Well, after all the makeup games from bad weather, the soccer season has finally ended for my U7 Girls soccer team.
After a slow start, the girls came through with flying colors. While we did lose our previous game, it was very close and I believe if we played them again, we would have been able to defeat them too.
Was it my outstanding skills as a coach that made the difference?
No.
Was it because I had a superstar that made all of the goals?
No, well sort of… we actually had at least 4 or 5 superstars.
What it really came down to was the determination of each of the girls to win. The drive to win is very important in life, and when you get a group of driven girls or boys that all want to win, you have a great team. Even if the team doesn’t have the skills that the other teams have that have played together for years. This “Killer Instinct” or Drive is what makes great things happen in life. It’s pinpoint focus that makes change happen!
If I decided to coach in the fall, I’m confident that we will win practically all of our games if I have the exact same team. Most of the girls are quick to pick up whatever they are taught. Since I have such a fast driven team, I believe that anything I teach them will be learned and applied quickly.
Here is where I have a problem. While I’m sure my girls would do fine again, wouldn’t it make more sense to let another experienced soccer coach take over and develop the team? I need to make a decision quickly to keep my team together or not.
Was it worth it?
Yes, in many ways that I hadn’t expected. I’ve also gained respect for the existing coaches, but also think that some of them exhibit too much favoritism with respect to their own daughters and friends.
Decisions, decisions… What would you do?
MR
I would keep the team together. It gives you the opportunity to work with these girls over a few seasons, identify strengths and weaknesses and help them develop a greater sense of the game. Watching girls soccer, I sense that many girls lack situational or game time awareness. They can get locked into a position, may not sense where the other players are, and simply have a hard time making real time decisions. If you could teach that, you will be a great coach.
Well, you may not have a choice. In Michigan at least, kids start to play travel soccer at U8. So the ‘superstars’ may move on to non-rec soccer in the fall anyway.
When my daughter was U6 and U7, we kept the team pretty much together, but that was determined by how the city districted all the teams based on address. We had the same coach each year and loved it. Great continuity.