Futsal/Steet Soccer - Sunday, Feb 11

5:00PM - 6:15PM Futsal/Street Soccer @ Lake JHS (Woodbury)

Today was just a day for the girls to come out and play the game of Futsal.  I was working with our U11 group from 3:45PM - 5PM, just prior to the U13s coming in from 5PM - 6:15PM.  I stopped the U11 training session about 5 minutes early and had 10 of the U13s take the field so that the U11s could watch the U13s play.  It was funny to see how some of the U13s got nervous, knowing they were being observed by about 20 U11 girls.  Because of these nerves, the U13s didn't have enough time to settle their game down and the 5 minutes looked a bit panicked.  I didn't really get what I wanted to get out of this for the U11s, but I think they got the chance to see some good stuff.

By the way, the size difference when the U13s took the field directly after the U11s was amazing!  I can't believe I started with this group when they were this (U11) age. 

We had 12 U13 girls in attendance.  I divided them into 2 teams of 6 players and they played games to 3.  If Team A won, each girl on the team would receive 3 points plus a point for every goal they scored and a bonus point if they shut out the other team (for a max of 7 points).  The players on the losing team would receive 1 point plus a point for every goal they scored.  Individual players would keep track of their own point totals as I reshuffled the teams after each game.

The girls come and play some of their best soccer in these sessions.  Though I do make coaching points every now and again, my only real words to them are to encourage creativity with, and confidence on, the ball. They are relaxed and have no pressure on them to perform and this translated into better play.  I commented to the group after the session about this and they all seemed to agree that they felt comfortable in this environment and played well.  I talked to them about trying to take this mentality into the non-Futsal games we play, but I know this is a lot to ask.