All:
  This weekend was a roller coaster weekend for the team and even though we lost 2 games and won 1, I was able to see some improvements from the boys and I also learned a lot of what we are lacking as a team and also what each and every kid lacks. The good news is that we are ahead of the game as we won our first 11 v 11 game against Jacksonville. I thank the Jacksonville coach for firing me up before kickoff lol. The boys took care of business for their coach hahahahahaha.
  I can tell that our fitness level is not even close to where they should be at this stage of the season and I noticed that most of the players have not been doing the extra runs and ball touches outside of practice nights. I also noticed that some of them have not read or taken advantage of the little positional breakdown that I handed out to them 2 weeks ago. Some still do not understand their positions. Kareem and I will continue to provide the tools to help the boys develop but I also would like parents to encourage them and help them utilize the tools that we give them to make them better.
  I want to remind you all that we have a 48 hour rule after a game before you can approach coach Kareem and I about playing time or any game related ideas that you may have. It is not fair to come to us after a game regardless of the result of the game to start talking or questioning your child’s playing time. There are lots of reasons why your kids may not play as much as you think they should but you have to be in the dog out to maybe understand some of the reasons that I make certain substitutions

A few of the reasons:
·         Sometimes the player wants to come off because they are tired

·          ·          They do not do as I tell them so I have to pull them off and explain to them again

·          ·      I try to move them around to give them different position so I can find out the best fit for them in the team

·          ·         When a parents is coaching their kid or any of my player and I hear it, I will pull their child from the game. Our job is to coach the boys during the game and it is confusing for the boys when they are getting different instructions from the parents side.
    Bottom line is that I do not look at the time to determine how much time each player is playing, I just try to manage the game as I see it and any of the above reasons could change or determine playing time. I encourage parents to focus more on what their kids are doing on the field and support the team as a whole and not only when they child is playing or focusing on minutes played. We are trying to bridge the learning gap and we are going to have moments of brilliance like the game against Jacksonville yesterday and we are also going to have moments of total meltdown as witnessed today against HCU.
   I was proud of the overall performance this weekend and my goal this season to make sure that we are competitive in their age group and we played 2 of the best team in our league this past weekend. I hope you enjoyed watching the boys this weekend and do not be discouraged by the loses. Let’s take the positive from every game and let me worry about our weaknesses and you will see development before the end of the season.

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