It sucks when it comes to an end. I think it's funny, my son MAY have gotten 3 YC in his career through the end of his HS season (last year). Since May, he's picked up 1 RC (straight red) in state cup qualifying and three YC in college.
Sorry it's over but, hey, at least he didn't go quietly. My son's team eliminated a school from a nearby town that included some club teammates who are seniors and the players and parents we know from that team were stunned that it was over (maybe parents more than players). My wife and I had an "Uh oh, are we ready for that?" moment on the way home.
I kind of lost count of the number of yellow cards he's gotten over the years They've run the whole gamut, from the strategic (e.g. the "professional" foul) to general hard play and the inane (he once got a yellow card for failing to walk towards the ref fast enough to get a talking to ). He's probably had three or four yellows in the past for being the first one there to stick up for a teammate as well. Last night was his third double yellow of his career (one in club and two in HS). The first two involved some sort of dissent followed by a dumb foul he really should have thought about before he did. The freshmen teammate ended up with four stiches in his head and his eye is pretty much swollen shut today, so I have no issue for him stepping in and defending him in that situation. No card was issued for the kid who threw the elbow.
Son is playing for D3 UW-Eau Claire. Last regular season game was tonight vs UW-Whitewater, a 2-0 victory. Team is only in its second year and is not currently part of a conference. They finished 18-2 and now hope for an invite to the NCAA3 Tournament. Sorry to those of you who are winding down high school seasons especially those with Seniors. There can only be one final winner every year! Really makes you realize how much you enjoyed watching over the years. 2020 covid shutdown gave my wife and I a glimpse of what it would be like once we didn't have kids sports to watch. We both agreed we'd have to find some other hobby. So we were super happy when the boy decided to play in college and picked one less than 90 minutes away after originally wanting to go warm to the southeast.
And the journey ends (at least this piece of it). A 1-4 loss after a scoreless first half. Some tension between teammates that had simmered near the surface for parts of the season apparently spilled over when they fell behind. Sad to see after a bunch of these kids had played a lot of soccer together over the past decade-plus. Hopefully that isn't the takeaway.
My kid loses a lot of balls and water bottles. I don't buy nice things for him anymore. What's the point? Give me the cheap stuff. Maybe when he's older and more responsible. He can have one nice one and the rest of the balls are cheap ones you buy in bulk.
I remember when DS was playing U10 (or U11). One of his teammates got an expensive (like $150-200) ball for Christmas. He brought it to a tournament that was bordered by woods. During warmups, his ball got kicked into the woods and they never could find it. Another tournament, DS warmed up with his ball. When it was time to go to the bench for the game to start, he kicked the ball to the sideline, huddled, then went onto the field (starter). After the game, his ball is no where to be found. It was a fairly common looking one, so I'm not surprised someone picked it up by accident. IMO, there's really no reason to use ANY "nice" ball ($50+) for practices or games.
My wife and I are the keepers of the HS team uniforms this year. The problem of losing stuff does not end before HS. There's been a steady flow of parents quietly emailing or texting asking if we have extra socks, shorts, ... The struggle is real, man.
This year's season is not going well. Last year they dominated. But one interesting stat is they have never been shut out. From last year when he started comp to today. 55 straight matches. I don't know if that's common or not but it's seems amazing to me.
Goals seem to be easier to come by in younger ages. I would not put much stock into being able to score every game. And you're going to have up and down years. Get used to it, but don't stress over it.
I don't understand early morning games. Yeah yeah, I have heard "you get it over with" and I hate to hear it. Mowing the lawn is something you want to get over with. But your kids soccer game should be a joyous thing, the highlight of your weekend. And I don't know a single kid that likes to get up at 6:30am on a Saturday.
I don't like them either, but I understand them. There are 'x' number of games that need to be played, 'y' number of fields that can be played on, and 'z' number of hours in the day. To say nothing about the availability of referees (the guy who's doing U8 at 8am might be doing U12 at 1P and U15 at 5P).
