Thanks For A Great Season--Christmas Morning for me!

 (Girls--this was written night before our first week of this state cup tourny--I meant to give you each this letter after our last game this year.  Here it is...         

         

Girls,                                                                                                                                5/23/14

I am writing you this letter to tell you how proud I am of you this year.  Hopefully you are reading this after the State Cup Finals.  But if not, I am just as proud—and I mean it.

We had stepped on the field at the beginning of the year playing probably one of the very best u14 teams in the country from St. Louis.  Boy, they were very good.  I believe we were tied 0-0 at half, and somehow, through your very hard work, lost 2-0.  Pretty amazing, and it allowed me to see a level of play that I am going to do everything to get you there.

We then played a team from Tennessee.  They were state cup winners and ranked first in the state.  You played well against them.  In fact, I left that game thinking we are not far off from that team.  They were good, but you competed with them.  We were in tournaments that we would have never been invited to play in a couple seasons ago.   Just awesome.

I believe it was after that game that I realized it was time to shake up our formation and introduce the 4-1-3-1 (also known as the 4-3-3).   You QUICKLY caught on.  We played the Blue Academy team (with some of the Red players), and you really outplayed that team and came up with a 0-0 tie.  Just awesome!   And boy, was that coach mad!

We then began league play.  You played and beat two teams that were just relegated from Buckeye State division the previous season.  You played them so well, and I can remember some of you saying how “they were not good teams”.  Just a few thoughts about those comments…. They were good teams, but you had improved your game so much, and got so used to playing at the speed of some of the best teams in the country, that you “graduated” from the level of those Buckeye teams.  I think we were 3wins and 1 tie at that point.

I don’t use excuses, but a fact is a fact.  A VERY good defender for our team got injured.  A VERY good striker with a nose for the goal got injured.  And a winger who was coming along strong towards end of last season got injured.  We also had some conflicts with basketball  and track (and will have 18 next season to overcome it).  Again, I hate excuses and like to win no matter the adversity we are up against, but we ended up finishing the season with a 3-3-2 record.  I also can’t forget that fact that some of our VERY best soccer was during a few of those games that we lost and tied.  I can remember one game where we strung together over 20+ passes without the other team touching the ball.  No, we didn’t score that game, but your Coaches had a vision of becoming a very good passing team.  Girls, you “wowed” us that game with your passing!  It was just awesome. 

Girls, if you told me before our season that we could finish .500 in the Buckeye Elite 1 league against some Clubs top academy teams, I would have been happy with that.  But, I know we are a team that always expects to win.  It’s that drive, of never being satisfied, that keeps us training so hard to get better and better every season—and that’s what we’ve done again this season.  

No matter if you are reading this at the beginning of the State Cup Tournament, or are reading this and we just won it all, I want you to know that this season has been a success for us all.  And I want you to also know that I carry our losses on my shoulders. 

I realized the very last practice of the season at Storr Field that I did not work on finishing nearly enough this season, specifically coming from crosses out of the air.  So, for the entire 1.5 hour practice, we practiced dribbling down the field and crossing, with two girls running towards goal to take ball out of the air and finish with one touch.  You made HUGE progress in that last practice, but I realized we should have been doing that very early in the season.  You played SO well this season in league play, but we couldn’t finish.  It was the UC highlight film that Coach Stafford showed us, where I saw that 90% of their goals were headers from crosses.  So, that next day (our last practice before our State Cup Tourny), I decided to make sure we would focus on that.  And it was in the first 10 minutes I realized we had a deficiency… All year we had worked on S4 skill, our new formation, passing, defense, juggling, slotting, etc.  But, I don’t remember ever spending a practice on that. 

With that said, I want you to know that everything we focused on this year, you did VERY well.   Hopefully we’re reading this late in the Tourny, but regardless, it’s very exciting for me going into next season knowing that we had such a deficiency at taking balls out of the air from crosses to finish, and when we master this next season, we will again take a giant leap in our success!!!  Again girls, thanks for doing everything so great that we focused on this year, and let me take every loss on my shoulders—and I mean that.   I assumed we could do something that I hadn’t focused on—MY FAULT.

