All three dufflings had games this weekend and all three played valiantly. clare played midfield for the Orange Lightning (have to get verification on the team name) and did a great job stopping several long runs, as usual. her team won, 2 - 0.
here is a picture of clare showing excellent self-restraint by not adding to the pile of players standing in a circle, kicking each other and, occasionally, the soccer ball.
i've learned that coaching soccer is best done at practice, before the game and at half time. giving direction during the game is seen as disruptive to the players' real-time, improvisational skills, which are key to learning and loving the game.
it's tough to develop any sort of confidence or play with fluidity with adults yelling from the sideline. imagine a micromanaging boss standing over your shoulder, "MAKE THAT PHONE CALL AFTER LUNCH!! DON'T CC HER ON THAT EMAIL, BLIND COPY HER BOSS!! NEVER, NEVER CLICK 'OK' ON THAT WINDOW!!" sounds like fun, huh?
most parents and coaches yell at their kids about positioning, which is learned as a result of tiring from chasing the ball around and can be focused on after developing basic touch skills such as dribbling, passing and trapping. learning "touch" can only happen by, well, touching the ball...which is hard to do if you play in position on a u10 girls' league because you'll never see the ball.
so in a sense, youth soccer games, up to a certain age, are supposed to look like that: a big tangle of kids kicking the ball off of one another. play ball!
football, on the other hand, looks an awful lot like this. trust me, if you play for an RFL team you do NOT want to tangle with this young man with a football in your hand.
i almost don't want to come across him playing in the back yard! lookit the expression on his face. that half smile. he's looking at you like you're a happy meal
liam's pee wee Steeler team fought hard against the perennially super bowl bound Rears...excuse me, "Bears", and wound up on the losing end of a 6-0 score. on the bright side, holding the Bears to six points is a feat unmatched by any other RFL team this season.
another bright spot was liam's outstanding defensive play. his job this game was summed up in one number: 39. the Bears number 39 looks like a 4 1/2 foot version of mike allstot, but with more tape and gear. the dude had a hand towel, elbow pads, knee pads and about 3 miles of tape. but oh boy can he run! he's fast, he's quick, he can juke, he can run over you or around you. i'm not saying liam did it all by himself, it takes a village to stop 39, but he didn't break a single big run. liam had a few of his signature back cracking tackles that we've come to expect, but hadn't seen a lot of this season. with the competition getting a little more manageable, we expect to see more.
liam's team won their soccer match with liam contributing an assist and a scoreless second half in goal. the last time he played in goal for the second half he scored four goals in the first, so he's clearly slipping. my sports taxi sponsibilities prevented me from photographing that particular match.
kieran. my god! what has gotten into this dude? having been been moved from corner back to line backer after delivering a couple big hits (one on his teammate, but sam was hanging onto the ball carrier at the time), kieran continues to produce. he was three yards away from a
touchdown on a 10-yard run from scrimmage this weekend and had several big league sticks. of course it took me leaving to pick up liam from his soccer game for kieran to get that near-score, but i'm willing to help the team however i can.
he and his intermediate Steelers team are improving every week and have never looked more like a real football team than when the went down with a great fight to the Mustangs, an undefeated team. as with the pee wee team, the intermediates walked off the field to huge applause from the sidelines. they may have been on the losing end on the scoreboard, but the fight they showed was truly inspirational.
i'm not sure if this is the exact photo where kieran made a textbook tackle from behind, saving a touchdown, but let's just say it is. the kid who would have tried grabbing the runner from behind by the shoulder pads in week one, dove at his feet and wrapped him up like a christmas presenton the 15, while the ball carrier was contemplating his victory dance.
all in all, it was an amazing sports weekend for the dufflings. we went 2-for-4 but all four teams gave great effort and had the sidelines whipped into a major frenzy. i'll post a link to more pictures soon.
i almost don't want to come across him playing in the back yard! lookit the expression on his face. that half smile. he's looking at you like you're a happy mealliam's pee wee Steeler team fought hard against the perennially super bowl bound Rears...excuse me, "Bears", and wound up on the losing end of a 6-0 score. on the bright side, holding the Bears to six points is a feat unmatched by any other RFL team this season.
another bright spot was liam's outstanding defensive play. his job this game was summed up in one number: 39. the Bears number 39 looks like a 4 1/2 foot version of mike allstot, but with more tape and gear. the dude had a hand towel, elbow pads, knee pads and about 3 miles of tape. but oh boy can he run! he's fast, he's quick, he can juke, he can run over you or around you. i'm not saying liam did it all by himself, it takes a village to stop 39, but he didn't break a single big run. liam had a few of his signature back cracking tackles that we've come to expect, but hadn't seen a lot of this season. with the competition getting a little more manageable, we expect to see more.
liam's team won their soccer match with liam contributing an assist and a scoreless second half in goal. the last time he played in goal for the second half he scored four goals in the first, so he's clearly slipping. my sports taxi sponsibilities prevented me from photographing that particular match.
kieran. my god! what has gotten into this dude? having been been moved from corner back to line backer after delivering a couple big hits (one on his teammate, but sam was hanging onto the ball carrier at the time), kieran continues to produce. he was three yards away from a
touchdown on a 10-yard run from scrimmage this weekend and had several big league sticks. of course it took me leaving to pick up liam from his soccer game for kieran to get that near-score, but i'm willing to help the team however i can.he and his intermediate Steelers team are improving every week and have never looked more like a real football team than when the went down with a great fight to the Mustangs, an undefeated team. as with the pee wee team, the intermediates walked off the field to huge applause from the sidelines. they may have been on the losing end on the scoreboard, but the fight they showed was truly inspirational.
i'm not sure if this is the exact photo where kieran made a textbook tackle from behind, saving a touchdown, but let's just say it is. the kid who would have tried grabbing the runner from behind by the shoulder pads in week one, dove at his feet and wrapped him up like a christmas presenton the 15, while the ball carrier was contemplating his victory dance.
all in all, it was an amazing sports weekend for the dufflings. we went 2-for-4 but all four teams gave great effort and had the sidelines whipped into a major frenzy. i'll post a link to more pictures soon.
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