[lookout123]

Saturday was our last game as a team. We practiced really hard on Wednesday then had our pizza party. The kids were nervous going into the last game because the team we were playing had the 4 "tough" players we had played the week before. We worked on playing smarter and what to do when the twins started fouling them.

DE and D are my two most solid defenders. What they lack in technique they make up in heart. C is a natural defensive midfielder. I worked with them on wednesday and reminded them on saturday about a couple ways to take care of the twins.

I started with my strongest defensive line up with those three back and Lil Lookout in the goal. DE and D did exactly what I taught them. The big move that the twins have is to lean hard on the defenders and then hit them with their elbow as they try to get the ball. Throughout the whole game DE and D would let the twins lean up against them but would just step aside as the twin swung their elbows, causing them to fall. Neither of the twins scored in the whole game. I showed them how the twins would bump the ball too far in front of them and then run up on it. During the game my kids would let the twins bump the ball out in front but instead of trying to steal the ball and dribble away, my kids would just put their foot behind the ball and the twins would trip over the ball due to their own poor technique.

All but one of my kids scored in the game. The one who didn't was my one defender D who I couldn't get to play any other position all session. He asked to play midfield. That was a huge step. For me that was as good as scoring a goal. Lil Lookout stopped a shot from the other team while in the goal and instead of kicking it out like normal, he dropped it at his own feet and dribbled the full length of the field and tapped it in with a backheel. He scored another with an impressive left foot strike. My girl who doesn't really do much managed to head a ball in for a goal. The ref's actually called fouls! That always works in my team's favor because I spend a lot of time coaching clean play. We scored 3 points off free kicks. Everyone was involved and having a blast.

Because of the treatment my kids had received from this same basic set of kids the week before I didn't put the leash on them and they just kept scoring. The final score was 23-1 and I don't feel bad at all. My kids gave their cheer and shook hands after the game. They were all so pumped at beating the bullies, I couldn't get them to sit still in the locker room, so we picked up pizzas and took them to the park for pizza and trophies.

After a bizarre start to the season we ended up with a record of 7-2-1. 1 of the players has to move up to the next age bracket and 2 are taking a session off so we won't have the same group together anymore. Player evaluations are tonight and then it all starts over again next week. Hopefully we have as much fun next time around.