Scorpions Bowl -- Part I

This past weekend, Len's U-12s took part in the first ever large outdoor tournament held in New England in March. Traditionally, outdoor play on a large scale in March has been impossible because snow is often on the ground or the ground is too wet and soft from snow melt or drenching late winter rains. With the growth in modern turf fields in the area, things have changed. It took the Scorpions to figure out that if you combine Progin Park in Lancaster and the Thayer Academy fields, with an area high school field here and there, you could host a serious tournament.

March 8 & 9 were the first two days of the tournament and it was a success despite heavy rains on Saturday afternoon and cold wind on Sunday. The fields were good and it was great to be outdoors against good teams. With the cancellation of the Nike Rush Cup in Norfolk, Virginia on the same weekend, it would appear that the days of New England teams being forced to Virginia tournaments in March may be a thing of the past. Props to the Scorpions for pulling it off.

As for the U-12s, they had a quality start to their spring campaign. The girls posted a 1-0-2 record over Saturday and Sunday and were edged out on goal differential from advancing to the semis and, who knows, maybe the finals. The first game against the Scorpions "B" squad kicked off in a cold fog at 9:00 am. From the outset, Len's girls were in command of the pitch. The midfield and back line controlled the game and generated nice sustained build up play that found our wide players and strikers in threatening positions over and over. The girls potted three unanswered goals and, had they been more clinical in front of the net, no doubt they would have put two or three more goals past the Scorps. Later that night, the girls would come to regret their profligacy.

The second game against FC Puma kicked off at 12:00 in cold and steady rain that picked up in pace as the game went on. FC Puma and the COE are well acquainted with each other having played three times over the past year. The girls know that if they do not concentrate from whistle to whistle the quick, technical Puma players are very capable of opening a 2 goal deficit in minutes. Despite the tough conditions, the girls buckled down and played a disciplined game. The center midfielders broke down most attacks. The defenders were calm and composed in dealing with the rest and distributed the ball forward with purpose and in a way that assured continued posession. The wing players got forward nicely and linked well with the strikers and other mids. The girls scored in the first ten minutes and threatened to do so several more times during the match. The second half performance was quite dominant and FC Puma rarely broke the COE down in the defending third. Alas, with a few minutes to go an errant goal kick and a little lapse in positional concentration allowed the ball to fall to a Puma player who cracked a nice shot from outside the box -- a cruel 1-1 draw was the result.

The girls came to rue the draw that night when they learned that FC Puma beat the Scorpions later in the day 4-0, allowing FC Puma to advance to the semis on goal differential.

Sunday came and the girls travelled to Thayer Academy to play a consolation match against Explosion FC -- another team that the COE girls know well. Like all of the matches played by these two teams, the game was very sharply contested. Again, the COE girls went up early 1-0. In the second half, Explosion threw numbers forward and put the COE flanks under progressively growing pressure. The girls' defensive shape suffered in the onslought and Explosion looked more and more dangerous. Eventually, Explosion found the net which resulted in a 1-1 tie.

All in all, a good weekend of play which highlighted some things for Len and the girls to work on. And unlike those teams that chose to attend the Nike Rush Cup in Virginia Beach, we got our games in!

Winter Hibernation, Hardly!

Historically, the chief impediment to maximizing soccer development in New Hampshire has been the weather. We are usually snowbound from late December or early January until mid to late March, with a two week, post melt mud season that further delays outdoor play on natural turf. Global warming seemed to be giving us more time on the front and back end but the middle has been as persistent as ever. This winter, its as if mother nature has decided it wants to strike back at the warming trend. Our field has been under a foot of snow since early December and a look at it on Sunday afternoon showed over a foot of the crustiest, toughest, multi metomorphosed snow clinging stubbornly to every inch of the pitch. We have yet to have a period of sustained warm temperatures so there has been no perceptible melting of the boilerplate that clings to the field.

Despite all of this, the COE teams have not traded in their cleats for skis (although we do have a number of skiers and boarders scattered across the teams) and we are not in a deep sleep someplace warm. The teams have all been training once a week at the NH Sportsplex. Many club members are doing weekly supplementary skills work and fitness sessions. The younger teams have been playing in indoor leagues and Len's U-12s, Steve's U-15s and Gary's U-17s have been hosting or attending 11 v11 tournaments throughout January and February. The level of commitment and training intensity has been good and we are hopeful that it will translate into results outdoors now that the season is upon us.

And the outdoor season is upon us, notwithstanding the snow still laying around the "Corp." Just to the south over the border and certainly south of Rt. 495, the snow is gone. The Scorpions' Bowl is upon us with Len's U-12s playing on March 8 & 9 and the U-15s playing on March 15 & 16. The Western United Spring Friendlies follow two weeks later for Len's U-12s, the U-14s and the U-15s. The U-17s will follow in quick succession with appearances at the MAPS/MSSL College Showcase and the PDA Spring College Showcase. MAPLE play commences the beginning of April for Len's U-12s and the U-10s, Region I subregional play begins for the U-17s and the U-15s the end of March and Ryan's U-12s will be picking up friendlies and GSYSL play in early April. The holy grail of youth soccer -- the State Cup -- beckons thereafter in the beginning of May.

So, its not easy to run a strong youth soccer program in New Hampshire from December through March but it can be done and it must be done to keep up the developmental pace set by our neighbors to the south and to develop to the highest levels possible. Good luck to all of the teams and players this month and into the Spring!