It feels like a weight lifted from my shoulders to be done with the flag football season. 3 teams means 5 or more practices a week, 3 separate game plans and personalities a plenty. The expectations for this season were mixed. For the 8-9 Giants nothing short of a perfect season would do. The 6-7 Ravens were filled with kids who never played the game before, and the 4-5 Cardinals were too young for expectation. In the end, the results were as varied as the expectations, and hardly anything went according to plan.
My Giants started the season a perfect 5-0, but on the 5th game our top receiver broke his arm. From that point forward we went to producing 45 points a game to 11. We couldn’t stretch the field, so the opposing D could key in on our running backs and force our other receivers to step up. They didn’t. We dropped 2 of our last 3 and recorded more drops in those games than we had the entire season prior. It goes to show that one player really can make all the difference.
The Ravens weren’t very good from the start. We knew this was a learning year where the kids were largely playing together for the first time–playing football at all for the first time–and adjusting to an older and more competitive age bracket. I blogged about the rough start and decided then to Belichick the thing–focusing on designing a playbook that would take advantage of their skills and particular nuances of the game. The problem there was that the Belichick way requires players that listen and follow precise instruction. That isn’t a thing 6-7 yr olds typically do. Still, it worked well enough to earn us 4 wins in 7 games. The three we lost were to older, bigger, and more experienced teams. What I learned most of all from that experience is that I have my own weakness as a coach–Once team morale breaks down, I’m not terribly good at bringing it back up–at least not as fast as needed. When we lost, the kids got down on themselves and never got back up. That happened at the 8-9 level as well.
The Cardinals were outstanding, winning all of their games–most in convincing fashion. What stood out to me was how a lot of these 4 yr old players developed over the course of the season. With this young group we have a solid core of kids who can move up together through the years, staying friends and becoming wonderful athletes.
I enjoyed the season, but the end represents a chance to refocus on writing and personal growth. My basketball season is over (for me) as well, so now I can give my time to other important things.