Catching Up with the Crushers . . .

The Spring 2010 Revenge Tour continues.  As I have said a couple times in the past, I am not one of those touchy feely kinds of coaches who just wants to have fun.  I teach my kids to play to win.  Someone once said ( I believe it was Lombardi) \," winning isn't everything, but striving to win is."  If I had to summarize by coaching philosophy in one sentence, that is the one I would use.  So when I started setting up scrimmages this spring, I went back to all the teams we played and lost to last fall.  I have framed this spring as our Revenge Tour.  So far, so good.

The Crushers played the U-10 boys team (the Black Team).  We tied this team 2-2 last fall.  It was in that game that the wall got her name from the opposing coach.  One of the kids on the Black team lives across the street from us and is Taz's friend.  He is a good kid and a good soccer player.  So for Taz, the game was also about bragging rights for the summer.  The game started off with allot of energy.  As usual the Crushers started slow, but atleast it did not take as long for them to get going.  We have been working diligently on passing and finishing in practice.  I have even been taking time away from defense to accomplish this.  It showed both on the offensive end and on the defensive end.  Inspite of some poor defense play, we won 4-2. 

Bad news first, I always say.  The Crushers returned to some bad habits defensively.  The backs were playing too close to the goal.  They would charge the ball and fall for the simplest moves.  They were giving up the middle of the field.  Players,particularly midfielders, were standing around watching the ball, instead of guarding opposing players or attacking the ball.  The Black Team scored two goals because we played bad defense.  It will be a defensive filled practices this week.

The good news is always more fun.  The team is really starting to understand how to play the game on offense.  Blind passes (passes not directed to any particular player) and one time kicks are decreasing.  Ball control and offensive passes are increasing.  The teams still has a tendency to stand around and watch Taz, but they are getting better.  Izzy got two goals after making runs and receiving passes from Taz.  Izzy returned the favor and lead Taz with a beautiful pass that resulted in one of Taz's two goals.

I think the lesson to be learned is don't sacrifice defense to practice offense and don't sacrafice offense to practice defense.  If we, the coaches, let up on any facit of the game, the kids will loose focus and perform poorly in that area.  Balancing practice time leads to a balanced team.  In the end, they are steadly improving. I am most impressed with the improvement they have shown in their ball control skills.  Their ball control skills have improved dramitcally since last August.  I am very proud of them.

We will see you next time.  Until then . . . Go Crushers!