NSC Fall Cup Day #1 - Saturday, Oct 13

Beautiful fall day for a soccer game... or six.  Can't complain about the fall weather thus far, though forecasts for tomorrow look a bit wet and cold. 

Our club would descend en masse to this event in Blaine, looking to wrap up the fall season with some good, competitive games.  Involved for sure were the U10G South Blue, U11G East Blue and White, U11B East Blue, U11B North Blue, U12G South Blue and White, U12G West White, U13G Blue and White, U14G White and Green, and U14B White.  We had the U10G East Blue, U10B East Blue, and U12G East Blue teams in Chicago for the Chicago Socker' Nike Classic Cup.

It was going to be a busy weekend for me as with Andy K gone to Chicago and Dickie V busy with his college team, I was going to be covering the U11B and the 2 U11G East teams on Saturday.  I was able to work on the schedule with the NSC and it worked out well with back to back to back to back to back to back (1, 2, 3, 4, 5... yep, 6) games.  9:00AM, 10:30AM, 12:00PM, 1:30PM, 3:00PM, and 4:30PM.  I then had my U14s in St Paul at 5:45PM.  Long day, but as I've said many times, beats working at Wal-Mart in my book. 

The day opened up with the U11 boys playing Eden Prairie.  I was excited to work with the team as 1) I thought I had a pretty good idea of where they were at technically in relation to other U11 boys teams in the area and wanted confirmation of this, and 2) it is important for me to get out and work with/observe as many teams as I can this year. 

The boys were missing a few players, but had 2 players guest in from the South U12 team (true U11s though obviously). 

The team would come up against some tough competition later in this event as they would see the South District league leaders, Lakeville, as well as the North District leaders PSA.  If they could get out of the group stage, they would likely face Wings (currently sitting in second place in the North District behind PSA) or our U11 North Academy team. 

I took the boys through a warm up I use with the girls.  I think many of them were surprised a bit as the warm up was full of coaching points and individual technique correction.  I "got on them" a bit, demanding attention and focus on technique and ideas.  I feel this constant commentary at most every opportunity is one of the factors that leads to accelerated player development.  It takes concentration on my part for sure, and continual observation during the warm up activities, but immediate feedback like "Toe up on the passes Kyle!", "Peek before you receive it Jake!", "Drive that ball across Tanner!" is, in my mind, extremely beneficial to the players.

When I started coaching in the early 1990's, I immediately gravitated to the 10 and 11 year old age groups.  My first few experiences with boys teams were not good, as this is a very squirrelly age group for boys.  I could always get the girls to pay attention, but struggled more with the boys.  I think that was a huge factor in my sense that I preferred working with the female players. 

However, today was a bit of an eye opener for me.  The boys play really well.  And this group is focused, attentive, and pick up things quickly.  Maybe I was just working with the wrong type of boys player way back when, but we'll see where this leads...

The game was well in hand from the get go, and it was fun to see the skill and quickness of the boys play.

Bangu Tsunami 6 - EP 0

Off to the girls!

* * * * *

The White team was up first, and came up against a pretty talented VSA Green group from Iowa.  There were two brackets of three teams each, so we'd play VSA and Chan/Chaska in group play, then a North Metro team in our crossover game. 

The girls got off to a flying start in the 3rd minute as Callyn (RM) blasted a low, hard shot to the far post from about 18 yards out.  VSA would come back to tie the game up and that's how it would end.  Decent result against a good team.  I think we were the stronger team overall though, but now advancing from group play would be dependant on VSA results as well as ours.  Is advancing important?  Yes.  Is winning important.  Yes again.  I don't coach teams to lose games.  Is there anything wrong with this attitude?  I dont' think so as long as 1) winning and losing are kept in perspective, 2) winning is not the constant, overwhelming focus on the girls, and 3) there is a focus on overall individual and team development as well.

Bangu Tsunami White 1 - VSA Green 1

* * * * *

The Blues would see Edina in their first tournament team.  Edina sat 4th in the West District this fall and was a decent Minnesota U11 team.  Towards the end of the summer of their U9 year, there was interest from some of these Edina players to come to Bangu for their U10 season.  Only one ended up coming over in the end, with another one following this year.  Looking at where the Edina team is now, both players, IMO, made a very good decision developmentally.  Nothing against Edina, but they do not have enough talent in their system to have benefited either of the players who moved to us. 

The Blues were on absolute fire in their warm ups.  We were playing on an unusually large NSC 8v8 field (the site has been known for tiny fields at these younger age groups), and the large field suits us to a "T", because of our speed, power, and overall athleticism, as well as the added space for our skilled players to maneuver. 

