Kid's sports - The Sequel

[lookout123]

Here's some of the Americans coming up.
Adu
Altidore
Bradley

[lookout123]

Lil Lookout and two of the boys on the team go to school together and I've become friends with the parents. For the last month or so, I've picked the 3 boys up after school and taken them to the field (which sits empty) to just play and kick the ball around.

The club director was embarrassed when he stopped me yesterday and informed me that I can't bring them to the club field anymore because after the game on saturday someone complained that it's unfair that I practice my kids more than once per week. A coach who shall remain nameless and childish demanded equal field time. Freakin' loser coach. Sad thing is that if he had asked if he could bring his kids up and play with us it would have been fun.

So I will now be taking the boys to the park instead.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by lookout123

...someone complained that it's unfair that I practice my kids more than once per week...

. . . I cannot comprehend the thought process behind this. . . . What is the world coming to?

[lookout123]

On the one hand I can understand the complaint. Field time is a commodity because they are indoor fields. Each team gets one hour practice per week. If one coach started practicing 3/4 nights per week, his team would probably pick apart the opposition simply because they'll be more comfortable on the ball. (Nevermind the fact that half of his current team had never touched a ball before a year ago, so I DID take them to the park a couple nights each week to teach them the very very basics.)

On the other hand, that isn't what I've been doing at all. I've been picking 3 little boys up from school and letting them kick a soccer ball around for an hour. By his reasoning I'll have to make sure that those 3 don't play soccer at recess. Wouldn't want to be unfair to the kids that don't go to school together and all.

Whatever. Like I said in the last game report the coach has been a bit nutty from his juice. I expect him to really get his team pumped up for the next time we play them. We'll see how that works.

[LabRat]

:::shaking head in disbelief:::

Unbelievable.

[Clodfobble]

If you were somehow using your influence to keep other people off this highly-desirable indoor field while you were using it, I guess I can see where he might be coming from. But if you're just showing up to an empty field and using it? That guy is retarded. I think I'm pretty convinced that every other coach in your league is retarded, actually.

[lookout123]

LOL. I can see why you'd think that after some of the stories, but it isn't really that bad. Some of these guys are making repeat performances in the stories, you just can't tell because I'm not using names.

[monster]

My kids all play soccer -the stories ring true to me. I used to coach peewee (preschool) soccer. The crap from the parents and coaches then (kids aged 3-5) was enough to convince me to let someone else take over at kindergarten......

It's funny that there are more parents willing to pitch in at that level than at the absolute beginner level when you need know very little. Of course you do have to be prepared to be on the field, pick the kids up, run, put them down in front of the ball, wipe their noses, tell them to kick, admire the dandelions they've picked while you were wiping their nose ....

[zippyt]

Oh fuck him Look out , get your team togather in your back yard secretly , teach them how to Kick ASS!!!!!!! ,
FUCK THIS WHINING ASS LOOSER !!!

[lookout123]

This week's report shall be in two parts as I was thrust into the role of team coach five minutes before kickoff so I'll report on both games.

First will be our normal rec team with all my usual kids. I knew the team we were playing and they are by far the weakest team out there. Brand new first time coach, a few strong players, everybody at least decent, but no cohesion. I knew we would pick them apart and drop at least 20 points on them if I lined the kids up like normal, so I had already decided to line my kids up defensively and rotate my weakest kids through forward and goalkeeper. I got a phone call from the director about 30 minutes before the game begging me to do what I had already decided to do, because he wants this group of kids to gain some confidence. No Problem.

Before the game I ran into the other coach and found out he was a player short and no subs so I put Lil Lookout and another player in their colors and was about to send them out when I was told not to worry, their players had showed up. I didn't pay any attention at all and kep LL and my other top scorer on the side. I had a weak line up out there and had already told my kids that for every assist they'd get 5 chucky cheese tokens and for every left foot shot they'd get 10 tokens for our end of season party next month. Yes, I know bribery sucks but how else do you redirect motivations from a normal coaching point? I was still dealing with sideline issues when the whistle blew 20 seconds in and I thought to myself, "uh oh, we scored way to fast". Except it wasn't us. The other team had scored. I couldn't believe it. Cool. Then they did it again. I couldn't figure out who it was until the kid walked back to the center and I realized that they were using two of the players from the club team one age group up. Crap. Now mind you that the other team already has skilled players, just no real leadership - well now they have it.

I acted too slowly to sub though and had to wait until they had scored their third point before putting LL in as center mid with C and C on either side of him and B alone up front. I put my strongest defender in the back with one of my noobs and told her to lock it up. My kids fought it out and but couldn't get close to the net for an open shot. LL started getting frustrated and gave up two fouls back to back. Then the kids settled down and started passing. Unfortunately, the parents from our team got a little excited and started screaming at their kids to pass to LL every chance they could. But the two club players owned him. He'd get the ball and shake one only to get stuffed by the next one. So I subbed him out and gave him some rest. C managed to spook their keeper and allowed B to tap one in behind him so we went into the break down 3-1.

