Nike Cup

Well as the weather continues to haunt us into April, the Nike Challenge Cup provided a good opportunity for some of our U9 and U10 boys. I'll leave the problems with Sunday's weather delays/cancellations out of my post, as some positives came out the weekend as a whole.

The U9 Academy boys took home Finalist trophies on the back of a strong Saturday. Playing with a 6-2 (maybe it was 3, but 6-2 sounds better) deficit, they climbed back to win 7-6. The played a strong team from Ontario on the second day (Based on their size, what are they feeding those kids up there!), and would have loved to have avoided weather stops and starts, as Scott and I really thought the boys were playing some of their best soccer of the season there in the final.

I was also very pleased with our Thursday training session with the U9s who didn't go with us to Columbus. We are starting to play quicker and the combinations are really starting to show. I'm trying to use activities that dictate the need for quicker play (points for more passes and switching fields to a target player), and forcing the boys to really think through the best way to achieve success. I like to provide them a variety of goals, then allow them to determine how they can achieve each goal. If I see that one goal (quick restarts) is being accomplished, but another is lacking (not enough movement into space to allow for a restart that doesn't put us under immediate pressure), I ask them what they think is missing. As we start to get these concepts, the boys know what I am looking for, can identify it among themselves, and try to deal with that issue.

As both groups continue to progress, we are really targeting the final tournaments of the year as a chance to once again showcase all that we've learned starting back in the fall.