AskDoach

Last game of the season.  We've made it through 2 bracket games already and are in the championship game.   3rd quarter, my boys take the field.   The right outside midfielder runs close to my sideline, "Coach, I can't find right midfield".    "What?" I say, tilting my head like a cocker spaniel. "I can't find right midfield, where do I go?" I struggle for a moment for a response.    I know there's not a mark on the field for him to find and I think that's what he's looking for.   I can't help but think how have I gotten to this game without having taught him this?  How useless am I as a coach?  The starting whistle is about to blow and he's looking at me virtually begging for direction.   Something... anything... what can I say in 30 seconds that this boy can use?   Finally, it's all I can think of..."Midfield... you help on both offense and defense.  Run a lot, stay towards this side of the field, take the ball f

We showed up for our game on Sunday and noticed the other team looked a bit short.   I walked up to the coach who informed me that he would only have 8 players today.   My team, filled with boys who love to play were all there ready to go.  I had 14 of a 15 player squad there with less than 24 hours notice.  If I matched the other team and played short I'd be sitting 6 boys every quarter.  That's 24 missed quarters, resulting in the bulk of my team only playing half a game.  Thinking through it that didn't sit right.   I walked back to the opposing coach before the game and presented my plan.    We would play him in an official game, 11 on 8.    I didn't want to sit so many boys who came to play.    If things got crazy out of hand, we'd spot him a few players and end with a scrimmage.   That way, everyone plays a lot of soccer.    He was happy with that and being undefeated, felt it would be a good challenge for his boys.  We took the field. We played even for quite

The Lessons Too Hard to Teach at Home While I play both roles, a Dad and Coach, I'm Dad first, last and always.  So this post is written from that side of me.  Some lessons are just too hard for me to teach as Dad, so I'm so glad that my son, Owen learned this one with me in the stands.  He competed in the State gymnastics tournament and was very excited.   Twice this season he has managed to score the all-around total he would need to reach in this meet to make it to the Regionals meet.  To do this his first year at Level 6 would be a great accomplishment. The meet was going great.   By his last event (Rings), he only needed a score of 9.6 to make the Regionals meet.  He's not scored below 11.x all season.   He's looked up at me several times during the meet showing his satisfaction in his performance.   I was beaming with pride, reflecting his.  He wasn't cocky, just confident.  But the rings proved to be a tough challenge that night.  His first press up cha