May the Season Begin

Well, the new high school soccer season officially began last Monday with tryouts. This was the first time I was faced with cutting anybody from my own team in a couple of years. Since we lost about 12 people from last year's team, there were plenty of spaces to fill, but I knew I needed some kind of objective drills/tests to defend my actions to any concerned parents. Unfortunately, I had a hard time thinking of good objective measurements that would be a strong reflection of a player's ability during game time. So, we ended up doing a lot of scrimmaging. Always during tryouts, it seems to be a task to get communication and aggressive play out of the players who are "on the bubble." A few times I isolated the ones I needed to see more closely, and, of course, still little communication. But I guess another way to look at it would be that during games, these guys will be facing the best players of the opposing schools, so they need to experience working against the best our school has to offer. After four days of tryouts, I think I've got a pretty good roster of players. Lack of aggression and hustle can be strong detriments in the tryout process. I'd rather have people out there who not only have a knowledge of the game but are also motivated to succeed and improve.

Another interesting aspect that I will need to research is the idea of being in charge of an entire program again. This really hasn't been the case since I was in Logan coaching girls' cross-country. I don't know how long God wants to keep me in this position, but my words and actions as well as the words and actions of my players will be a reflection on the school, but more humbly, on me as well. I hope that I can encourage and motivate these players in ways that will make God proud and end the season with a sense of accomplishment and success for all involved.

The Torch Has Been Passed

Earlier this week, our AD at school notified me that I would be serving this year as the head boys' soccer coach for the high school. I still have mixed feelings about the position. Now, in my youth, I was all about "the beautiful game," both as a player and as a fan. However, as time passed, my athletic interests became more varied, and soccer took a backseat to cross-country and basketball especially as those were the first two sports I coached after graduating from college. I jumped back into soccer coaching two years ago as the girls' varsity assistant and JV coach at Dulles High School. Last year, when I moved over to Westbury Christian, I assisted with the boys' varsity. Now, the program has been handed over to me. My work is definitely cut out for me as we lost six valuable seniors last year and four others who would have been key members of the squad this year. In the past, I've prided myself on having teams that were well-conditioned and disciplined. Those are two attributes I think will be very important this season. We definitely won't be deep numbers wise, but if I can get some good leadership from the boys who are returning and keep them all encouraged, the outlook should be pretty good. Oh, yeah, it would probably be a good idea to ask for assistance, wisdom, and patience from the King of Kings and Coach of Coaches.