Pride

I am so proud of Meg for the way she finished the soccer season. She played very well in the play-offs, even though her team was eliminated. In her final game on Tuesday she was one of the best players on the field again. She did not score any goals, but that was because she only got the ball a few times in the game. She even moved all the back to help several times.

I have always known that she was a good player, but that she did not always try. I had a talk with her toward the end of the season and told her that coaches were watching to find all-star players. At that point she started playing like her self again.

It was disappointing that she did not make the all-star team. She had a bad tryout, but I still think she was one of the top players there. Politics can crush the hopes and dreams of kids. She has taken it well though and really wants to work on her skills in the off season. I am so glad that she has taken that attitude.

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The Politics of Youth Soccer

I have been participating in one way or another in AYSO soccer for more than ten years. I have coached, been a team referee and volunteered for numerous team duties. I saw the politics of the sport ten years ago and I have seen the new politics this season.

I never thought much about how being a coach or assistant coach was a political move, but it dawned on me a few days ago. If you as a coach can get the parent of another really good soccer player to be your assistant, your chances of being successful are that much greater. Having two or three good players on your team is enough to move you to the top tier of your league. That means moving on to the playoffs.

Ten years ago the coach of a team would recommend two or three players to be considered for the all-star team. The coaches of the all-star team would then select the players they wanted on the team. This was a very political process since there was no formal tryout. There was also no way that the all-star coaches could get around to see all of the players that were recommended play in their league games. It was a who you are and who you know system. Chels was almost always recommended for the all-star team, but she was never selected.

With the effort of appearing to be more fair, our local AYSO has changed things us a bit. The coaches still recommend two or three players from their team for the All-star team, but now there is a three hour tryout. It turns out that Meg as recommended for the team and attended the tryout. There were more than sixty girls at the tryout and only twenty-seven girls would make the all-star team. Meg did not play her best at the tryout, which was disappointing, but I was not overly impressed by many of the girls there. I think Meg was a middle of the pack player. This, in my mind, would mean that she should make a team. We are still waiting to find out.

I was talking to Meg's assistant coach for a lot of the tryout and the first thing out of his mouth was that this looked to only be a formality. In other words, he was implying that most of the selections have already been made. For instance, all of the all-star team coaches' daughters have already made the team. That means that there were only twenty-three or twenty-four slots open for the girls trying out.

I watched the tryout pretty closely and I told The Queen that I don't know how the coaches can make a decision in just three hours, especially with so many girls trying out. There were only five coaches watching all of the girls, so there was no way that they could really watch each girl to see what there skill level was.

I read a book recently that looked at hockey all star teams. An economist studied the make up of the teams and found that the older kids usually made the teams over the younger kids. The older kids were usually bigger, which meant they looked the part of an all-star. They did not find that the bigger kids necessarily had better skills, they were just bigger. Over time these kids do end up becoming the better players because they get more practice time with better coaches. It turns out to be a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The thinking goes something like this, "you are bigger, so you must be better" and eventually the kids are better.

I really hope that the selection process for this AYSO all-star team was more fair than that. Meg is not one of the bigger kids and she is one of the younger kids, but she has some natural instinct that makes her a good player. I think with some more coaching she could develop into a great player. If she does not make the all-star team, I have already told her that we will work on her skills in the off season to make her a better player next year. She has already identified the skills she wants to work on, so I know she is serious.

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Play Like an All-Star

Two weeks ago I told Meg that she was being recommended to try out for the AYSO all-star team. I told her that the coaches would be watching her and that she needed to play her best, she needed to play like an all-star.

I missed her game that week while I was in Chicago, but she did indeed play like an all-star. She scored two goals in the first quarter of her first game that day. She did not score anymore goals that game or any in the second game of the day, but The Queen told me that she played really well. I was proud of that because she has not been playing like herself this season.

I reminded her when I got home that this past weekend was the start of the playoffs and that she needed to play as hard as she could. All of the teams had three games and if she wanted to keep playing she needed to play like an all-star again. I guess she was listening to me.

Her team had to be at the sports park by seven in the morning on Saturday to check-in for the games. That was early and cold, so I did not expect very much from the team in the first game. They played a solid game like they usually do and ended up with a one to one tie. That was not a bad performance, but I knew they could do better.

