U13G Midwest Soccer Challenge - Day 2

MSC Game #3 vs Blackhawks U13C1

Promise of a cooler, wetter day came true. Not too bad, all things considered, but people would be cold today.

Kick off against Blackhawks was 8:45AM. I got to the field a bit early to watch the other group game, Centennial vs Sibley. Sibley and us were tied on points, each with a win and a tie. If we both won this morning, we'd head into a tie-breaker with goal differential being the deciding factor after head to head.

I came into the morning thinking that we'd need goals against the Blackhawks to help our cause should Sibley manage to beat Centennial. If someone looked at the Saturday scores, they'd probably think that since we beat Centennial 4-0, and Sibley tied us, Sibley was likely to beat Centennial by a lot of goals. Having seen both teams play against us, I didn't think that was necessarily going to be the case, but needed to come in with a game plan to increase our goal differential.

Back at Shoreview Commons, the huge field played to our cause. With fast, athletic girls and a lot of space to exploit, we'd get plenty of changes to get behind the Blackhawks defense.

My thought was to get the girls relaxed in warm-ups after the relatively tense game yesterday afternoon, and the challenge them to come out fast and hard.

I'm sure the Blackhawks girls weren't looking forward to the game as both Centennial and Sibley had beaten them yesterday. I told the girls that this was something else that could work in our favor. Some of the Blackhawk girls might have been thinking that they had no chance against us. If we could start strong and get a goal or two early, we'd likely finish the game in the first half. I talked to the MTA girls about high pressure right from the kickoff, working hard for loose balls, closing Blackhawks players down at speed, and talking/communication constantly - all of which can be intimidating for a team that may believe they are inferior.

For warm-ups, I took the girls over to a small 4v4 field beside the game field. The 4v4 field had lines and small goals, perfect for a little 4v4 warm-up. Two teams of 8, no GKs, each team split into 2 sub-teams of 4. Each team of 8 had 4 players on the field and 1 player on each side of the field who could be used as support players by teammates in the field of play. On the "Change!" command, players on the teams could not touch the ball again and had to run and tag a teammate who was off the field in order to release that player onto the field to play 4v4.

Really fun game, good warm-up, girls were enjoying themselves, and there wasn't an ounce of tension in the air. Perfect.

Opted to start the game in a 3-4-3. Reiterated the Line Pass and Over the Top through ball ideas, challenged them again to start the game strong, and left them to it.

Every once in a while, a game plan actually works out perfectly.

42 seconds in, Babes (CM) played a ball Over the Top of Vivi (CF). Vivi slipped the ball to B-Money (RF) and B finished her 1v1 with the keeper with a nice, side of the foot roller. Very good start.

Blackhawks took the restart from midfield, we pressed to win the ball, knocked a few passes in midfield, then back into our backline, then Meg (RD), sent Vivi through again on a breakaway with a 30 yard ball Over the Top. Sometimes, in order to go forward, you need to play backawards. The girls hear that a lot from me and this was a prime example as our possession and play around our backline drew the Blackhawks defenders up and opened up space behind them that we were able to get in to.

Two goals in two minutes. Most of the Centennital team and parents who were watching the game behind our bench headed for their cars. If Blackhawks had beaten us, Centennial would have advanced.

11 minutes in we scored our third. Didn't record and don't remember who scored it as I was so impressed with the first time volley that Phi Phi (CM) hit into the danger area to make the goal happen that I forgot to jot down the goal scorer.

1 minute from half time, Normy (CF) played a diagonal ball from the midfield line Over the Top to Meg (RF), and Meg outran her marking defender to score on a breakaway.

Not much to say at halftime. Rotated playing positions a bunch and off they went.

8 minutes in, the Blackhawks GK's punt was headed back at her by a jumping Babes (LM). The ball fell to Mickey (LF) at the top of the 18. Mickey took a touch and hit a low, right-footed shot past the diving Blackhawk's GK for our fifth.

At the 25 minute mark, Babes (now at CD) hit a Slotted Through Pass to Mal (CF). Mal hit a solid first time shot to give us our sixth.

We finished on a great goal from Normy, who collected a poor goal kick about 25 yards from goal on the right side, took a prep touch, and hammered the ball home into the far post side netting.

Good performance overall. Off to the final.

Star of the Match for me was Babes.  All over the field, composed on the ball, involved in many of our goals.

MSC Championship vs PSA Infiniti

Back over to the Hazelwood complex for the championship game vs PSA Infiniti.  The team had a good fall season in 2008, as well as a good summer season as U12s in a tough West District, battling Eden Prairie, Edina, and Tonka United and doing well.  We'd have our hands full.

Girls were their usual goofy selves prior to the game.  That's always a good thing.

Field #2 was a postage stamp when compared with the huge field we'd played two group games on already.  No more than 105 yards long and maybe 60 wide.  Didn't know if this would help or hurt.  Chances were that since PSA was a large club, they'd likely have some very athletic girls in their mix at this age group.  Didn't have any idea how technical they were, nor how physical. 

Went back to our 4-4-2.

Pre-game talk?  Be ready for a battle.  Small field, lots of body contact coming.  Want to avoid contact?  Play the ball quickly.  Make the field big when we have the ball, with wide mids getting their heels out of bounds.  Get tight and compact centrally when we don't have the ball.  Not much room to look Over the Top today, but long diagonals might be on.  Have fun.

Games started well for us.  Girls seem to be firing on all cylinders as of late.  PSA was decent, but not as strong as I expected.  They seemed to have a light bench, so maybe they were missing some players. 

