd half as a kid beat a defender and hammered a close range shot that my son made a kick save on (and it then ricocheted off the post and to a defender who cleared). They took a few other long range shots but nothing my son had to really get to. TSC scored 2 in the 2nd half (and probably should have been 4-5; 2 posts on one play,a couple chances just wide, and a PK skied over the bar. There was one play that really impressed though. In a tense moment of having to defend in the area, the defender pushed a ball to the right MF in the corner who was about to get trapped...he pushed it back to the defender and took off..defender pushed a nice pass on the give and go to the MF who then took off on a 90 yd run all the way into the other penalty area...struck a nice shot that went off the near post. If my son's team could finish their chances they could actually be pretty good. They're starting to get more confidence though and you can see it. Positive results in 4 out of their last 5 games. Now for a month layoff (UGH).
Sounds like a good weekend and some good soccer. Anytime you go 2-1 playing against good competition it's a "win" imo.
Our weekend wasn't near as exciting. We play the 2010 Celtic boys team (I assume it was their #2 team) on Saturday and won 10-1. The obviously weren't very good. We played their top 2010 girls team on Sunday and won 9-0. Same story. Maybe 2010 is a weak year for that club? We scrimmaged the 2009 boys Blitz team Sunday afternoon to get some 9v9 work in and got beat fairly handily. Believe it was 5-2. The girls really struggled with positioning and spacing across the field. Our backs were often confused as to assignments with the three across the back line configuration. Probably should have practiced 9v9 before lining up against that team.
Our weekend wasn't near as exciting. We play the 2010 Celtic boys team (I assume it was their #2 team) on Saturday and won 10-1. The obviously weren't very good. We played their top 2010 girls team on Sunday and won 9-0. Same story. Maybe 2010 is a weak year for that club? We scrimmaged the 2009 boys Blitz team Sunday afternoon to get some 9v9 work in and got beat fairly handily. Believe it was 5-2. The girls really struggled with positioning and spacing across the field. Our backs were often confused as to assignments with the three across the back line configuration. Probably should have practiced 9v9 before lining up against that team.
Anytime you add players and space it's a tough transition, especially when you add an extra defender and understanding how they need to move as a unit, the concept of cover balance, making sure you're spacing with other members of your backline is such that you can take away through balls but you also can get to the outside attacker when the ball is played wide. A lot of coaches simply don't spend enough time on this. You mention it but there are things you can do to focus on it. Even the U14s still tend to bunch together and want to move ball-side way too much often leaving the middle of the box wide open and forget about the back post stuff.
One things my son's team never understands...usually when we go to tournaments and we play in the top bracket, they're always playing against another clubs top team. My son's team at TSC is the 3rd team according to the pecking order (although they are pretty close to even with the NPL side). Results like this weekend's are really quite good when you look at it that way. Just goes to show the depth of the clubs at places like TSC, Energy, and South Lakes.
Our 7v7 defensive philosophy is quite simply. We put two really fast and athletic girls as the back two defenders. If one of them gets beat on the wing the other back comes from the center of the field to pick up the ball....ie...why being fast is important. The mids then drop to cover any cross.
Yesterday the older boys were bigger and faster than us. When our left or right back got beat down the wing our center back wasn't sure whether to pick up the ball or mark the player cutting down the middle of the box. The offside back was also unsure of her assignment and the mids were slow in support on the larger field. It was a mess. We play our first 9v9 tourney on the 25th so I suppose the girls have two weeks or so to figure things out.
Yesterday the older boys were bigger and faster than us. When our left or right back got beat down the wing our center back wasn't sure whether to pick up the ball or mark the player cutting down the middle of the box. The offside back was also unsure of her assignment and the mids were slow in support on the larger field. It was a mess. We play our first 9v9 tourney on the 25th so I suppose the girls have two weeks or so to figure things out.
You guys need to join a book club for soccer parents.
Posting this on here keeps me from losing my mind being pissed off at the head football coach 24/7You guys need to join a book club for soccer parents.
My daughters team received one of Oklahoma’s two invites to:
https://premiersupercopa.com/
Does anyone know anything about this tourney?
https://premiersupercopa.com/
Does anyone know anything about this tourney?
