We warmed up and played in a slightly expanded field from Tuesday. Guys are getting fitter bit by bit.

The good:

– Less panic ball than Tuesday.

– Some wonderful passing and vision

– Some nice reads and steps by Rocco and Nolan. Love the work of our young guys – Kaarsen, Keerat, Yahriel, Nolan L….there is a bright future for you guys.

– The game ended 2-2 with a victory for Pura Vida on a game winner PK by Dillard. What I like most about this is Pinnies were down 2-0 to start but battled back with a spectacular goal by Gigi and some magic from our do everything man Noah Quick.

The going to get better:

– Focus on self for critique and the team for praise. As with all teams and in life, we can sometimes focus externally on negatives we see in others. Avoid the trap. When things go wrong this leads to classic finger pointing and hurts the team. Remember our enemy. It’s us. We have amazing players. We must avoid beating ourselves before we are ready for any opponent. No one is above another.

– Communication. We are still a quiet team. Particularly without the ball but also with it. Louder and bolder. Levi I heard today in spades. Great job Levi! Here is what I want to hear:

“Great pass”

“Great step”

“Sorry I missed you on that run, I’ll find you next time”

“Man-on”

“Turn”

“I’ve got Dillard, press the ball”

Etc.

Some of you do this, some of you do it less. Everyone needs to do it more. Positive and constructive.

Finally here is a nice pic of some great guys wrapping up practice. We are lucky they are on OUR team!