11 minutes in we got on the board.  Vivi (RF) and Cal (RM) played a nifty Give & Go up the right flank, just inside the PSA half.  The combination sent Vivi racing towards goal 1v1.  I thought she might have taken a too big of a last touch when approaching goal, but her pace allowed her to slide in just before the PSA GK got her hands to the ball, and the ball rolled home.  Fantastic effort on Vivi's part.

Two minutes later, we scored a great goal.  Babes (LF) checked back to win a loose ball just inside the PSA half on the left side of the field.  With her back to goal and pressure on her, she took a couple dribbles back into our half, and then played a long, change of field, diagonal ball forward to a sprinting Cal (RM).  Most of the PSA team had been drawn into the left half of the field, so Cal found herself in a ton of space.  She dribbled forward to the top of the PSA box and then fired a low, hard shot to the lower right of the goal.  I don't know if the PSA GK got a hand to it or not, but the ball hit the inside of the right post and carommed back across the goal line.  Em (RF) who had been following the play up field, came racing in to boot the ball home from 2 inches out. 

We then got a huge goal a few minutes from half time (third goals are always huge for me).  Free kick from about 35 yards out on the left side of the field.  Babes sent in a high, lofted ball past the PSa defensive line that dropped at the far post area.  All I saw was a pack of white shirts as Vivi, B-Money, Payt, and someone else all crashed the net.  Payt got a foot on the cross to nearly seal the result for us. 

Not much to say at halftime.  The girls were playing well.  Keep it up, move the ball quickly as the older girls might start to take out frustrations, have fun.

13 minutes into the second half we scored another good goal.  Phi Phi (CM) once again hit a great first time volley forward on a loose ball.  The volley found B-Money (RF) who battled her way past her marking defender to finish on a hard shot from 16 yards out on the right side.

Though the tournament website says we won 4-1, no one I know remembers PSA finding the back of our net.  Tournament error.

Star of the Match for me was Vivi.  Tireless worker, always gives 100% effort.

Tournament MVP was Phi Phi.  Solid performance for her all weekend in many different positions.

Good final result, good tournament.  We're competitive and dangerous every U13 team we've seen.  16 goals this weekend, 1 against on a PK.  Attackers score goals, defenders win Championships. 

State Cup this weekend, league play begins shortly after that.  Should be an exciting summer.

U13G Midwest Soccer Challenge - Day 1

To kick off our local tournament circuit, I entered the girls into the U13 division of the Midwest Soccer Challenge (MSC).

As if you couldn't tell from my previous posts dating back to the winter, I had a strange feeling that we'd be hit with weather this year in Iowa. With the thought of no or a few games there, I wanted to get the girls outside on grass prior to the beginning of the State Cup Tournament later this month. The MSC's timing was good and they were short a U13 girls team, so we added it to our calendar. I presented it an optional tournament addition to the families but we had all 16 girls able to commit to the weekend.

We drew Sibley, Centennial, and Blackhawks in our group. PSA looked to be the likely favorite out of the other group, a group that also housed Coon Rapids, TC Fire, and Mahtomedi.

Our first game was scheduled for Friday night, but Sibley had 7 girls out for a track meet (or something like that) so we bumped the game to Saturday afternoon.

So we ended up with Centennial's U13C1 team to open the tournament on Saturday morning.

MSC Game #1 vs Centennial SC U13C1

Kick off was scheduled at 11:15AM. Since we were unable to unload our usual Saturday morning dome time at AHA, I asked 6 of the girls to show up for 45 minutes to work on free kicks around the box. I didn't want to impose on the entire team to come in at 9:20AM for a short practice, then have to truck across town to Shoreview for an 11:15AM game, with another game later that day. But, this did provide an opportune time to do some focused, small-group work with girls who were likely to be involved with our free kicks around our opponent's penalty box.

Free kick training is a drag for girls who are not involved in the actual shooting or "plays". Some of the girls get a bit pouty when they're not asked to be involved in the free kicks, so I constantly have to lecture them about the benefits of working in a team setting. Some girls have developed faster than others and have more leg strength due to muscle mass and/or better technique. Other girls may be faster than some of the girls shooting free kicks and add to the team with their speed. Some may be better dribblers, some better defenders. I choose the girls who are best at this (free kicks) now to be on the ball. You want to take free kicks or believe that you can take them better than someone I've selected? Prove it. Show me you're working on it, show me at training. Sometimes I'm happy to be proved wrong :)

Anyway, it was a productive session with a handful of the ladies. We worked on two set plays and I gave them technique and ideas on hitting the ball directly (without fancy-shmancy plays) at goal.

Done at 10AM and off to the game.

I got to the fields and took in some of the Sibley v Blackhawks game that was going on. From what I saw, we'd be able to handle the teams if we played well.

The field was HUGE. 120 x 80. Would definitely benefit the faster, more athletic team.

My technical/tactical focus for the weekend was on the Line Pass and the Over the Top through balls, so here are the Skillzys® that were up for grabs this weekend.

I like our 4-4-2 formation because it promotes some tactical smarts from our two forwards. I ask them to both be on the ball side of the field with one (closest to the ball) offering a short option and the other one (farthest from the ball) looking to get deep and dangerous on the last defender (the defender furthest back). Now that the girls are starting to really grasp this movement in a two striker system, I'm looking at working with the mids and getting them to understand that they don't have to pass to their target forwards' feet all the time. Many times, a pass to space is the better choice. Some of the girls get this already, but I wanted to focus on these types of passes this weekend. Again, though the Line Pass and Over the Top through balls can be hit from our defensive end, I was going to introduce these tactics for the girls to use from the middle third getting us into the attacking third of the field.

