"Life is filled with peril, but somehow, with all the danger and prospects of failure, we have to maintain a reckless optimism. So lets dream the impossible dreams, a 'never-ending ascension' even when there is little evidence supporting it"

  Saturday we had an way game verse Edsbyn.   Edsbyn is a few hours north of Gavle.  It was sunny in Gavle but when we got to the field it was snowing.. We had a good warm up, everyone was focused and ready to play.  Right when the whistle blew we brought the intensity.  Sandra (our forward) started us off and scored a great goal with in the first five minutes.  The goals kept coming and every player was involved in every goal.  We won 8-0 but the goals we scored were quality finishes.  Everyone all  was composed and played well all over the field! It was a good result and a good performance. 


Some of the youth players I coach were called up to the game.  They did very well and I was proud that they stepped out of their comfort zones and played at a higher level.  It is great for their development as players.

 I see a lot of potential with the girls on the youth team.  They have the opportunity to train with my team as well.  Not many of them come to my team's trainings though.. Technically, they are very good but the biggest area they need to improve on is the psychological part of their game.

 I think the reason some of the youth players do not want to train with us is because they are afraid to look foolish and afraid to fail. Some of the girls are now starting to come to my team's training and I am proud of them.

 When I was younger, and even now I always wanted to play with older or better players because it was a challenge and I knew I would become a better player by doing so. Ive never learned anything from success; everything I have learned on the field and in life has been taught through failure. If you fall down you just have to get back up.
 
So my main message and goal to all of them  is to have the courage to try new things and  fail. I want them to get rid of their fear of failure. I want them to go out and express themselves; not care about what anyone thinks; just play with a sense of reckless abandonment. 

Here is a quote I found from Anson Dorrance awhile back.. I want to make a team out of the youth; no one is greater than the team but I also want to create "rebels" within the team.  I want each player to rebel in their own way.

"We all admire the individual who acts as a hero, fighting the other team on her own.  Team games are an attempt to suppress individuality, and yet the classically great soccer player is kind of a rebel against structure and cooperation.  In variable, the type who stands out is not the cooperative team player that athletics purports to admire. Its the Michelle Akers gimme-the-ball-and-Ill-get-it-done.  This shatters the classical concept of the team. Yet in order for an individual to demonstrate this type of rebellion, it must be done within the context of total team cooperation. Its a wonderful aspect of our sport, yet very bizarre!"