Busy Weekend Ahead

Lots of stuff going on this weekend.  I'm excited to see the girls play tomorrow against Toro Bravo (Omaha, NE).  Our club has built a good relationship with the Toro group, and we are looking forward to meeting up a number of times this winter.  Their nationally ranked U13s will be coming up next weekend for a series of scrimmages as well. 

We've played the Nebraska State Cup Champs twice, losing both matches 2-0, and me walking away from both matches feeling that we were the superior team in each.  The Bravo have a new coach, Marcus, the club's new DOC, and have picked up some additional talent from the area.  They have also been playing for 3 months in the fall MRL and have qualified for a Premier League spot next summer.  Should be a really good test for us, more so for the fact that I haven't had the girls together as a group since USA Cup back in July. 

I'm not expecting much from us tomorrow.  I know our fitness is not at a level that will lend to a solid 70 minutes of play for us, and we're also missing our two hockey players (Becs and Clare), and short a central midfielder as Lily is down and SSM.  So with 14 non-match-fit girls, could be an interesting morning to say the least. 

The Tryout Twitch

Holy crap.  I've never had my cell phone (or Bluetooth headset) to my right ear as much as I've had the last week.  My right #2 molar hurts... I think I have a tooth tumor from the Treo radiation.

It's been unbelievable the sheer volume of phone calls received, let alone the lengthy duration of most every one of them. 

I have a calling plan with 2,000 minutes per month.  Last July/Aug, I went over by about 2,200 minutes.  I also went over in my data charges as this dang Treo allows me to check emails remotely.  I'm sure you can imagine my utter shock when I opened my Verizon bill to see the $1,856 figure for July staring back up at me.  $1,856?!?!  What the... ?!?!  Lucky for me, Verizon is able to retro-something-or-other your cell phone bill, allowing people who go over to simply pay the different between their current plan and another plan that would not have allowed the overages.  So, instead of paying $1,856, I was instead let off easy and paid $2,xx for the 4,000 minute plan.  People don't believe me when I tell them that I have to go up to a 4,000 minute plan in July and Aug each year, but I'm dead serious.

I think I'm going to switch over to AT&T.  I like the Rollover concept... the iPhone's not bad either. 

My wrists and finger joints are sore as well from the emails.  Waa, waa, waa, poor me, I know.  Comes with the territory and I'm really fine with it.  It's an effort to educate parents, but their buy in to our club's philosophy allows their child to find the support needed to increase chances of success down the road.

We announced the inception of our North and West Academy programs this week.  The timing is not great as it's really too late to try and form fall teams, but things kinda came to a head with both programs very recently.  The idea this year is to start with something, and look to build upon it come out strong the fall of 2008. 

I'm still putting in time with the MN Thunder camps as well.  This week was out in Minnetonka, and though hot, the kids really did well and looked to have a great time. 

I'm also helping cover our U13 White team in the State Tournament.  Tony, their coach, was at his USSF B License course then planned a vacation up north to the Boundary Waters (I think).  What's a vacation?  The girls have been doing well and play Eagan in the final tonight up in Blaine. 

It is also apparent that we have some real interest at the U11 age group in the East.  I think the interest is in large part due to the fact that I have made it known that I will be heading up the team, at least that what I think in my own little world.  The success of my current group speaks volumes, and I've not been shy in letting people know that we are looking to replicate and improve upon the development scheme that these current U13s went through beginning in 2004. 

With 30+ incoming U11 girls in the mix, we also have the opportunity for this age group to be the first at which we have two (maybe three) very solid teams in one geographic Academy program.  The long term goal of the program is to have 2 teams at each gender/age level, but I think this is still a long ways off.  However, this year is shaping up to be a very exciting one for this age group. 

For the U14 age group, we have 70 girls signed up for tryouts next week.  That's a "7" and a "0"... 70.  I know for a fact that they are not all coming thinking that they will make the top team, so it's a testament to the development we are offering all our club teams that we can get this interest here.

My goal is to continue to diary my now-U14s, as well as diary the next group of U11s coming through the Academy.  It will be interesting to see what we can accomplish as I feel the current U11s are ahead of where my current U13s were when they were at this age in 2004. 