Prior to the game, I gave the girls the coaching points for each Skillzy®. Both girls involved in the play would earn the specific Skillzy®, as you can't have Combination Play without a teammate :) Meaning, that for the Line Pass Skillzy®, both the passer and the receiver would earn the awards if completed properly. The plan was to revisit these coaching points before and after each game this weekend, with comprehension starting to sink in by the end of the weekend if all went as planned.

Started the match against Centennial in the 4-4-2 we've come to know and love.

7 minutes in, B-Money (RM) got us on the board after she stripped a Centennial defender of the ball at the top of their penalty box on the right side, and fired a low, hard shot near post.

5 minutes later, Babes (CM) controlled a poor Centennial goal kick about 20 yards out in the middle of the field and rolled a left-footed shot past the onrushing Centennial GK into the lower right corner.

A minute later, and the game was effectively put away as B-Money (now at RD) attacked up the right flank from her defensive position, cut across the top of the penalty box onto her left foot, and hit a bomb past the Centennial GK.

8 minutes into the second half, we got our fourth. Gizmo (LD) found Mickey (LF) with a long pass out of our own penalty box. Mickey turned her marking defender at the top of our circle and was off to goal. Though we had worke on diagonal runs this week in training, Em (RF) chose to pull away from Mickey, drawing the lone Centennial defender with her as Mickey steamed forward. By the time the Centennial defender chose to try and pressure Mickey, Mickey was too close to goal and finished with a hard, left-footed shot.

All in all it was a good start for us. Girls got to play a number of different positions, had a couple of Line Pass and Over the Top Skillzys® earned, and got a result to kick the tournament off.

Star of the Match for me was Gia, who had probably her one of her best games to date.

MSC Game #2 vs Sibley Area Sting U13C1

Game #2 over at Hazelwood Park in Maplewood. The field was no where near as large as the field this morning. Moreover, the grass was thin, making for a very fast and bumpy surface.

As the game before us on the same field ended, I walked the girls over to take our place on the player sidelines and begin our warm-up. The Sibley coach came over to shake hands and I introduced myself. He said he knew my name as I was a childhood hero of his (he grew up playing soccer in MN and attending Thunder games when I was playing with the team). He didn't look as young as I would have liked someone to look who just told me that I was a childhood hero of theirs. Man, I'm really getting old.

We took the kick off and a minute into the match Sibley's game plan became evident. Their coach, Jake, had stayed to watch us play Centennial after their morning game. He had a good idea of what he was up against and his thought was to have his girls sit back and defend. At the onset, I obviously didn't know how long this tactic was to be employed, but it was tough for us to breakdown.

Not only were there 10 gold shirts back on defense, but it was painfully clear that this was going to be a game in which the ball didn't bounce our way. We couldn't connect passes crisply, our wide players weren't sharp with their crossing, every loose ball seemed magnetically drawn to a Sibley girl's foot, our through balls found their defenders, their half clearances from the back seemed to find open space between our players and role back into our half forcing us to reset, etc. I've been in games like this before. Everything we do is not quite right, everything our opponents do seems to work for them.

We created chances but our finishing touches lacked accuracy and punch.

Their GK was very solid and active off her line, cutting out many of our dangerous through balls and would-be breakaways. Our girls could learn from that.

They had a big, strong, athletic girl in the center of defense who proved difficult to bypass, as well as a quick, crafty forward who caused us some trouble as the game flowed on and Sibley got into the attack. No dangerous chances at our goal, but frustrating for our girls for sure.

The MTA girls, who I believe knew that they were a more skilled team overall, started to play panicked a bit as the half went on. I'm sure they thought "We need to score, why isn't it happening for us?!?!". The frustration and the subsequent tension that seeped into the team sent us in a downward spiral of sorts with one thing feeding off the other. The more we got frustrated, the lower the quality of our play.

Halftime came deadlocked at 0-0.

My talk to the girls was all about getting them confident and relaxed. All teams have games where nothing seems to go right. We needed to dig deep and keep fighting. I was confident that we would score goals, we just needed a little more focus.

How do we break down a packed in defense? We needed to get width to draw out Sibley defenders from the central part of the field, then look to serve crosses into exposed areas. We needed to look to keep possession of the ball and move the ball around the back, forcing the Sibley team to move up the field to pressure us or move laterally to chase the ball - both types of movement would cause gaps to appear in dangerous central areas. We need to be patient, not look to force balls through the middle of the field into a wall of gold Sibley shirts.

Second half started out well for us. We continued our pressure and continued to create chances at net. I don't know if the Sibley coach changed tactics at halftime, but the game seemed to open up a bit - maybe from the tactical change, maybe from the young Sibley girls unable to maintain the defensive discipline demonstrated in the first half.

The ref seemed to be blowing his whistle in Sibley's favor almost every other time one of our girls came into direct contact with a Sibley player. We are a fairly touchy, physical team, and it is a contact sport, but sometimes refs think that anytime a girl is physical that it's a foul.

Anyway, on a not-so-dangerous moment about 10 minutes from time, the ref awarded Sibley with a penalty kick. I didn't see what happened exactly, but it seemed like Gizmo (LD) fouled a girl at the right edge of our penalty box.

