[lookout123]

But on to the last game. The team we were facing was missing their two top scorers so I knew the outcome before we took the field. My two kids who were moving up to the next age group were allowed to play any position they wanted as long as they told me what they were doing so I could reposition around them. Lil Lookout's allergies and asthma were kicking the crap out of him and he'd already played a tough club game so he told me "I just want to score a few then I'll stay in the goal." cocky lil bugger, ain't he? My only other agenda was to make sure that my three players who didn't score much got into scoring positions for the last game.

I told LL, B, and C that they couldn't shoot with their right foot until they each had an assist. 4 minutes into the game LL came over after scoring and apologized because he "tried to pass it to L but it went into the goal instead." He was concerned about having to run laps for ignoring the rules. I could only laugh.

Anyway, the kids were playing great and passing the ball really well. We were up by 4 points and I told the ref to not change the scoreboard anymore. With about 5 minutes left in the first half my tiny little dynamo B shouted with terror "I can't play against him! He'll step on me!" The other coach had put one of his player's older brothers who plays club level U12 age bracket in a center midfield position. Cool. I figured he'd go out and shore up the midfield and help their team organize some attack. Instead he went out and played full field attacking ball. I just watched him for awhile not really concerned with the score. I wanted to see my kids' reaction to him. I had my weakest lineup out there because I had been trying to keep the score down and I wanted the other team to put some points on the board and this kid took advantage of that. Lil Lookout was in the goal and was pretty pissed after he got scored on twice, but I told him to deal with it and just play his best. Right about then the kid shouldered LL's little crush off the ball and charged the goal. Wrong thing to do at that point because LL doesn't understand the concept of "punching above his weight" and he went straight out at the attacker and slid into him before he could shoot. LL's down, the attacker is down, parents are yelling from the sidelines.

I stopped the other coach and told him it was ok to have that player out there but it might be better if he told the kid to marshal the troops and help THEM score instead of just attacking on his own. The coach blew me off with the pronouncement " He passes more than he shoots and he's having fun." Uh, ok. Are you more concerned about teaching the kids to play or about getting a couple more points in the last game of a rec league season? Dummy.

So at that point my kids were a little flustered. I was annoyed, not because of the scoreline, but because of the idiocy of using a ringer like that to win a game rather than teaching the other players how to win. So I reset my players into a strong line up and took the leashes off. I put my weakest player in goal, 2 strongest defenders, 3 solid forwards and LL to run the midfield on his own. I kept that lineup intact for ten minutes before the other coach conceded the point and put his ringer into a different position and had him start directing the players around him. During that 10 minutes we had scored 12 points and they hadn't scored at all. Point made. What the point was, I'm not exactly sure, but I was annoyed at the coaching stupidity when I had already arranged my team to make sure the game would not get out of hand.

Admittedly, it was pretty fun watching my kids really kick it into overdrive to subdue the ringer who could only chase after the ball being passed by rec league kids 4 and 5 years younger than himself. He is a club player, he should know how to get his team involved instead of doing it all on his own.

Season over. Every kid scored at least once. All but one scored multiple times. Every kid played in every position at some point. All kids are signed up to play the next session without a single family deciding it was time for another sport. Mission accomplished.

9-0-1