We Miss The "Happy Warriors"!

The Happy Warriors Sharing a Laugh Before Kickoff

Last year, the club formed a U-14 team (rising to U-15 this year) that had not existed in the year prior. After June tryouts, 15 girls came together in the summer of 2006 from a number of town travel teams - Londonderry, Hollis, Windham, NGSA -- and a couple of higher level programs -- the Classics and the Inter-Bandits. We were a little concerned about our ability to knit together such a diverse bunch at such a late point in the girls' respective development but we had done it once for our now U-17s so we thought we might be able to do it once again. Its a project worth undertaking because it is at this age that many girls in town travel programs begin to realize that they are about to make a big step up in playing intensity and competitiveness when they try out for their respective high school programs. They want and need something more than they have been getting in their original playing settings.

So we started the girls' development as a team with our annual preseason camp at Kimball Union Academy. Right away, we knew we had something quite unusual on our hands. All of these girls loved to have fun. They loved to hang out, joke, laugh and goof around and also they were all good athletes who loved to train too. There were no egos, no petty jealousies. They were open to each other and this new and, for many, more intensive soccer environment. I have never seen one group of 13 year old girls like this.

This amazing group also likes to play hard. As the fall season unfolded, the girls' play was marked by speed and strength. These girls throw themselves around the park with complete abandon and it can be fun to watch. Over time, the girls got a nick-name -- the "happy warriors." They are warriors in the sense that when they play they are intensely competitive and play with such ferocity. Yet they are always "up." They smile, they joke and they always support each other.

It was not until our annual March trip to the Beach FC Spring Classic Tournament in Virginia Beach, that we began to realize that the girls would be able truly to compete at a high level. There, they went toe to toe with premier level teams from Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts coming out with a 1-1-1 record. Great slide tackling, strong play in the air, excellent movement off of the ball, and strong finishing all came together. Although the girls had a less than convincing State Cup run thereafter, a lot of that could be explained by a number of key injuries and absences. When the girls came back together for summer tournament play, healthy and with a full roster, they took the championship at the South County Seaside Classic.

For us the proof of the girls' growth as players was how they fared in their respective high school tryouts. 10 out of the 15 girls has stepped onto varsity squads. 2 of the remaining 5 are not yet in high school and the balance are leading their JV teams. We are enjoying watching the girls in their high school games and we are looking forward to seeing them at the tryouts in late October/early November.

We miss the Happy Warriors and we want them back!

A Word From Lenny

TS and SS -- Rocks at the Back

As we enter Week 4 of the Fall season, I cannot say that I am upset with the girls performance so far this MAPLE season. The team I've known and worked to develop these last two years disappeared almost entirely at our friendlies in August but they reemerged just one week later in the Bandits Cup. At the Bandits Cup and in MAPLE play since, the team has played well in several phases of the game. This is the girls' first foray into the top division of MAPLE and I know the results alone are not great but on a performance scale the girls are certainly holding their own and doing a lot of good things that we can build upon.

Defensively we have been extremely solid with the center back partnership of TS and SS showing great competence. Both girls are showing real presence and are performing with great composure well beyond that of most 12 and 11 year old girls. We have also seen a welcome emergence of KR, AF and HL as strong full backs.

Attacking is a different story at the moment with only one goal in the 3 games played so far. At the moment we lack creativity and some confidence to try new things. Practices for the past two weeks have been used to work on the girls' play in the attacking third of the field and to put the girls into game situations where they have to use positive decision making to find a pass, a shot or to take a dribble. I will be looking for the girls to put these lessons into practice in game setting over the coming weekends.

Another Pleasant MAPLE Sunday

CS Making One of Several Great Runs Into the Box

This past Sunday was one of the Club's four home Sundays on the MAPLE calendar. MAPLE scheduled two Sundays in September as home dates for Granite FC and this past Sunday was a great day for everyone involved. The weather was superb, the atmosphere with the families, players and coaches coming , going and watching each other play was fun and the soccer was good. The day highlighted a few great things worth noting.

