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Blog IndexKaos' High School Players 11/22/2009 High School Hiatus Begins 11/08/2009 Followup videos to this week's practice 10/22/2009 Back from Australia 09/22/2009 Schedule Changes and Reminders 08/31/2009 Good Finish at Pleasanton! 08/31/2009 Practice Schedule Change 08/23/2009 No practice on Monday 08/09/2009 More scrimmages scheduled 08/04/2009 New practice schedule! 08/02/2009 Upcoming in August: games, Games, GAMES! 07/28/2009 Camarillo Wrapup 07/27/2009 Up Next: Southern California! 07/21/2009 Enhancing the webpage... 07/15/2009 Reminder - No Practice Sunday 07/02/2009 Updating attendance, vacation plans 06/29/2009 Kaos welcomes Val Barnes 06/28/2009 Welcome to the New Website! 06/25/2009 Better Late Than Never 06/21/2009 Back to Home page |
Good Finish at Pleasanton!I want to congratulate the team on a fine, second-place finish this weekend. What gratified me the most was not just that people played well, but that the girls played with the kind of teamwork and composure that has previously eluded us.If success means counting on somebody having an awesome game, results will be fleeting and inconsistent. Depending on teamwork and intelligence will have more lasting benefits. When you're 12 or 13, a few good individuals can control the game, but by the time you get to this age individual talent alone is not enough. Teamwork will beat individuals. The 3-5-2 formation is very versatile, but can be costly if it's not done properly--you can't let yourself get lazy or sloppy, or you'll get burned. This weekend we saw some excellent coordination between Erika and Sara at the defensive mid positions--not underplaying and conceding control of the midfield to our opponents, nor overplaying and leaving the 3-back defense exposed. This balance is something we've struggled with earlier. With the emergence this weekend of Sophie as a new, consistent defensive mid, we also gain some valuable depth at this crucial position. I was also pleased with the consistency and composure Paige showed in a new role as offensive mid. This should help us regain the depth at that position we lost with Nikki's departure, and allows us to continue using Allison in multiple roles. And thank you, Paige and Brooke, for finally demonstrating how those long through-passes to the corner flags are supposed to work! The passing and use of the wings is a strength of the 3-5-2, and something we need in our offensive arsenal. For too long we've relied on Pilar to do our scoring (and she had another great weekend!), but we need to have more than that. There's still more to do, but this weekend we made good progress toward that objective. These weren't the only people who played well, of course. Soccer is a team sport, and it takes teamwork to win. We made it to the championship final because of the team effort by everyone. I mention the points above because they're something new we saw emerge this weekend. I think this helps put us in good shape as we enter the Fall League season. Lastly, let's not overlook Michaela's contribution this weekend. Although she was sick and normally wouldn't have played, she came anyway to do what she could to help her team. Although we tried to use her sparingly, her substitutions helped give our defenders some much appreciated rest breaks. Again, congratulations to all the girls. It was fun watching you play! Posted by Dan 08/31/2009
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