A semester ends quietly, but a season ends with a bang.
We went into the last game of the season facing a team that only lost 1 game (last week, coincidentally to a team we beat who in turn only lost to dear young us). We took an early 2-0 lead using the strategy I proposed in an earlier post. Afterwards, I flipped strategies and put 4 players back on defense. This was the wrong move. The kids backed down and let the pressure fall on their goalie. At one point they totally let the goalie down by blocking him when the other team kicked. 2-0 turned to 2-2 and that is how the season ended.
I’m good with that. Really good. We played a team that has played together for a while. Our team is a very young band of kids who are just starting to feel each other out and the situation shows a lot of growth potential. I’m learning that coaching is not only about cultivating talent but about cultivating friendships. Its also about logistics, but I’ve got work to do on that front.
Not all was perfect. Some mistakes were made. Most were made by me. Some of the parents reacted angrily to showing up at 8 for a game that was actually at 9:45. Rightfully so. I wouldn’t want to be out in that heat for an extra hour, not to mention the idea of having to get up early on a weekend. I couldn’t for the life of me understand where they got the idea that the game was so early. One parent suggested the schedule said we had the early game, but I’d checked that schedule after returning from practice and it said 9:45. Finally a parent reminded me that I’d sent an email early in the season with the times of all the games. Unfortunately, my email had the wrong time for the last game. In other words, I screwed up the logistics on the thing.
Some Thoughts:
- I’ve been doing some research on Sharia law, which I will share in a later post. One thing that is becoming surprisingly clear is the alignment between the laws being passed here, the cases being fought, and discussions about women’s rights and Sharia. It seems like we are leaning towards adopting more of those principles, but the charge is not coming from the Muslim community or from the left as the press would have you believe. The charge is coming from the right.