First, one of the reasons the day was so much fun is that the soccer was concentrated around four hours on one afternoon. MAPLE schedules play only for Sunday afternoons and each Club must be able to make its field available for four or so home dates in which it will be hosting a few games back to back. MAPLE's scheduling policy is great and is in real contrast to the arbitrary and unpredictable nature of scheduling as conceived by our friends in the Granite State Youth Soccer League. In MAPLE, you know your team will have one game a week on Sunday afternoon. The predictability in scheduling allows families to plan activities other than soccer -- there's a radical concept! Granite State, on the other hand, thinks nothing of putting a team into two games on one weekend and then none on the following weekend. Its hard to plan around such a schedule and it disrupts the progression in player development through the season.

MAPLE's scheduling also allows clubs to generate a club festival atmosphere around the dates in which it hosts home games. Three and four different teams' games come together on one afternoon. People come and go seeing coaches, club officers and friends. The kids and the parents inevitably take in pieces of the game before and after them. The club can run a concession and people linger for refreshments and a rolling picnic develops. All of this is built around the game and cements what we hope is a love for the game and an identity with other players in the club.

Second, when MAPLE home Sundays fall in September the weather is almost always beautiful. September in New Hampshire is marked by pleasant temperatures and sunny dry weather. This past Sunday was no exception. Why not stay and have a drink and a snack and talk with one or two of the coaches or some of the other kids and their parents? By all means, sit in the sun and watch a great match with your youngest and let them see how the older kids play the game.

Third, our home field is only one pitch and its fairly confined in its dimensions beyond the field itself. In a lot of ways, the configuration of the facility makes the atmosphere more intimate and festive. When parents like the Sherburne's set up as nice a concession as they have the last two MAPLE Sundays, it reinforces the atmosphere. People with the club and even the opposing teams mingle, talk and enjoy the soccer in way that is lost at bigger or more spread out venues.

And oh yeah, lets not forget the fourth and most important reason, you get to see a lot of great soccer development on display. It was a blast to watch our U-10 group now four weeks into their development take it to North Shore United in 3 goal bonanza in the first half. They are a fantastic group of little athletes. They already show the beginnings of a real understanding for the game. Best of all its great to see the amazing fun they have and the pleasure they take in everything they do. Its good for our U-11s, U-12s and U-14s to see this. It reminds them of what drew them to the game and to the more intensive level of training and play at the Club. It also makes the parents wistful for the days when their Suzy or Jessie was nine years old and starting in the game.

Our two U-12 teams also played this past Sunday. Ryan's Wanderers played well, dominating possession but struggling a bit in the final third. The possession ultimately paid off with a nice strike by TG -- a player who always has a nose for the goal and an ability to hit the ball well. In the end, this was enough to see off Seacoast United's white team -- 1-0.

Len's Wanderers played the Scorpions Elite U-12s and, once again played toe to toe, for 50 minutes in a 0-0 tie. Unlike in past games, however, the girls broke the Scorpions down and threatened in the final 18. CS was a ball of fire making strong runs forward. Unfortunately, she often found herself isolated in the box with no option but to shoot when a cross or a cut back pass would have yielded more. Ultimately, the Scorpions broke us down and scored two late goals. One on a scrum in front of the net that I really could not see and the other on a direct kick from the right edge of the penalty box. It sounds a little shopworn but its nevertheless true, the girls played well and the performance suggests that results are just around the corner.

Two Weeks On

"Little" AF Battling One of the Stars "Big" Girls

If you look at only the results, you would say that the U-12s struggles continue. They have dropped two league games -- 0-2 to FC Stars and 1-3 to the Fuller Hamlets. Yet the tale of these games tells you that good things are happening.

Two of the Fuller Hamlets' goals were scored by players who were in an offsides position when they received the ball and shot. One was close and one was blatant. MAPLE yet again sent only one ref to cover the game and the poor 15 year old girl simply could not get in a position to make the calls. The girls' play was marked by fantastic defending particularly from our center backs -- TS and SS. They were technical and tough the entire game. We also managed to generate some attacking pressure from the midfield. The girls' one goal was textbook COE. A ball played to the right wing, crossed in beautifully by JS to ME who took a spectacular one touch volley.

