Soccer

I use 2 strikers or forwards, 2 midfielders, 3 defense players and 1 goalie.  I have 2 players who are really good goalies so they each play goalie for 1 half of the game and midfield the other half.  I let every player play in the game.  I try to let them each play half of the game.  I sub in and out as needed.  Our age group is the Under 10.  I’m not sure if Matthew will move to the next group this fall or next spring.  They move when they are 11.  The league goes by the age on May 1.  The next level is U12/U14.  They combine these teams because they don’t have as many players.  My players are 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.  The teams have both boys and girls.

Our team name is Fire.  We won 2 and lost 3 in our regular season.  In the tournament we played teams that had beat us before.  I told the kids anything was possible and to play their best.  We won our first game 2 to 0.  I was shocked and excited.  The kids were really excited that we won.  We then played in the semi-finals against the first place team.  They had won every game by 2 to 4 points.  They beat us by 1 point when we played them in regular season.  We played hard but lost 2 to 1.  I was really proud of my team.  The rest of the games were tied and went to penalty kicks.  The 5th place team ending up winning first place beating both the 2nd and 1st place teams.  Like I said, anything is possible, and you never know what can happen.