Catching up with the Crushers . . . Outdoor Season Begins!

In our last team post, the Crushers had just finished their last indoor session and suprised the heck out of their coach.  They went 3-3.  Even when they lost, they played competitively in each game.  Quite an improvement from the first indoor session.

I will have to admit it was nice to have a couple of weekends when there were no soccer games.  I actually got to spend a weekend day vegging on the couch .  Mother Nature even cooperated with a rainy day, so yard work was out of the question.

Outdoor season kicked off last weekend.  The Crushers played against my other U-10 team.  Every player on the National Team is also on a house team from our region.  I coach my son's team (the blue team) in the house league as well.  When the National Team played this team last fall we lost 4-2.  In that game, Taz played the entire game for the national team.  This time Taz played half the game for the National Team and half the game for the blue team.  The Crushers were victorious 5-2.  Both teams played well, but the National Team took advantage of more of their scoring opportunities.

There were a few negatives in the game.  The biggest one was the refusal of two of the young men on our team to pass to the young women of our team.  Lets just say we nipped that one in the bud at practice.  The second negative is a recurring problem.  This team starts slow.  They are not ready to play when the game starts.  The same was true in this game.  While the Crushers out played the blue team for three quarters,  they were out played in the first quarter. At the end of the first, it was 2-0 blue team. If you regularly give up that kind of lead, you will not always come back.  Finally, we have to work on finishing.  We get the ball in front of the net and we are fumbling over it.  We need to learn to strike the ball directly off the pass.  But there are worse problems to have. At least we are getting the ball in scoring position.

The were a lot of positives.  Defense is still playing well.  The full backs seem to get better every game.  Mid fielders are starting spread out and pass the ball.  Forwards are actually playing in the box.  And the Crushers are learning to score when Taz is not on the field.  We still have alot to work on, but we have really come a long way.  The players should be proud of themselves, I am.

Until next time . . . Go Crushers!