Great. Completely dominating an opponent, and on one of the few times that opponents sees our half of the field, we conceded a PK. Their big central defender stepped up and hit a very good shot into the left side netting that Normy (GK) couldn't do much about.

Down one with 10 to play. Gizmo was obviously upset, thinking she lost the game for us, and in tears on the field. I looked over to the bench to figure out what changes I would need to make. Gizmo is crying, 3 of the girls said at the same time. I know. But I'm not going to pull her out now.

I called out to Gizmo and encouraged her to fight hard and help us try and get a goal back. I couple more sobs and sniffles, then grim determination settled on her face. Good for her.

We attacked from the kick off and sent a cross from the right high into the box. Mickey (LF) and one of the Sibley defenders went up for the header and must have bumped heads or something. The defender stayed down and the ref blew for a stoppage of play. A little fortunate break for us as it gave the girls time to get their composure back as well as for me to make changes.

I pulled one of our central defenders and we went to 3 in the back, adding another girl up top to play with 3 forwards. Instructions to the defenders were to play more direct and get the ball into the danger area as soon as they could. Forwards needed to be active, fight to win balls in the attacking third and pounce on any loose balls, and to get themselves in good scoring positions.

5 minutes from time we got our goal. After making a save off a shot from Babes (CM), the Sibley GK punted the ball up field. Gizmo (LD), who was attacking up the field, was recovering back. I thought the punt was going to clear her head and bounce into our half, but she made a flying leap back and to her left to deflect the ball forward with her left foot. The ball was passes in from the left to Em (CM), who played a quick Give & Go with Babes. Em beat a Sibley defender at the top of the box after receiving the return pass, and fired a high, hard shot from 18 yards out. The Sibley GK made a good effort at the high ball but could not get enough on the ball to stop it from crossing the goal line.

Girls went wild and hog-piled Em. Fun to watch. Happy for Gizmo to be involved.

4 minutes left. Kept out 3 up top instructing the girls to keep the pressure up and go for the winner. It didn't come, and the game ended 1-1.

I was actually pretty pleased with the afternoon. It was just one of those games that we easily could have lost as nothing seemed to go our way. As I've said, I've been in games like this before, and lost more than not. These girls have some fight though. More guts and grit overall that any other team I've worked with at this age group. I can't teach that stuff. I can help foster it with competitive training sessions, but I can't instill the heart and desire that most of these girls have. This has taken them a long way and will continue to do so in the future.

We can learn a lot from this game. We're sure to face some packed in defenses next year in State Cup, maybe even this year. It was clear to the girls the difficulties presented against teams who use this tactic, and I'll be able to reference this game in the future when needed.

Star of the Match for me was Em.  All over the field, hard workrate, big goal.

Guess the group winner will come down to our game tomorrow. Looks like it will be wet and cold. Hope we can get two games in.

A Longer Long Day

Before leaving the field after our second game, I got the girls together with the parent group on the sidelines to confirm our evening dinner and team meeting plans. The idea was to get the girls settled in for a good night's rest in prep for the final day of the event tomorrow. With things squared away, the group headed back to the hotel and I went back over to the players' side of the field to help Andy with the soon-to-be-starting U13 game.

Just prior to the 5:55PM kickoff, a team parent of the U14G White team came running over to inform me that the parent group of the U14 team (they had played on the same field right before us) decided to withdraw from the tournament and was heading home.

OK.  How was that decided?  How is that going to reflect on our club?  Who knows something I don't know? 

I let Andy know that I had to go to tourney headquarters to sort this out and hustled across the complex.  Since this was a second site for the tournament, the Tournament Director was over at Hidden Valley (the main site).  I called him, leaving a voice mail, and asking the young man at the tent to try and radio him.  "So you're from Omaha?" he asked me, obviously overhearing my left message with the Director.  "Nope, we're from Minnesota," I answered.  He apologized and proceeded to tell me that he thought I was from Omaha because he had just heard that the U13G Omaha Gladiator team had withdrawn as well. 

OK, someone knows something about the weather that I don't.

I don't have an iPhone (yet), and the weather info that I get on my Blackberry is crap at best.  I needed to get my laptop hooked up at a coffee shop and check things out. 

Over to tell Andy that I was leaving, then off to my car. 

I called Jim (Babe's dad) on the way back to the hotel and told him that I just heard the U14s withdrew, they must know something we don't know about the weather, and that we should get the parents together at the hotel and decide if we needed to do the same (withdraw) and get out of Dodge tonight to avoid incoming severe weather.  I for sure wanted to play Sunday, but some things are a little more important.

The Tournament Director beeped in as I was talking with Jim, so I told Jim I'd call him back.  I asked the Tournament Director if he knew about the teams withdrawing.  He said he knew about the MTA team but not about the Omaha team.  I asked him what the plan was, but he couldn't give me any info yet as he and his staff had been busy with the event planning and execution until this point in the day.  He'd talk to people and call me back.

A few minutes later, I got the call that the tournament was off.

I placed a call into JoJo (Payt's mom and team manager) so she could check with the front desk at the hotel about whether or not we could get out of our rooming contract, and was hopeful as the hotel had given us a 6PM deadline to withdraw from the Saturday night rooms, and it was only about 6:30PM now.  Then sent texts to other coaches and team managers so they were abreast of the situation.

Got the call back from JoJo, no luck with the hotel.  We were stuck with the rooms.

