Accepted Into Jefferson Cup

We got official word that we were accepted into the Jefferson Cup Tournament (Richmond, VA) the weekend of March 24th and 25th.  The field looks solid and it should be a very challenging event for us.

My hope is still that we get placed in the top flight.  Though I believe the second flight would be competitive for us, I would rather make the trip and have the girls come up against the most talented, toughest opposition possible.  If I had a choice about traveling and winning a second flight or going 0-3 in the most competitive flight, I would choose the latter.  Honest.  I often think about what the parents would prefer to see happen as traveling to events like this are not cheap.  Do they think going 0-3 is a waste of money, or do they really understand why we look to take part in tournaments like this?  I'd like to think that I've done a good job of explaining the reasons for participating in this type of event, as well as made clear the benefits of the experience as a whole... I'd like to believe that the great majority of the parent group sees things my way. 

		Rankings *
Girls U13	State	State	R I	R II	R III	Nation
HOCKESSIN HOTSPUR	DE	1	43
SCORPIONS SOCCER U13 ELITE	MA	1	8			36
FC GREATER BOSTON BOLTS	MA
BETHESDA SC FREEDOM 93	MD	1	12			46
MONTGOMERY SC MUSTANGS	MD	3
SEVERNA PARK DYNAMITES	MD	2
PSC HEAT	MD	5
BANGU TSUNAMI FC 93/94 BLUE	MN	1		15
CHARLOTTE SC 93 BLUE G	NC	1			1	12
NORTH MECK 93 STORM RED GIRLS	NC	4			28
CASL 93 SPARTAN ELITE	NC	2			5	19
SOUTH CHARLOTTE 93 SCSA GOLD G	NC	3			26
TOMS RIVER BLAST	NJ	14
MT. LAUREL UNITED POWER	NJ	1	2			7
FREEHOLD SHOOTING STARS	NJ	6	13			49
HIGHLAND DYNAMITES	NJ	4	9			38
ROCHESTER JR. RHINOS U13 YELLOW	NY
SMITHTOWN ATTACK	NY-E	9
MASSAPEQUA FORCE	NY-E	1	10			43
YMS 93/94 PREMIER	PA-E		39
LOWER DAUPHIN LDC UNITED	PA-E	3	19
WEST CHESTER UNITED PREDATORS 93	PA-E	4	15
FC PENNSYLVANIA STRIKERS	PA-E	1	1			3
FC BUCKS XTREME	PA-E	2	5			21
HEMPFIELD POWER	PA-E	6	23
CENTURY UNITED U-13 GIRLS	PA-W
CAROLINA ELITE 93 GIRLS PREMIER	SC	1			2	9
BEACH FC 94 PIRANHAS	VA	15
MCLEAN MPS STRIKERS	VA	2	7
RICHMOND KICKERS ELITE U13 GIRLS	VA	7
MCLEAN FUSION	VA		41			35
RICHMOND STRIKERS U13 ELITE	VA	8
CHANTILLY BURN	VA	1	3			10
SYA FREEDOM	VA	4	18
BRADDOCK ROAD SANTOS	VA	3	14
* National Soccer Rankings, 2/6/07

Back to West Des Moines Premier Games

With 16 out of 17 families responding with a "yes" (one family has not yet responded), I will be sending in the application for the West Des Moines Premier Games this week.  I'm looking forward to a fun weekend full of soccer as our U11 team will also be down there at the same time.  I hope the weather is the same as the last two years.

I'm glad the parent group showed interest in attending this event again.  Though we are looking at a very busy spring, I believe that the lessons learned from this early-season competition will help put us in the best possible position to succeed through State Cup and, hopefully, into Regioanls.

The Fear of Fitness

Last Saturday, I noticed that some of the girls were not playing up to their normal standards towards the end of training ; not closing the ball down quickly or recovering well on defense, not making as many runs forward, etc.  I knew what the problem was - the girls were saving themselves for the 30 minutes of FIT Training that we did after each Saturday session. 

I was the same way when I was a player.  Buzz Lagos (my coach with the Minnesota Thunder) was notorious for tough, post-practice fitness sessions, and I absolutely hated running.  Put a ball in front of me and I could run all day.  Put me in a purely fitness session with no ball and I struggled.  I know it was a mental thing, but it was a mental thing that I couldn't get past during my playing days.  I knew that as a professional player I needed to be at peak physical shape during the season, but I just couldn't avoid the anxiety when I knew training was going to be followed by fitness.  This anxiety affected my training performance as I consciously would not expend full energy in practice to save something for the running. 

I confronted the girls with this thought and many of them commented that this is exactly what was happening.  I think that I've done a good job of giving the girls the needed motivation for the extra fitness work, reminding them what our goal is for State Cup and challenging them to be the best team on the field at their age group in Minnesota in all four key areas; technically, tactically, physically, and mentally.  But this didn't stop the girls' dread of seeing the teal-coated FIT Trainer enter the dome.

