A Step or Two Behind, But Still Pushing Ahead

[thisnewday]

Jason had another amazing weekend on the soccer field and, as sometimes happens, he showed his best when he was at his worst. He now plays for two different teams and in three different divisions. His two early games on Saturday were back-to-back at 7 AM and 8 AM for his New York State Junior Soccer Association team, Fusion Pegasus.

The 7 o'clock was against an Under9/Under10 boys team from Oswego, NY and, as grumpy and put-upon as I felt about having to get up at 5:30 to get the kid fed, dressed, and out to Jones Road by that hour, I felt even worse for those parents who had to drive 40 miles south, out of "Lake Effect Hell," for their kids to compete.

For the last month or so, Jason has been sent in with the first squad because of his excellent passing skills and newly-aggressive style of play. Saturday, though, I could tell he wasn't at his best. He played hard, as always, and managed to contribute, but seemed to be a step or two behind for most of the game.

Fortunately, it was a relatively easy game. Fusion Pegasus won by a score of 9-3. The biggest challenge was having to cover the extra man, which the other team is allowed, once your team is ahead by 6. After that, they took the whole 5 minutes between games to catch their breath.

The next team and the next game were a different story. Their opponent was the U10/U11 championship team, Empire Revolution, which has beaten everyone they've played lately. Actually, we came back against them nicely in the finals of the last indoor session but still lost by something like 7-4.

After that comeback, I commented to Jason that I thought these guys were beatable, given the progress that Pegasus had made in recent weeks. Turns out that was not the case when they were playing their second game in two hours against the best team in the division.

Again, they played hard but this time the whole team seemed a step behind. The Empire team was fresh and they're an elite program. They practice 3 days per week, as opposed to our 1, and team membership is determined in head-to-head tryouts. And, not incidentally, the cost is about 3 times what we pay for Jason's Fusion program.

The Empire program, then, is the next step up for anyone wishing to compete at youth soccer's highest levels. And for those of us who might find off-putting the competitiveness and investment of time and money, we might consider that this is where our Olympic and other elite athletes come from. Which, I understand, can be a point of contention as well. Concerning, you know, the place of sports in the overall scheme of things, the loss of childhood, the possibility of significant injury at an early age, etc.

In fact, we went though all of that with my youngest daughter in team gymnastics. But it was where she wanted to be, during those years, and we felt lucky to be able to give her that opportunity. And when she decided that it wasn't for her anymore, we made a planned and orderly exit. So I think it's really up to the parents to maintain a sense of balance and proportion. (Which was one of the things Jason's Eastwood coach and I discussed some weeks prior to Jason's debut with Fusion Pegasus.)

Anyway, the kids played hard but lost 6-0. Which is tough, but there are things to be learned from a losing effort as well. And that's one of the upsides of youth sports: life lessons abound. (Even if you're losing, you play hard; you don't quit on your teammates, because it isn't just about you; go ahead and make your mistakes, but learn from them; stop that sniveling, you little wus, it's only a game. Just kidding about that last one, LOL.)

On the way home, I dropped him off at his mom's after extracting a promise that he'd be fed, dressed, and not totally worn out when I came back to pick him up for his 4 o'clock game. (It was the weekend before his birthday, she dearly wanted to see him, and I always try to accomodate.)

The 4 o'clock game was with his old Eastwood team, which he'd begged to rejoin for the familiarity, the friendships, the chance, I suppose, to be a star again. I was on board with all of that, except maybe the star part, but saw it as mainly a chance for him to get a few more touches on the ball during the week, without Poppa and grandma having to take a second mortgage on their palatial inner-city estate. (NOT laughing about that last one.)

And, once again, we've found that there's lots to learn: about understanding that your role may be different on different teams; that it's up to you, especially if you think you're the best, to be the best example; to provide those who are less experienced or less talented the opportunity to learn and grow by working with you, etc.

After the first one or two games, in which he played a mix of defensive midfield and offensive forward, the coach has used him exclusively at forward. In his first game back with Eastwood, they played the only team that was below them in the standings and it was actually embarassing to watch him blow through the opposing defenders and score goal after goal.