If I think it is the same tournament, it was held in Denver last year. It was a ton of fun. The best boys clubs in the US sent their kids there. This was easily the best group of talent under the age of 12 that I have ever seen. It was a ton of fun
It's a good tournament. I know several TSC teams who have attended and a friend of ours' daughter went last summer (Dallas area). Be warned...it's a week long event and you will have games throughout the work week and they usually like to spread them out over a few days of pool play and then you get put into a playoff bracket if you win your pool. The U13s last year had 8 groups of 4 with the group winners going on into a 3 round playoff. (It was in Denver the year before).
My son guest played for another TSC team yesterday but he guest played as a field player, not a keeper. Played nearly the entire game as the primary striker and had the 2 best shots on. My son surprises me at his level of technical skill considering how little technical practice he gets on things non-keeper related. I will say, he has developed himself a pretty nice soccer IQ and he sees the field really well (I will attribute that to all the time Donovan Rickett's spent with him reading the field and flow of play..GKs don't get nearly enough of that in their day to day coaching unless their primary team coach was a GK).
Michael coaches a 2011 team. My daughter is 2010. We had a 3v3 training at futsol last night with John Michael and Moritz was there watching the girls work out. We are not playing in the Friendship Cup. We play in Dallas next weekend and then 3v3 Nationals in Memphis at the end of the month.
https://events.gotsport.com/events/teamlist.aspx?showall=clean&eventid=74411
We played Michael's 2011 squad in a tourney last month. I was really impressed with them and the way they played. No back down whatsoever against older girls. I think they could play heads up with the 2010 second team.
Are you guys playing any November tourneys? Indoor or futsol this winter?
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So my son's team played their 1st games in nearly a month last weekend, a home and home vs a Celtic 06B team. My son missed the game on Saturday due to a previous commitment with his scout troop. His team lost 4-3, with 3 of the opponents goals coming in the 1st 10 minutes of the game Asked a parent what happened and he said the defense was asleep in covering their forward. 3 1v1's with the keeper. Half-time adjustment and they came out and score 3 times but also missed on a PK. Celtic team had 4 yellow cards. Tough way to lose.
Sunday, play the same team. My son is GK. My son's team won 3-0 in a game they absolutely dominated. Got worried as they scored the 3 in the first half with a 25 mph wind behind them. Thought the wind really hampered the other team in their normal play over the top tactic. The Celtic team only had 1 shot on goal the entire game and my son made a nice save on it. They took a couple of other shots that went over the bar. The boys have rounded into nice form to finish out the season. 2 more regular season Fall games plus Friendship Cup. Should be pretty competitive in their bracket.
Sunday, play the same team. My son is GK. My son's team won 3-0 in a game they absolutely dominated. Got worried as they scored the 3 in the first half with a 25 mph wind behind them. Thought the wind really hampered the other team in their normal play over the top tactic. The Celtic team only had 1 shot on goal the entire game and my son made a nice save on it. They took a couple of other shots that went over the bar. The boys have rounded into nice form to finish out the season. 2 more regular season Fall games plus Friendship Cup. Should be pretty competitive in their bracket.
Sam Shannon Showcase/Friendship Cup Update_
My son's team went 3-1 on the weekend and finished 2nd in their division. Difference between 1st and 2nd was a single goal. My son's team scored 12 goals this weekend and conceded 3...my son was credited with 2 clean sheets. 3 games they won pretty handily by 3-1, 4-0, and 4-0 scorelines. The S3rd game they played (on Sunday morning) against the NEOFC team from Bartlesville was the match that decided the division winner. I had the opportunity to get our boys ready and start the game as the coach as the regular coach had 3 teams playing in the tournament and the scheduler thought it would be fun to have him bounce between the Mohawk complex, Titan South, and Indian Springs. I gave them a little pep talk before the important Sunday AM game. It was a rough, but well-played game. My son's team defended most of the time b/c this Bartlesville team is well coached and they do a good job of keeping possession. My son made a really nice 1 v 1 save early on. He ended up having to come out of the game for a few minutes though as he made the save with his face and the referee stopped play due to a potential head injury. Luckily the on-site trainer was at our field and was able to check him out and clear him to return. Not more than a minute after he goes back in, he takes an opponent down in the box and has to face a PK. Made a really nice save on the OK which then sort of gave his team a bit of an energy high as they countered almost immediately and scored the opening goal. Stayed that way until about 15 minutes left in the 2nd half when NEOFC got a pretty goal on a nice cross and flicked header to the back post. NEOFCs 2nd came 4-5 minutes later off a free kick that my son initially pushed off the cross bar. My son claims he had the ball trapped with his hand and it got kicked away by an opponent and then pushed into the net as it was loosed on the ground. I couldn't tell if he had it trapped but my son got up protesting right away. I'll give credit to the ref as he immediately went over the AR to consult him and see what he may have seen. They let the goal stand. My son's team then pushed for an equalizer and had a good chance 1v1 sending the team's best player in behind the defense. I think he got a little antsy as he tried to pull the trigger from about 20 yards out and didn't get a great shot off. He probably could have taken it into the box and then cut the defender chasing him off and either gotten a better shot or gotten a foul call for a PK. Ended up losing 2-1 (but considering the same team beat our kids 7-0 not even 2 weeks ago and our kids completely gave up at half, this was actually a confidence booster). Boys came back for a 5:20pm game and absolutely played great. Won 4-0.