Well, it was bound to happen.  We've had 4 years of very playable weekends for this event.  We were sure to get slammed one year.  I've been in similar situations before, once even in Phoenix when part of the event got cancelled.  Sucks for sure, but at least we're semi-local. 

Made the decision to drive home tonight.  Though I was tired, I had my old band tapes and audio book to keep me awake.

Packed up my room in about 12 seconds, headed down to see some of the girls, then made my way out of the hotel.  Some of the coaches and families chose to make use of the already paid for hotel and stay over on Sat night.  Others thought as I did and preferred to get back to MN asap.

* * * * *

The drive home was boringly uneventful for the first 187 miles.  I had just chowed down a McDonald's #1, a hamburger with only pickles and onions, and two 2-for-a-dollar apple pies.  Yum.  Cruise control was locked in, audio book droned one, food coma was settling in and I was looking for something to occupy my mind and keep me awake.  Got what I asked for.

I saw a minivan up head playing the infamous Minnesota Same Speed Game, driving in the left lane, matching the speed exactly of the "slower" car in the right lane.  OK, the guy sees me approaching (fast) in his rear view for sure.  He'll speed up. 

OK, now he for sure sees me. 

Don't... want... to... hit... the... brakes... dang.  The guys was going like 65.  The speed limit is 70 Mr. Minivan.

OK, he sees me now and will speed up and pull over.

[5 miles later]

The guy has got to see me, right?  I can't get any closer to him. 

Finally. 

What the heck?  Now you speed up to 75, after you've pulled over?!?!?  You moron.

I finally fly past the guy doing 85, giving him the "I Hate You!" look.  You know, the look you shoot into the rear view mirror of the woman in the Burger King drive through line in front of you because it's somehow her fault for ordering something that the BK staff didn't make her way and now has to wait and slow everything down for the BKers to do it right so she could Have It Her Way.

Just as I was edging past Mr. Minivan, I saw him.  A copper, sneakily positions in the median, lights off and in what must have been some new kind of cammo police car paint.  Crap!!!!!!!!

Hit the brakes and Mr. Minivan flew past me.  Mr. Copper flicked on his headlights and pulled out, sirens already on.  Yes!  Get that minivan guy!!!!  I thought a I pulled over to the right lane and began to slow down.  Get him!!!!!! 

Wait.  Why are you slowing down.  Can't you see the still 80mph-flying tail-lights up ahead of me?  What the... ?!?!  Crap.

I delayed pulling over as I saw an off-ramp up head a ways and preferred for the guy's safety, to pull over there.

Rolled to a stop with the cop's lights dancing in my rear view and my dashboard lit up like it would be at noon. 

OK, I'm tired of typing.  I'll make this the short version.

Cop came to the passenger side window, not the driver's side.  Tapped on my window, scaring the bleep out of me as I was looking for him on my side of the car.  I asked how fast I was going.  He said 77mph.  I said isn't the speed limit 70?  He looked at me like I was an idiot. I asked him didn't he seem that minivan that sped by me.  He said no.

He asked why I took so long to pull over.  told him I was worried that he'd be standing on a busy freeway on a wet night.  He seemed to appreciate the thought. 

He Asked to see my license and insurance info.  As I was handing him my license, he notices the Thunder badge on the upper right side of my jacket.  Never would have seen it if he came to the driver's side.  Recognized the logo - pro soccer team, right?  Yep.  Asked if I played, told him I used to but still worked for them, asked him if he was a soccer fan, he said big time.  Found my insurance card in the chaos of my glove box.  I knew I had it!  I'm not as disorganized sometimes as my wife thinks I am.  Handed it to the cop, he pointed out that this card proved I was insured from May to November.  2007.  Found another card in my glove box.  Expired in May of 2008.  You're getting closer he joked.  I didn't laugh.  Oh, did you know your tabs are also expired?  March of 09.  Crap.  No sir, didn't know that.  I know I got new tabs, my wife gave them to me a month ago and told me not to lose them on my desk and to make sure I put them on.  Didn't happen obviously.  Cop went bag to his car, I turned the air on.  It was warm for some reason.

Cop came back about 5 minutes later, gave me a verbal warning, told me to take care, and good luck with soccer.  What the...?!?!?  Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if that wasn't enough adventure to get my adrenalin pumping enough to keep me awake, I proceeded to almost immediately drive into the absolute worst driving conditions that I've ever been in. 

Complete white out blizzard.  I've been in snow like this before while driving... during the day though.  At night, with no accumulation on the highway yet to highlight the wheel tracks of the cars, and with very little in terms of street lights, the blackest of black roads merged in perfectly with the not-road to either side.  Moreover, the blowing, heavy white snow masked the white highway lines, obliterating them from distinction. 

It was 25 to 30mph from Faribault to Eagan, with some serious highway accumulation in the Burnsville area. 

The only bright spot was passing Mr. Minivan on 35E.  Gave him a honk and waived at him - though I didn't use all my fingers.  Yes.  I win!

Once I hit 494 from 35E and headed east towards Woodbury, it was perfect conditions, relatively speaking, with just some rain. 

Called other families who I knew left Des Moines tonight to give them a heads up about the conditions.

 An adventure for sure.

* * * * *

Got phone calls throughout the day on Sunday of highway closures and people stuck in the cars for up to 4 hours, or forced to hang out in Ames, IA, for hours until the roads opened.  There were also stories of I35 snowball fights and snowmen build on the side of the road during the wait.  I'm sure there will be many non-soccer memories for people involved at this event.  Some positive, some not so positive. 