Seeing that my skilled players were getting closed down when they were near the box I changed things up and put my started rotating my unskilled but enthusiastic noobs into the forward slot and played a 3 person midfield pressed close in, LL right behind them and a strong defender back on her own with my strongest keeper in the goal. It worked pretty well as my noobs ran frantically around the goalbox distracting the defenders and the goalie, their club players were pinned deep because I had 3 solid midfielders harassing them from close in. That left LL time on the ball when he'd hover within about 10 feet the center line. My mids kept trying to blast the ball in only to see it bounce back out, but they kept at it. Finally things started to break loose after LL recovered the ball at the center dribbled up a couple yards and let loose. It looped just under the crossbar well out of reach for the keeper.

Now it's 3-2 and my kids have settled into a pattern of blasting it, recovering it, and shooting again. LL scored 2 more from the outside and B headed one in from close. We're up 4-3 now. Then the ball pops out and LL wasn't fast enough to recover and left our lone defender stranded so it is tied 4-4. At that point my kids pick up their 4th foul which results in a shoot out. Just our keeper against their best shooter, easy point for them. Except the keeper made a diving save and stopped it with his nose. No blood, no missing teeth, so he is ready to keep playing. At that point the game opens up. My keeper has the ball but instead of punting it he rolls it short to C in our own corner who dribbles a couple steps, waits for the other player to commit and passes it up the line, to B who does the exact same thing, so LL receives the ball about 10 feet from the goal, but on the line he has to cut in and thread it between the defender and the goalie. Instead he decides to be fancy and use that time to try a new trick. He takes 2 steps back, sucks the defender out and kicks the ball against the wall to the his right. The defender and the keeper turn to watch the ball, but LL has run out to his left where the ball bounces out and taps it in with his left foot. Lucky he made it or I'd have kicked his little but for that one.

It goes back and forth for awhile and the kids just kept grinding. The game ended 10-10 and the kids were exhausted. It was by far the most challenging game they've had as a group and it was fun to watch.

[lookout123]

At this point I'm concerned because LL is exhausted from that grinder of a game and he only has 45 minutes until his next one. I take him, cram some bananas and a yogurt into him, some hydration, and a little downtime. We walk in about 10 minutes before kick off and as I'm getting him switched into the right jersey the club coach walks up and tells me he has to go and that "my" team is waiting for me over in the locker room. Oh crap, when do I get to just sit and watch?

Oh well, at least I see we have enough players to get started. Then I check the roster and realize that we are playing a team in the age group up. Good kids from a nearby club, I know some of them and the coach is a good guy. Then I find out that I'm having another player added to my team. I'm supposed to "try out" D1. We're playing an Under9, tier one team who we are already giving up an average of 13 months, 4 inches, and 15-20 lbs to and he sends me D1. Now D1 is a good kid with good touch, but he is tiny. He is tiny even for his age. Did I mention he just turned 5 this month? And he can only play forward? And he doesn't speak english? He literally came up to the belly button on the biggest kid for the other team.

Oh well, I put the line up in as the normal coach specified and the game began. A minute in and our goalkeeper leaks one through the five hole trying to be fancy. Seriously? Fancy NOW? We were down 4 nothing eight minutes into the game when I said screw it and through out the coach's game plan and decided to improvise. Normally he puts D2, who is big and has good footwork, in as centerforward, LL as Left Wing, and B as right wing. The problem is that D2 refuses to pass and our defense is weak. So I moved D2 into defense and told him for every goal the other team scores because he didn't pass he has to spend 5 minutes on defense. I left T on defense and moved my weak defender to the bench, B1 who is a great all around player into defensive midfield, LL as attacking Mid right in front of him and B2 and D1 as forwards. (I had to keep D on the near side whenever he was in because someone was translating all my directions ) Neither one of the forwards were likely to score as they don't have a strong foot, but I knew they'd run and could control and pass, and both move to compensate for a changing structure. LL played up the center with B1 backing him up. 2 minutes later it paid off as D1 fought hard for the ball and knocked it away from the defender, LL ran onto the ball in the corner, beat one defender and hit the top corner. D1 subbed out, J subbed in and managed to head the ball over the defender, LL didn't wait to gain control, he just turned and volleyed the ball in from midair, again over the keeper. LL came out, D1 back in. That didn't work quite as well and the other team scored. LL back in as defensive mid and B1 out. Now it is a running battle between the midfielders with the defenders locking things up. We scored a couple more times before the half. We went into the half down by one. At that point B3 shows up late. We were better off without him as he really doesn't belong at the club level yet. Nice kid, just not ready for it physically or mentally. But he's there so he subs in. He can't defend for squat so upfront he goes. But he can't control or shoot either so we are now essentially playing a player short. We go down another point on a breakaway and I put the strongest team back in with J and T on defense, LL and B1 in midfield, D2 on the right, and B2 on the left. In that format the kids go on a run and we find ourselves up by a point with two minutes left. B3 goes in as a mid, B1 dropping to defense because J is just out of gas. The other team immediately ties and B3's dad asks me to pull him so he doesn't lose confidence. So D1 goes in as forward and B2 drops to mid with LL. The other team is pressuring hard when T drags one of their players down. Free kick from close in - there's a point as the ball goes over our keeper. (grow a little will ya kid? )

