Futsal/Street Soccer - Sunday, March 18

5:00PM - 6:15PM @ Lake Junior HS (Woodbury)

Another very fun and competitive session at Lake.  For the last two or three sessions, Bidi has brought an iPod and Lily a set of speakers, so music has been blasting away during the girls play.  The team that's sitting has usually had a couple girls boogying to the music while waiting to get on the field to play, and this has added a lot to the relaxed yet energetic and lively atmosphere of these sessions.

The girls look sharp and relaxed, and I'm excited for the weekend!

After the session, I spoke to the girls about doing what they could to take care of their bodies this week in prep for the weekend.  I reiterated once again how we are making this trip to compete with some of the top teams in Region I and III, at that we wanted to do everything in our control to help ensure that we perform to the best of our abilities.  The girls are really excited about the coming weekend, and we have one more session on Tuesday to prepare.

Futsal/Street Soccer - Sunday, March 11

5:00PM - 6:15PM @ Lake Junior High School (Woodbury)

Long weekend for the girls.  Two game on Saturday, FIT Training this afternoon, and now Futsal.  I thought the girls would be dead tired, but they walked into the gym excited to be there and play.  Bidi brought her iPod and speakers, so we blasted music during the entire session.  The sitting team would occupy themselves with various dance moves and a lot of laughing. 

We had 17 girls there (the entire team), so I divided them into three teams (2 teams of 6 and 1 team of 5) to play winner stays.  We played games to 1 goal and each team got a point for a win.  I also awarded team points for Scissors, Step Overs, Fake Pass Slap Cuts, and Nutmegs.

I didn't coach much this session, focusing more on the fitness aspect of four activities this weekend to simulate a possible four games in an upcoming tournament. 

I love watching these girls play Futsal.  Many play with confidence and flare, and the more shy girls are slowly coming around and being more assertive on the field and with the ball.  The games are super competitive and super enjoyable for all the girls, and I love seeing the tired but smiling faces at the end.

Futsal/Street Soccer - Sunday, Mar 3

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

We had a dozen girls today and played a series of games to 3.  Each player on a winning team would get 3 points for the win, a point for each goal, and a bonus point if they shut the other team out (for a max of 7 points per game).  The players on the losing team would get 1 point for the loss and a point for each goal they scored.  For example, if Team A beat Team B 3-2, all the players on Team A would get 6 points and the players on Team B would get 3 points.  I promised suckers to the top three point getters at the end of the 75 minutes. 

For each game, I would divide the girls into teams of six by different assignments.  Alphabetical by the second to last letter in your middle name, giants vs the munchkins (tallest six vs shortest six), dark eyes vs light eyes, blondes vs brunettes, early birth dates vs late birth dates, etc. 

I absolutely love these sessions. The girls are excited because they know that all they are going to do today is play the game.  The atmosphere is ultra competitive and thus forces the players to focus and play to the best of their abilities.  Though more competitive, the atmosphere is also more relaxed, without the external pressures of competition at league games and tournaments, so the girls are comfortable and confident in their abilities.  This translates into some truly amazing play, and after an afternoon of coaching, I love sitting back for the first 30 minutes and just watching the girls play.  I then get off my lazy rear end and jump in to play myself. 

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. 

Kicking Off The Winter With Fusal

I was very excited to start the winter training season on Sunday.  I had given the girls a much needed two week break from soccer to rest, recuperate, and rejuvenate.  This break is just as, if not more important to the parent group who have been carting their kids around to training/games, given up entire weekends to travel and tournaments, etc.

I started the day by working with 4 Academy groups prior to seeing my U13 girls.  We had the U9 girls at noon, the U12s at 1:15PM, the U10s and 2:30PM, and the U11s at 3:45PM.  My girls were to come in from 5PM to 6:15PM.  At 5PM, I wrapped up the U11 session and made my way to the hallway waiting area, fully expecting to see a 17 smiling and eager faces waiting to get into the gym.  I saw 5... and they weren't smiling.  "Where is everybody?!?", I thought.  "Where is everybody?!?!" they said. 

Apparently, I had mistakenly put down 5:30PM - 7:00PM on our online calendar, though had emailed out earlier in the week reminders about training stating the correct time, 5:00PM - 6:15PM.  Great.  Total buzz kill and perfect way to begin the winter.

Eventually, other players started strolling in and we ended up with 18 (16 of the rostered players and two guests).  I felt bad catching parents as they dropped off their girls to let them know that I had made a mistake and training would only run for 45 minutes.  Some of the families drove 45 minutes to get here.  Oh well.  I think people were pretty understanding overall, though the girls were disappointed to only get to play for 45 minutes.

We made the most of it.  All I wanted to do is have the girls play today anyway.  None had played the game since last February, some had never been exposed to soccer in a gym.  I divided the girls into three teams of 6 players.  Two teams would play (5v5 with one sub), winner stays.  It was the first team to two goals or four minutes, whichever came first.  In the event of a tie, the team who had been on the field longest would lose (and leave the field).

It was fun, fast paced, and intense session.  The majority of the girls picked up the game well.  There was a huge difference from last winter as the ball was kept in play more (due to the higher skill level of the girls) and teams were creative on the attack. 

All in all, even with the time snafu, it was a great way to start the long winter training.  The girls had a GREAT time and wanted to do this every week.  I think that next year I will look to decrease the amount of dome time we have and augment the number of Futsal sessions.  Not only is it more cost effective to use the gyms, but also the girls would for sure benefit from more touches in these tight spaces.