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.
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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
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