Of Blah and Water Lilies

When the final whistle blew on Sunday giving us the State Cup championship, it was… well, a bit anticlimactic.  And even that’s an understatement.  I don’t really know what I was expecting to feel… pride? Exaltation? Relief?  I guess if I had to try and define my feeling in one word, that word would be “Blah.”

I don’t know if I was looking for more, if I had built up the end result too much to myself, to the girls, and to their parents.  Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we were heavily favored to win the event, or maybe with the overall atmosphere surrounding the win.  We were the very last game played on Sunday and the only people around besides a handful of MYSA staff people who, after a long three weeks of State Cup admin, not to mention the countless hours of prep prior to the commencement of the event, looked like they just wanted to go home to bed.  Our pool games had more of a tournament feel than our final did.

We went through the picture ceremony at the pavilion, got our new blue Adidas shirts to wear at Regionals, received cursory instructions and information on the hotel and tournament procedures for Des Moines in June, and were sent on our way.

Had I been putting too much emphasis on this event?  The end result just didn’t seem like that big of a deal.  Was all the time and effort that we all put towards this goal over the years worth it?  If you asked me this question at 7PM on Sunday, I’m sure the answer would have been yes.  But I don’t know if I would have truly believed this myself.

Four days later the answer is still yes, this time with way more conviction behind the word.  Why?  Well, I’ve been hyper-focused on the single event, winning the State Cup, but now see this single event is just the final brush stroke.  If scrutinized too closely, it looks like just another slash of paint among a multitude of slashes.  However, once viewed from further away to see the bigger picture, viola! Water Lilies.

OK, before the haters who can’t stop reading this site rush to open up their Favorites folder, click over to the other MN soccer blogs, and start hurling their hate about Abboud now likening himself to Monet, let me say that this is not the case.  Just trying to paint a picture (excuse the pun) for people here with some analogy.  Or is it through extended metaphor?  Who knows.  Remember, I avoided creative writing classes like the plague through college.  Regardless, I hope most people know what I’m getting at.

In the last few days, I’ve been able to shift my focus away from the end result to the amazing series of events that brought us all to this particular point in time – shift from reflecting on the final destination point to reflecting on the wonderful journey it took to get here.  That has made all the difference.

For some of the girls (Brownie, Scratch, Sting, Becs, Jilly, Getch, and Mudd) it has been a 10 month journey, for Hannah it has spanned over a year and a half.  This journey has seen them through soccer experiences that they could not have found with other teams in our area.  It has been difficult for these girls at times to “fit in” with our core group and all of them have battled confidence issues when placed in a training environment surrounded by other quality players, but I have no doubt in my mind that they have all come a long, long way mainly due to the fact that they have been challenged by other players at every turn in training sessions throughout the year(s).  This is what our club is all about with our top teams… bring some of the best players together and make them better.

For Bidi, Macky, Nash, Soph, Millie, Lily, Ripper, Maddie, and Blondie, the core group of girls who I have had the extreme pleasure of working with since the team’s inception in the fall of 2004, their journey has a bit more complex… and a bit more rewarding I think due to their longevity.  Though Ripper joined us after the 2004 fall season, though I still think of her as part of this core group.

From the Woodbury Soccer Academy Magic to the Bangu Tsunami Academy Magic to the Bangu Tsunami 93/94 Blue, from the dominance at their own age group in 2004 to the challenge of the boy’s league and playing up to the top level of the older age group in 2005/06 to competing in the U14 Premier league this year, from the two years of weekly small group technical sessions at Acceleration East to the demanding FIT Training this year, from our first regional event in Milwaukee in 2004 to a number of events in Des Moines and Rockford to a plane trip to Virginia to Regionals this summer, this journey has been a constant progression, a constant look for more challenges in order to give the girls a solid foundation on which to find success in the sport in future years.

Watching State Cup this past month, it is obvious to me that these 9 girls possessed skills that the great majority of other girls at this age group do not.  This is a simple testament to the work they have put in over the last three years and the sheer number of touches the girls have had under semi-qualified guidance in a proven training environment surrounded by other talented players.

The team was strong back in 2004 because we were athletic and organized.  We also had a few of what I call the gamebreakers, girls who could take over and dominate a small sided field, and even one of those players at the U11 age level will usually translate into winning results.

Three years later, we are still athletic and organized, but now the gamebreakers do not, as expected, have the impact that they did on the small field.  However, due to the technical and tactical development of the other girls who played more “supportive” roles (for lack of a better word) at the younger age groups as well as the continued progression of our small sided gamebreakers, all 9 girls are now true forces on the field of play, too strong as a group for other local teams to deal with.  Now the team, the core group plus the more recent additions, has become the gamebreaker and all the girls as individuals are better because of it.

It's good to have an end to journey towards, but it's the journey that matters in the end.

* * * * *

It will be tough to pass this group on come the fall. There has already been talk among the girls and the parents and I know they would like me to stay on for another year.  There is little doubt in my mind that I have the knowledge and capacity to see the group through their U19 year though I don’t know if it would be in the girls’ best interest to have me do so.

For the rest of the summer, my plan is to do what I can in the next 3 weeks to get the team ready for Regionals.  I also plan on enjoying watching the girls compete in the Premier league and in the two local tournaments we have on our schedule (NSC Cup at the U14 “A” flight, and USA Cup).