Tough Game

I don't know what to say. I could complain about the fact that the opposing coach used 7/8th grade boys against my 5/6 boys. Had the game been evenly matched by age, we probably would have won instead of losing 2-1. But I'll choose to remember the way some of my boys clapped hands with our players coming off the field at half-time. The encouragement of parents. The good across the field passes we made. Too tired to write much more. It's been a day.

Today was a good day and a good practice. We spent some time diagramming the formation we would be playing for a next game, and discussing issues from our previous game. First and foremost, we discussed how our opponents had spread the field and played diagonal balls. The players were attentive and interested to discuss strategy, and our goal to play more wide balls, and more diagonal balls. We drew diagrams of the field in our notebooks and wrote down the names of the players who would play in certain spots of the field. Then we went outside and played a full 11 on 11 game with special wide channels for certain players only where they could not be challenged for the ball. This encouraged players to play the ball wide. I was definitely hard on the players during the game. I pushed them to make good choices in their passing and I think they responded well. Even Devontae who is usually emotional with any sort of correction, responded well. I'm confident about our game tomorrow. No time to prepare or conduct the baseline questionaire mentioned in the previous entry. Will try to do it on the next practice.

Post-match thoughts

Our first game did not deliver the victory we had expected. We faced a team from a predominantly Latino school, and their organization, spacing, and comfort on the ball were so superior. We lost 8 to 0!!! Oh well, I am still so proud of my students because we never gave up, we continued to play together, and we had such great sportsmanship that the other coach complimented us. He said that he'd never seen players offering to help up opponents when they fall the way my kids did. A lot of thoughts are running through my head. About how to improve the on field performance of the team, I've decided to play 11 v 11 during our practices, with special zones on the wide areas of the field where no defenders can go. This should encourage us to stay organized, well-spaced, and play the ball to wide areas. Thinking about how to improve my players academic performance, their literacy, their self-image as learners is an entirely more complicated matter. I want to establish some qualitative baseline data around how they view themselves right now. What are the first words that come to their minds when asked to describe themselves? How might these words change by the end of the year? So I plan on having a short questionnaire for them that they can paste into their soccer journals tomorrow. I also want to incorporate more goal setting around their academic lives. I'd like them to report their grades in the 1st quarter via their progress reports, and their goal grades for the end of the 1st quarter. And I want them to consider the steps they will need to reach those goals.

the first 2 weeks

Journals are awesome. They came up with great goals for their season, both personal and community, academic and soccer-focused. I love the look of sheer joy and ecstasy they have when they score a goal. It's the same enthusiasm and disbelief that you see when a pro scores. That's the beauty of soccer. It's fun to play and pass on the pitch, and defend and contest and call out for the ball, and amidst all that mayhem it seems that a goal is so impossible. Yet everyone pushes onwards for it, two good passes and then a takeaway. Back on defense, we push the ball out so that the opponents gain a corner kick. Their header almost knocks the ball in. Goal kick for us. We lose possession on the halfway line, and on and on, until all of the sudden there's a breakaway and a goal!