Last Tuesday I did a HS boys match. I think the work “boys” is key here. One of the teams, the winning team, fought with each other through the whole game. If there opponents had been any good I don’t see how they could win a game. When a younger teammate would make a mistake, as everyone does, the captain of the team would rip right into him and continue till the kid would run away (during the course of play). It was unreal. All I could think of was the fact that if I played on such a team I would pass to the other team and tell my captain to fuck-off. It was a true example of a dysfunctional team dynamic. The coach is a guy that I have known for years and have loads of respect for. When I asked him about this messed up team he said he had no idea how it happened or how to change it. It was sad, cause I know he loves the game, coaching, and the kids.

The following day I did a Div III men’s match a few hours from home. The remnant’s of hurricane Gustav were coming through the area so the game got a late start, 75minutes. At that point I knew that I would be getting home really late and wasn’t in a very good mood. I also knew that it wasn’t the teams fault and I needed to keep my head in the game. As it turned out both teams played a tough, fair match. I only had one yellow card, 25 fouls (a bit much but not bad) and not one bit of dissent that I remember the whole game through. The other thing that caught my attention was the attitude of the players toward their teammates. I don’t know if I noticed it more because of the HS game the day before or not. Any time someones head would go down a team mate would say something positive about getting back into the game. There was no sniping with each other or any of the usual bitching that you get when teams are frustrated. I was so glad it turned out this way it made the late start a little more palatable.

I’ve watched referee’s that I assign, officiating the team that I help coach. In every case they do a good job, not flawless but that is impossible. That does not stop me from twitching every once in a while when they make a call or don’t make a call I don’t necessarily agree with. I don’t care what sport it is, no two referee’s will call the same game the same way, add to that the fact that I’m watching as a prejudiced coach. I remind myself the whole time that they are going a their job and I should shut up. So I do. I have yet to say anything to any of them. That’s not a pat on the back just an admission of guilt, cause I want to yell. You’d think that this would give me a new perspective for coaches that yell at me when I’m in the middle of a game. Yea you might think that but that is not the case. I think it’s made me even less tolerant.

I think the thing I have found most exciting about coaching is, growth. Watching the players change, get better, grow. When we started this season in February some players had talent, some had little talent. In the past two months the change in all of them is noticeable, very noticeable in others. It adds another dimension to the game, watching them do things, right or wrong, but knowing that it was something we had worked on. I’m seeing the same thing with the kids team (under 12’s) I coach. Just not as noticeable since we only get to practice twice a week for an hour. There really isn’t time for them to learn something new and get comfortable with it, but I can see them growing. Even though they loose a game I’m proud of them for demonstrating how they have learned something new and used it on the field. That doesn’t make me very useful at the end of the game when the players are disappointed about losing and I’ve got a smile on my face cause I saw how hard they tried. In my mind they won the important game. They grew.

At their last game the Girls team was down 2-1 with 3 minutes to play. The final score was 2-2. They didn’t give up, they knew they could score, and because of all the hard work they put in during the pre-season, running the hills and all the suicides, they had the fitness to finish the match strong. In past seasons they hadn’t run nearly as much we made them, this bit of information came from them. So this increased amount of work and expectation was new for them. I heard no complaints. In fact, I had players show up for practice asking, “Are we running hill today?”, with a gleam of excitement in their eye. Not only were they ready for the work, some of them were looking forward to it. I can see this commitment paying off. They did the running in the pre-season and now, at the end of a game, they are still going strong. The obstacle of fitness is not in their way. They may not have the talent of some of the teams we play but they have the fitness to be in the game the whole time.