How Did You Get On? The 07-08 version...

[Val]

A new season is gearing up, so we need a new thread...

So, how was your weekend then?

[ali.turner]

I have started to coach a newly set up team of u/17 girls. Our first game was against a side from America called South Charlotte. The USA side were very good and we lost 7-0 but the experience was invaluable. I learned a lot about my new team and the girls learned a lot about the game and themselves. Technique wise I don't think there was a lot of difference between the 2 sides but the USA girls were ALL great athletes and their movement off the ball was superb. All in all it was a great evening for girls football in my part of the world.

[lanesra]

We've got athleticism in spades, Ali. So might not be a surprise there.

Our board is rotating coaches, and we had assignment night yesterday, and I've been given an U10 boys travel team from the north end of the county. I will have them for three years, or that is the plan now. Like Jerzy, hanging around here has given me the desire to work on building a team longer-term, so this should be interesting. The team is weak, if my impressions of the kids I know are accurate, but that is one of the reasons I was slotted here. So I guess I should take this as a compliment.

[ian.curry]

We are in the middle of the North Tyneside International Youth Tournament right now, and it is comfortably the hardest few days we have ever had.
Missing the whole back line, using 8 guests in total, things are a bit beyond us.
We won the 1st game on Weds 5-2, but then on Thurs we lost 3-0 and 4-0, and today dear me, a 5-1 reverse and then 12-0 to probably the strongest team in it.
And we still have to go back tomorrow to play once more, with 13 players available, only 7 are in my actual squad. I can't wait for it to be over.

[ian.curry]

Thank god that's over. 0-0 at h/t today, with 5 minutes to go 0-2 down, finished 0-6.
All in all we have conceded four own goals and 4 penalties too in this tournament, dear me.

If anyone wants to really test themselves against the cream of the north east, come to the North Tyneside tournament.

[Jerzy]

^^^^^I'm not a big fan of tourmanents for exactly that reason, ian. It's hard to know where to slot yourself. I've endured two tournaments like this (though ours must be shorter because we only get 3 or 4 games total with a record like that), though four own goals is really backbreaking. And I had one tournament we won in a cakewalk. We were good, but not as good as the results of the tournament indicated, and we had a serious case of overconfidence to combat for the next tournament.

However, a little humble pie is not necessarily a bad thing. Morale shouldn't be too big a deal since you didn't have half your team.

[ian.curry]

It's not to worry, this is the 2nd week of our school holidays here. Missing the entire backline and filling it with kids a year younger and out of position is a fair excuse for how we have done.
I love the format, it is essentially 6 pre-season friendlies, each 30 mins each way. The biggest positive I can take out of it is that all the squad believe that scores would be different with the proper defence in place.

[lanesra]

I get my team over the weekend, and I am pumped. Games don't start until the 8th of September (after Labor Day weekend, a major bank holiday for you English types), but right off the gate, I'll do one practice this week but move on to two a week after that. I even have an assistant lined up to run practices the last week of summer, when I'll be on vacation. One guy I work with is so gung-ho that he refuses to take any vacation in August so he won't miss anything. LOL

[ian.curry]

I wanted to do something similar with my pre-season. Once a week in June, twice a week July - mid August, 3 times a week in fortnight before season starts.
Fat chance with the numbers away.

Pre-season is important, but what is more important, is not forgetting that you are still training and coaching during September etc. We will probably have 6 or 7 games in September, along with a training session. I'm going to aim for 2 sessions per week plus the games, and use that as our learning curve/build up to the rest of the season.

[lanesra]

So ian, what do you mark as the beginning of this season? How many games do you think your team will play, and how many total practice sessions will your guys have?

I will have 10 regular season games and 3-5 games for a season ending tournament. I'll also have a preseason game that I arrange that no one else in the league does. That's 14-16 games total. As for practices, I probably will have 25. About half the teams will only practice around here once a week, which is why I'm excited to be in this advanced league because every coach practices twice a week.