Here's a news story that was posted in the Des Moines area regarding the Sunday weather and driving conditions.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Iowa Department of Transportation reopened Interstate 35 between Story City and U.S. Highway 20 on Sunday afternoon after shutting it down for several hours. Snowfall and blowing snow had caused problems for drivers earlier in the day.

The Iowa State Patrol had advised people not to travel in or out of Webster City, too. Troopers were also prohibiting towing in several parts of the state.

A winter storm warning is in effect for northwest Iowa until 7 p.m. People living in the area should expect 3 to 5 inches of snow, meteorologist Metinka Slater said.

She also said blowing snow in open areas could cause white-out conditions.

KCCI assignment editor Tom Torpy reported metro roads were fine, but once he traveled north of Ankeny on I-35 he found slush-covered roads with an ice glaze underneath. Torpy said he saw several cars in the ditches near the Elkhardt exit.

The Department of Transportation said anyone who must travel should bring along a winter survival kit with enough supplies for all passengers. It also urged drivers to maintain a safe distance from other vehicles, and to stay on main roads and avoid backroad short cuts.

It urged anyone who becomes stranded to call 911 and stay with the vehicle until help arrives

WDMSC Premier Games - Sat, Apr 5

Up at 6AM, showered, dressed in 8 layers in anticipation of the cold morning, tripped over Andy on the pull out on my way out the door, down to the lobby to print out all the MTA teams' schedules, across the street to McDonald's for a #4 with a vanilla latte (it was actually not very cold out at all!), and then off to the fields for our first game vs VSA Elite (IA).

I arrived at the Hidden Valley fields at 7AM. VSA was already at the field beginning their warm up. We had beaten them 2 or 3 times over the past 2 years and I knew they knew we were a strong team. They'd be focused, knowing they'd need to perform near their top level to get a result. My job was to make sure that we matched their intensity and focus, in order to let our skill make a difference in the game.

The MTA girls began arriving at the field around 7:15AM. The field was OK. Not up to the typical standards I've come to expect from this complex, but it wasn't horrible. There were however some bumps and some patchy areas that needed notice.

We started in our 4-4-2, a formation that has been working well for us.

Normy (CD) likes to attack from the back, so we morph into a 3-5-2 sometimes from this formation. B-Money likes to hang up front and attack a lot from the outside mid position as well when she's on the field, so at other times we look like we're in a 3-4-3. This all asks the girls to recognize changing team shape and make needed adjustments, and also keeps opposing teams off balance a bit, so it's all good.

I was set on having everyone start two of the four games this weekend as well as getting players playing time in many different positions. However,

We came out and played fairly well in the first half. Chels (LF) found the back of the net about 7 minutes in on a breakaway to give us the early lead. The rest of the half wasn't anything to write home about. We seemed to relax a little bit after the first goal and were not really outplayed during the last 20 minutes of the first half, but definitely out worked. The girls put some nice passing sequences together at times and we created chances at goal, but we lost the midfield battle against a feisty VSA group and they had one or two good opportunities at our goal that I'd rather not see a team have. They had a tying goal called back for offside, and we were lucky on that one as their attack broke apart our usually tight defense.

Halftime came and the girls needed a pep talk. I used the same old example I always used with them. I indicated with my hands two different levels, right hand held higher than the left. Our skill is here (wiggling the right, higher of my two hands), their skills is here (wiggling the left, lower level hand). If they out work us (raise my left hand to be equal with my right) it's an even game. If we match their work rate (raise my right hand the same distance I just raised my left hand so again there is the gap between the two teams or hands) our skill will carry us through. It's a very good visual.

We also talked about being more direct. We had sprung a forward through for a goal in the first half and VSA hadn't changed their high line of defense. We needed to stop trying to play pretty with short passing ALL the time and needed to be more up tempo and direct - to be unpredictable and to be effective.

The girls, somewhat surprisingly :) both listened to and acted on the advice. I don't always get both... they are 11 after all.

4 minutes in, a through ball from Em (CM) to B-Money (RM) won us a corner kick after the VSA defender worked to block B's endline cross. B-Money drove the resulting corner kick service into the far post area and Babes (LF) headed the ball home. Good goal, good opportunity to illustrate to the girls the importance of working on set pieces in the weeks leading up to an event.

Two minutes later, B-Money was again instrumental in making something happen as she won the ball near midfield in our half with a hard shoulder to shoulder tackle. B played a good ball forward to Em (RF) who turned her defender with a one touch Arc Turn and was off to goal 1v1. She finished with a powerful shot to give us the important 3rd goal.

It was too much for the VSA team to battle back from. The MTA girls continued to do well stringing passes together and attack. More importantly, we didn't give VSA a sniff at our goal.

Five minutes from time we scored our 4th, as T (RD) played the ball through for someone. I'm sure my girls will let me know who scored because I forgot to write the name down. And I write things down because I don't have a chance of remembering much with everything going on at the tournament...

I did write T down though as the passer, happy for our U11 guest player to be involved in goal.

It was B-Money, who finished on another breakaway.

Much to my then disappointment, we gave a goal up in seconds before the final whistle sounded. VSA won a throw in about 30 yards from goal on the left side of the field. We all tuned out and reacted too late to the long throw to the top of our box and the VSA striker, their first half GK, with her back to our goal, turned and volleyed the ball past Payt in net. A second after we kicked off, the ref whistled for the end of the game.