We're down by a point with a minute left. I push B1 up to mid, so we're now only with one defender and loaded on the attacking front. B1, B2, and D1 combine some nice movements to find LL in open space where he pops it in over their keeper before getting leveled by their defender. He's crying but won't come off the field as we're tied with 40 seconds on the clock. The other team presses everyone forward on the restart and our kids are fighting hard to keep them out until we get called for handball about 20 feet out and to the left of our goal. All the kids rush in and make a wall and it looks good until the last second LL sees the other team's top scorer completely unmarked just drifting over to the backside of the goal and sprints over to cover him. B2 is totally startled and starts yelling at LL and completely doesn't notice as the ball goes right past him to bounce into the goal off the other team's player who was just standing and watching the clock. We're down one point with about 10 seconds left so I push everyone including the keeper up. The kids fought hard but the other team was well trained and they kicked the ball out of bounds twice to kill the remaining time.

A well fought game. The other team's parents and coach all commented on how well the kids did. They really did fight hard.

I saw our club coach on Sunday and he asked how the game went. I told him that we lost by one and explained that the kids would have done better, but B2 and D2 aren't used to taking directions from me and aren't used to my lineups, and D1 isn't used to english so we had some growing pains. He laughed and said that he expected our kids to lose by double digits as the team we played was the number one ranked team tier one team and had gone the whole outdoor season undefeated. Oh thanks, you couldn't tell me that before the game started?

[classicman]

Lookout - your stories bring back some of the the best, and worst, memories for me while I was coaching my sons. With two sons both playing both rec and travel soccer indoor and out for years - close to a decade between the two. I too wished many a time to be able to just sit and watch my sons play and to be able to simply cheer them on as a father rather than a coach. It took me a long time to finally swallow hard and walk away from my competitive nature and love of coaching to do it for my boys. I finally realized a great thing - I had taught my sons all I could about soccer and in the end they taught ME what was most important - just being their Dad.

Do your thing, my friend - I can tell from what you write that you are an awesome coach, the kids respond well and are learning valuable life lessons above and beyond simple soccer skills. Thats what coaching is all about - you are doing a great job! Congrats!
Wish I could come by and watch a game or two. Indoor is so much faster and so much fun.

[lookout123]

It has been a couple weeks since I posted as nothing unusual has happened. The kids have continued improving and are still undefeated. Lil Lookout has continued his scoring streak and that is about it.

I was out of town for the weekend and was going to miss the games so I asked one of the other coaches who I trust to approach the games with respect to fill in for me. Lil Lookout was still playing so my dad was there to tape the games for me. As a dad, after watching the video I can only smile and chuckle. (As a coach I have to cringe) Lil Lookout played two blinders. The kid was just on fire. The rest of the team really fought it out as well. Their passing and movement is really starting to become impressive.

Unfortunately, the guy I asked to fill in for me, got pulled away and had another coach fill in. The coach who filled in is a friend, but not a great coach. He is actually very frustrated because he refuses to see the connection between his lack of coaching flexibility and his team's low morale and constant failure. He coaches fundamentals but nothing on the mental side of the game. The results are dismal. He often complains how I stack my team after we beat his team. When I saw him on the video setting my kids up I knew what was going to happen. He was going to use this opportunity with my "stacked" (i prefer to call them trained) team to show his prowess and really pick apart the other team. The other team has 4 of the super cool club kids and the club director is the coach. Usually they walk all over everyone. We beat them, but only by a couple points usually because I rotate my strong and weaker players through regardless of the competition.

D (the fill in coach) lined the kids up in the strongest line up we have. He put the weakest player in the goal, put 2 strong defenders and then all 4 of the strongest attacking players up front. He sat Lil Lookout down 10 minutes and 5 points later. He only rested him for a minute or two. The ref quit changing the scoreboard when the kids were up 10-1. It was stupid and ugly. I never ever keep the strongest line up on the field like that for a whole game. He didn't even have to coach them and he knew it, all he did is give them a position and let them go. At some point their keeper who is fantastic even at the club level just sat down and cried. LL was caught on video apologizing to him and saying he wouldn't score anymore. By my count the final score was 23-3. You can't blame 6 and 7 year olds for running up the score, it is completely the coach's fault. Pathetic and wrong.

Apparently a parent from the other team complained that Lil Lookout was left upfront for the whole game and D just smirked and said, "It doesn't matter where you put him, he'll still score". Then the parent turned on Lil Lookout and made it clear he was a little jerk who didn't belong out there with her kid. LL is a pretty sensitive kid and that is the only thing he told me about when I called him from mexico to ask about his games. He didn't mention how he played or if he had fun, just that someone's mom said some nasty things to him.

I will now have some serious damage control to do for the next few weeks.

[Flint]

You're probably the coolest guy in the world. Keep up the good work.

[kerosene]

I started feeling myself get pissed when I read the part about the mom saying something about LL. WTF is wrong with people? He's a 6 year old, for Christ's sake! She needs to take her inadequacy issues somewhere else, says I. (As a mother of a 6 year old, I am allowed to be outraged by this.)