Today rounds out the final games of the season for both the Green Machine and the Cheeto’s.
Game one started in the fog. The Green Machine playing the number 1 team again for the first spot in the Tournament, if they’d win they’d get to play again tomorrow but it wasn’t to be. Camden took them to task again.
It was Maggie’s first year playing soccer, and probably her last which is very disappointing. Her team went 0-9-1. Not for lack of effort by any individual player, but complete lack of coaching. Her team never jelled. Nobody likes to lose that’s a given, and everyone hates to be embarrassed every week, week in and week out.
To Maggies coach:Warning, this may sound harsh.
I hope you take the time to pickup a few books on coaching, and team building. You may have played the game, but playing the game doesn’t make a coach.
Building a team takes patience, observation, understanding, listening, and starts with fundamentals which this team sorely lacked in a number of areas.
At practice, you went through the drills and through the motions but you never drove home the point, a point or any point. “This is how you do it, why you do it, do it until it’s second nature, do it until you do it right.”
You had girls that flat out couldn’t kick the ball. Set them aside and teach them that.
You had girls that couldn’t catch the ball (a requirement for a goalie), someone should have tossed her balls ever practice, week in and week out (wet or not).
You had girls that didn’t understand what it meant to attack a ball, most seemed afraid of it. They needed someone to help them get over that.
They didn’t understand keeping their distance from one another, playing as a unit, offensively or defensively. They looked like the candy league.
It was YOUR responsibility to teach them.
Rather than working on weaknesses and building them up, you separated them and screamed at them. That’s not teaching.
You failed to identify the talents that you did have and put them to good use. Other than to simply put Britney on the right wing and expect her to score every game one against the entire team.
She could center a ball but there would be no one there. Why? Because they didn’t understand why they needed to be there. Someone needs to SHOW then why. Why passing the ball is more EFFICIENT than carrying it.
There were plenty of games this team had an opportunity to win, but you were so busy beating them up for one bad play or another that they couldn’t focus on the good things they were doing.
I think you could be a fine coach if you really wanted to be. You do have the desire to win and that’s great, but it takes more than that. You have to be patient, realize what you have, break things down to the simplest form and drill, drill, drill. You have to expect, then demand the respect of your players, and then respect them for the players that they are. You never had their complete attention, ever.
If you want help with that or want pointed in the right direction, I invite you to go watch the Lady Screaming Eagles Basketball team practice. Watch Coach Floyd run a practice. He’s been doing it a long time. Feel free to contact Claudine or I for the information.
