Coach: Cole Sweetser 970-560-0610
Manager: John LeSage 970-769-9031
Update - Spring Season 2012 Week #1
Hope everyone is enjoying being back into the swing of soccer.
Week #1 – Weather was not our friend when it came to practice. Unfortunately, we missed our first two practices due to snow. Last week we were able to get two days in and one of those days I felt it best to end practice a bit early, due to rain and cold temps. Hopefully, the weather will be better going forward.
Practice – We worked on getting ball touches and getting back to our practice groove. Tactically we have adjusted our line up. My hopes are that all the boys will be engaged in the game at all times. Also, I am really wanting the boys to challenge themselves and play our of their comfort zones. They need to be able to play any position. This will benefit them huge in the long run. Kate says and I believe, “Some of the best forwards start as defenders and defenders as forwards.” We will be putting this to the test this season. This coming week we will continue to get ball touches, play some small-sided games and work on our fitness.
Game #1 – Win. The boys played phenomenal. They took to the new line up like ducks to water. Instantly, I noted our attacks on goal, involving 5 players - not one or two. Perfect! I anticipate the boys really fine tuning this as the season progresses. We will see them creating better opportunities to score. On a coaching note – You will notice me not giving much direction to the boys during play. They are at the point where they can make decisions without me helping from the sidelines. I want to let the boys steer their play and what we do on the field during matches. I will be looking to them for input.
I get so much enjoyment out of watching these boys mature both on the field and off. They are a special group of young men with all the soccer talent in the world. It’s so great to see them take care of one another both on and off the field. Special shout out to Austin, he was always looking to his team to help find the back of the net. Saturday they all played very un-selfish soccer and I really took notice. Thanks for letting me coach them.
Once again – Thank you for getting to practice and games on time. Also, thanks for having the boys in their practice shirts, with water and a ball. Makes a big difference. Final note – we have added a game April 21st. We will play a double header that day in Durango.
GAME ADDED TO OUR SCHEDULE!!!
April 21st we will play a double header here in Durango. First we will play Danny's U10 team @ 11:30 then U10 team from Cortez @ 12:45.
I am all about the boys playing as much as possible. Hope this works for everyone, should be a great day of soccer.
Map to Fields...
This is a map to the fields we will play at, other than Escalante. Just click on the appropriate field and bingo...a map. Please be at every game AT LEAST 30 MINUTES PRIOR TO START TIME. Also, make sure your son has some water. Thanks - looking forward to another great season.
Practice Cancelled 3-1-12 Still too much snow!!!
Still too much snow to practice. Looks like we will be good to go Tuesday. I also anticipate getting our schedule some time soon. I will post here.
See everyone Tuesday!!!! - John
4:30 PRACTICE THIS WEEK!!!
Please be at practice tomorrow, ready to-go, at 4:30. We will practice as long as we can. The same on Thursday.
Shifting Gears a bit.
So just a quick note to let you guys know that we have started to work on some new tactics. For the last few weeks, we have really concentrated on speed. Speed in the open field, speed making decisions and the whole team moving together at a much faster pace. It is obvious to me that the boys have really have got this down. We also have been working on long range shooting. We are going to continue to work on that. I want the boys comfortable shooting the ball. In addition to shooting, I will be trying to drill into the boys our priorities on the field.
Priorities on the field...Scoring goals our #1 priority. Over the last few weeks, United has really started to move about the field very confidently. With this movement we have seen some amazing passes and phenomenal ball handling. One thing I noticed though, we have passed up on some shooting opportunities. We are sometimes looking for the amazing pass or holding the ball one too many touches when we should be looking to put the ball in the back of the net. Our number one priority is shooting. I think this change will happen with some shooting drills. We just need a little more confidence shooting. When we get as comfortable shooting as we are passing and dribbling, those extra touches and passes when we should be shooting, will go away. Great passes and confidence with the ball will put us in a position to shoot and score. We just need to work on when we take that shot versus when we pass/dribble the ball.
