I help with this team at training on occasion, but they have a head coach and long time assistant. My middle son plays here.
Our boys are in Grade 12 and will be off to school in the fall. Some are interested in trying out for their new schools while others want to play in competitive men's leagues. The jump in speed, technical demands and physical play are noticeable and, for some, extremely intimidating.
This weekend our team was thrown into the firepit, covered in oil and cooked until well-done.
Every team we played was older and physically superior. Everybody learned something this weekend. They had no choice. We went with two extra players and that was reduced to zero after our first game.
What our boys learned this weekend was valuable. Really, you prepare and train, but you need to play at that level to learn and acclimatize to the environment.
Speed and stamina kill. Your ability to run is as important as a regular person's ability to breathe. It's a running sport that lasts 90 minutes. Losing your wind while your opponent is still moving makes the game 50x more difficult.
Superiority and stamina of strength is important. Anybody who thinks you do not need physical strength to play is kidding themselves.
Move the ball early. Your first hack in the ankle will remind you of that lesson.
Move the ball quickly. Looking like a fool when your weak pass in intercepted the 5th time should teach you that.
Accurate passing. Defending a counter-attack that started with your errant pass gets tiring the 10th time.
Off the ball movement is not an option. Standing still kills your teammates looking for support. Pressure approaches faster and harder, so they need an option NOW.
Challenge with all you have. Going into a 50/50 ball with a half effort will soon find you on the ground. Or injured. Without the referee's sympathy.
Winning balls in the air matters. Going up strong and with the intention of winning the ball distinguishes the haves from the have-nots.
Shielding the ball is a war. You give what you have to keep the ball.
Deliver a slide tackle with intention. Your slide tackles have to make the guy think twice before coming
toward you again.Don't wait for the ball. Soccer 101, but difficult to reinforce with a soccer culture where it's not always acceptable to be aggressive.
Be first to every ball. Always a main coaching point. Much more important when the other guy weights 195lbs and is 6'2".
Dead ball situations have a bigger effect on the game. The ability to deliver a good service or defend set pieces becomes a turning point in games more often.
Impatient defending kills. Getting beat 50-60yds from your goal leaves your entire team scrambling.
Goalkeepers must cutoff crosses. If you can't cutoff crosses, you are in for a short career past youth soccer.
You get one move. The next guy is waiting and will not be so kind.
You're going to get hit. Get over it.
On top of all this, you have to be a technically strong player to succeed. This is why you train when you are young. So your technique and skill are at a level that you can still execute when the pressure is greater and the space reduced.
It's what they've all been coached and rehearsed, but their leagues have never been able to require all of these during games because we're not exposed to that high a level. Even our so-called "upper " youth leagues don't have this environment. Here's to hoping that OPDL will raise our level of play for younger ages.
I can tell you my sons saw most of this in Italy for 3 weeks, on the street, when they were 11 and 12 years old. They played morning to night in the Piazza in pick-up game. And that level of play last 2-3 weeks upon our return, only to settle back down where it was.
Over the weekend, every player improved different aspects of their game, through exposure alone. During our last game they gave it as much as they took it and worked hard to complete passes.
We were very proud of the boys. They worked hard and played tough till the last whistle. Our last game was against a team that handily beat the two earlier team that beat us. We played them tough and lost 1-0 on an average goal.
Here is our challenge: How do we continue to expose our boys to this level of play once their league play resumes. Enter adult tournaments? Friendlies vs college/university teams? Rotate players in and out of our men's system at our club?
This is something I will have to plant in the coach's ear. If we want to run a good "Active for Life" program, we need to prepare the ones who are interested.
