Tuesday, June 21/16
So last Thursday was my first game back coaching as an assistant and it should have seen me doing nothing more than having some one on one conversations with players, giving them some coaching tips on things I observed them doing or in some cases not doing that they should have been doing.
But of course plans never come true and such was the case on Thursday.
Game time was 6:30 and the lads were told to be at the field for 6:00 so we could get a proper stretch and warm up done while determining who was present and where to play them in the 4-3-3 formation they've been using. Now it was an away game on a field in the middle of some estate homes in North Kanata so I expected people to run late but come 6:15 and there was just me and nine players at the field. As the referee came over to talk to me about substitutions and taking a water break in the middle of each half I was checking my email only to see one from the regular assistant saying his wife was under the weather and he was going to be late so go ahead and take charge.
I let the ref know we didn't have a game sheet or corner flags and the reason why. He was really cool about it and let us borrow a blue piney for use by our goalie, I mentioned my roster has 3 players of middle eastern descent and they were in Ramadan which means they couldn't take water during daylight hours and wondered if we could sub them on the fly when they were feeling dehydrated versus waiting for the normal stoppages in play to make a sub. He thought that was wise and went to tell the other coach of the arrangement.
Given my experience with this last season with a player on my son's competitive team I came better prepared with a small ice chest in which I had put some water bottles and face clothes I had soaked in water that morning and placed in a large freezer bag in the freezer before leaving for work. I told the players that when they came off to get one of the face clothes and put it on the back of their necks to help dissipate their body heat.
As we were getting ready to start the game I decided to change the formation to a more manageable 4-4-2 as I wasn't sure where to play some of the lads. This let me mix things up by playing them where I thought they could perform the best - my son was paired up top with another former player as twin strikers and our two fastest players were locked as outside mids ready to break forward or swing the ball deep to the strikers/ I was lucky in that 3 of our best defenders were there so I was able to leave them on the pitch and work our one sub through the mids and strikers.
Making that change was like giving a baby a bottle of warm milk and letting him go.......we totally dominated the game and were up 2-0 within the first ten minutes with my son assisting on both goals.
By the time the assistant made it out to the game we were almost 25 minutes into the first half and winning 3-1 with the boys really playing as a real team, no arguing with one another, no complaining about where they were playing on the pitch, and really listening when I offered up my observations.
At one point I was talking to them at half time and our most brash player chided two others for not paying attention and reminded them they were winning because of the coaching lol
When K, the primary assistant, arrived I turned to him and told him I'd step back and let him take over and he laughed and said "No way, you're in charge and I'm going to assist you"
That sort of took me by surprise but when I realized he meant what he said I ran with it. We continued to play well and were soon up 4-1 and I was reminded that new league rules said we had to play a man short if we got up by four goals and just as I was told this my son set up his third assist and we were up 5-1 and I had to pull someone off. I pulled off the striker who scored and told them we were in a 4-4-1 so play smart. My son asked who the one striker was and I laughed as I said "If you have to ask it usually means you are" and everyone laughed, including him.
Not five minutes later and darned if he didn't score a goal to go along with his three assists, so off he came as we had to bring another player off to balance things out. We played the final ten minutes 2 players short and still almost added another goal.
As the game ended K came and stood by me and said something that gave me pause "I understand better why the lads were so happy at Tuesday's practice" I looked over at him with a quizzical look and he added "Your former players were telling everyone else how now the season was going to change for the better with lots of tips, strategies, set plays, and wins"
I told him I didn't do much and he smiled and said there was no way I should be assisting him as it should be the other way around. We shook hands as the ref's whistle sounded and I told him I was just there to help and nothing more, I had no ambitions to take over, and he said that was what made it that much better.
My son came over and fist bumped me saying "Not too bad for the first game coach" and headed off with his girlfriend to drive home. I think every player came over to say thanks and they'd see me at Tuesday's practice. The father of our best defender, who also happened to play on the same competitive team as my son last season , came over to shake my hand and tell me in his Russian accent he was glad to see me involved and I was where I belonged, on the sidelines coaching and not sitting in lawn chair with the parents lol
The best part of the night wasn't the win, though it sure didn't hurt, but rather the emails I got from the parents of our muslin players thanking me for thinking of them and having those cold towels as it really meant a lot to them, one being the head coaches son himself who I was told by Coach A wouldn't stop talking about it and the game.
I'm so uber competitive that it scares me at times and I've asked both my son and ex to let me know if I get too into the game but from the sounds of things I was pretty calm and laid back last week.
Maybe the new me is more Zen in how I dal with this whole coaching thing.
Funny thing is I turned down a chance to assist my old assistant a few weeks ago as I didn't think it cool to help a team my son's team is battling for position against. Wait till D sees me coaching against him in a few weeks lol
My name is Marcus and I'm back in the coaching game. What's next dating? :)
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