Eclipse Challenge Cup - Day #1

Thursday, Aug 14

Good to be on the road again.  Super busy end of the summer for me (in case you couldn't tell by the lack of posts for my 94s - still working on posting thoughts about the last part of our season) with the merger and MTA, as well as the normal chaos of tryouts season.  Road trips like this are an ideal time for me to get some needed alone time during my drive - just me, my sunflower seeds, and my iPod or audiobooks.  Time to unwind, rest and rejuvenate a bit, and reflect.

I'm definitely excited about the tournament.  This Eclipse Challenge Cup is considered one of the top 3 girls tournaments in the nation based on competitiveness.  Top Region II clubs like St Louis Scott Gallagher (MO), Carmel (IN), Ohio Elite (OH), Michigan Hawks (MI), and Eclipse Select (IL) will be in attendance, as will a number of teams from nationally recognized competitive clubs like PDA (NJ), Neusport (NV), and Dallas Sting (TX).  Suffice it to say that we will likely find our most competitive tournament competition this year a mere 3 days after the team has been formed. 

So why go?  Why spend the time, energy, and money to travel to this event right off the bat?  Two reasons mainly and neither has anything to do with the hardware.

First, this will be a terrific team bonding opportunity for the new team.  Though I ended up selecting all the players from last year's team, there are new players in the mix who will benefit from the group interactions this weekend. 

The second reason is all about player development.  This team has already had it's fair share of results success at the regional level as U11s last year.  Why?  We have an above-average group of athletic and technical girls, some who are physically dominant on the small field, we have more than a handful of girls who can score goals, and, in all humbleness, and based on my playing and coaching experience, I know how to put girls in positions and use tactics to win games.  Lots of people can do this just as well if not better, but not many are in place with teams at the younger age groups.  Winning is important to me though I believe I have a firm grasp of balancing this with individual and player development. 

Anyway, my goal this weekend is to expose this group to the very best competition we can find in order to highlight individual and team strengths and weaknesses.  I (and my players and their parents) will also see girls at our age group from some of the nation's most competitive clubs, see where they are technically, physically, and tactically.  I will also be able to network with the coaches and coaching directors at the event to share development thoughts and ideas.  All this will give me plenty of needed ammo to use to develop training sessions this coming year so that these girls better reach their potential and this team improves.  Should be an eye opening weekend for all involved.

I arrived into Libertyville at around 4PM and headed straight to the fields to check them out.  We were here last year with our U13s in a torrential rainstorm, with the host club bringing in helicopters to set on the fields to try and dry them out.  We ended up playing shortened games in Elgin (nearly an hour away).  Not a very fun time.  The weather this weekend promised to be sunny and hot.  I'll take it. 

The fields were in good shape.  Large, flat, and relatively smooth.  Two of the three fields for our group play were 120x70, the third 110x75.  Not sure where we'll be for consolation/semifinal/final games, but all the fields looked to be either of the two large dimensions above.  Great complex. 

Back to the hotel for dinner and research.  Research?  I had the Thunder purchase a Hi-Pod for this year, a sophisticated tripod set up that could elevate a digital video recorder 31 feet into the air.  I just received it on my doorstep yesterday and had absolutely no clue how to set it up or operate it. 

My goal is to video tape all our games this fall in order to watch and analyze during our winter Video Analysis sessions.  We'll mix in our own games with some Thunder games and EPL highlight dvds as it is important that the girls watch high level soccer.  We will use these professional games to highlight specific development ideas that we are addressing in training.  Based on my experience with the 94s, the girls will get into the video sessions, more so if we sprinkle in watching our own team play.

So why spend over $5K on a stupid tripod?  Well, anyone that has watched any kind of soccer event from a stadium seat can see the benefit of the overhead perspective.  You can see more of the field and see the play develop more easily.  For the girls, they have NEVER seen themselves play from that perspective and it will be educational for them when we sit together and go over ideas in the game analysis. 

My first experience with a tripod like this came in Vegas last March with my 94s.  I paid $500 or so to have 3 of our games taped by a company that used a similar camera elevating product, and the results were magic.  I've posted some video clips from the weekend below.  See for yourself.  (Andy Kaasa decided to come down with us for a vacation and was gracious enough to be hi-pod-dude all weekend).

Where was I?  Oh yeah... I met with the girls at 8PM on Thursday night for a light jog and stretch.  As teams always are the first night at an out of town event, they were giddy with excitement after the long car ride into the Chicago area. 

I then had a chalk talk with them in the lobby, going over our team formation (as the11v11 game was new to most), and the rules and restrictions for the weekend. 

I talked to a few of them about their Game Goals for the tournament as well with the promise to pass out all the Game Goals tomorrow morning at breakfast.

Back to the room to study up on the Hi-Pod.  I'm either going to look like a complete fool with this thing tomorrow or it's going to be awesome.  Let's hope for the latter.