They started out sluggish in their second game and let the other team get a lead. But in the second half they dominated the other team. They held them scoreless and cut into the lead. It was too little too late though and they ended up losing the game. That second half was the best I had seen them play all season up to that point. They had one game left on Sunday to try to keep their season alive.

On Sunday they came out playing hard, but gave up a goal early. They did not let that hurt them though. Meg came back and scored two goals in the first half and her team took the lead. In the second half she had a great assist which ended up putting the game away. They ended up winning the game five to four. We did not know if that was going to be enough for them to continue their season or not.

We got a call last night that they squeaked into the playoffs and that they would continue practicing for the next two weeks. The girls ended the season strong and get another chance to play like a team and continue their playoff run. I hope they can keep it up.

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First Day of Soccer

Last night was the first day of soccer practice for B. She was excited to start playing and was greeted by the assistant coaches daughter by name. That should have made her feel good.

About half way through the practice the assistant coach asked me how long she has been living with us. I told him that we picked her up on Wednesday. He asked how long she would be staying with us and I told him that as far as we know it will be permanent.

I asked him how she was doing so far and he said that she is not playing like someone who has never played before. I was watching her play and she was playing pretty well. I think the biggest adjustment for her will be running all the time. She seemed to take it easy as often as she could. But then again, most of the girls out there do the same thing.

I think soccer is going to be good for her.

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Commitment

I understand commitment. I guess my understanding of it is different than that of other people.

Meg's soccer coach emphasized that everyone should be at practice by 5:30 yesterday. Not 5:45. Not 6:00. We got to practice a few minutes early and started kicking the ball around. The team mom got there a little later and said that none of the coaches would be there. I told her that I have no problem with coaching the girls, but a little notice would have been nice so I could prepare some drills.

The team mom asked me to coach and I agreed. I waited a while and the assistant coach for the other team showed up and took over. I asked him if his team was going to scrimmage, like they normally do and he said they were. I told him that when they do I could take the younger girls aside and work with them.

When it came time for the scrimmage I took over and set up a little scrimmage between the six girls that were there. They were disappointed that they did not get to scrimmage a real team. I was very sympathetic to them. The older girls scrimmage every practice and they never do. It seems that they older girls are the priority to the coach.

I had the girls scrimmage for a while and then I stopped them and taught them what off side is, how to handle the ball if they are the goal keeper, strategy for each position and strategy for throw-ins. They were all messing around quite a bit, but that is expected because of the way their coach runs practices. There is usually so much down time in between drills that they naturally mess around.

Near the end of the practice, they assistant coach from the older team told me that picture day was on Saturday. He said that he did not know what time, but asked me to hand out the order forms. I really came away from this practice disappointed in our coach.

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Frustration

I am so frustrated with Meg's soccer team. Her practice last night was moved all the way across town in order to scrimmage with another team. When we get there, the coach is not there as usual. I start looking around and I don't see another team that is not normally at our practices. I make a comment about it to the assistant coach and he tells me he does not make the plans.

It turns out that the scrimmage is with the coach's brother's team. The only problem is that they practice right next to us. So why did she move the practice all the way across town? I just don't understand. Typically bad decision making on her part.

Another issue is that Meg's coach has two teams this year. She has a daughter on each team and is practicing with both teams together. The problem with this is that it creates longer practices with a lot of down time. Her end of practice talks with the teams stretches on forever because she has to address each team individually. Her meetings with parents is the same way. We all get lectured for things that the parents of her other team are not doing.

It is just an unorganized, chaotic mess. I know that people will say that if I am going to complain that I should volunteer to coach next year. I have done that in the past and I committed a lot of time to it. My practices were organized and well timed. I was very efficient. I also committed a lot of time to the other responsibilities such as being a referee. I did my part and know it takes a lot of work, so I appreciate her for being a coach. I just don't think she is right for the job.

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First Soccer Practice Down

Meg's first soccer practice was yesterday. The coach chose to practice all the way across the field from where the parents sit, so we could not here anything she was saying. It was an interesting choice to say the least.

She coaches two teams. A girls under twelve and a girls under ten. She has the practices at the same time with an assistant coach for each team. The scrimmaged for ninety percent of the practice. I did not see much skills practice at all. At one point, I guess the girls were not listening and she had them do push-ups. That did not make much sense to me. Why not make them run while dribbling the ball?