Six minutes into the game, we scored one of the best goals of the fall season.  In our 3-2-2 that has worked so well for us in Indiana, Gizmo (LD) found Sophie (RM) with a ball out of the back.  Rooney (RD) made an overlapping run up the right flank and Sophie found her with a pass into space.  Rooney took a touch and fired a line drive cross into the box where Maddog (RF) came streaking in and headed home.  Awesome team goal. 

Four minutes later, B-Money (RF) picked up a loose ball around midfield, dribbled up the right side, and found Raley (LF) at the far post with a nice cross for a tap in. 

In the 20th minute, Sophie (RM) dribbled past two defenders at the top of the Edina box and, when no others closed her down, took a touch and roofed the ball from about 8 yards out. 

Two minutes later, Maddog (RM) found Gizmo (LF) with a slot pass at the top of the box.  Gizmo took a good prep touch with the inside of her left foot and hit a low, far post shot home for our fourth goal of the half. 

The second half was not much different from the first.  We went to a 3-3-1 to work on playing around the back, and changing fields through midfield.  We carried play, though the two-touch in the attacking half restriction blunted our attack a bit. 

In the 37th minute, Quicksy (LF) got our 5th, finishing a cross from Raley, and one minute later Mallory added a 6th.

A few minutes later Gia (LF), who had been working on her flip throw in all fall, landed a beauty.  The ball sailed over probably 10 heads with eyes wide in surprise, both from our players and the Edina players.  The ball was crossed back in by Mallory (I think) from the right, and Gizmo notched her second goal of the game.

Dominant performance, but to be honest, I don't expect much less when we face Minnesota teams.  Most will be community based, made up of players from one community.  It will be difficult at best for these teams to compete with a team like ours with players from multiple communities.  In addition to drawing from a larger pool, we also draw in some of the more gifted players, making it almost impossible for community teams to compete.  Are we (Bangu) better than clubs like Edina?  I like to think that we are simple providing a different option.  When we (or anyone) get into the "better than you" mentality, this breeds resentment and animosity quickly.  Is this particular team better than the Edina team at this age group.  For sure, but nothing wrong with that. 

Though playing against weaker opponents, I absolutely love the drive and fire that our girls possess.  No matter who we face, they give it everything they've got.  Same goes for the White team.  This fire was summed up perfectly in a picture that was snapped during this game of Rooney (right) and Raley (left) flying in to challenge a ball at goal.

Bangu Tsunami 7 - Edina 0

* * * * *

The boys played extremely well against Lakeville in the afternoon.  Though missing some big guns, they tallied 5 goals against decent competition to finish the day 2 and 0. 

The Whites had North Metro in their crossover game. 

Fairly fast start for the girls as Viv (who missed the morning game) dribbled by 4 players and shot home the opening goal 26 seconds from the kick off. 

Ash (CM in a 3-3-1) volleyed home a great strike in the 24th minute of a high corner kick from Callyn (RM). 

Five minutes into the second half we gave a goal back as a North Metro striker finished off a good cross.  2-1, tight game for the moment.

However, the White girls were too strong in the end, with their pressure resulting in a PK in the 50th minute that Neve (LD) hammered home.  A few minutes prior to full time, Callyn served in a high free kick that the North Metro GK bobbled into the net.  Another good performance from the girls.

Bangu Tsunami 4 - North Metro 1

* * * * *

The Blues finished up the day against Centennial Fire.  My thought was that this game would be under control quickly, and I could leave early to head to my U14 training in St Paul. 

B-Money (RF) got us going three minutes in with a rip from 12 yards out after a creative outside of the foot slot pass from Normy (RM).

A minute later, Maddog (RM) won the ball in our half and found Raley (LF) with an outlet pass to feet.  Raley, marked tight by a Centennial defender, hit a first time ball with the inside of her right foot through to B-Money (RF).  B raced to goal on a breakaway and calmly passed the ball home past the Centennial GK. 

In the 8th minute, Raley picked up the ball just in our end, took on two defenders, and raced to goal on a 50 yard run.  Her finish effectively finished the game for us. 

In the 12th, a huge punt by Sophie (GK) sent Phi Phi on to goal.  She beat two defenders down the right side of the field and struck a low, far post shot into the net.

Our 5th came of a great lay off by Rooney (LF) to Mallory (CM) for a shot on goal. 

I packed up my stuff, left the team with Uncle Harry (Maddog's dad), and headed off to my U14 training session, looking forward to more games tomorrow.