C0ACH

I have coached my daughters in soccer for 12 years, but I have coached for 17 years. The line between coach and mother is hard for me to navigate. I played the game and for me, there was nothing more important than being in the game. Blood, pain, and tears just fueled my desire to get up and get back in the fight. So as a mother when my kids take a tumble in the game, I'm on the sideline yelling, 'Get Up!' As the coach, my player is splayed out on the field, I have to take that run over to the injured player and help them off the field. I have been known to walk slower for my own kids than I do for someone else's kid. It's not that I care more about the other kid (contrary to what my youngest daughter might tell you) but I'm also praying for my own kid as I take that slow walk, believing that they are okay and if they get up before I reach them they can stay in the game. LOL

I have coached a few sports but soccer is my passion. At a young age the basics are the same in most sports. Head on a swivel, ready stance, be aggressive...then you get into the technicalities of each sport. I believe as a coach, only a basic knowledge of the game is necessary. Strategy. Know your players' strengths and weaknesses. In any sport, I can bring a trainer in to teach the skills needed for that sport, but the application is up to the coach and the player.

There have been very few instances where you would hear me say we were robbed! I will tell my team in a heartbeat, you are getting beat. They are outrunning you, outpassing you, outshooting you...that's the name of the game. Either go hard or go home. But if you are getting outplayed, what are you gonna do about it? Either you come to the sideline and regroup or you've already decided to go home.

The game we were robbed: Championship tournament game. My team and the opponent were tied for first place in this tournament. My team had won the regular season. The opponent's only goal in life (I hope I'm exaggerating) was to beat my team. It was a night game. The other coach's strategy, which was actually smart, was to stop my daughter. BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. To say that he had been studying her all season would be to give him too much credit. I still don't believe he was THAT smart. 11 v 11 game. He had 5 of his girls on my daughter and she couldn't take the pressure. Oh they were fouling her ALL night and the ref was absolutely no help (needless to say he did get a piece of my mind)  They got robbed but I got outstrategized. There was no opportunity to go back to the drawing board and 'get em next time'. That was it!

Sometimes there is no opportunity to regroup. You gave what you had and that's it. But there is always the chance to take out that loss on the next opponent! They won't even know what hit them!