U12 2011

The great.

First of all, the parents efforts on the weekend with the long tournament are immensely appreciated. Thank you.  

2nd, a huge thank you to Deb for keeping us on track this weekend, from verifying what we needed to do ahead of time, from entering the players info (including OSA numbers), generating the game sheets, going to registration on Thursday night, and then keeping track of everything on the weekend. Saturday night I was trying to figure out the bizarre tournament schematics and I gave up.

That was an awesome and very long "never-ending" tournament, and a great showing by our team until they tired out. The tournament was very well organized, from the coaches perspective, and good refereeing. 7 matches later, we think it was a great learning experience for our kids. It helped them realize what it takes to win and play at the next level: play a lot more aggressively, much harder, run faster, give 100% effort and focus all the time - including practices. It is clear that we need to improve our fitness as the team's energy sagged in the last matches of every day. We had 5 very, very close 0 or 1-goal difference matches, and our very first penalty shootout, which we won! (see video).

We had a fantastic shootout, with 4 of our players scoring, including our keeper, and him also saving two opponents' shots. We had practiced PKs in our last practice, and our keeper was instructed to stay in the center because balls would be shot at or near him.

The players talked the coach into DQ, so DQ they got.


Next 3

The level of play improved for sure, but we now have 3 very difficult matches in a row, so parents should be patient and supportive. Two of the teams we had very close matches on the weekend are in our own league, but they will only come up later in the season.


The not so good.

Please remember that is against our code of conduct for players or parents to complain or argue coaches' decisions, including playing time.

We have a fair play policy but as this is competitive league players are not guaranteed equal playing time, the coaches make the decision they think it's best for the team at every moment. We are working very hard on the players' development, on our own time and away from our families.  We are not paid for this or to be treated harshly, and we do so at our own cost. Playing time must be earned - by the players.

Players should realize that they get 3 days of soccer a week from the coaches, 2 days for practices and 1 day for match. In addition, our practices (2h and 3h each) are longer than 99% of other teams. That is around 385 to 400 minutes per week (not counting the optional fourth night we just added). Overall, the difference between when they are active doing or playing soccer or not is quite small (i.e, playing time in this is a small part). Players should not come just to play matches. Players must come to work very hard, learn, and focus during practices - not just playing matches. Unlike other clubs we try hard to make every player play in every match. Also, please understand that shift times are mostly beyond our control as there are strict rules and limits on when players can and cannot go in,  and we realize a lot of this is unknown to parents, as is a zillion other things that are going on.

It is a team effort. One of our most skilled players will no longer be playing due to indiscipline and unwillingness to practice hard. What happened then: the team improved. Nobody is irreplaceable. Do practice hard, there is no other option.

The players get a fourth fitness night a week, starting this week, see previous post



Set the example.

While parents sit on the sidelines and watch, the coaches have to deal with a whole lot more complicated issues. Another team also harassed one of our players, and several players were swearing, we can't do much about them. Guess what their kids learn and how they will behave.

Please remember: Everything coaches and parents do will be emulated by the children.

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