Girls, As I said, be proud of yourself this weekend--not satisfied, but darn proud. As coach Gary reminded me today, just about a year and a half ago at the Mead Cup, we were watching that TFA team play in the 5-star division before our game, and I told Gary, "One day our team will play like this". If we would have played that team then, it would have been a 10-0 game in there favor. All of the teams we played this year so far would have been blowouts a year or so ago.
I was a little anxious about this tourny, knowing these are just fantastic teams we'd be playing and hoping we could compete and not get embarrassed--and you definitely competed. Oh, and by the way, the brackets were definitely set up for us to play the three hardest teams. But, no biggie--I like being the underdog ;)
Tennessee Team
Well, they did up winning the tourny, beating the KH Academy Blue team 1-0. They were a very very good team. Not quite like that Missouri team, but they were good (by the way, the Kings Academy Red team lost 3-1 to that Missouri team if that means anything in showing you how far you've come!). We didn't play our best, and give great effort until the second half. Girls, it was 2-0 at halftime. You girls held them scoreless that second half and had great chances on goal! We even hit the crossbar once. Yes, they were the better team, but we absolutely competed, with enough shot opportunities to have won. The goals we gave up were simple mental errors that we learn from. We also were playing our old formation with only two central mids. And both of their goals were scored down the middle of the field--so that's why I went to a 3 center mid formation the next game. Very proud, and very happy we left their knowing we gave ourselves chances to score multiple times against such a good team. These were the Tennessee State Cup Winners, and ranked high Nationally.
Blue Academy Team
What can I say!! You tied more than just the Blue Academy Team. If you are not aware, they wanted so bad to not lose to us that they actually took 4 "Guest Players" from the Red Academy team ONLY for the game against us this weekend!! Feel good about not only tieing a team with a mix of the two academy teams, but outplaying that team--especially in the second half!!!!! (Academy teams don't like it when their Select team beats them--but we are not just a select team, we are the WieKings!). I believe we truly are a season or two at the most, away from being the top Kings team---and if we did play the Red team now, I think we could compete enough to have at least the possibility to pull out a win if we played our "A" game! I truly truly mean that. Wow, be extremely proud of that game. Especially on a field so cruddy. I think if that was on turf, the more skilled team wins, which was you girls. You definitely outplayed them, and REALLY outplayed them the second half, giving us multiple scoring opportunities (even a shot that hit the inside of the crossbar, and roll on the goal line...!
TFA ELITE Team
Girls, as I said, that was the team 1.5 years ago that I was in "awe" over, and created the vision for what I wanted. I would have never have guess that you girls would even have the chance to play such a good team in only 1.5 years later. And not only play them, but be 1 minute away from a tie! I will not hide the fact that 80% of the game was played in our half. I will talk about that in a second. But, be proud girls. That team was the State Cup Bronze Finalist of Ohio. The competition in Ohio is very good. That team ALSO finished in 2nd place in their MRL league. ---1 minute away from tieing that team!!! How about that!
Ok, the reason we were gassed, including girls that even run track and are in great shape. It all comes down to First Touch. Remember this Quote: "GREAT teams understand that The First Touch is the Only Touch". What does that mean? It does not mean you should only play 1 touch soccer. It does not mean that skillful moves should not be used to get yourslef out of tough situations or take a defender one on one if the very simple pass isn't available. It means though, that if everyone is working hard to get open and communicating with their teammate BEFORE she receives the ball, then your teammate should only have to one touch (two at most) the ball too you. She will know her options before she receives the ball, so no need to touch it more than once, or twice at the most.
TFA, even on that cruddy grass field, was able to do this. Their touch was very good, and their girls were moving to get open. We on the other hand, didn't have the cleanest touch. That lack of a great first touch made you have to work hard to try and keep possession. You had a defender on you so quick, it was hard to regain control after the sloppy first touch. They were stringing together 4 and 5 passes, keeping us on defense. We were lucky to put together 2 passes together without losing the ball. Which, always had us scrambling on defense. THAT is why we were so exhausted. Playing defense for the majority of the game is exhausting.
Now, how do we get better on this first touch so we can play at that level (we are getting close). As you may know, I am offering a third practice day at WieFit. It is HIGHLY recommended, but it is optional. We will work and work and work on first touch! For those that want additional soccer, I am sacrificing my time to do it, so I am here if you want more help. We will offer this Monday Evenings at WieFit from 7:45-9:00 on Mondays.
Be proud girls. Like Coach Eric said, do not get down about our record this year, coming off such an incredible fall season with only 1 loss! We have continued to climb the ladder of competitive leagues each season, and it this year, we threw ourselves in against the very best, and we are competing! We will continue to work hard, get a great first touch, learn to take balls out of the air, learn our new formation that we threw on you girls just before our second game yesterday, and we will eventually beat this competition we are facing--I promise, especially if you are willing and excited about putting in the hard work! I believe playing these great teams is only forcing you to work harder, play and think quicker, and prepare us for the State Cup!
I am proud of how far you have come, but not satisfied yet--I hope you all feel the same!!!
Brian
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