Christmas Cup

Every year I have been a coach I have asked my teams if they wanted to participate in the Christmas Cup at Corner Kick and every year the kids say "Yes!"  Why?  Because it is fun.  Why is it fun?  Because it is fast paced and different.  The boards keep the ball moving so you are always involved in the play, thus creating lots of action. 

Are there critics to the boarded game?  Sure.  There are critics for everything.  Those critics will say that the boards just allow the kids to boot the ball and the boards are not realistic.  Well duh.  Booting the ball has little to do with the boards and more to do with the players comfort on the ball.  Indoors or outdoors, if you are comfortable on the ball you will keep the ball under control.  If you are not comfortable on the ball you will boot it as far away from your goal as you can. 

Are the boards realistic to the outdoor game?  No, because you don't have boards in the outdoor game.  That is what makes this game different!  Because of the boards, the ball stays in bounds almost the entire game and you get more touches on the ball.  Which is fun and having the ball in bounds more will help develop younger players.

The other argument against the boards is that you will get hurt when you get hit against them.  Can this happen?  Of course.  I have played there for 10 years and I worked there for 3 years; I have seen that way more injuries happen away from the boards than on the boards.  When someone does get injured on the boards it is almost always because a player was out of control and in most cases their rash tackle would probably cause an injury with boards or with out.  

When playing with boards it comes down to having control over your body and the ball.  If you can control both of those things you are off to a good start in becoming a good player. 

On to the tournament itself.  The only reason I put together teams for this tournament is that it is fun.  I don't care how we do, because the kids are having fun.  No real reports to give besides the fact that everyone enjoyed it and that was the point.