So, it’s Sunday 12th May and we’ve been looking forwards to this for 6 weeks, since we won the semi-finals 4-1.
We are playing a team that is in the division below us, so we are the favourites, and really, we should win this.
We turned up at the Nottingham football centre and the pitch is magnificent, (it’s AstroTurf) and I have 13 boys to play a 9 a-side game.
Six of my boys have played in their primary school tournament for Rushcliffe County, the week before, including my son and we went out in the semi-finals on penalties. Three of my boys missed the penalty and my son missed the decisive penalty which knocked us out of the semi. He was devastated and it was within that backdrop that we set out against the team on Sunday.
We had trained a lot and talked a lot and worked really hard with the boys to get them in the right frame of mind, to make sure that they enjoy the day, because they might never be in a final again.
I was in a losing side during two national cup finals in basketball, one by two points.
The game itself was absolutely brutal and tight, and almost unheard of with 0-0 at the end at full time. At the end of extra time, it was still 0-0 and so, my boys (including the six from the week before) faced another penalty shootout, and our position went first and after the third penalty we were 3-0 up, in a five, penalty shootout.
Despite that we pulled things back, and took it t 3-3 after 5 penalties, going on to 1,5,4 in sudden death and so what’s the point in telling you this story about my son’s glorious cup final? And well it’s not about the story of the cup final, it’s about the back-story and the thing’s that we learned as a group, and the things that I learned as a coach.
- No battle plan stands contact with the enemy
We were well prepared, had a massive match planning and knew exactly how we would play the game and within the first 5 minutes that was out the window and we had to think on our feet. That’s just life isn’t it? You can plan as much as you want, (and there’s nothing wrong with doing that) but you have to be agile and resilient and prepared to alter things as you move along; that is one of the most important things you can teach 11 year old boys. It’s one of the most important things you can teach anybody.
It seems a dying art than a dying skill where everybody wants things to go just so, we had to adapt and move, the plans I had for the players I would use and the substitution’s that I would make went out the window 5 minutes in to a 60 minute game.
- Teams are fickle, sometimes people are on it and sometimes people are off it, sometimes people are off it for a short time, sometimes they need to go out the team, sometimes people that you thought were off it, get right on it and that was demonstrated massively on Sunday.
My best player and scorer of 39 goals this season, got shut down. He was out ticket to the cup. He was our master plan, he got wiped out and shut down particularly in the first half and we had to do something different. That’s how it works in my practice and that’s how it works in life.
- It will be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, it’s probably not the end, we were 3-0 down in the penalty shootout, with three penalties left to take, but it wasn’t finished because it wasn’t finished; another thing worth remembering when you’re in the mire.
- Hero’s often come from the most unexpected places; the trick is to ask.
After we were 3-3 after normal penalties, I only had three more outfield players that could take a penalty (you can only use the player who are on the pitch at the end until their used up) the three boys that were left, were not my first choice penalty takers, so I went up to the three of them and said “who wants it next, who wants it?” emphatically one of my guys stepped forwards and put his hand up so I shouted at him do you want this and he shouted back yes! He smashed it. He kept us in the game and we ultimately won, because of his decision.
Finally, development, training and practice, makes people better.
The man of the match, that was voted for by the referee and the linesman was my goal keeper Luke, he made two saves within the match, which were actually world class, which kept us in the game, he saved one of their penalties too to keep us in the game in the penalty shootout.
Luke hasn’t always been a great keeper, in fact his mum (my fellow coach, Katie) will tell you, that he’s often been a rubbish goal keeper, and when he started out he had no idea about goal keeping at all, all that Luke has done to make himself better is practice. Since that cup final he’s had offers to play for two other team’s on Saturdays.
Blog Post Number - 2013
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