Coach Jogger, Part II

I coached the medium Little Jogger's soccer team again today, running my record up to 2-0. We had them pretty well overmatched. We played most of the game in their end, and the few times they did get shots, our goalies held strong. We won 4-0. I'd take the credit for it, but I didn't do much except try to make sure that everyone got playing time.

Meanwhile, the oldest and newest Little Jogger's team lost. Again. I only watched the first half, and that was something like 7-0. They were missing one or two pretty good players. She's getting kind of frustrated.

There's a clear difference in the level of skill of the players. At both age levels, there are some players who have had a lot of practice. They can dribble, they can pass, they can kick the ball hard. And at both levels, there are players who haven't done much more than whatever they do in PhysEd for a week or two per year. They lose control of the ball, they have to set it up to get a good kick. The best teams are the ones (like the medium Little Jogger's) that have a higher ratio of the first type of player. The worst teams are the ones (like the oldest and newest Little Jogger's) that have a lower ratio. And there's not much that a coach can do to change that.