I write so much for work that sometimes I have to step back and write a little for myself. Whether that's penning a few random lines of poetry (which I really don't do much of anymore) or a few thousand words of whatever book project I'm working on (which needs to happen more often!) or writing in this blog, sometimes letting words flow freely helps me re-motivate.
Motivation has certainly been lacking in my life lately, though its no fault of anyone or anything. I've found that occasionally I stall out and need a re-charge, and with all of the added stress I've been carrying lately, that was certainly the catalyst for my recent case of the blues.
However, I'm pretty certain that I'm finally climbing out of that hole, whether it's the fact that Steve is finally moved in, or that practices have started, or that I've finally taken a deep breath, I'm not sure, but I'm definitely in much better spirits lately.
As I mentioned, I finally started my team practices last week, and I feel like the first one was a success! I started out by showing the girls the warm-up I want them to do every day, and of course, broke the ice by tripping in a hole and face planting. Way to go.
I laughed it off, but secretly I was totally mortified.
I wasn't sure what to expect from the girls, since I'd never seen any of them play, so I focused on ball skills for the first half of practice. Some of them had good skills, some of them need some work, but that's what the summer is for, so we're going to keep working on those skills as much as possible. One thing I noticed is that they really need to work on the concept of field spacing and passing.
Of course, I have to remember that these girls are only 11, and that soccer is supposed to be FUN. I tried to keep the practice as positive and fun as possible, and considering the girls were smiling the entire time, even when we were doing 'conditioning' work with ladders, I think I did okay.
I have two practices this week, in addition to two keeper training sessions, so I'm looking forward to that. Keeper training is easy for me, the team practices are definitely a challenge, but I'm new to this, and I'm learning all the time. I'm excited for my coaching clinics in August, that should definitely help me along the way.
As far as my own playing goes, I played in a tournament this weekend down in Spotsylvania. We lost all three games, but it was a lot of fun to camp out on Saturday night. I played okay, definitely not my best games, but I was happy with some of the offensive runs I made up the field. I love playing that left defensive position and taking the ball up the wing. In the second game I definitely had some great moments, and if only I had a left foot I might have had myself a goal or two.
I've finally gotten to the point that I'm confident taking people on, which is something I've struggled with my entire life as a player. I've just never had the ball control. I'm happy that I have it now. I'm never going to be able to totally school people, but I definitely have one or two good moves up my sleeve.
The third game was a bit doomed from the start, and considering I was pretty sore from the first two games, including a swollen ankle from getting railed on in the second game, I felt like I did okay.
We lost all three games, but that's soccer for you. Sometimes you can't lose, sometimes it's all you can do.
On another note, I'm a little sad that the World Cup is over. It was so fun to see so much quality soccer, especially the goalkeeping. I really think that the goalkeeping this WC was stellar.
Of course, I was pulling for the Dutch to win, but after their abysmal play and the insane amount of yellow cards, Spain was the rightful winner. Not only that, the goal was one of the most perfect side volleys I've ever seen. What a strike!
I'm sure I'll have more updates this week, considering it's packed with soccer. For now, though, the creative juices are flowing, and I've got a story to write!
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