Lastly, I want each of you to know how much you mean to me.  Some people say I am obsessed with soccer!   I don’t think it’s truly soccer that I am obsessed with.  Its 16 wonderful girls that have the best personalities I’ve seen that make me love coaching.  Most girls your age can be so mean and catty sometimes to each other.  I don’t see that from you girls.  You all are such wonderful girls that really care for one another.  It’s you girls that make waking up in the morning on game days seem like Christmas morning!

Thank each of you for every moment I was able to share with you this season.  I absolutely can’t wait to watch you represent your high school teams this fall.  And I can pretty much guarantee that people in the stands will be saying things like “who is that girl, she is really good”.  And someone will answer that question by saying, “I believe she is one of those girls from that WieKings team”.  You’re all awesome!

Sincerely,

Brian

Post Game Notes

Girls,
I realize I said I wasn't going to send anything out, and I didn't last game either, so for me to go two games without post game notes might send me over the edge :) .  But seriously, after having a little time to reflect, I realize I should have let you all leave much earlier on a much more positive note heading into the State Cup (Yes, Heidi wasn't happy waiting on me!), and I realized we did do something very important that we hadn't done in a few games (more on that below).  As coach Eric said, the first 15 minutes were awful, the second 15 minutes got much better when you found your passing game.  The second half wasn't terrible, but got worse as time progressed.  We looked very tired.  We had two subs, so we will begin to sub much faster for some girls.

Ok, I am writing this because as bad as I made it sound after the game, I realized something.  Yes, we are obviously in a big rutt looking at our last 1/2 of the season, but today we got very good shots.  Morgan had two very open shots.  Molly had one open shot beginning of game.  Jenna had an open shot attacking the middle that first half.  Ciara had two head balls for shots and a nice volley out of the air that went to the goalie.  I might be missing more, but all of those shots were VERY makable shots that we do DEFINITELY need to finish.  And there may have been more, but that's all I remember.   Anyway, those 7 shots were all much better looks than we've gotten for a while.... That is a huge positive in itself.

I know we haven't played on grass or practiced on grass for a very long time, and it was thick today.  We had all 3 practices on hard floor last week and our last 4-5 games have been on turf (but other teams had to cancel practices last week due to weather!).  All of our passing was very short and soft today.  Girls who usually have a very good touch were leaving passes short. So I know the grass was a factor.  But girls, we have to adjust.  We have to adjust.  Warm-ups should have been enough to work-out your touch on grass.

We also are not taking balls out of the air.  When I said I watched 12 year old's this weekend using their head on the first touch from a goalies LONG punt, I mean it--they did almost every time.  We still have yet to do that.  Unfortunately we don't have enough subs due to injury for me to create habits by subbing out girls when you don't do this.  So, it has to simply come from your heart.  Anticipate where the ball is going to be, get there, and win it out of the air everytime, and other girls need to be options for you when you win it.

Girls, we got great shots today, stay positive.  But I ask you to remember how much you hated when we tied the first league game of this season.  We started 3-1, and finished 3-3-2 (.500).  I remember the first league tie of the season just a month ago--you would have thought we lost the world cup.  You all left it on the field--every ounce of heart, and I've never seen so many upset, ticked off girls as I saw that day after that tie.  I need you to hate to lose or tie again.  I need you to hate it.  I need you to not accept it. I need you to hate losing as much as I do.  We will advance next weekend.  I can only promise this -- If you hate to lose as much as you did the first league tie of this season, when I thought you actually played incredible soccer and I told you so, you will advance.  But if you have become comfortable with ties or losses over the last few games, then it will be a short trip.  How much you hate losing and love winning is determined when you think you don't have much left on the field, but you continue to dig deep every second of the game you are on the field.  That is when it's determined how much a loss or win means to you.  I said it last week--Just last season we went undefeated in league play, and I walked away from some games thinking "we might have gotten a little lucky, and that our hard work overpowered teams that may have been a touch more skilled;  but this season I have walked away from the last 4-5 games thinking that we absolutely should have won and were the better team every game".  That statement applies again today.  And that is so frustrating for me, and I hope it is frustrating enough for you to step up and work harder and SMARTER.