The FC Stars game was even more telling. This is the team that dismantled us on August 27. This is the team anchored by 3 or 4 truly exceptional players and, along with Western United's U-12s must be viewed as on of the two best teams in New England. This is also the team that tapped up -- MH and JC -- two of our better players from last year. There were a million reasons to believe that the disaster from the August friendly match would be repeated in league play.

It was far from a disaster. The game started with Stars FC penetrating quickly and succesively in the first 5-10 minutes. The Stars ripped off two shots on goal which were nicely saved by PG. They also flashed a ball across the box that slipped by the far post without result, but it was heart stopping. Although one might have thought -- oh no, here we go again -- there were signs of a different game shaping up even during the early onslought. We were winning balls in the midfield we were able to possess for a link up or two and the defenders looked determined and were making good challenges. The girls confidence started to rise and their determination and grit were showing all over the field.

The result? The crisis passed and the girls pushed the defensive struggle to the middle of the field. The game was largely fought out on the fifteen yards on either side of the mid stripe. Our mids and defenders gave the generally much bigger Stars players little room to breathe. The Stars predictably responded to the pressure in the middle by pushing the ball wide but the wide mids and fullbacks were usually able to soak up these forays. KR and AF were absolute monstors at Fullback. HL and KS did well at the wide mid spots. As with last weekend's game against the Fuller Hamlets, TS and SS were immense contributers.

The score was 0-0 at halftime and it remained knotted through 45-50 minutes. We gave up a free kick at the edge of the penalty box -- to be expected in a game as physical as this one. The Stars have two or three really big girls who are also very athletic and quite technical soccer players. They can spank a ball and one of them did just that lofting a high arcing ball that most U-12 keepers can never handle. Goal to the Stars.

I was worried that this goal would open the floodgates as the girls' heads would go down and the great effort of the previous 50 minutes would drain away. I'm thrilled to say that this did not happen. The game resumed much as before with one difference. Now that we were chasing the game, we got forward more insistently. The Stars have amazingly strong and very fast defenders. They were able to cope with most of the pressure although we did win one free kick it was just far enough away to assure that it would not be too dangerous. In the closing minutes, they managed to catch the girls on the break. Even then, however, the girls recovered well and we had enough bodies behind the ball. Alas, two of the girls' concentration broke for an instant and the girls' gave room to one of the biggest Stars girls who clipped another edge of the penalty box shot that arced high and well beyond the reach of our keeper.

Two outside the box shots with lots of air to them. Taken by a girl who had six inches at least on our tallest player. This is what tells the tale in closely contested U-12 games. I am very encouraged by the resolve the girls showed in this game against a very good, frankly superior opponent. What a game to build upon! If the girls show this much effort and concentration in each of their coming games, they will get their share of results.

Labor Day Weekend Continues the Pattern From Last Weekend

U-14s about to be presented with their Bandits Trophies!

Well, the patterns of last weekend with our U-12s and U-14s persisted over to the Labor Day weekend at the Bandits Cup in Fort Devens. The U-14s continued their upsurge in play. They won it all and I was able to watch some of their play. They get forward very fast and KD seems to be emerging as a real strike threat. I have not seen her play with such energy and verve in a long long time. I was so happy to see it. RP played amazingly at right back and was able to make some really nice forward runs while always recovering and fulfilling her defensive responsibilities. AF scored two goals! I hope and pray that this puts her on course to rediscovering her love for the game. She has the potential to be a great player but will only realize it if she is passionate about the game. I am happy for these girls and hope that the wonderful play continues.

Then there's Len's U-12s. They did not do so poorly. They defended quite well most of the weekend. They made it to the semis. They only lost in the semis 0-1 and the one goal was a fluky piece of work directly attributable to the inability to get a decent goal kick off. Not so unusual at this age. The problem, however, was the continuing inability to generate any sustained, coherent and, dare I ask too much, attractive attacking play. The center mids simply could not possess and then generate the attack. The strikers could not, would not make their runs or get their heads up and look for their teammates. This needs to improve if the girls are to compete at the level they are currently slotted. They are good athletes and good players so hopefully it will come.