After getting off the bus we had 5 minutes to warm-up because we were a tad late due to us waiting as long as we absolutely could for one of our players who called me and gave me play-by-play of the stops the city bus he was on was taking on his way to school. He was 40 minutes past our meeting time and nowhere to be seen so we had to leave without him. (The other coach says to me, "Man, I hate those moments!" Amen.) The first half of the game was a great battle. We were a completely even match for one another and it showed all over the field. Neither team was able to get a legitimate scoring threat going, although our goalie only had to pick the ball up once.
In the second half we turned up the intensity and scored the first goal when we had three players following a shot that was in their goalie's hands only to drop out due to the dew-moistened grass and get knocked in by our closest charging forward. There was probably 15 minutes or so left in the half, but their team was visibly shaken by us scoring the first goal. A few short minutes later we got a great lead pass from one of our midfielders that lead our forward past the fullbacks. As the ball rolled towards the goalie box the keeper ran out to pick it up, but he picked it up before it got to his box resulting in a hand ball violation and a direct kick. Our midfielder took advantage of some confusion and inexperience on their defense's part and snuck the ball past the keeper on the far side of the goal, putting us ahead 2-0 and cementing our victory. The victory was extra sweet as our opponent is the school our principal came from - thus we always have to beat them when we compete in any sport. (He also started the soccer program for them...)
The tournament featured 24 teams playing on five fields spread out over a complex with the concessions' stand serving as the middle. Our first game was at the field furthest from our second game's location. Fortunately, we had an hour between.
Our second game was against the tournament's host. When we lined up for the kick-off it looked to be a pretty even match. Size-wise they were much smaller than we were except for one player who had clearly played soccer before. It was evident that we were a little tired having already played a full game on a regulation field with no subs. The first half was largely spent in the middle of the field as neither of the teams was able to keep control of the ball long enough to mount a serious attack. Our keeper made a couple great saves to keep us deadlocked at 0-0 heading into halftime.
At the break our entire team came over to the sideline, got their water bottles and then collapsed on the grass. I knew they were giving me everything they had, but I had to continue to ask them for more.
The second half was only a couple minutes old when their best player finally broke through our fullbacks and beat our keeper 1-on-1 to pull them ahead 1-0. After that we spent almost 10 minutes trying to get a real attack together only to see our forwards make weak passes or weak shots that were easily defended. As the half wore on, I had our full backs push further and further up the field in an attempt to get something - anything - going offensively. This is always a gamble and we paid as their star again broke through and beat our keeper 1-on-1 to end any hopes of coming back. The game ended 2-0 but I was proud of our effort.
After the second game we had a two hour break before our last game so I let everyone get food from the concessions' stand. I did not want them eating garbage between our first two games, but with 2 hours to wait, they had time to enjoy that aspect of a tournament without it hurting their performance. As I filled up our water bottles behind the concessions' stand I got two very kind compliments about our kids and my coaching. It is always encouraging to hear other parents notice the work we are doing with our kids.
Our last game was not really how I ever envisioned our season ending. It was clear from the warm-ups on that we are not ready to play three games in one day- especially without subs. Whatever energy, hunger and competitive spirit we had brought with us to the tournament was completely used up and spent on our second game. We looked tired and flat from the first whistle. Nobody was hustling anymore, nobody was looking to pick up their teammates and fight. We were down 2-0 at half when I made my final plea for 25 more minutes of everything we had to give. But we had already given it all more than two hours before this game started. The lone bright spot came when we were down 3-0 and found enough to make one last attack that scored our only goal. So we lost 3-1 and ended the season 3-6.
Overall, the season was a great success. At one point we had 18 kids at one practice and ended with 11. Less than half were 8th graders, so we have a good nucleus to build with for next year. Hopefully, we will be able to get out this summer and have some camps or at least play together (and get in shape) to see HOPE soccer build to the level of other schools that were at this tournament.
We want to give a gigantic THANK YOU to everyone who sent us donations to help outfit the Tigers this year! We are extremely grateful to know that so many of you love HOPE + soccer enough to support us!
THANK YOU + GO TIGERS!
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