Please show me I think you have what it takes.  Please leave every single ounce of your heart on the field--for me--and for you..   I am open to hear any of THE GIRLS comments below.  Enjoy your evening, have a great day at school, and see you at practice.

Brian

Post Game Notes

1. Outside Backs made great runs and we found them many times.  It gave us many more chances to move ball forward.  Well done!
2. Saw one of the best "up-back-through" combinations 1st half.  Well done!
3. Witness in the first half some of the best passing from this team ever.  One passing sequence was well over 20 passes without the other team touching the ball.  Well done!
4. Saw some girls play different positions, and really excelled--Well done!
5. Saw an awesome slot for a goal (Ok, the ref totally botched up that call, but who cares.  All I care about is progress, and we worked on that almost exclusively two weeks ago)--Well done!
6. Saw great use of the head for passes, winning balls out of the air, and one for that goal that got called back--Well done!
7. Saw every girl that first half be FIRST to almost every single ball--Well done!
8. Saw a team play their heart out and really outplay the other team, without their two normal central defenders (hannah and sophie) who I never sub out,  and without two of their huge offensive threats (Maleah and Morgan).
9. Saw one girl getting her groove back who has been out all season with injury (Taylor).

Girls, we will finish.  Continue getting your crosses off.  One thing we need to work on is finishing (like Kylie did the one time) when that ball is crossed.  Toooo many times I saw the ball get crossed, and you girls ducked or got out of the way, or if it was a low cross, you tried to strike it too hard and either missed it or it went off your foot in a uncontrolled fashion, instead of just making contact and finishing.  Besides that (which is VERY important--gotta finish!), I was VERY VERY HAPPY.

Yes, we tied this team in the state cup.  Girls, I am not making excuses.  These are just facts.  Your 1-0 loss today was 100x more impressive than your tie in last years state cup.  I walked away after that tie thinking how lucky we were to get a tie.  Remember, they had over 20 corner kicks and we had our backs against the wall almost the whole game???  Today, even without four of our really good players, I walked away thinking we would beat that team 8x if we played them 10x.  And I apologize for letting that ref know how much he botched the call.  That does no good.  I only did that because I was frustrated because you all worked so hard and I wanted that win for you girls so much because you all worked so hard and deserved it (Not me or eric or gary--We wanted it for you).

So, moving forward... Tomorrow, I want those 9 things listed above to all happen again--they were really nicely done!  But tomorrow, I want to see girls finish.  I do not want to see a ball get crossed without us attacking the ball and finishing!  I NEVER want to see a ball crossed from one end, and go through untouched making it out towards the other end.  We are U14 now girls--No ducking or getting away from solid crosses.  MAKE CONTACT, especially with your head.   Attack with scoring mentality instinct.

Have a great night, I can't wait to see you all tomorrow!  And tell your Mom's "Happy Mother's Day" after you give her a HUGE hug and kiss!

Brian

Weekend Games and moving forward (and my feelings/thoughts)

Girls (parents),

This Saturday we will be playing with two subs.  We have Hannah out injured, and we have Sophie making us proud trying to be #1 in the state in the 800 and 400.   Morgan has her 8th grade formal, and I don't want her to miss it.

We have many of the people we have on our awesome team because we were willing to work with peoples schedules so they could enjoy multiple sports, where other teams didn't allow it; and if you missed, you got zero playing time due to it.  It would not be fair to take these girls as I did, knowing they came to us so they could be multisport girls, and then change my mind...  I also am very appreciative of these girls doing their best to get to our practices and games.  Sophie has missed many track meets for our games and practices--that is tough for her, especially knowing what she means to the HHS track team.  Maleah and Megan will come to practices and games the same day they played multiple basketball games.  Hannah in the winter playing 2 basketball games, makes our indoor game, along with the S4 training...!  I know the other Bball girls from HHS did the same.  Molly, in the fall, would have three hour very intense dance practices, with 1/2 of it being conditioning, and then come to our practice or game that same day.  I call that committed, and I am appreciative of it from these girls.  Obviously, I would love 100% soccer girls, but we can and will make this work and continue to move up.  If you told me we'd be 4-1-1 in the Buckeye Elite 1 division this season, I'd say no way!  So, we are making it work!