Disappointed for sure to lose the clean sheet, but it proved to be a good teaching moment for the girls after the game as I talked about defensive pride, keeping tuned in until the final whistle blew, and also stressed the fact that a goal can be scored at ANY time in a game. Meaning, that if we're down late in a game, we fight, claw, and scrape until the game is done.

Good first game all in all, good result, FC Barrington up next at 4:30PM.

* * * * *

After our game, I stayed at the field as our U13G Blues were playing Mequon United in their first game. The 13s are a very good team. A handful of the girls started with me back in 04/05 as a U9 Bangu Tsunami group in Woodbury. We also had a strong South group at this age and added players to the mix as time went on, culminating in a very talented team make up this year for tryouts at U13. Looking at this group in comparison to the U13G Region II Championship team I had two years ago (now U15G MTA Elite 94 Blue), this current group is stronger.

If we get out of our State Cup group, we'd face these guys in the semifinal game. We've played them tough before, but a game score could easily be 5-0 for them if they're hitting on all cylinders.

At halftime I headed to the South fields across the road to start the U12G White team's warm up. Andy would be over to take the team after his game with the U13s.

Just after halftime of that game, I got in my car and cruised over to the Cownie complex on the other side of town to watch FC Barrington play VSA Elite at 12:15PM. After about a half of watching, I was confident that if we came to play in the afternoon, we'd get a result.

I was also able to watch the Group C match up between our friends the Toro Chaos (NE) and the Midwest Reign Knockouts (IL). Good game. Toro dominated from what I saw but would turn out to drop the game 2-0. We played the Knockouts last year in the final of this event, beating them, then lost to them in the Eclipse Challenge Cup last fall.

Then, back over to Hidden Valley to watch the KC Select Rage (MO) vs Heartland Jaguars (IA). I was very interested in seeing the KC team play. I had heard a lot about them. They came into the event seeded #2 behind us, and I had traded some emails with their coach/club president this past month. He had been turned onto this site by one of his team parents who was likely doing research about the competition in the Premier Games. He had let me know that they were looking forward to possibly playing us this weekend and that it was his club in the U12 Girls 1v1 Skills video that I posted on this site. That's cool.

They were good. Creative and dangerous in the attack with some big, athletic girls. Quick in the back. It would be a very good game between our girls.

I had contacted the Tournament Director yesterday and mentioned an interest in looking for friendly games on Saturday night in the event that the tournament might be cancelled on Sunday. He mentioned that the KC Select team was looking for the same and we would have tried to coordinate a 7PM friendly tonight on a local turf field if Sunday was not on. However, the Tournament decided Saturday morning that Sunday morning's games would go on as scheduled, so our friendly against KC Select was not going to happen.

Back over to Cownie to watch a 3PM TC Fire (MN) vs Woodbury (MN) game as Maddog had left our team this winter to play with the TC group. On my way I tried to rally some of the girls to get to the fields early and Dog's game was right before ours on an adjacent field. It would be fun to see the girls support her.

I got in touch with many of the team and they all hurried to get out to the complex early. We delayed our warm up a bit as the girls sat in the bleachers to cheer Dog on. I felt kind of bad though when TC Fire scored to even up the game at 1 goal a piece. Our girls, with the only though of supporting Dog, cheered wildly. I knew many of the parents of girls on the Woodbury team, even chatted with a few during the game. There is obviously a wee bit of history between that club and me, history that is many times overblown with rumor thanks to many who were never even involved back in the day. I didn't want the girls' cheering to seem offensive to some... oh, Mark is having his girls cheer against Woodbury because he is classless. I guess they'll think what they'll think, but...

Took the group over to our field at 4PM to begin our warm up.

* * * * *

Kept us in our 4-4-2 for the second game.

Game started out well for us. We were clearly a more skilled team though the Barrington girls played us hard.

16 minutes in Phi Phi (CM) collected the ball about 40 yards out in the middle of the field, looked up, and played a terrific Slotted Through Pass to Vivi (RF) who was streaking towards goal on a diagonal run. Vivi finished her breakaway to give us the lead.

Four minutes later, Babes (RF) pressured a Barrington defender at the right corner of the penalty box (18 yards out), won the ball, and fired a rocket from just outside the box that was too fast, powerful, and unexpected for the Barrington GK to make a good attempt at a save.

Two very good goals for this age group.

Not much to say at halftime as the girls were in control of the match. 2-0 lead, let's work hard to get the game's next goal. If they got the next goal to close the lead gap to 1 goal, they'd pick up some momentum and we could be under pressure. If we got the next goal, we'd help relieve some of the game pressure.

We did work hard, continued to dominate, but didn't get our next goal until the 21 minute mark. B-Money (RM) received a pass with her back to the goal around 40 yards out. She flicked the ball with the outside of her right foot to Vivi (RF) and Vivi sped up field, running at the Barrington defense. B continued to follow the play, and overlapped Vivi near the corner of the Barrington penalty box. B cut inside onto her left foot, dribbled past one defender, past another and hit a very, very good left foot shot low past the Barrington GK. Another really good goal.

We scored one more. Ladies, a little help? I didn't write anything down for some reason.

After the game, reminded the girls of what we talked about after the morning game, about the defensive pride and solid play in the back. I told the girls that our defenders are our unsung heroes. They don't get the glory that the forwards do when they score goals. They also are under the most pressure in any game we play. A forward can have an awful game - have bad touches, make mistakes, etc - then score the winning goal on their last touch of the game to be the hero. Defenders can play a flawless game - strong in the air and in tackles, clear dangerous balls in our box, play fantastic services out of the back, help stop attack after attack, etc - then make one mistake and be the goat. You tell me. Which position do you think 11 year old girls prefer to play on the field? I can't be the only U12G coach with 14 wannabe forwards on my roster.

