I was in Rockford this weekend with the 16's for their last weekend of MRL games. The 16's have made some major improvements since last year and it looks like they will finish 3rd in the MRL Premier League. Last year they finished 7th. The 16's game on Sunday as at 10:00am versus Lexington FC. After beating them 2-1 we jumped in the car and drove straight back to Holy Angels to drop the players off. Then Eric and I rushed over to the airport to return the rental van.
It is a great idea to rent vans when you are going somewhere within driving distance. It doesn't cost much and you save the wear and tear on your vehicles.
I made it to McMurray about 15 minutes before the 6pm training session.
I. Running Juggling
II. Finishing Repition
The girls were in 2 lines up on top of the 18 and ran into the box 1 at a time while Evan and I served the balls in a variety of ways to them. We kept harping on the girls to be sharp with the finishes, make solid contact, and shoot low. I gave them 1 point for a shot on net, 2 points for a goal in the top half of the net, 3 points for a goal in the bottom half.
III. 5v3 To Goal: Forward and Midfield Movement
Set Up
- 5 Blue Attackers (2 Fwds, 3 Mids)
- 3 Red Defenders (2 Def, 1 Mid)
Procedure
- The Blue CM begins dribbling diagonally towards the forwards
- The Red mid cuts off the passing lane to one of the forwards
- Each attacking player has lots of choices on where to make her run
A) Forward Receiving The Ball
- A¹ Check to and lay the ball off
- A² If the defender is tight, spin off and the ball will be played over the top for a break away
B) Ball Side Outside Mid
- B¹ Stay where you are to receive the ball at your feet
- B² Curve your run outside and receive the ball at your feet while going forward
- B³ Run hard to the corner and call for the forward to dummy the ball and let it go through to you
C) Forward Who Does Not Receive The Ball
- C¹ Dart inside for a flick on from the other forward or call for the dummy
- C² Pull wide and get ready to run in for the cross. If you pull really wide the weak side outside mid can run inside and you can make the far run
D) Weak Side Outside Mid
- D¹ Curve your run wide and get in for the cross
- D² Sprint inside for the cross and have the weak side forward take the far post run
Make It Competitive
- +1 for a good cross
- +1 for a shot on goal
- +3 for a goal
- +5 for a one touch finish
- Defending team +2 for a successful clear
We didn't get through all the runs today because my focus was for the girls to get the set up of the exercise and see how they could be creative on their own. We struggled a little bit on recognizing when to pass the ball into space and when to play the ball into feet. It wasn't bad, but incorrect decisions would cost us 1-2 seconds or put us in a less dangerous area had we made the correct choice. I'm asking the girls to get to the next level with their thinking and it is going to take time.
IV. Scrimmage