Tag: sports

Another Day in the Mist!

We were 28 strong today and we had a 4-1 victory for the pinnies. Some things I loved and our first point of emphasis.

1. Andrew rolled the bleice and found the back of the net again today with a nice header off a slipped ball from yours truly.

2. Steven Barba slotted that dream ball through the centerbacks to give Gigi a ball to run onto and he finished nicely. Steve also played a number of really nice one touch balls and hit the crossbar twice!

3. Hetrick on the wing was a beast. Gigi and Justin linked up well and Justin had a nice finish today

4. Jayden made an amazing goal-line stop. I love that heart. Tyam did too to save some goals. Sacrifice boys!

5. Anthony and Nolan Browne joined us and I am very glad to see both of you. Keep coming!

6. Harnit found the ball a bunch today. Being able to control the ball is one of the best ways to defend and Harnit can bring us that.

7. Danny played a nice backline – winning the ball and linking it up the field. Jose did too on the other end. You are getting better every day Jose!

8. No one complained about the calls, throw ins, fouls, whatever. Nice job. I noticed.

POINT OF EMPHASIS: I mentioned today to the boys that we need to be collectively more aggressive winning the ball. Not slide tackling and kicking ankles but by supporting each other and positioning. We will work on this throughout the summer and in official practice. Some individuals do but we will work collectively to SUFFOCATE our opponents. That’s WARRIOR ball. Now, where we trap them and when will be something we work on because we must be clinical and collective about it or we expose ourselves to trouble but to play with the best teams, we must put them on the defensive.

Lastly, players should not feel as if ANY decisions are made regarding Varsity or not, this position or that position. We are trying things out here in June and watching the players. If you are placed somewhere new to you, its an experiment! Enjoy and sprout wherever you are planted and you get to see things from another positions point of view. If you want to increase your odds of making Varsity come August…

  1. Be fit – attend the weight training sessions and RUN and complete the workouts I have posted in the calendar. Start small and work your way to faster times and burpees and pushups. You will get there
  2. Be excited to grow – each day we play, work on picking up as much as you can.
  3. Work with the ball – I loaded some individual ball work drills on the calendar. Check them out and work them. They can be done alone or with a pard.
  4. Be an awesome teammate – hustle, work hard, be positive. Every team needs as many of these guys as we can get.

I am very blessed to have such a great group of guys. Thank you! Go WARRIORS!

OH … get your physicals in!!!!!!!!!!! Great job Connor Millen – you were the only one done last time I checked!

Toro Rojo prevails on an ideal day for soccer

We were 38 strong today. Love those numbers. If you were here today, be here the next time. If you weren’t, be here the next time. This team has potential to be a great team.

Today we tuned up and played a scrimmage with a focus on two things. First to allow coaches to shift the players around a little to play with some things. Secondly, to emphasize the importance of ignoring bad calls and just playing our game and building up your teammates. Eight positives for every one critique. Here are my eight positives:

  1. Dillard put through at least 2-3 thru balls in to Gigi and Andrew that created a lot danger.
  2. Logan and Levi both made some nice saves. We are strong at that position. I liked a lot of their outlet play as well.
  3. Young upcoming players like Keerat, Yahriel, Kaarson, Nolan, and Lucas are working hard and finding the ball. Kaarson had a nice shot and Keerat was a standout in midfield
  4. Danny mixed in advice and communication with personal responsibility for errors. That is a good model.
  5. Connor Millen was very active today and along with other like Owen, Noah, Anderson, Rocco, Jayden, and Danny makes me feel the backline can be the warrior wall that we need it to be.
  6. Braden commanded the midfield wonderfully for pura vida. Worked hard on and off the ball. Quiet warrior
  7. There is a collective desire to be calm on the ball and not play panic kick ball. This is fantastic and we will work VERY HARD on this all summer and into the preseason to make sure we can play out of pressure and keep possession.
  8. We saw some hints today of a killer instinct with the ball. Quick thru balls between the CBs to spring Gigi or Andrew or Justin. Purposeful soccer.

Much work to be done. Just breaking ground on the foundation here.

Thank you to all the parents, brothers, sisters, girlfriends, who are waking these guys and getting them there. You are huge part of the team!

Finally, it was Toro Rojo that took the win today 3-0 with Gigi scoring a nicely taken pk, andrew starting the scoring and help me out everyone with who else scored. I forget. Pura Vida had chances though and it was tightly contested. Coach Carmona chose Noah as his Man of the Match and Coach Ale chose Connor Millen.

Toro Rojo below!

Growth and Consistency

Some announcements:

1. Nice training in the rain! Some new/old faces joined us today – Danny, Owen M, and Connor M. Great to have you there today guys! The score ended 3-3 with goals coming from Roll the Bleice (2), Breaking News, Gigi and some others I can’t remember. That said, every goal scored is because of the team as is every goal conceded. For the first full field scrimmages, we are looking at players strengths and weaknesses to develop a scheme that amplifies their strengths. Each player has their own sheet music and we Players earning shoutouts from the coaches (Danny, Braden, and Justin along with Andrew, Owen Miller, and Dillard).

2. A growth mindset is key. I challenged the boys at the end of practice to walk away thinking of areas of their game to improve. One of our core values is to be better than we were the day before. Winning as a team is the end product of lots of little wins by every member of it.

3. We will be using the Veo camera starting in July. I discussed this with Coach Erin and we will get it working for practice and scrimmages this summer along with the season. More information on this to follow.

4. We will be doing some teambuilding events including a soccer game with the girls team and whitewater rafting! These events can be a bit expensive so we will look for ways to help out players if they need it. Dates and information to follow.

5. Come as often as you can. PIAA states clearly that nothing we do over the summer can be compulsory. Of course winning isn’t compulsory either. Being a great team isn’t compulsory. These are CHOICES. Great teams CHOSE to be great. It is not something that just happens. This team CAN be a great team even EVERYONE is committed fully to the cause. Lift with Coach Alec, Train with us. If you can’t, train using the program I punched up on the calendar. GO WARRIORS! HUGE SHOUTOUT to Rocco and Adam… you have attended every training. That’s great commitment.

Attendance Sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mvAsMsQ6kby1OeIXHseZXKW_hsYIgnEm87Gb3he9lRo/edit?usp=sharing

Lifting tomorrow with Coach Alec and lots of fun on Thursday at 8:00 AM. A tour and then a scrimmage.