With that said, it is extremely important that I continue to try and rotate girls in different positions, and I keep reiterating the fact that attackers score goals, defenders win championships. I told the girls as much after the game. When we won the Region Championship in 2007, we did it through solid defensive play. Don't know if this sunk in with the girls, but if it's repeated enough it will eventually :)

I'd stay at the field a while longer to watch the 13 Blues vs JUSC, again on the same field we just played on and kicking off right after us, then back to the hotel for a team dinner and player meetings to discuss our goal setting assignments. Long day, but extremely enjoyable.

WDMSC Premier Games - Friday, Apr 4

Left the house bright and early at 7:30AM. Ran low on blank white card stock last night for Skillzys® printing and needed to pick some up on my way out of town down in Cottage Grove at 8AM.

The WDMSC Premier Games had contracted with my company to produce what we call Tournament Tagzys™ to give to all the participants this weekend.   These are custom bag tags that players can use as keepsakes and collectibles depicting their tournament travels and competitions.  I was going to be at tournament check in that evening to get the Tagzys™ to coaches and team reps to in turn distribute to their teams this weekend. 2,500 pieces in all, including Tournament MVP and Star of the Match Bragzys™ and Controlling the SEAS™ Skillzys® for the U11 age groups as a pilot program for the WDM club.

I really haven't done much in terms of promoting this company since its inception about a year ago.  I took out an ad in Soccer Times last March, but that's about it.  I've tested different lines of the products with my girls this last year, as have a few other coaches in the club with their teams.  We've also outfitted our MTA Juniors program with some items as well, but never really made an advertising push as the initial product lines have continued to be honed and tweaked.  This weekend would mark the first real foray into getting the good word out about what the company has to offer to 128 teams from multiple Region II states.  It's as good of a start as any I guess.

Made the turn onto 35E south from Hwy 494 around 8:30AM and settled in for the 3 hour drive south to Des Moines.

About an hour into the drive, I got a phone call from my manager that an email had gone out regarding the status of the tournament. Bad weather was forecast for the weekend and tournament officials were going to make a decision by 10AM on Friday morning as to whether or not the tournament would go on as scheduled.

Crap. That would REALLY suck.  From a soccer perspective, I would much prefer to come down for 2 games on Saturday then head home, rather than see a complete weekend cancellation. Weather for Saturday looked a bit cool, but definitely playable.  The girls were excited for the trip and it would be a huge bummer for them to find out that we were not going after all.

From a Skillzys® perspective, I had over $4K in product in my backseat.  Not that I was worried about not recouping expenses from the tournament if it was a no go.  I would be more disappointed in all the hours put in securing the contract and printing/prepping for the event.

I then spent the next 20 minutes talking to other MTA coaches to make sure people knew what was going on. "You're already on your way down there?!?!" was the typical response when I told people I was on the road. "Are you pulling over until you know the tournament is on for sure?" was the typical next comment. Nope.  Not stopping nor turning around.  Stupidly confident and refusing to admit that they were going to call the whole thing off, I kept on heading south.

About 10:30AM the Tournament Director called me and let me know it was game on for Saturday for sure.  Yes!!!!  They'd play Sunday by ear and try to make a determination on Saturday morning about Sunday. The way I looked at it, we were going down for two games. Anything past that would be a bonus.

Arrived at the Sheraton in West Des Moines around 11:30AM. Checked in and then went to work preparing for the tournament check in which fortunately was going to be held on the second floor of the Sheraton, making it convenient on a number of fronts.

Some of the girls began arriving around 3PM and a handful of them met me down at the check in room to help bundle the Tournament Tagzys™ and set up the display table. It was really cool that they (B-Money, Babes, Em, Normy, T, and Payt) were willing and able to lend a hand... would have been a tough go without them.

We spent the next two hours working together, and were ready to go at 6PM when check in started.

Since I was committed to check in from 6PM to 10PM, I had our captains Babes and Payt take the girls on a light job and stretch at 7PM in the parking Sheraton parking lot.  Yep, Mark sends his girls to run around in a parking lot.  Hate away...

The girls had a 9PM in-their-rooms curfew, and got settled in for the night.

Long, mentally exhausting day for me.  I was looking forward to the soccer this weekend.

* * * * *

The girls have been coming together nicely the last part of the winter and we were playing some of our best soccer to date.  I think that's why I really enjoy this age group as some significant improvement is clearly apparent coming into the U12 summer season. 

We are getting better defensively and extremely dangerous in the attack.  In fact, over the last three years there has only been one team at our age group that has managed a clean sheet against us - that was Carmel (IN) in the fifth game of the Eclipse Challenge Cup (Libertyville, IL) last fall. 

Looking at the coming weekend, we are seeded as the #1 team in the U12G 11v11 flight.  I like the way the tournament is set up this year.  12 teams in 4 brackets of 3.  You play two group games on Saturday, with the group winners moving to a semifinal and then a consolation game with the other 3 group winners.  All other teams would match up against teams that finished either second or third in their respective groups.  That meant that if we could win our group, we would almost guarantee two tough games on Sunday, regardless of whether or not we managed to win our semifinal game.  So, my goal was to get us out of group play on Saturday against VSA Elite (IA) in the morning and then FC Barrington (IL) tomorrow afternoon.