And you want ridiculous? I remember one tournament we were at when playing U12. Group stage (two games) on Saturday, Knockout on Sunday. Our last Saturday game was scheduled for 8p I think. First knockout (depending on seeding) was 8am Sunday. By the time Saturday night rolled around, we already knew the team we were scheduled to play was who we would play Sunday morning. The only thing up in the air was who was the #2 seed and who was the #3 (so who was the home team). A line of storms went through delaying the Saturday night games. I think we kicked off at like 10:30p. By the time the game ended, we grab something to eat and get back to the hotel, it's after midnight. And, as I said, we had the 8am game. Coach wanted every one there an hour before the game (7am), it was a 20 minute ride to the field, and then you have to wake up at get dressed. I think we got about 5 hours sleep (DS may have gotten a little more, I need to shower to be functioning).
You sort of assume as your players get older you'll see fewer crack-of-dawn starts at tournaments, but my son's team had a couple last year at U17, including one in 20-something degree weather with a miserable, howling wind, while younger kids started later. I might have been a little bitter about that one.
I was talking to one of the other parents who's kid also plays baseball. They just finished his first season of travel ball (up to then they just did little league). Anyway, the kid had a miserable experience and never wants to play baseball again. Two main causes of the misery: 1) they didn't win a single game and 2) they had a lot or morning games and the kid hated that. Game at 8, get there at 7 to warm up, travel 45 mins, breakfast... so you're getting up at 5:30 maybe? Sorry but that's just wrong. I don't get it. Sad that simply scheduling a game early can take a lot of the fun out of a youth sports game.
I don't hate morning games. They are just a function of demand for space. On any given Saturday, every field is in use from 8:30AM until dark (and lighted fields are use until 8pmish for games). You just have to hope the scheduler doesn't give you too many and certainly not over back to back seasons. Just because I was curious, I doublechecked my data schedules for my 3 teams for this season. This season I had 4 8:30s (across 2 teams), 4 9:45s, 5 12:15, 4 4:00 with the remaining 7 scattered across the day). It is definitely worse on the travel side where the games can be 90+ minutes away. Those early games are rough but again--- it is simply a math problem of needing to use every bit of daylight,
The agony of defeat! My son's (2022 grad) high school played in the MN State Championship game today. They gave up a tying goal with less than 2 minutes left in regulation. Then in golden goal OT, after pressuring in the offensive third led to a break out for the opponent and a perfect pass to a wide open forward. The keeper blocked the shot but it rebounded directly forward into the foot of a defender who was rushing back into the play and was then deflected into the net for an own goal.
8:30 is way better than 8:00am. Some teams are 2 hours away and travel for an 8am game. How does that even work. I think some get hotels and stay the night before, adding yet more cost and making the sport expensive.
If our tournament is 90 minutes away, any kick off before 930 would necessitate a hotel room for us. If it's an hour away, we'll drive that morning (player will sleep in the car). Every team we've been on have had players who parents can't make it for one game if not the entire tournament. Those players will ride/stay with teammates (so no charge).
Man, that poor defender. That's gonna sting for a long while. But congrats to them for making it to the final!
General question: any recommendations on how to teach lowering the center of gravity (or other techniques) to avoid being pushed off of the ball? My DS (2011) and his friend (2012) are both slight players, and they play like it. Blow on them and they lose the ball. Sometimes the foul is called, but more often it isn't and, frankly, isn't deserved. Playing with them, I'll have the ball, will turn suddenly, they'll run into me and bounce off and call foul, which it isn't. I'm trying to figure out how to teach them a) when you have the ball and someone shoulders, pushes, or hips you how to stay on your feet and hold onto the ball, and b) how to defend aggressively and maintain pressure without falling over. B) Is less of an issue, I hope. I'm really trying to get DS to get on the recipient of a pass without giving the recipient the time to collect the ball. "Don't let it bounce without challenging for the ball" I tell him. How to attack a recipient and pressure is something he needs to work on, but I need tools to give him there. Thanks in advance!
A few ideas: build some mass, esp in the legs. there are probably 4 or 5 leg exercises i would have them do like wall sit, squats, bulgarian split squat, etc. practice w/ pressure - practice the exact thing - have them push off against opponent. get rid of ball sooner or learn to turn quickly with ball out of pressure. if they know a big guy is coming in hard, then they have to practice turning quickly and/or they need to know where to pass the ball before they receive it.