You're Planning On Taking This Team Where?!?!
Rational for seeking tough regional and national tournament competition at the younger age groups
I remember the first time I announced my intentions of taking the U12 Inferno out of the Midwest region to a tournament in 2003. I wanted to bring the girls to the President's Day Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona, and I think a couple of the parents nearly fainted at the prospect of a plane trip at that age. I'd bet that many are now looking back at the trip as a very positive development opportunity for the girls.
In Minnesota's current soccer climate, the thought of traveling to regional/national events is becoming more and more commonplace. No question that MN teams used to travel to events decades ago, but the recent surge in popularity I think stems from the fact that people somehow equate high level soccer teams with travel. Regardless, travel to events for me has a number of very beneficial aspects.
Positive Experiences and Memories
I still carry with me today very fond memories from a trip my U14 team took out to the Pike's Peak Invitational tournament in 1985. The caravan out west in my buddy Dean Alcock's van, the water fights at the hotel, the spit wad wars between the cars, the toothpaste on the hotel door handles and in teammates soccer shoes, the excitement of playing team's from other states, the wind tipping the goal over almost on top of Joel Cox's (our goalkeeper's) head, and the mint girls from Dallas.
Notice I didn't say much about the games, save for the fact that we were looking forward to playing teams from other states. I don't remember one of those games we did play, but that didn't detract from the other positive feelings I've kept with me about this event. And I have many others from my youth from different events.
For the kids, this is what it's about. Do my girls remember the games we played? I doubt it. I can almost guarantee that the go-cart races, laser tag marathons, and lively team dinners will likely never be forgotten.
Light and the End of the Tunnel
For my group, we spend a lot of time indoors in the winter months. Planning a spring tournament trip is a great way to help keep the girls motivated and focused, knowing that they are preparing for something that is concrete and exciting. This past winter, the girls knew back in November that we were looking to head to Richmond in this past March. This trip helped me motivate the girls throughout the winter, preaching about the competition we were sure to face out east.
Find Challenge, Find Success
I comment about this in the Find Challenge, Find Success section, but I'll touch on it again here. The only way teams get better is when they are challenged and tested to the best of their ability. For the girls I'm dealing with currently, we have not been able to find much challenge at our own age group here in MN. We moved to the boys league for a season in 2005, and then have been playing up an age group in older Minnesota girls leagues since. Playing up is fine, but we are usually outmatched athletically in every game we play. Thus, in order to find out exactly where these girls are at in terms of their development, I need to find female competition at their true age group. This means traveling outside of Minnesota or playing in the one or two events in state that attract regional/national-level competition. Since there is only one event that comes close to really guaranteeing this (USA Cup in Blaine, MN), I take these girls on the road quite a bit.
This year, we've already played in the Eclipse Select Challenge (Libertyville, IL) and the Omaha Friendlies (Omaha, NE), and have plans to attend the Jefferson Cup (Richmond, VA), West Des Moines Premier Games (Des Moines, IA), Arsenal Elite Invitational (Cincinnati, OH), and hopefully Regionals in June (Des Moines, IA).
From a coaching perspective, find tough competition at our age group/gender allows me to see exactly where these girls are individually and collectively. Competition like this highlights individual and team strengths and weaknesses allowing me to then return to Minnesota and design training sessions to address these weaknesses.
Moreover, I get to see what other top club teams are doing at this age group to better be able to measure a true pulse of where U13 girls are at across this country. What is the overall technical ability at the top level, what tactics are other coaches able to employ, how do our athletes measure up to athletes in other top clubs, etc.
In addition to this, the girls themselves get to experience firsthand what other girls from across the country are doing at this age level. It's a reality check for some of the girls who have aspirations to play at the highest level as experiences like this help to motivate some who may have become a little complacent into renewed action and focus. For some of the talented girls who are still not confident in their abilities, they may see firsthand that they are not far off from where some of the nation's top players are at. By the way, it is sometimes a good reality check for the adults involved as well (coaches and parents).
I realize that these trips are a financial burden to the families involved. However, players are with me because they want to be the best players they can be, and there is little doubt that travel to events like this increase the girls passion and excitement for the game, serve as useful motivational tools, and allow me to design more efficient training sessions for the team. All this leads to accelerated player and team development.