Recap Game 4: Team Win

What a fantastic game last night! There were so many positive things that we witnessed that hopefully I'll be able to recall them all.

Defense: To put it mildly, they were bored and we like to keep it that way. I spoke with one defender after the game and he said he had the time to work on some "new moves" he'd been practicing at home. What a luxury it was for our defenders to have more time to execute and send great passes into the mid. The couple of times the opposition did break into our half, the defenders were ready and handily stopped their progression. Well done!

Midfield: Most of the game was played here to attack and some of the biggest plays that enabled goals were started in the mid. One midfielder in particular gave us our first goal when he made a great first touch on a pass from defense, directed away from the opposition (switched his motion) and sent a long service ball to a striker, splitting the defense. Our defensive mid position was also extremely pivotal on both a defensive stance and pushing our mid-to-attack posture. So many opportunities were created by well timed and executed passes from the mids.

Attack: I wish we would have kept stats last night on the number of shots on goal. We had so many opportunities to score with all of the shots and break aways. With good service passes from mids, our attackers, wings & strikers, were able to capitalize with strong, open and most of the time straight one-on-one attacks on goal. 2nd half gave us the edge by landing the 3 goals. Our wings played a lot of balls in from the corners. Our strikers were there for the shots, crosses and follows.  At times it felt like practice when I call for our defenders to play at 50% to allow more shots from our offense. We just penetrated and kept on shooting. Great success!

Hopefully the parents enjoyed watching the game as much as we enjoyed coaching. There was so much energy from the players. Those on the bench were begging to get in and up front to have their shot on goal. Defenders were clamoring to come forward and have their shot. Teams always change (ours has a lot in the last few years) but it was nice to pull off the 3-0 victory after just a year ago they spanked our team 1-7. Congrats on the win and thanks to the keepers for only touching the ball once :) See you on Sat.

Game Re-cap for 9/28 Game

Let me begin by saying congratulations on our first win of the season! After a shaky start the boys really fought back and pulled off a great win over a worthy competitor. Let me break it down.

Defense: One line that distinguishes a strong squad from another is their defensive line. If you can't hold your attackers at bay you don't stand much of a chance at winning the game. With some adjustments both in practice and during the game we found the right combination of defenders that literally held the attackers and prevented a single 2nd half shot at goal. Noah may have been bored but we were glad for it. Great work defense!

Midfield: Transitions from defense to front are critical, especially on such a large playing field. If you can't move it forward in the middle you're going to play defense the entire game. We found the right combination of midfielders that transitioned selflessly to our strikers and wings. Our defense had confidence in their ability to bring them some relief and our strikers benefited from their great passes.

Attack: If you can't put it in the back of the net, you can't win a game. We were fortunate that a few well placed shots found their mark (when we didn't shoot directly at the keeper, Jaden :) .  The 2nd half really showed just how powerful our attack can break away with well passed balls into the lanes.

Coaching: I wanted to publicly thank Caleb and Bob for helping to break down the 1st half weaknesses and unanimously make changes for the 2nd half. Also for having my back while an unruly opposition coach blathered on while denying his culpable lack of sporting behavior. Hopefully you've noticed that any "shouting" you may hear from our side of the field is coaching, not belittling or demeaning. I hope to say the same for other coaches.

Lastly, thanks to the parents for supporting your players. It means a lot to have you out there every game. Bedford was a bit of a travel and I sincerely am grateful to dedicated parents willing to, well, be a great parent and help their player compete, have fun and succeed.

No game this Saturday so enjoy your weekend off! See you on Monday.

Game Canceled for 9/25

All BAYFA games are canceled for the day. Sorry for the late notice as BAYFA literally closed the fields at 9:20 (IMHO pretty irresponsible for a 10:00 AM start). Enjoy the day off, get those rooms clean, spend some good family time, play a game, catch up on homework, do whatever, just have fun!

Practice, Game Tomorrow & Game Rescheduled

First, let me congratulate you on not having played on Saturday. The heat index pushed one of my team's game over 104 and we had a referee drop in the 2nd half. The game lasted 105 minutes. Brutal. May I re-emphasize the need for proper hydration.

Please make sure your player attends today's practice as it's the last chance to shake off the rust of the summer in preparation for tomorrow's match.

Tomorrow we play the KSA Cobras on KSA-E. Game time is 6pm so please have your player there by 5:40PM. Please bring your own liquids as the coach rarely has extra and most of the time doesn't have any for himself. Don't let your player leave the house without checking his bag for a full bottle(s) of adequate hydrating liquid.

Finally, the game that was rained out has now been scheduled for 9/28. Our schedule has been updated.

See you tonight!

Hydration Impacts Performance

A coaching buddy of mine tipped me to a good article on the impacts of proper hydration and how it affects player performance. Please take a moment to have a gander at the article and consider how your player may benefit from proper hydration.

http://www.soccer-fans-info.com/hydration.html

Soccer Drills

Thanks for coming out to practice on Mon. Some of the players, including my veterans, were a bit confused on some of the skills we covered. Here's an example of "scissors" and many variations. Please have your player practice these at home before the next practice.

Also, I'll be posting additional skills via youtube videos on the "Skills" tab above.

Welcome to the Fall 2010 FireDragons

Welcome to the FireDragons and the Fall 2010 season for Keller Soccer. Many of the players are new so we have a lot of getting to know you to do.

Looks like I was wrong on myteamcaptain as the their new subscription service is lacking and too $ for what is being offered. Instead, I'll go traditional with a site, GMail, Google Calendar and my mobile :) Additional messages will be posted here on the blog, including tips, thoughts and photos. This site will have practice and game schedules up to date and will send out reminders without my having to remember to send them. In the event I need to send out an immediate team notification, I'll send via e-mail and SMS so please send me your most current mobile #, both parents if preferred.

My background: I've coached for 10 years, I'm a grade 8 certified USSF referee and I currently coach 4 teams and serve on the KSA board of directors as an age group commissioner. I'm excited to teach your players and look forward to working on skills and a bit of tactical work.

Our practice night will be Mon from 5 PM - 6:30 PM at Arcadia Park ( http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114536015816289706525.0004546b021a71966e82a&t=h&z=17 ).

For practice, please have your player prepared to sweat it out. Things to bring: cleats (soccer only, no toe cleats), shin guards, sufficient water (coach doesn't bring any extra water), personal size 4 ball and an attitude to work and have fun.

Games start Sept 7th so we have a lot of work to do to get ready a short amount of time. Please make sure your player is on time for practice.

My personal mobile # is 817.598.9636 and it's always on me. I only postpone answering when I'm at practice, in a game, in church services or sleeping. All other times are free game. I also check voicemail.


And for those curious, here's a picture of me while watching the 2010 World Cup (not on location, I wish).

Welcome to the team and I look forward to meeting all new players on Mon and seeing my returning core players.