When this team plays with a little bit of confidence, they can be very very good. One thing that happened this weekend that is a change from the norm, 12 goals scored, but the team's best player only scored 1 of those. If I recall correctly we had 6 different goal scorers this weekend which is a good sign and a confidence builder.
My son's team went 3-1 on the weekend and finished 2nd in their division. Difference between 1st and 2nd was a single goal. My son's team scored 12 goals this weekend and conceded 3...my son was credited with 2 clean sheets. 3 games they won pretty handily by 3-1, 4-0, and 4-0 scorelines. The S3rd game they played (on Sunday morning) against the NEOFC team from Bartlesville was the match that decided the division winner. I had the opportunity to get our boys ready and start the game as the coach as the regular coach had 3 teams playing in the tournament and the scheduler thought it would be fun to have him bounce between the Mohawk complex, Titan South, and Indian Springs. I gave them a little pep talk before the important Sunday AM game. It was a rough, but well-played game. My son's team defended most of the time b/c this Bartlesville team is well coached and they do a good job of keeping possession. My son made a really nice 1 v 1 save early on. He ended up having to come out of the game for a few minutes though as he made the save with his face and the referee stopped play due to a potential head injury. Luckily the on-site trainer was at our field and was able to check him out and clear him to return. Not more than a minute after he goes back in, he takes an opponent down in the box and has to face a PK. Made a really nice save on the OK which then sort of gave his team a bit of an energy high as they countered almost immediately and scored the opening goal. Stayed that way until about 15 minutes left in the 2nd half when NEOFC got a pretty goal on a nice cross and flicked header to the back post. NEOFCs 2nd came 4-5 minutes later off a free kick that my son initially pushed off the cross bar. My son claims he had the ball trapped with his hand and it got kicked away by an opponent and then pushed into the net as it was loosed on the ground. I couldn't tell if he had it trapped but my son got up protesting right away. I'll give credit to the ref as he immediately went over the AR to consult him and see what he may have seen. They let the goal stand. My son's team then pushed for an equalizer and had a good chance 1v1 sending the team's best player in behind the defense. I think he got a little antsy as he tried to pull the trigger from about 20 yards out and didn't get a great shot off. He probably could have taken it into the box and then cut the defender chasing him off and either gotten a better shot or gotten a foul call for a PK. Ended up losing 2-1 (but considering the same team beat our kids 7-0 not even 2 weeks ago and our kids completely gave up at half, this was actually a confidence booster). Boys came back for a 5:20pm game and absolutely played great. Won 4-0.
When this team plays with a little bit of confidence, they can be very very good. One thing that happened this weekend that is a change from the norm, 12 goals scored, but the team's best player only scored 1 of those. If I recall correctly we had 6 different goal scorers this weekend which is a good sign and a confidence builder.
Congrats on the 2nd place finish. We travel to Memphis this weekend for nationals. Heavy rain is forecast for Saturday. Our coach just got the following statement via email from the tourney director...."We are aware of the forecast for Saturday. This is nationals....we will play this tournament". Looking forward to some miserable soccer.
Our coach was supposed to take his 06G NPL team to a big tournament in Memphis at the end of October. They made the decision to cancel the tournament on the Friday at noon. Some families had already started driving that way. Glad they've made that decision ahead of time for you so you at the very least know you're playing.
I do suggest you invest in a couple of "pods". They are vinyl plastic pods you can set your chair in and sit in and zip up with some vents.
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