So this weekend (helped by a schedule change at the dome) I had the girls come in at 8:45AM, an hour prior to our start time on the field.  Usually the girls get there 30 minutes in advance for our Video Analysis.  I had Danielle, our FIT Trainer, also come in at 8:45AM and work the girls until 9:15AM.  I then gave the girls a "break" and we did our video analysis for 30 minutes before taking the field at 9:45AM.  When I asked the girls about the layout of today's session, the all commented that they preferred the idea of FIT Training first, then video, then the training session on the field.  I will monitor the girls' "rubber legs" closely to make sure that our training sessions are not adversely affected, but will look to alter our Saturday training schedule in an effort to maximize performance.

Adding Another Event

I received an email today from the tournament director for the West Des Moines Premier Games (IA). They are really interested in getting us back to the event this year as the defending champs from 2006. I believe it is their thought that if we commit, it may help attract other higher level teams in.

The tournament has been a great experience for the girls the last two years. Quality fields, decent hotels with easy access to the fields, and a very manageable drive from the Twin Cities. The weather has also been extremely cooperative the last two years, but I know that by just saying this we'll probably be in for rain and cold this year :)

I had not planned on entering the tournament this year as we have the Jefferson Cup (Richmond, VA) in late March, then the Arsenal Elite Invite (Cincinnati, OH) in late April. Though I would have liked to do all three events with the girls, I hesitated to burden the parent group with the expense of three trips in a one month span. However, after receiving the solicitation email from the tournament, I decided to at least bring it up to the parents and see who would be interested.

Here is the email:

Guys,

This event really wants us back. See the email copied below.

This tournament is the weekend of April 14 and 15 in West Des Moines . We would return as the 2006 tournament champs.

I have been hesitant to bring this up as it would be sandwiched between VA in late March and Ohio in late April . However, a number of the girls have been asking if we’re going back, and some of you have mentioned it as well. Also, there is a chance that we will draw a play-in game for State Cup that will be played the weekend of Apr 27/28, preventing us from traveling to Ohio . We will know more about this after the draw in late March.

So… I am throwing this out there to see what interest we have. I recommend we attend. It has been a great event in the past; easy drive, nice hotels convenient to the fields, nice fields. Competition looks solid, especially if Eclipse joins up. I am already taking the U11s down there thus already planning on it, so if we get interest, I’ll sort out the schedules to be able to coach both teams.

I need a definitive yes or no response, not “ I guess we’ll make it if everyone else does. ” :) Don’t worry about offending me with a “no” because you won’t.

Technically this is a budgeted for expense, but with the addition of VA, the initial plan was to forego this event. Hotels are around $90 per night, other expenses would be around $50 per player. Parents who opt to stay in MN can look to send their girl with others.

Please try and get back to me by the end of the weekend.

Training - Saturday, Jan 27

Today the goal was to introduce triangle defending movement to the girls.  I once again brought Jon Schaefer in to help lead the session.

What I call "triangle defending" is simply three-man coordinated defending.  Buzz Lagos was a huge proponent of teaching this type of defending, and we worked on it constantly year after year with the Thunder.  Though while going through it, I always thought this process was unique to Buzz's style.  It was only after taking some coaching courses and doing some reading on my own that I found out it was a common theme (pressure, cover, and balance).  However, as I mentioned before, I think Buzz was one of the best teachers of the game and the concept of "triangle" shape worked well for me, being the spatially oriented guy that I am.  I don't know if I would have grasped the concept as quickly if it were explained as pressure, cover, and balance.  Thus, I want to explain it to the girls from the "shape" end of things. 

After some possession play warm-up, we got right into it.  I ran the first exercise, one that Buzz would take the Thunder through in prep for the triangle defending session.  The girls worked in groups of three; one director and two followers.  The director started a few yards behind the followers who started 5 or 6 yards apart from each other.  Both followers would always face forwards.  The director's job was to direct the two followers by loud, sharp, vocal commands.  Each command was two words - the follower's name to get their attention, then a direction (forward, backward, right, left).  The director was responsible for directing both followers and staying somewhere in the vicinity of the two players (moving with the players as opposed to standing still).  For example, Nash was directing Bidi and Scratch.  Followers moved relatively slowly (as opposed to sprinting in the direction given) and must keep moving in one direction until told otherwise.

Nash: "Bidi right! Scratch forward!" (Bidi shuffles right, Scratch jogs forward slowly)

Nash: "Bidi back! Scratch left!" (Bidi starts jogging backwards slowly, Scratch starts shuffling left)

And so on.

Girls rotated director and followers every few minutes.

Coaching points

• Short, sharp, commands
• "Wake her up" with your voice
• Directors should be aware of both players, aware of your shape

It's tough for many of the girls to project their voice in the manner that I want, so we tried a few minutes with the rule that when a girl spoke, IT WAS AT THE TOP OF HER LUNGS! 

This was a pretty entertaining and useful exercise for the girls.  I had to remind some of the sharper joksters in the group to not try and make a follower run into another follower, or into a goal post, or the side of the dome, but it made for some good laughs.

We then moved into 3v3 to endlines where we could begin to address team shape against opponents.  We finished with some 10v10 play against the U13 White team.