Kid's sports - The Sequel

[lookout123]

Saturday the kids faced the remnants of my old team which is now coached by a hyper competitive angry man, who is blatantly juicing but refuses to buy clothes that will fit his new bloated physique. It makes for an entertaining sight.

The guy is bitter that HE hasn't achieved the same success with that team that my kids did when I was there. He doesn't seem to get it that it comes down to what you teach them. His son is a good solid player. His best friend's son is an awesome little left footer who needs some more objective coaching. The coach's only training is for everyone on the team to get the ball, pass it to his son or the left footer to shoot. That's it. Those are the only two who he pushes forward. Evaaar. Oh yeah, he doesn't want to have two games and two practices each week so he has also put his just turned five year old on the team. (did I mention that this is the same guy who complained about my unfair advantage with field time?)

Lil Lookout had already played his club game and his allergies were acting up so I started him in the goal with one strong and one weak defender in front of him. My two weakest players in midfield and two tall but slower kids up front. My goal was to get the other team out in front of us to make for a more entertaining game. Unfortunately, 30 seconds into the game the other coach's younger son ran straight into one of my taller girls and they both fell. No harm, no foul, they both got up but from that point on the coach screamed at the ref about the foul he missed. The ref turned to talk to him and missed calling a real foul. That set the coach off even more. It snowballed from there. The ref was making bad calls in both directions, more accurately he wasn't making any calls - but my kids keep playing unless they hear a whistle. His kids get all agitated when he yells. The ref started coming over to me and saying "I know I just missed something but what should I do next time" Uh for starters don't admit that to anyone but me, the other guy'll eat you alive. For the rest of the game anytime someone fell he'd look at me for guidance. Not fun. At one point after I moved Lil Lookout from goal to midfield he deflectd a ball out of bounds and the ref gave him the ball to play in. LL looked at me with the big WTF? face so I told him to turn possession over to their keeper. I had my kids turn possession over 3 times trying to appease the other coach but he just got worse so I decided to just let it go.

From that point on I didn't direct my kids at all, I just subbed them in and out and told them what position to play. I decided that if the coach can't stop screaming long enough to coach his kids enough to compete with an undirected team that was his problem, not mine. I didn't say a word to a player on the field from the 15th minute on. I played with one forward and 3 mids (diamond shape) and 2 defenders for half the game. The coach got mad that Lil Lookout scored a few and yelled at his keeper. OK, LL was hitting the top corners of the net - how is a 7 year old supposed to levitate and block those? He assigned two of his players to shut LL down in midfield so LL would get the ball and wait til they closed in on him and pass to his now open teammates who would score. Then the coach lost all brainpower and put all three of his best players on LL with the sole instruction being to make sure he didn't touch the ball. That left my other players free to dribble and pass at will. Even so, LL got mad after he was knocked down for the umpteenth time and dribbled through all three of them to score. The final score was 17-1. Every player on my team scored. Lil Lookout had 5, C -3, C, -2 and B-2 and they were limited to left foot shots, long distance shots, or assists for the second half. The club director stormed up to me and let me know that parents had complained about my team running up the score. I told him that he could direct them all to me and I'd be happy to explain what happened and even provide them with a video of what was happening on our side of the field. Not one of them approached me and he didn't say another word about it. Seriously when a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds without direction can beat your coached team, you've got bigger problems than the final score.

Of course, while the other coach was screaming and trying to file a complaint against the ref his kids and my kids were playing keepaway on the field, laughing and having a grand old time.

Idiot.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by lookout123

...a hyper competitive angry man, who is blatantly juicing but refuses to buy clothes that will fit his new bloated physique.
...

He should take fashion tips from Sergio "The Myth" Oliva. Note the special shirt mods to allow for 20½" arms.

[lookout123]

Also posted in What's making you happy today?

Lil Lookout had had tryouts for the club team outdoor season. 321 kids showed up. All 321 have to go back for the second half of tryouts in two weeks. It will be 2 hours of scrimmages to see the kids in game situations. Lil Lookout did pretty well from my POV in the stands, but you never know.

Oh wait, I do know. The club team trainer found me during a break and told me his only problem with Lil Lookout is whether to use him as a solitary striker and sometime winger for the A team, or to make him the captain of the B team for the next age group up and build the squad around his strengths.

The club owner found me later and apologized to me for an argument we had more than a year ago. He demanded then that he be allowed to train Lil Lookout in private sessions so that his potential isn't wasted by improper coaching that I would surely give him. He announced last night that LL has the best ball control of the entire group and the second best shot. "Lookout, you have done an outstanding job training him. Would you be interested in being one of the official club trainers?" No thanks for the training position, but thanks for the compliment.

I don't have to tell him that LL is just a natural do I? Proud Papa.

[lookout123]

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.

[LabRat]

My daughter will have her first game this coming Sat. If it's anything like practice, it'll be a hoot. When the kids are waiting in line for their turn to do a drill, the ones whove done gymnastics are doing cartwheels and summersaults, others are dancing, occasionally someone will get bent out of shape and start to cry because someone used her ball...

BTW, ALL the balls are pink, save our daughters (it's red and white).

I think we are in a much different league than you . . .

[lookout123]

Oh, one other thing. This will sound stupid but I can't stress it enough. Shoes DO matter. Soccer shoes don't have to be expensive and they shouldn't be at this age level, but having proper shoes will help. The shaping of the toe box will help in learning how to dribble, pass, and shoot. wearing a pair of sketchers just makes learning new skills that much harder.

If your soccer league doesn't have a passback program(donation/trade) start one. When the kids outgrow their shoes and balls, turn them in so another kid who might not be able to afford it can use it.

[BigV]

The ref started coming over to me and saying "I know I just missed something but what should I do next time" Uh for starters don't admit that to anyone but me, the other guy'll eat you alive.

Good grief, that's the most tragically funny thing I've heard in a month of Sundays.

Idiot.

You, sir, have a Flair for Understatement.

[Trilby]

lookout--your enthusiasm is heartening, my man.

good for you and LL

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Lil'!!!!!!