Soccer Links

Ormond Beach Challenge--3rd Place
[For Full Tournament Results Click Here]

Game	Opponent	Score	W/L
1	Tallahassee United	3-4	L
2	Players Club	7-1	W
3	Ancient City Fireballs	1-4	L
Consolation Game	Players Club	3-0	W

The pregame pep talk before our consolation game. The coach is trying to explain that we're here to have fun and play as a team. Emilio (our sportsman of the tournament) helps demonstrate what youth soccer is all about.

[Click Here for More Photos from Our Tournament]

Summary

We traveled to Ormond Beach for our first full tournament, entering ten boys as a U9 recreation team. We competed in the Continental bracket, a group of four teams made up of two U9 select teams, a U10 rec team, and us, the apparent underdog. Our objective was to give some boys an opportunity to see what it is like to compete in select level soccer, to develop as a team, and to have some fun. As it turned out it was a beautiful weekend for soccer. The kids played very hard and, I think, learned a few lessons.

Game 1 was against the Tallahassee United. Cameron scored a quick goal for us and, as is often the case, after Cam's early goal we rested a bit, while the opposition stepped it up. Tallahassee began working the ball around the field pretty well. They had a couple of very strong players up front in the first half, one of which had excellent speed. They were a bit more than our backs could handle. We looked very tentative--consequently, Tallahassee was beating us to most of the balls and we gave them too much space particularly in our defensive half. By half time, Tallahassee was up 3-1 and it was clear that our game plan needed some adjustment. In the second half we came out playing a much more aggressive game. Our backs, Matt, Emilio, Nick, and Craig, gave us a very strong defensive effort. Conor also played great in the goal. Tallahassee made some adjustments as well, one being to move their strongest player back on defense. This probably worked to our benefit since it eliminated their major threat up front. We began to gain control of the game, but Tallahassee managed a lucky shot over Conor's head giving them a 4-1 lead. But the Rampage showed a lot of character and didn't give up. With about 10 or 15 minutes left in the game we took full control. Andy managed to knock in two goals bringing us to within one. Unfortunately, time ran out and we walked away with a 3-4 loss, but we got a glimpse of what we were capable of.

Game 2 was against Players Club, a select team from the Tampa area. Having one game under our belt, our kids came out looking far more comfortable. We completely dominated the first half going up 5-0. In the second half we played equally well, but PC stepped it up considerably. We continued to keep the ball in our attacking half for most of the period, but PC managed to get off a couple of shots, one of which finally hit the back of the net. But in the end, it was all Rampage with a final score of 7-1. Players Club got a bit frustrated during this game and consequently their coaches gave some inappropriate instructions. This one got rather physical off the ball and our players began to respond in kind with both mouth and body. This is something I'll never allow on one of my teams. While soccer is a physical game, there's a way to do it right and fairly, and a way to do it wrong. I discussed this with the team, but unfortunately some of this attitude seemed to carry into the next game. But on the positive side, we had four separate players score goals in this game. Mitch had a hatrick, Alex landed two, and Travis and Andy each had one. So, by the end of game 2, half of our team had scored at least one goal.

Game 3 was against the Ancient City Fireballs, a good U10 recreation team from St. Augustine. We came out in the first half fired up, and kept the ball in our attacking half of the field for about 75% of the period. We got off a number of excellent shots, but they all fell wide or in the goalies' hands. Unfortunately, Ancient City managed to score on a PK and a rather bizarre lob from mid field that bounced over Conor's head and into the goal--two goals that weren't really well earned. The word "unlucky" pretty well sums up our first half of play which ended 0-2. Unfortunately, our guys did not respond well in the second half. At half time when I told them that we were the better team and would come back, the response I got from the bench was "no we can't". When I told them that we needed more unselfish play, more passing up front, the response I got was "I'm not passing" or "I'm not passing to him". I also had to quench talk from some of our players about going after other players on the opposing team. After coaching more than 300 youth soccer games, I think this was a first for me. If this was a select team with a full squad, a number of the kids would have been cooling off the second half on the bench. So some of the kids had made their decision and took the field with a poor attitude. In the second half we played aggressively, but it wasn't soccer. This wasn't the team that I had coached and put so much time into for the past 6 months. I was very disappointed. I don't think the kids linked more thank two passes together the entire half. Consequently, Ancient City had a field day--it's a piece of cake to defend against a team that doesn't pass. When ever one of our players got control of the ball in our attacking half, we were quickly double teamed or triple teamed. Against a team that worked together that would be a poor tactic, but against us it worked well. Ancient City managed two well earned goals in the second half, while Travis managed an unassisted goal to make the final score 1-4. We clearly had more talent, but to my disappointment, we chose to give this game away by playing a very selfish game in the second half.

Game 4, the consolation game, was our "respect game" against Players Club. I told the boys that this game was about respect for themselves, respect for each other, respect for the other team, and respect for the coach. We still had some negative attitude, but most of the players responded positively and were ready to play (photo above). Players Club was a changed team from the previous day. They started out the day almost knocking off Tallahassee United after going up 1-0 on them at half time. In the first half we came out strong against PC and controlled the ball well, but we struggled to get off good shots. However, our defense was excellent and kept the ball out of our goal box for almost the entire game with the exception of a handful of corner kicks that we gave them. While our play up front was still not what it could be, our passing had improved somewhat from the previous three games. Matt, Alex, and Travis each managed to knock a ball into the net in this one, bringing our number of players with goals to six. While it was a closer game than the early bout with Players Club, it was clear that both teams had improved.

So we ended the tournament with a 2-2 record. I would have been very happy with this record had we played our best. But I think the players know that that wasn't the case. Although I'm very proud of what the boys accomplished and the effort they gave, we need to learn to trust and support our team mates, we need to play our positions more disciplined, we need to be less selfish, and we need to listen to and respect the each other and the coach. This group certainly has great potential, but it will be largely up to them to determine how they gel and grow as a team. It only takes one or two players to influence the chemistry of the entire team--each player needs be a positive role model. I hope that if there's one thing that the players take away from this weekend it is that the game of soccer is played with the head more than the body. After this weekend I decided that, from this tournament on, we will announce a "Sportsman of the Tournament" for the player that consistently demonstrats positive attitude and clean play. In our first ever tournament, this honor goes to Emilio! Thanks for a great tournament, Emilio.

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