Saturday, November 9th - 12 hours

Today I went back down to Wenatchee to cover another game, the last game for the 07 girls white (B) team. One of the biggest challenges at this age especially the B team is finding a balance between having fun and encouraging that desire to improve and competition. We unfortunately didn't have any subs today so the same tired girls played all 70 minutes. At half we had a relatively serious conversation about controlling what they can such as their passing, their work ethic, and their positive attitude towards themselves and their teammates rather than focusing on being tired and a more aggressive than usual team. Shortly after the second half started, our gas tank was past empty. We ended up losing 4-0 (which was actually better than I expected) and the girls walked off the field with their heads down, shoulders slumped. I remember coaches I've had in the past using this time to go over what we needed to work on and other aspects that just made me feel worse. Instead of taking this overly competitive route, I focused on the fact that they played hard and I heard more encouragement than I have ever heard from them during a game and pointed out how important this was to be such a good teammate. They got even more excited when I asked if I could take their picture for the club Instagram and for my homework I was going to do later. One thing I've learned in my experiences and throughout the courses in this MBA program is the importance of player or employee moral. As a club, one thing we really try to focus on is the family, community feeling that you ARE wanted and you DO belong. I felt really good about my decision to instead highlight the positives regardless of the scoreboard and this was a really great learning experience for me as a coach because I know sometimes I can get caught up in the competition. I hope that next time I coach an older team I can remember this day and focus on whatever positives after a game rather than what we could do better. Regardless of competition level, from little kickers to professional, the main drive behind coming back each season is for the love of the game and as coaches, I think this is easily forgotten.