Our focus these next 3 practicies will be "Priorities on the field". We will be using lots of drills that replicate the game, with me stopping play when we have a coaching moment to show/talk about options. We will also start each practice with the boys favorite shooting game.
Coach's email week #6
Holy cow these U9 United boys can play! So exciting to watch them on the field. They are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. As a coach, there are many things I am proud of. As a dad and friend, I am most proud of how these boys are starting to take care one another on and off the field.
We had a great week of practice. Our focus has been speed. Speed dribbling, finishing and making decisions. Saturday’s game was evidence to me that we have gained some speed. They were incredibly fast tracking to the ball on defense and opposing teams better look out if any of these boys get in the open field. Their confidence dribbling at speed has really improved.
Going forward this week, my plan is to open up the field a bit. I will be pushing the boys to not be afraid to “pull the trigger”. I would like to see some shots from the outside. Harry and Elliot do a great job of this already. Elliot had a nice goal from the corner that happened to be caught on video. I would like to build on the confidence we have dribbling and add some long range shooting into the mix. We know these boys are comfortable dribbling right to the goal. Let’s get them that comfortable with some long range shooting!
This Thursday we will be practicing at the indoor facility. We will have a Copa style tourney and celebrate Austin’s birthday. If you need directions, please contact myself or Jynn. This weekend is the Copa del Sol tournament. Timing is perfect for us to improve our long range shooting. Copa tourney will play right into our plans to shoot from the outside. This is a 4v4 no goalie tournament. Fast paced and lots of shooting. Going to be so much fun!!!
In closing, thanks to everyone for supporting our team. Looking forward to practice today. Go to Durangosoccer.com and check out U9 United page.
Our very own Logan performing at Buckley Park.
Logan our whole team is very proud of you and your brothers....Good job!!! So impressed.
Coach's Email Week #5
What a weekend!!!! So much fun and we proudly came away with 3rd place. What a great team experience. I can’t thank the families enough for making the trip to Denver. It means so much to us as a team. Thanks again. For those that did not go, I hope you enjoyed your weekend away from soccer.
So our boys were tested in Denver. As a coach, I was able to learn what we need to work on going forward. Having the boys play such strong competition allowed me to see a few things we could work on. We are going to work on speed with the ball and without. We are also going to work on finishing at full-speed. Our boys played their hearts out and never gave up. I was super proud of the passion they displayed.
A bigger goal of ours was also met. It is very important to Janet and myself that the team bonds. We want them to understand what it means to be on a team, on and off the field. I have to admit, I got a little misty eyed at the Rapids game when I looked over and saw the boys having so much fun together. That was worth the drive to Denver.
Going forward, we have two weeks of league matches, then Copa Del Sol Tournament here in Durango. We would like to use Copa Tourney as a way to make some soccer memories with players from both squads. This is a fun, fast paced, 4v4, player-coached tournament. The kids will be making their own jerseys and coming up with creative team names. We will enter three teams.
#1 Harry, Austin, Aiden, Brian, Liam, Tristan
#2 Everett, Sam, Evan, Ben, Ian
#3 Elliot, Chase, Zane, Logan, Cole
We are so excited about practice this week. Cant wait to get on the field and begin our lessons learned in Denver. The boys made everyone so proud.
EACH BOY SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF HIS PERFORMANCE IN DENVER !!!!
Janet and John
Denver CYS Cup Schedule....
http://events.gotsport.com/events/schedule.aspx?eventid=19107&FieldID=0&...
Game time have changed. Here are the times for Saturday. Sunday's game times will me determined by our first two games Saturday...
SATURDAY...
9:00am Broomfield Tigers vs Durango United Gates Field 12a
12:00pm Colorado Storm Wookies vs Durango United Gates Field 12a
SUNDAY...
We will play at 10:00am at Gates Field. Then maybe Championship Game at 1:00pm Gates Field.
Here is link to field location...
http://www.soccerfieldsofcolorado.com/maps/gates_north_713
Looking forward to this weekend. Sorry about last minute changes in game times. GOING TO BE A GREAT FIRST TOURNAMENT FOR THE BOYS!!!!!
PLATINUM
GOLD
