Prepping for a big game

We are in the midst of preparing for an incredibly tough game this coming weekend against Stevens Point, and it is refreshing to feel the consistent focus that has found its way into our practices and into our preparation. Our goal is to field the best Stout team that we can, and to play a game that we can be proud of. What might that look like? Well, I never focus on the stats that would traditionally define a successful game, because if we do the little things well, the stats will take care of themselves.

We have turned our attention to the simplicity of the little things. We plan to make the most of every possession we have, to defend as a unit all over the field and to think and play one moment at a time. We know we’ll need to communicate effectively and to be intensely involved. We need to be present and challenge for every 50/50 ball and to sacrifice physically because we want to make a difference when we have the chance. It all sounds simple, but any player who has faced a worthy opponent knows that maintaining focus despite the reality of the opponent is more of a challenge than running for 90 minutes, controlling a ball that is on your feet and taking effective shots when given the opportunity.

This game is an important one, and the way to play an important game is to make every moment in the game THE most important moment. We need to stay focused on each play and to let those minutes add themselves up without being overwhelmed by the entirety of a 90-minute game. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Stepping up

I have to admit that I am an incredibly competitive person, and I have always enjoyed winning much more than losing. I have learned, over time, to take from the losses what has made me grow, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoyed it. It always feels even better to win because you should, to win because you’ve prepared well, and to win because you wanted it more. That is why the win against River Falls felt so good. We have managed to grow from the losses throughout this season and to pull from those growing experiences to get to a place that we should learn to expect.

I think it is fair to expect the level of play that we had against River and Whitewater and Hamline on a daily basis. It is a mark of a maturing team that where growth can happen it does, and then there is a humble recognition of the fact that there is always room to grow more.

We are no where near finished growing to the potential of this team or this program, and the best part about all of it is that we never will be. There will always be room for development, a chance to be challenged by better players and by better teams. We have a ways to go and we’ll go that way one game at a time, one half at a time, one play at a time and we’ll do it as a group!

Staying in the moment

Watching practice yesterday and the intensity with which the players are continuing to train and play, an outsider would hardly believe that we are a team who has only won four games this year. It was a good week last week with a win on the road against Hamline and then a very tight 2-1 loss to Whitewater. It is easy to be discouraged by the numbers and to write off a season when you have been in games and come up short most of the time. The women on this team have not done that. They are still committed to lifting, to training with intensity and to playing every game with the desire to win. It is partially the mark of a young and hopeful program, but more than that it is an indication of the character each player possesses. They’ve each made the individual choice to live in the moment. To work past those frustrating moments and not worry too much about what is coming down the line, but to stay focused on the here and now.

We face River Falls tomorrow in what will be the most important game so far this season. According to the numbers we are equally matched, but I know something about the Stout team that is not on any stat sheet. They will be there to play…they will play for each other and with an intensity that will be hard to cover, and no matter what happens on the field we’ll have done everything we can to play the best in the moment at hand. Isn’t that the point?

Back to the basics

Thankfully there are not many times in a season when I tell the team to forget everything they know about combination play, to stop building from the back and to simply put the ball forward and go after it. Only when the field we are playing on has standing water, thick piles of mud in random places and a strong wind that blows straight into one of the goal mouths would I tell them to scrap what we try to do and play like they did when they were five. It was not going to be a pretty game, and the team adjusted and simply played.

They simply went to every ball, ran at and through them, and put the ball in the net some of the times we had chances. There were memorable slips, mud caked uniforms, frozen hands and feet, a ball boy that went down right in front of our bench, a lot of jumping around on the bench (to stay warm) and a trip down memory lane that simplifies what can sometimes get too complicated.

One of the things my club coach always told us when I was playing is that soccer is a really simple game, and it is. It is easy to forget that simply running, kicking, shooting, attempting to pass, working to dribble, defending our goal and going for their goal are really the elements of soccer that always matter. At the college level intelligence starts to play a factor about how, why and when we do those things and to what degree, but the elements are the same.

Games like Saturday take out all of the strategy. They level the playing field for dribblers and play-makers and simplify the game to who can kick the furthest out of the mud, who can run fastest with water-logged shoes and who cares the least about what the uniform is going to look like at the end of the day.

If there is nothing else learned from games like Saturday, at least we know we can adjust to any conditions and still have the passion of little kids to just go out and play in the mud.

Growing through adversity

We’ve been through a tough stretch of conference play, and I have been pleased with the growth that has happened for our team in the midst of seemingly disappointing circumstances. The mental state of the team is in much better shape than would be expected at this point in a season that has not turned out the way we had all hoped. Each player has found a way to play for the sake of playing, to dig down and to push when it doesn’t seem like it really matters. They each seem to have come to the conclusion that what matters is that we push through because we should…that we play because we love to play…that we work because that is what and who we are.

A better team has shown up to play each game, and that is a movement forward that hasn’t yet made its way to the record books. The wins have been hard to come by, but we are winning nonetheless. The character that can only be built through adversity is getting stronger and stronger every week. The foundation needed to build a successful program consists of the attitude, work ethic and team cohesion that is solidifying with every passing practice and game.

The pieces are coming together and the results will undoubtedly follow. Good things happen when you are willing to learn from the hard times, and the women on this team are an inspiration because of their willingness to grow despite the adversity.