Never say never.

It is no secret that after having coached the Lima Central Catholic girls team I proclaimed I would never coach girls again,  Time passed has allowed me to gain better perspective and realize that one bad experience with a challenging group of players (and parents) should not be an indicator that all experiences coaching girls would be the same  These last two weeks of camp have been extraordinary and both involved coaching girls teams. 

Last week I worked with the Coldwater girls team whom I found to be sincerely polite, eager to learn and hard working. They were attentive and readily tried and bought into the ideas we presented. The improvement they made over 5 days of camp was noticeable to myself, the coaches and players alike. It is a good thing to see confidence blossom and grow throughout camp and manifest itself in their play during the Elida pre-season tournament this past weekend

This week I have been at Liberty Center. This is my third year in a row working with the Lady Tigers and the improvement has been startling over that time frame, but especially so this week.  The improvement is evident in technical and tactical ability, physical fitness and soccer IQ.  The girls have been a delight to work with and the team chemistry is at its best since I have been associated with the team.  I was granted permission to coach this team in camp as if they were my own team I was preparing for the season.  It has been a blast! I have thoroughly enjoyed myself.  Good players and better people. Great experience.

So it is that I have once again learned not to deal in absolutes.  The LCC experience, as I have come to refer to it, was not without its rewards or satisfying moments despite the difficulties and stress.  I found it easy to focus on the negatives of that situation allowing these to overshadow all the good that came from the experience.  These last two weeks have "restored my faith" in those that play women's soccer.  Two young and improving programs whose current teams hold the potential for record breaking seasons ... all due to the incredible young women who comprise their rosters. 

Thank you Lady Cavaliers and Lady Tigers!  You have been a blessing to me.  I sincerely hope you have benefitted from our camps and I wish you the very best in your 2015 seasons! 

Liberty Center 10 Evergreen 0

I like to check in with the teams I conduct camp for during their regular seasons to see if what we worked on has translated to their games.  Saturday morning found me making the trip to the Widewater Retreat Center to see the Lady Tigers of Liberty Center take on Evergreen Lady Vikings. I have conducted camp for Liberty Center the past two summers and was anxious to see if the progress made in camp would show itself in an actual game setting.

This is a young program, in their 4th year of varsity soccer, I believe. When I first camped with them in the summer of 2013 I found a group with little actual playing experience, but very eager and willing to learn. This summer I returned to find a group who had obviously worked hard under the guidance of head coach Billy Daniels.

The Tigers began the match in a 1-4-1-4-1 formation with striker Lexi Noll on top and attacking mid Candace Sayers in support.  The Vikings countered with a 3-5-2 formation played a bit unconventionally with the center defender advanced of two outside backs split wide. This aggressive attacking formation put the Tigers back on their heels initially as Viking forwards broke through time and again. Great pursuit angles utilized by the defenders and outstanding play in goal provided by Libby Ball kept the Vikings off the scoreboard.

Beginning at about the 10 minute mark the Tigers were able to begin exploiting the center of the Vikings defense mixing in attacking flank play for variation. Once the first goal went in the Tigers pounced repeatedly on other scoring opportunities.  I was pleased to see the ideas of penetration, depth, width and mobility in the Lady Tiger's attacking play. I was also pleased to see the sequences of two touch play we had worked on in evidence. Overall there was marked all round improvement from when I last saw the Liberty Center women play late last season.

While today's score was lopsided Evergreen had some good runs of play, especially early on. They threatened the Liberty Center goal on numerous occasions but just could not get one in.  Coach Daniels slowed the attack early in the second half seemingly calling for the Tigers to work on their possession game before looking to go to goal.  It was good to see the Vikings continue to work the full 80 minutes of play. That type of spirit will pay off as they build their program throughout this season.

Today's scorers were Candace Sayers and Lexi Noll each with a hat trick (3 goals a piece) while Courtney Taylor, Julianna Crockett, Davina Fredrick and Kris Keller each contributed a goal. Lexi Noll was also credited with 3 assists. Kirstin Daniels had 2 assists and Courtney Taylor 1. Libby Ball was credited with 11 saves and Lexi Noll with 2.

I am looking forward to returning to Liberty Center later on this season. Coach Billy Daniels and this young team are moving in the right direction in establishing a solid foundation to grow the program upon.

Best of Luck!

Congratulations Campers!

Three of the teams we worked with this summer had their opening matches Saturday.... and all three teams won!

Congratulations to the Liberty Center Lady Tigers on their  3-2 win over Toledo Bowsher!

Congratulations to the Lima Senior Spartans on their 4-0 win over Lincolnview!

Congratulations to the Piqua Indians on their 11-0 win over Preble Shawnee!

May continued success follow each of you throughout your seasons!