I was fortunate to be able to play high school basketball, soccer, and track in high school, and go to basketball and soccer camps in the summers.  They didn't overlap as bad as they do today.  Today, to be very competitive, sports have become "year round".

I refuse to make girls choose just because they are now becoming year round.  How can I tell Sophie to not do something she is great at and loves.  Megan and Meleah with basketball, Molly with Dance, along with others on our team that do very well in track such as Jenna, Delaney, and Ciara.  I will not do that.  There are three girls from Highlands moving on to play college soccer next year--all three were multi sport athletes.  It can, and will be done with our team!

BUT, here is what we will do to make sure we are better prepared.

1. I plan on picking up two players to give us a full roster of 18.  We will continue to offer winter and summer training, along with 3 practices during the season, asking the girls to make at least 2 of the 3.  I truly believe we will be very competitive, as we've always been, with this format.  By having 18 girls, knowing that injuries simply become a bigger part of the sport as the girls get faster, bigger, stronger and more physical; and we will always probably have girls missing for other reasons (dance, basketball, track, school events, etc), we will have enough girls to give adequate subs at all games.

2. I will work in getting track, dance, basketball schedules ahead of our scheduling meeting each season.  That way, when I go to the scheduling meeting, I will mark those days off in scheduling games as best as possible.  This in itself will rid of the situation we are dealing with this weekend.

Ok girls, so about this weekend.  We have two subs.  Maleah isn't 100% healthy and Taylor will just be coming back.  So, I know it's not the best situation.  The coach of the Kings team that Isabella and Chrissy play for is not allowing them to guest play.  He is afraid they will get injured before their Presidents Cup.  I can't get Maria because she is in Nashville for a tourny.  I can't get any of the talented NKSA girls I know, because league games do not allow guest players from other clubs (meaning, our players can only come from Kings that play in CUSL or Buckeye).

You can look at this lack of subs as and obstacle, or an opportunity.  When I play, and I show up and see we have four subs, I get sort of frustrated.  That means less time for me on the field.  I sincerely like having no more than 2 subs when I play (and I am not nearly in the shape as you girls).  I HOPE you look at this as an opportunity to play more.  I hope you look at this as a challenge.  However you look at this is a statement of your Character...  Read that previous line over again.  Is this an obstacle or opportunity?  I hope you see this as an opportunity.

If you girls plan on playing in college, remember this---you get to sub 2x each half. THAT IS IT.  And when you sub someone out, they are out for the rest of the game.  Soccer is an endurance sport like no other.

Remember our talk Monday.  WORK SMART.  When an outside back makes a forward run, that forward she overlaps, instantly becomes a fullback, and that outside back stays at the forward position until a smart time for the switch back makes sense.  And what would the smartest time be???  Probably when the outside back (who was a forward), makes a run and overlaps the forward--who then becomes the outside back...   This is the same if an Attacking mid overlaps the target on the attack.  She will stay the target, and the target can become the attacking mid until you find a good time to switch back.  I DO NOT WANT these girls having to run the length of the field to get back on defense, when a SIMPLE SWITCH makes most sense.   With that said, I expect us to work as hard as ever in being first to ball, checking to space, etc--just work smarter.  We should have always been doing this anyway, but this situation is going to force you to do this to conserve energy--SEE, THIS IS TRULY AN OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY THIS GAME THE RIGHT WAY IN ROTATIONS--the way you should have always been playing!

Lastly, I do want to say this.  If I feel that missing too many practices and/or games is hurting the team--meaning the other girls are advancing and you are not because of too many missed practices---then it would only be fair to the other girls on the team for me to discuss this with you and your parents and figure out a plan that makes sense for all.

Thanks girls for reading this. If any parents or girls have any questions, comments, or concerns with this, please let me know.

Brian