SG Soccer: Growing Pains

9/24/2024

By Erik Van Dyke

Early season can be tough. You’re not in great shape after the summer (best case sore legs, worst case injured), you don’t know your teammates very well (what’s her last name again?), and the coach keeps moving you around, trying you at different positions (can’t he make up his mind?).

And then you play Massey-Vanier (defending champs) and Gaslt (perennial powerhouse) back to back, Monday-Tuesday, with no practice time or rest after Saturday’s SIT, and get waxed 3-0 in both games.

Zero wins, two ties, 4 losses to start the season. 2 goals for, 13 goals against, and 4 injuries.

Yeah, that qualifies as a tough start to the season.

But I am a big believer that ADVERSITY is the best teacher in the world. That you learn more from losing than you do from winning. So what can we learn from these last two games (besides the fact that 80 minutes makes for a crazy long game, especially in 90 degree heat!)?

We can learn to play wider. There is a lot of field out there on the wings, if we can avoid being pulled to the middle, if we can TRUST our teammates to win the battles inside and get us the ball out WIDE.
DEPTH. It takes effort to keep our team shape up and down the field, and if you don’t make that effort, you leave gaps everywhere. It’s tiring to maintain depth, but if it was easy, hey, everyone would do it.
Even though logic and your instincts may want you to play north-south, sometimes EAST-WEST is the better way to make forward progress. (Kinda like rugby, come to think of it…)
Dead ball situations are not opportunities to rest, i.e. when the ball goes out for throw-ins and goal kicks, we need to be running into position to defend that throw-in and steal that goal kick.
If you’re the last line of defence, when in doubt, hammer the ball out of trouble – CLEAR like you mean it.
Pass to SPACE, not always to feet.
Pass to SPACE, not always to feet. (Yes, I repeated that one on purpose!)
Midfield positioning is key. BALLSIDE. DEPTH. And SUPPORT each other.
We can definitely learn to take advantage of Addy’s pinpoint corner kicks. (Reminder, the over/under for goals scored on corner kicks this season has officially been set at 2.5.)
And finally, COMMUNICATION. We gotta talk more, ladies. Soccer is no place to be shy.

There were plenty of positives, too. Against MVR, Gabbie had a strong game, Annie was confident and vocal off her line, Charlotte was a rock back there, and Dally earned the Play Of The Game on a sensational diving save to the right corner. And in the Galt game, we played the mighty Pipers even in the second half featuring strong games from Emma and Julia, and much improved positioning in the midfield led by Val.

But I will stick to my point. It’s fun when things go well, sure, but that’s when complacency can set in. It’s when you are up against it, when the going gets tough – that’s when you get better. That’s when you grow. So let’s make the most of these opportunities. Let’s LEARN from these last two games. Let’s GET BETTER.

- Coaches Van Dyke & Kirby

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the awesome time we just had this past weekend at

Jay Peak with the senior boys team, featuring training sessions on immaculate turf fields surrounded by Vermont mountains just turning color, personal cottages, a pizza party, and a fantastic afternoon at the Pump House indoor waterpark. THANK YOU, Mr. Spirk, for organizing such a memorable bonding experience!

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