Week Three

With the holiday Monday, we only had three practices this week which leaves us one practice (next Monday) before our first game. It should be very interesting.

Our three practices brought our total of players-that-have-been-to-at-least-one-practice up to 18 or so now. However, we have only been able to get 10 at the most to any practice. By the end of the week we were spending at least 30 minutes on offense v. defense. (On our fenced in lot this means setting up cones 24 ft apart in front of the chain link fence and hoping no one kicks it over the fence, but at least twice a practice it happens. Behind the fence is a miniature jungle of weeds. More fun!)

I have learned three things from our mini-scrimmages: 1. Everyone wants to play goalie 2. No one wants to be on defense 3. No one knows anything about positioning, spacing, attacking, defending, etc, etc, etc (Except for one sixth grader who continually schooled his teammates and got shots on goal almost at will!)

I really have no idea what we will look like next Tuesday other than our jerseys and field are all set. I ordered corner flags and nets (along with 6 new balls - so I don't have to pump up four of our "ghetto" balls every practice only to find them flat by the end of practice - and new goalie gloves). When the packages arrived I learned that I had ordered only 1 soccer net (who sells single soccer nets?) and that it was fit for an A-frame (who knew there were multiple kinds of soccer goals?).

This afternoon I drove out to an actual goal manufacturer (where I should have started) and bought an official net set along with some velcro to keep the nets up and take them down easily (since we will be playing our "home" games at a city park this year).

I am confident that I know I have two forwards picked out and that I have two 8th graders I plan on playing one half each until one shows he deserves the spot. The rest of the line-up will be up for grabs by the kids who... A) show up and B) show me they want the spot.

This week was a real struggle for me since I spent all day (as a dean of students for K4-2nd and 6th-8th grade students) working with upset kids and then my soccer team (made up of many of the same kids along with kids who have never played soccer or been on a team) is not sure they want to run my drills and function as a team. This season may be my most challenging yet... the adventure takes a new turn next Tuesday..!

We are still in need of a little financial support. Any gift (of any size) you will receive a team picture. Any gift $50+ and you will get a team t-shirt.