11/22 Indoor game and training

The team plays in the U11/U12 soccer blast league on Saturday morning. This weekend we played a U12 team from Eagan, I am quite familiar with this team having played them in league last year with my U12 team from Lakeville. I also know a couple of the boys since they traveled on a U11 team we took to Arizona and Virginia this past Feb/Mar. Anyways the game ended up being an 8-7 win in our favor. The score was a lot closer then the game actually was. We struggled to string passes together consistently and also our 1v1 success rate was not as high as it usually was.  Brock who typically plays more defensive positions had 3 goals in one shift (a shift is about 3 to 4 minutes). This is something I will keep a mental note on as he has scored quite often when placed in an attacking role. One of the Matt's also tried something very cheeky, he swung his right foot behind his left and crossed his legs to try and strike the ball. Had a defender not been in the way it would have been interesting to see the out come of the play. Our lack of sharpness carried into the 4v4 at the end of the afternoon training (we also have 3:00pm training on Saturdays) we struggled to string passes together consistently. We focused on shooting technique during this practice, my goal was to get the boys to strike at least 30-40 balls each in the session. I think we came pretty close. In watching the indoor games as well as the tournament in Chicago we came to conclusion that we dominate most games especially in the midfield but we lack the scoring attitude. We constantly struggle to make solid contact with our shots. So alot of our practices over the next few weeks will have a shooting/finishing aspect to them. Lastly at this practice I was finally able to hand out some skills/juggling DVD's I have been meaning to hand out. I wish I had one for each kid but I only have 3 so I will rotate them around. I am challenging each player to learn and show something from the DVD's.

Lemons to Lemonade or so they say

With winter training always comes the challenge of finding space in order to training during very cold winters here in Minnesota. As far as winter space is concerned supply does not meet demand which lately has caused me to become pro-"build my own dome" which I have yet to decided is a realistic option or not but anyways...we have been very fortunate that our club is very proactive in reserving time early enough that we have plenty of space for our teams. With the east academy we use a facility the has been slowly on the decline and unfortunately closed yesterday for many different reasons. I thought about doing the whole tie myself to the doors bit only to calm myself down and remember its not being knocked down.

Now as you can sense this leaves us in quite an interesting situation being that two of our three training session a week are based there. Thus sending the East Academy scrambling a little bit to find time, remember supply cannot meet demand. We are also very fortunate to have a dedicated director who is quick on his feet and was making phone calls the instant we received the news. The one thing we liked most about the facility we were using was that all of the teams trained on the same nights and within a 4 or 5 hour period. So each team saw each other on a weekly basis thus creating a community type atmosphere. Now with the new situation we maybe forced to spilt up at different facilities.

Since this all took place yesterday morning we again have been fortunate as we have been able to secure several options for each team to take into consideration and figure out what fits them best. My goal was to try and keep my team with the relatively same training times on the same days. For the most part it looks like mission accomplished but we are still waiting to finalize everything. Which brings me to my "lemonade" I really wanted to have our group train in a dome and I may get my wish even if it was not in the circumstances I would have liked.

A coach, a team, a goal, and this journal

"Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life."

                       The decision to coach soccer was quite possibly the best decision I have ever made. In 2003 I had my first experience as a coach. I was the head coach of a U11 team in my home town, since I was was still playing competitive club soccer this was an interesting situation trying to juggle the two, never less i enjoyed the experience and to this day I still see the kids I coached which are now in High School. I took a year off too graduate High school. The summer between High School and College I started coaching for Lakeville Soccer Club and spend 3 seasons coaching there. I was fortunate to have a lot of success there and enjoyed my time there a lot. In 2008 I decided I wanted to get involved with the Bangu program. At this time the announcement and subsequent formation of the Thunder Academy happened. As try-outs finished up i became the head coach of two boys teams, a U11 east blue team and a U12 south white. This blog is dedicated to the U11 east team. Other events happened and I ended up taking on the role of the South Academy Director, a role in which I enjoy as I get to oversee the development of two girls teams. Along with all this club involvement I also hold the title of Director of Development for Coerver Coaching which is a development program aimed at the individual player.

"Players win games, teams win championships"

               After the try-outs for the U11 east teams we decided that it would be best to progress with pool style training to make more concrete judgements about the players we had. In a sense we were extending try-outs through the fall. As the fall progressed we spilt the teams into tournament groups and one group traveled to the Nike Fall Classic in Chicago and the other to the Superclubs fall invite. Both groups had good outings and fun weekends with group that went to Superclubs going to the finals. Once we went indoor the groups were designated blue and white. Matt Holmes will be coaching the white team and i will be coaching the blue. We are now in the beginning of the indoor training season in which we will train 3 times a week and play in an indoor league.

"Dreams, goals, ambitions - these are the stuff man uses for fuel"

           As a coach i have found setting goals are very productive in the development of a team. It is always good to set short term goals to continuously monitor progress but it also a great idea to set a long term goal.We have several shortterm goals right now weather they are team based such as finishing top 2 in our indoor league or individual based like better ball striking for specific players. Our long term goal is to make it to regional's in 2011 hence the site name "road to regionals".

"Journalism is the ability to meet the challenge of filling space"

         The purpose of this journal is to give the players and parents a record of the team. They will be able to share this site with friends and family so they can track our progress. They will also be able to read about the teams development from the coaches stand point, a view that i feel will be beneficial. Also the players will be able to contribute to the journal so that they can take some ownership to it.

More to come...