In a few hours the team will be climbing aboard a bus and taking the drive up (or is it down) the shore of the St Lawrence to head to Trois-Rivières as we face les Patriotes de l'UQTR. After an 0-4 start we are still looking for that elusive first win.
I give full credit the players as after a tough start to the season and a very frustrating loss against Bishops, a team we should have been able to beat, they returned to practice on Tuesday with a renewed spirit and a willingness to work hard. We got in 3 great practices this week and I give full credit to my coaching staff. Remy, Dwight and Christine each took some of the session planning duties and put together drills which pushed our players to perform while providing them with valuable learning abilities towards the style of play we are trying to implement with this team. The improvement in individual players is obviously to any unbiased eye. This comes down to the players willing to put in the time (many are on the field 30 minutes before the start of training to work on their skill set) and various indivdual exercises that Dwight has put together for the different players. Short term results are always going to be mesured in wins and losses and that is what people who aren't around the team regularly will always look at, but the change and great attitude among this year's group of student-athletes is obvious and palpable. I starts with a great chemistry and dynamic that has installed itself among this group and is fueled by their desire to improve as players. The games this weekend won't be easy (actually there is no longer any easy games in this league). UQTR is always a tough test and moreso at home where they seem to really perform and Laval on Sunday is a very dynamic team with experienced players many of them in their 4th and 5th years. As coach I applaud my players efforts and dedication the process of building this team and for them I hope they will see some tanglible results of all their hard work.
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So the title of this post could be related to both my attempt to post regularly throughout the season or more important to the start of our actual season. Anyone who knows where to look can see we have lost our first 4 games and find ourselves 0-4. On top of it all, the scores in the first 3 games can be considered less than flattering. All that being said, I think that the scores themselves (especially in our first game vs. Sherbrooke) do not reflect the potential level of this team but more our inability to stay in a game for a full 90 minutes but more pointedly our inability to handle adversity , at least so far to date. If we look at the comparable scores from other games, we are taking way too many goals and it is an indication of two things, 1. when we get down, we lose focus and give up more goals but also 2. Our attempt (which might be foolhardy) of trying to play with our opponents rather than sit back, trying to limit the damage maybe come out with moral victories. I could point out various specific instances in each of the four games to validate that we really are improving as a group but seen the results it might come accross as wishful thinking or an attempt to minimize the situation.
Fact is, we are a very young team with 10 first year players, 7 of whom are just barely 18 and another 4 that are just in their second year. We also started against 3 very tough opponents especially in Sherbrooke and Montreal who should normally be the two teams that fight it out for top spot and then McGill who although they had a slow start to their season, is always going to be a tough opponent that is well prepared and well coaches (however much we might always agree with their coach's methods, we have to give credit where credit is due). The tough loss to take was the one against Bishops, a team that we should have beaten in my opinion. Again not to sound like sour grapes, but doesn't help to take a straight red card at the 20th minute and then give up an own goal. Hard to fight back from that under the best of times, but when a team is struggling to find its identity and is lacking in confidence, well you get the picture. I choose to look ahead and take one game at a time, we can't change was has happened we can just work hard and hope to correct the mistakes we are making and hopefully improve game to game. We have not yet seen the best that this group can give and I am sure it will get better (but it won't be easy) Stay tuned ! The time has come ! Our 1st regular season game takes place tonight as we travel to Sherbrooke to face le Vert et Or. This team finished 2nd in the standings last year and lost in the play off finals to Montreal. They have certainly improved drastically over the last couple of years due to good recruiting and coaching and the presence of a few top quality players. They possess arguably two of the top players in our league in Adréanne Gagné and Josée Belanger, both of whom were selected to participate in the FISU games but unfortunately Josée as we know got hurt... but I digress.
Their team however is not limited to just these two players and a number of others compliment the strength of these two to give Shebrooke a very balanced and potent team. Like everyone (or most everyone), they lost a few kep players from last year's squad but have added some decent players and will certainly by a force to deal with. The key is to not be intimidated by their strong players and really learn to play to our own strengths. If we can compress the field, put them under pressure and keep possession, it will take away their attacking ability and force them to defend us rather than impose the tempo. The Stingers are ready, we had a great week of practice and the desire and willingness to compete is certainly present, now we have to see how it translates onto the field. Like at the start of every season and with every team, doesn't matter how much you train or how many decent preseason games you get, the 1st game of the year is always the true test of where the team is in terms of their progression .... I am sure a few rookies will very get an eye opener today. We are for the most part healthy although team captain Alli Burgess is out for the weekend games with an ankle injury and will be a big presence to replace but our depth this season allows us to field a quality side regardless. One game at a time and after tonight, we will play at Montreal against the defending league champs Carabins. I will post my thoughts as well as details about the results on Monday. After 3 weeks of training camp, as of today, we now get ready for the "real season" where games count in the standings, student-athletes have to actually deal with the student part and we gradually see the weather getting colder.
Training held before the start of classes is somewhat different than the regular student-athlete experience as for many of the players, the soccer is the one main obligation they have during the day (some local athletes might still be working etc). However as of this morning and the start of classes, the student-athletes have to face the grind and routine of attending class, doing homework, studying, attending practices, 2 games per week and trying to give their best in all facets. Our group of players has really grown in the 3 weeks since we first got together and I think there is still so much more they can learn and give. With our 7 pre-season games, I think the team is quite battle-tested and probably moreso than most of the opponents we will start facing. While we didn't get results in terms of wins, I think many of the players improved tremendously by facing tough competition and I also think we have a fairly good idea about the style of play and tactical direction we want to take. We will of course adjust from opponent to opponent to make sure we can get the best match ups possible with our players for the basic framework of how we want to play is there and we have seen it succeed against quality teams... now we have to put it together for 90 minute games when their are actual points on the line. We start off tough facing the #2 (Sherbrooke) and then #1 (Montreal ) teams from a year ago this opening weekend however all we can do is take it one game at a time and make sure our players are prepared to play their roles on the field. I will try and post each Thursday leading into the weekend games and each Monday with a recap of the weekend that was... so stay tuned. |
AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
January 2023
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