The cell phone radiation, the hours of staring at my desktop screens and laptop, the stress of player evaluations, the hand holding and easing of parental worries, and the team formation issues - one of these, or a combination of all of them, always leaves my left eye twitching.  It has happened for the past 2 years, always in early August.  I don't remember noticing when it goes away, but I know that it comes on at this time. 

This twitch tends to cause some problems.  Some soccer moms think I'm winking at them.  It's worse when the dad's get the same impression.  Sometimes parents will be talking to me, trying to glean even the tiniest iota of my thought if little Landon or Mia will be on the team the player (or the parent) wants him/her to be on.  My apparent twitch-wink somehow is always construed as a positive in their worlds, and many times they give me a knowing wink and smile in return and exclaim loud enough to be heard half way across the soccer field "OK, Mark.  You know best.  I'll be happy WHICHEVER team my kid is placed." 

One More Year at the Helm

After the USA Cup Championship game on Saturday, I let the group know that I would be taking the team for another year.  My thought coming into this current year was that is was going to be my last with this group.  I had been "grooming" our current U10s in the East to begin with them full time this fall as U11s, looking to mimic the training program that the U13s had gone through the last 3 years, again with the goal of the current U10s to represent MN at the U13 age group in 2010 at Regionals.  However, though I did look for a qualified coaching candidate to take my current group next year, I was not able to find someone that I thought was experienced and knowledgeable enough to take these girls to the next level.

I feel completely qualified to take these girls through U19.  Though I do relish in the challenge of coaching at the older age groups, my passion is for working with the younger players.  However, I care too much about this current group of girls and the parent group to just simply say "see ya later!" and leave them with a random coach who may not meet my personal standards.  Not that my recommendations and standards are the end all be all of decisions, but I know this group and I know what they need to continue to progress and develop at the pace they have all become accustomed too over the last few years.  The parents and kids have made a commitment to me and to our club, and it's not fair to them to place them with just any old coach.  Though my schedule will be hectic at times, I'm really looking forward to the next year with this group.

Mark Cook (BTFC Girls Coaching Director) will be co-coaching with me.  It will be great to have a full time partner in working with these girls, and Cook brings a wealth of experience to this group as he was the head coach with the Bangu Tsunami Stars through their U15 year.  He's seen what else is out there at these age groups and has a good idea of things that we need to address in order to be nationally competitive.  My goal is to also have Megan A help when she can, as she did this past year.

I would like to think that most of the girls are excited that I'll be returning.

On Sunday at the team party, I spoke with the parent group about the plans moving into the next year.  I mentioned to them that I realize that I, as their coach, can be guilty of pigeon-holing the girls into certain positions or into starting vs non-starting positions.  Though I do feel that I move the girls around more than most coaches at this age, especially coaches who deal with higher competitive teams, when push comes to shove in tight matches, the girls are in positions in which I think they best help the team get results.  I realize that all coaches see players differently though, so my comment to the parent group was that there would be a more heavy emphasis at tryouts this year of outside evaluators looking at this group.  Cook and I will make final decisions on team make up, but in the best interest of all the girls on the team, we will weigh unbiased evaluators opinions more than usual.  The other evaluators will be coaches within our club at the older age levels. 

I know parents, sometimes more than the players, are worried about tryout results.  I have never coached a team that has not has at least a few players turnover each tryout season, and I don't expect this year to be any different.  With this said however, I did not see very many U13 girls at State Cup this year who I though would battle for a place on this team.  There may be 1 or 2 of our White team players who will get a look, and I know there are a couple U13 girls who play up at the U14 age level who would stand a decent shot of making this team next year.  However, I have no idea who will be showing up interested come August 7th. 

Tryouts suck, and they're the worst part of youth coaching.  To tell a young player that they just aren't at the level they think they are or want to be at is tough, especially after the year(s) of commitment to this team/club.  However, this comes with the territory in youth athletics, and we are no different than other club teams around the country.  I do hope that girls who don't make our top team stay within the Bangu system, as I believe our White team's development path is far better than many other options in this area.  But I realize that sometimes parents want their kids to play on a "top" team, and if it's not possible in our club, then it may be off to another club to find a top team there.  People make choices.  We can only continue to offer programming that we feel is a solid development opportunity for those who choose to take part.