So he was admonished to pass more, even though, as Jason rightly observed, there was frequently no one to pass to, and was put on defense so as to not completely humiliate the other team. However, he then had to be told that he should not score from his defensive position which was actually the opposite of what he'd been coached to do with Fusion Pegasus. Which is what necessitated our discussion about different roles on different teams.

But in his third game since coming back, Eastwood would be facing one of the better teams, it was make-or-break time for the division playoffs, and I guess even our laid back coach likes to win once in a while. In fact, they managed to win that one with Jason paired at forward with his friend Hector who knew enough to be on the other side of the goal for Jason to pass to for a score and who also passed to Jason for a pair. Which is how they managed to stay in contention for the playoffs. But their next game was a must-win as well and, because they didn't, they were out of the playoffs.

Fast forward to Saturday's game, which was Eastwood's first of the second indoor session. Jason was again at middle forward, which means he would initiate play on offense when it was Eastwood's ball and would, conversely, be in the first line of defense when play was initiated by the other team.

For the first half of play, the coach's grandson played goalie and because our second line was so easily penetrated, throughout the game, he was a real difference maker. He made numerous saves for us and Jason and another forward managed to give Eastwood a 4-1 lead going into the half.

The second half, with a less-experienced goalie, was a different story. Our porous defense continued to be penetrated, as in the first half, but this time the opposing team scored almost at will. They caught up with us at 6-6 and then took the lead at 7-6. Then, with about three minutes remaining, Jason scored on two breakaways which he initiated on defense from his middle forward position.

After a team scores and it's the other team's turn to initiate play, at the center of the field, there are basically two ways that it's done. One is for the middle forward to pass to one of the wings and the other is to pass directly back to one of the middle defenders, or sweepers, who then passes it back up to one of the forwards.

At some point in the second half, when he realized that our wings were not going to defend aggressively enough to prevent an easy setup for the other team to score, Jason began breaking left or right toward whichever opposing wing was receiving the initial pass from center.

To counter that, the opposing coach had his center forward pass directly back to the sweeper position and as soon as he did Jason was after the ball. With a direct line toward the goal, he blew past the defenders and scored. On the next play from center, he did the same thing but this time was mobbed by the opposing defense.

From the sidelines, it looked like a fistfight in the middle of the field, but somehow Jason managed to break out on the other side of it to score the go-ahead goal. One of the parents standing next to me blurted out, "OMG, that kid is... relentless." Which made me laugh, although I agreed.

After that, it was a matter of desperately hanging on to a one-point lead with our questionable defense. With 38 seconds left on the clock, the other team started two successive drives down the field, with a play stoppage in between for tripping. (Must've been on us, since they kept possession.)

Then, on their final penetration through to our sweeper position, Jason's friend Landrey got off one of her better kicks, clearing the ball toward the other team's goal just before the final buzzer sounded.

After the game, Jason was utterly silent, barely acknowledging the congratulations of coaches and the parents of teammates on the win. Likewise, nothing was said on the walk to the car, and nothing for the first mile or two of the ride home.

After a series of questions from me, which elicited only monosyllabic answers, he finally said, "It was really bad out there. They were pushing and kicking and shoving and the ref wasn't doing anything. And when I finally pushed one of them back, the ref called a penalty on me."

(We have had some pretty spotty officiating, on occasion, but this woman was easily one of the worst. Aside from the blown calls and non-calls, a kid from the other team went down hard just before the buzzer ending the first half. I was standing beside his father on the sidelines and when she let play continue, with the kid writhing in pain on the turf, the father screamed at her to blow the whistle. Which she finally did, but instead of running over to assess the kid's condition, she ran to the opposite sideline to reset the clock for the second half. Unbelievable.)

"Anyway," I said, "Couldn't you have told the coach?"

And he said, "It wouldn't have made any difference, so I just kept playing."

And I said, "Well, that was very brave and I'm very proud of you."

And I was. And I am...

LPK
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2.5.2013 (a)