Last saturday's game was an absolute blast. Lil Lookout had a club game against the league leaders scheduled at the same time on another field so I sent him over there. (They lost -6-4)
Our team took the field with a couple of the kids nervous that Lil Lookout wasn't there as usual. They've never seen me without the kid there, so I suppose that was normal. We were facing one of the mid table teams so the game could definitely go either way. When LL is playing he kind of assumes an unofficial captain's role on the field just because he is cocky enough to direct the other players (yes that is good and bad). Without him I was concerned that they would lack a bit of direction so I instituted an official Captain for the first time and gave him the armband. C was the man for this game, he's got the ability but he usually likes to settle into his second fiddle role though so it was a fun experiment to tell him the team was his and it was his job to direct them. He did great. The other coach of course mocked me for having a captain, but that's ok - it's a friendly rivalry. His kid is on my team afterall.
I put my two weakest kids up top, strongest midfield, decent defense and good goalie in. 2 minutes, 1 goal. Great passing. All smiles and fun. They scored a couple more and were just having fun without a care in the world until the other team scored two in a row. Their confidence was dented a little bit more when I benched C2, the most aggressive goalscorer and other coach's son, because he started playing a little dirty against his sister and cousin on the other team.
We went into the break winning by 2 but the tide was turning and the kids looked unsure of themselves. I decided they didn't need a pep talk as much as to just relax, so we used our break to play tag until they all piled on top of me as the bleachers full of parents and the other team just stared at us like we were insane. I told them to relax and have fun and set them back in position with C (the captain) on the bench with me.
I told him it was his job to rally the troops and make sure they knew what to do. I asked him how to do that and he shrugged and said that's what LL does, not him. I asked how Lil Lookout does that and he replied that he usually just scores. It took us awhile to get to the point but he finally came to the conclusion that he needed to go get the ball and show his team that they could break down the other team's defense. He went out there and tried. and tried. and tried. He didn't realize it but the other kids started to push further and further up the field with him and were now really pinning the other team back when finally C got the break he was looking for and nailed the outside shot. Jumps, cheers, and smiles break out and from that point on the kids ran the field. C became a human dynamo. C2 calmed down. B started running with focus (not easy for a 6 year old with ADD), and D started bossing the midfield even though she was on defense, C kept track of and directed the movement of J,S,L, and K - no small task in and of itself. I sat back and kept quiet, just subbing the kids in and out as needed. At one point C was doing so well directing them that I played tic tac toe with B's little brother on the bench.
Final score: 10-3.
Team record: 7-0-1
Experience gained: You don't need a rockstar to follow if you just decide to be a rockstar yourself.