My first impression of the coach at the parents meeting was that this was going to be a bad year. I can't complain since she is a volunteer, but I can still not be happy. I really hope that our assistant coach gets involved. His daughter is a really good player and I hope that he has taught her what she knows and he can share some of that with Meg.

Having the teams practice together is also an issue for me. Of course the older girls will dominate the skills competitions that you usually have at practice. They will also intimidate the younger girls in the scrimmage portion of the practice. The coach already had to tell them to watch their kicks because they were hitting the younger girls in the face. Meg got hit in the face, but she was OK.

During the scrimmage, the older girls dominated. The coach mixed the older and younger girls on the same team, but the older girls still dominated at each position. I think this will affect team chemistry if she keeps doing this. The girls need to learn to play with each other and that will not happen as long as this continues.

I will keep an open mind, but it doesn't seem like this is going to be a good year.

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How Young is Too Young

Meg's friend came over on Saturday and slept over at our house. She is a very energetic girl, just like Meg. Her parents are divorced and mother lives in another state, so she lives with her dad. She is a handful and her and Meg are a little out of control when they are together, but they have a lot of fun.

She was at our house for a few hours when she started frantically running through the house saying that she lost her phone. I was surprised and asked her what phone she was talking about. She told me she lost her cell phone. I assumed her dad had given her his, but she told me it was hers. I was in total shock. She is in third grade! For what does a third grader need a cell phone?

I started thinking about why she would need a cell phone at that age. I am assuming she is eight years old. She can't drive and is too young to be walking anywhere by her self. As far as I know she rides the bus to school and back home again. She is not involved in any sports or other extra-curricular activities like dance or gymnastics. Why then does she need a phone?

She told Meg that it is because she rides the bus home. I don't understand that at all. A parent should know exactly what time their elementary school child needs to be at school and what time they get out of school. They should know what time the bus picks the kids up at their stop and what time they are dropped off after school. I cannot see why that would be a good reason for a third grader to have a cell phone.

After a lot of thought, I told my wife and mother-in-law that the only reason for a child that age to have a cell phone is if the parents are just not good parents. I believe this 100%. One of the ways that we have ensured that our girls are growing up with the right values and are making good decisions is knowing where they are at all times. I think that giving a kid a cell phone gives you a reason to not stay for their soccer practice or to not be there waiting to pick them up after practice if you don't stay. It gives you the potential to check out of your kids life more often.

Some parents may argue that it gives you more access to your child because you can text or call them at all times. My argument to that is that I am with my child at almost all times, or they are with a friend or family. Why then would I need to text or call them? I just don't understand this. Beside the fact that you are then spending at least $10 a month on the phone plan without any texting plan. That could cost another $5-$20. That is just an unnecessary expense in my opinion.

I guess this post ties in well with my earlier post about the difference between wants and needs. A cell phone is definitely a want, not a need and is therefore unnecessary.

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Complete Game

Meg had one of her best soccer games ever today. She simply dominated the game. In the end she had two goals and one assist in a 3-0 victory. And she did it all in front of her family. My mom and Tina's sister's family were in attendance.

The game was very slow to develop as the opposing team consistently kept three defenders back near the goal. We had a couple of shots on goal early, but nothing was going in due to the number of defenders they kept back. A little later in the first quarter, Meg took a shot from pretty far out and threaded it between the defenders and into the goal. She normally does not take shots from far out, so this one was a new option for her.

At halftime, we were up 1-0. In the third quarter, Meg just took over the game. She was using her left foot as much as her right. She was sliding and hooking the ball to keep it in down the line. She was running her fastest to catch the other team's players when they had the ball. She also scored another goal to give her team a 2-0 lead.

The fourth quarter was more of the same. Meg just continued to make great plays. Her passing in this game was fantastic, as usual. On one possession, she saw a team mate running down the middle of the field and made a great pass with two defenders between her and the goal. Her team mate took the shot and scored the third and final goal of the game. After the game I told her that the assist was her best play of the game. She was very happy with her performance and said that she will eat Apple Jacks before all of her games from this point forward because of the great day she had.

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