212 degrees

"At 211 degrees, water is hot. At 212 degrees, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. One extra degree makes all the difference. And, the one extra degree of effort in business and in life… separates the good from the great!"

When I was playing for fsasoccerplus; one of my coaches showed my team the 212 youtube video before our season started.. It really hit me and "212 degrees" became a number I would try and live by.  One "extra degree" makes all the difference! 

I shared this with my youth team before their last game! They all knew what it was going to take to win the game and I can proudly say that every one of them taped into that extra "degree" and played the best 90 minutes yet.  Creative, savvy, and rebellious; it was great to watch! We won 5-3. 

We had a guest coach; Jamie.  She is another fellow American and it was great having her there. The girls got to experience two American coaches; with very different styles.  Jamie made it fun! 

Everyone was having a great time and really enjoying themselves. This is what I play for and this is why I love the game; its times like these.  Its times where you are completely immersed in the moment, that it feels like that almost nothing else matters; you can forget about the past and have no worries about the future and all you do is just enjoy where you are.

I got a call from TV4 on Monday and they asked if they could interview me.  They are reporting on female coaches vs. males coaches and they want to know why there are not very many women coaches.  They found that in Sweden there is 1 women coach for every 10 males coaches  and they want to know why and my opinion on the topic.  

They showed up to my practice with cameras and all and the interview began.  I think that women's soccer is still relatively "new" compared to men's soccer and I think you will start to see more and more women coaches as time goes on because they will also want to spread the passion and give back to the game.  I do not think that there is  much of a difference between a female vs male coach.  The only thing I could think of is that a female coach is just a different voice and it may be easier for some players to talk to a female coach.  

As a player I want to be the best and the one to make the difference on the field. As a coach I want to help players be the difference, be the best, challenge them, guide them to their potential and help them get to where they want to be! 

*** More news coming soon! 

"On a mission to be. What Im destined to be.."

I am a nerd. I like to read, write, create and listen to others ideas.  A few weeks ago I took a coaching course in Swedish.  The first hour was a lecture;  in the beginning, I franticly wrote down everything I could and circled the Swedish words I did not know. Then about 15 minutes into the lecture something clicked in my brain; I understood almost everything; my brain just turned and I felt as if I was even thinking in Swedish.  It was a completely wild experience and I think with even more practice I will be able to make my brain Switch more often.  

Tony Gufstasson and the Tiki Taka Style have so much to offer to the development of youth soccer.  Their philosophies were very similar to mine and they like to create an environment where there is no principles; its an environment where the players get to be as creative as they please to reach the goal.  The coaches is job to is to create challenges and then guide the players to solve the problem.

 After the lecture, the coaches and I hit the field we all became Tony's players.  It was a high energy, fast-paced and fun practice.  He kept everyone going at all times and I came out with many ideas for my own teams and even learned as a player as well. 

I did not know all the coaches in the course but almost all of them knew me.  I met and talked to so many people.  I had their kids in the schools, some at the camp and I played againsta few.  It was fun to be around people that shared the same amount of passion for coaching and the game itself as I did.

I spoke with Tony after and he was surprised an American was in his class and was impressed with my swedish.  He told me about some of his experiences with the US national team, how he got involved with Tiki Taka and basically told me how he got where he was.  

It is neat hearing people's stories; you can learn so much by just taking a second to listen about where they have been, what they have seen, ect. He told me that they are trying to bring Tiki Taka to the US.  I know it would be a big hit and I would love to be involved with their organization. 

Last week I went from taking a coaching course to teaching one.. After running my soccer camp, SISU; a company in town wanted me to run a coaching class where coaches could have the opportunity to watch me train my team and then hear me talk about my own personal philosophies, planning and styles.  

I was nervous because I have never done anything like this before.  I have my D license and I am going to get my National C lisense very soon but I am so used to being a student when it comes to this; not the teacher.  I looked at my old notes and put a lot of thought on how I was going to run this class.  

It went great and was absolutely incredible.  My field session focused on 'when to dribble and when to pass'.  There were a little over 20 coaches watching; my players did great! The energy level was high and it was fun! After the session I went inside with the coaches and talked about my philosophy and how I incorporated it into my training session.  

I did not know how I would be talking to a group of coaches but right when I started everything felt so natural.  I felt so comfortable and it was so neat seeing everyone  "frantically taking notes" on what I had to say.  Some coaches were even taking pictures of the information I wrote down on the board.  After I was finished many of them asked me questions about their teams and wanted different advice. Others, asked me the difference between the youth development between the US, Finland and Sweden.  I was having so much fun talking about my different experiences.  After the classroom session was over all the coaches came up to me individually and shook my hand.  I had a few of their kids in my camp and others want me to come run a session or two for their teams.   

This whole experience was amazing and I never thought I could be good at something like that.  I really enjoyed teaching a group of coaches. I like speaking in front of people. I have so many ideas and it was so much fun to share them with a whole group in person.  I can see myself doing something like this in the future.  

In soccer news, my team has hit a rough patch but we have one more game left; one more chance to prove ourselves.  We play in Stockholm this Saturday against Brommopojkarana; if we win we will  have a chance to move up to division 1.  It comes down to the last game.  We have nothing to lose.. Its out turn!!