Wellington

As we prepared for our season opener all last week I was anticipating some struggles as a team. With beginning the school year as well as trying to define roles/teams, feeling over confident and looking past our opponent I knew that the Wellington game would have its share of learning opportunities. Oh boy did we learn a good lesson! I told the boys at halftime that right before Wellington threw the ball in I was thinking it might be good for us if they scored right then.....well I didn't really think it was going to become reality. Going into half I could tell the boys were frustrated and quite surprised at the score. Dominating the first half and coming in with nothing to show for it as well as being down a goal was not in the pre-game plans. With all this said, I knew that God has blessed us with a valuable lesson that needed to be learned. The lesson was:

When we face struggle we play harder and trust each other more. I told the boys at half that we will be in the same situation in a more important game further down the season. I also told them that this game was going to set in motion the level of play we want to play at. So going into the second half I challenged the team to run harder than Wellington and trust their teammates. We know the outcome of the second half. When we play harder good things happen!

So moral of the story...When we are losing, when we are playing down, when we are feeling pressure, when we are fighting to get back into a game we must play harder defense, we must stay calm and most of all we must trust each other to come through in the end.

I will leave you all with the thought that has been a theme and saying for the past couple of weeks within the team.

"When you see a turtle on a fence post what should you think? You should think it didn't get there by itself" (citation: David Petrel)........ We will never get anywhere by individual effort, but together we can get to where we want to be come November.

Next game: New Albany....another game, another lesson, Praise God!

The beginning of school!

As we start the school year this week there are a few points I want to make. First off, on Monday there will be no practice as the JV Gold team takes on their first away game at Dublin Scioto and the Varsity and JV Red takes a rest day after a long week of scrimmages. Returning back to practice on Tuesday from 3-5:30pm the teams will be looking to solidify team chemistry and positions in order to prepare for the first week of games. This is an exciting time for the boys. A new school year and a new season will foster energy on the field and between teammates. I encourage all the parents to look for opportunities to engage their sons in conversations pertaining to season expectations, team roles and their outlook on their individual play or improvement. The coaches will be using the final two weeks of August to start the assessment campaign of all players. As we have taken the entire summer to observe players and try to fit them all into the best situation for growth, it is also now time to address player strengths and weaknesses. As I stated at the parent meeting, there will be opportunities to engage your son in opportunities for maturity. This is one of those. We will be sitting down with each player to talk about their roles and how they can improve on and off the field. The parents part in all of this is to encourage the player to take a close look at their habits, behaviors, actions and skills as they play on the Warrior soccer team . So let's get down to business and get ready for a great season and school year.

Preparation week

This week we are looking to prepare for the onslaught of games at the end of the month. As this week unfolds there are a couple things we really want to focus on. After stressing the need for team chemistry and a focus on worship through the Father/Son campout, it is time to focus our attention on using this chemistry on the soccer field. This week we will be dividing into Varsity, JV-Red and JV-Gold teams so that we can better build team chemistry. This will help us further define levels of ability and set in motion the progression of development for each team during the season. With all this going on I am sure that you understand how important this week really is. With two scrimmages and a showcase this week it is going to be a time for many players to learn their roles on the team as well as see how practices will determine playing time. I want to encourage all of you to take this week as a focus week. A week to focus on the upcoming season and prepare our hearts, minds, bodies and teams for what i think will be a season full of worship for our Savior. Finally let me break down the schedule of practices for the week.

Monday: Practice 9-11am and practice 3-5pm
Tuesday: Practice 9-11 and home scrimmage Tree of Life (JV 3:00 and Varsity 5:00)
Wednesday: Practice 9-11 and 3-5
Thursday: 9-11 and Alumni game for Varsity
Friday: Practice 9-11 and 3-5
Saturday: Night of Champions showcase games at Westerville South (Varsity only games at 5:00 and 6:30)
Sunday: off


OK here we go, Let's take these opportunities to be living sacrifices for God

The Start of August

Conditioning Week is over! I am sure the players will tell you that they ran hard, some of them harder than what they had planned for. In either case I am proud of the way the team took to running all the different distances, locations, and drills. It took a lot of guts and focus to continually push themselves beyond their percieved limits. Although the week of conditioning is over it does not mean that our quest to be the fittest is over. During practices we will condition. So get ready to continue running! This brings me to my next point.

As official practices have begun yesterday I want to remind all of you about the importance of being there. This year we will have a large group of players to make up the teams. I need every chance I get to evaluate, watch, and coach your player. Everyday we will be lacing up the shoes and heading out to the field. Last night at the team meeting I addressed the need for mental stability and focus to play soccer at a high level. I expect these boys to be mentally prepared to play the game. PARENTS THE BOYS HAVE A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT FOCUSING ON THEIR MENTAL GAME DUE THIS FRIDAY !!! We are on the home stretch before the season. Let's prepare to have a great year.