The view from the parents sideline.

Had the all too rare honor and privilege to watch my son Lance play from the parents sideline. I'm usually watching him play as a coach and trust me when I say the two perspectives are vastly different. Lance guest played for league rival ISC Storm in the Mayfest tournament and I thoroughly enjoyed myself watching him play as a parent / fan instead of as a coach.

For his high school team Lance plays right back and center mid. For our club team he has played almost exclusively as a right back. It was good to see him play almost exclusively as a center midfielder this weekend and despite being a bit rusty in the role, he played very well. His distributions from the center midfield position resulted in 10 assists on the teams 13 goals for the weekend. The calculated and well-timed runs he made from his center midfield position resulted in his scoring a game-winning goal! An astounding statistic.  Yeah, I'm proud of what he accomplished. ;)

I learned quite a bit watching Terry Paulus, the ISC Storm coach manage my son.  Lance played a lot of minutes until results of game were secured. I'm not entirely sure how much instruction Lance received about how to play center midfield within their system, but he settled in as the defensive center mid / pivot player from where he could change the point of attack, distribute to forwards / wings and make runs into the box.  It is a very dynamic role and within our own team system what I consider to be the most important position to be effectively manned.  Providing a protective presence in front of the backs while also being the key facilitator on offense is not an easy task. Great job Lance!

The ISC Storm play a far more direct game than our own team likes to play. I loathe straightline kick and run soccer but must admit Lance's service to the forwards this weekend reminded me of how effective a tactic it can be when the "kick" part is accurate effective service rather than just "whacking the ball forward."  In the finals Lance had 3 assists in the first 12 minutes and the game was pretty much over at that point. Our club team lacks that type of dynamic distributor and this may lead to Lance playng more in the center midfield as we close out the season.

I actually thought our team had someone who could fill that role for us, but his heart is in a different position. One thing I know and appreciate as a goalkeeper coach is the neccessity of having a passion for the position. If a player does not embrace the position, you might as well not play him there. Last spring our team had a number of players asked to play out of position and most did not embrace the roles they were asked to play. This neccessitated changes in the roster for this spring to match roles with players that embraced playing them.  We still have a couple of players "playing out of position", but most of the players have embraced the positions they have been asked to play and the  roles they have been asked to fill. They have made personal sacrifices for the good of the team.  As a coach, I value this dearly. It is, in part, what differentiates decent teams to elevate their collective games and become great teams.

New friend Cathy Rau also introduced a new-to-me phrase describing the parents sidelines - she calls it the "expert side."  This was applied mostly in reference to the referees but is also applicable to coaching I would think.  It's is actually a very apt description as every parent seems to believe they know more than the trained and licensed officials... and often times more than the coaches as well. We were quite fortunate to have one of the best officials around in Mr. Greg Reynolds for two of the matches this weekend. Mr. Reynolds does an outstanding job of communicating to players on the pitch often using his voice to control the game when others would resort to excessive whistles and cards.  I have always apprciated  Mr. Reynolds officiating from the coaching sideline, but do so even more having watched him facilitate the game from the perspective of the parents sidelines.

Perhaps the most interesting thing this weekend was watching a team grow together and mature right before our eyes.  Their first game they played well. The guest players assimulated well and the team as a whole not only accepted them but embraced them. The second game saw the relationship between team and guest players struggle a little bit as everyone let their guard down, so to speak. Passes just missed and timing was not nearly as efficient as it had been in the first game. Growing pains in the relationship.  The third game was a really solid showing and the champonship game was a dominating performance.  Everything was clicking early and often. I know this, ISC Storm this Monday morning is not the same ISC Storm team we defeated twice in the last two weeks. They have improved significantly. The guest players were a part of that for sure, but even when they were not in the game the improved team play was obvious.

So, Congratulations to the ISC Storm U16B 2013 Mayfest Champions!  We will see you in a couple of weeks at the Creek Classic. I sincerely hope our own team continues to improve at a similar rate. Should be a great matchup. Thanks for a great weekend!