October 28, 2009, Winning
Championships!As we near the end of the
fall season for the Nevada Patriots (Friday
10/30/09 is the last game), I wanted to give a
few notes that I thought you would find of
interest.
For one, after a bit more searching, we found
out that apparently there are no other
Reno/Sparks girls teams in the last few years that
have brought a Championship home from out of
town other than a U14 team now coached by coach Terran
(Currently under the name Neusport). Many have
tried in places like Las Vegas, Boise, different
cities in California, etc. In our division
(class of 97), it appears (although I don't have
all the facts), that only the Carson Valley
Falcons have been able to bring a championship
to Northern Nevada in the past.
This of course gives us the feed back that we
need to know that our approach to the fall
season to take the league games as "training" so
we could go into a tournament to attempt to win
a Championship, was the correct one. I know it
is fun to win every time and sometimes it is
harder to take some of the loses vs. others but
overall, playing against the other Northern
Nevada teams gives us the ability to plan,
adjust, try new things, and overall develop
those areas that need work.
Where we are now, we just came back from Yuba
City, CA with the Championship trophy from the
Pumpkin Kick Tournament. To put
this achievement into perspective, one must
realize that every year and season, there are
countless number of teams from all over, going
into a lot of tournaments with the goal of possibly
making it to the championship game or may be a
3rd or 4th placement so that that team can say
they accomplished something.
Unfortunately for most teams, playing in a
Championship game at any tournament, is a dream
that is harder to achieve than what most people
expect. For those teams that can play in a
Championship and win, it becomes an accolade
that stays in the players and coaches minds for
life. The reason playing in a Championship
game is hard is because a team must play close
to perfect soccer in order to accumulate the
most number of points to advance. In many
occasions 1 point would decide who goes to a
Championship game and who doesn't. Even if a
team does not loose a game, they are not assured
of making it to a championship unless they
accumulate the most number of points. Then
there is the whole issue of actually having to
play a Championship game after a long weekend
and three other games played. Kids are sweaty
and exhausted, uniforms are soiled, some kids
can't play due to injuries incurred in the
qualifying games, etc. And if the teams playing
are tied after regulation, games are extended to
overtime and penalty kicks if needed. Which of
course make the task of winning more difficult
than it already was to begin with. For the
Nevada Patriots to go out of town to play
unknown teams (one of them being a U14 team) and
come back with 1st place, is something special
and that most teams will never be able to count
as part of their achievements. I have been
fortunate enough to have been at a few
Championship games throughout my years in
soccer, both with adults and kids of different
ages, so I understand how hard it is to ever get
to play in one, it takes countless hours of
practices and time from everyone involved and if
nothing else, it makes it even harder to repeat
the task again. A parent asked me after the
Championship game why was I so calm and I did
not seem a lot more exited. Fact of the matter
is, as a coach, I could not be more trilled
about what the team accomplished and I could not
be happier for the girls. However, as soon as
the last whistle blows, I understand that the
work has to continue and that expectations get a
little higher with every mile stone you achieve.
As I write, the spring 2010 season is already
drafted waiting for the last planning session to
firm details as soon as this season ends. If I
do my job right, I will be able to put the team
in a position to succeed. However winning
Championships is all because the players did
their best. Coaches can loose games for their
teams (as I almost did in a couple of occasions
this weekend), but I firmly believe a coach
cannot win a game for the players. Hence, it is
not a coach's achievement but the players who
write the happy ending to their story. As it
stands, the Nevada Patriots made it to a
Championship in the Spring and took second place
and now, they are Champions, and no one will
ever be able to take that away.
Congratulations Nevada Patriots!
Coach John |
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