Opening Day

Great work today on the pitch. Some highlights:

-- Carter and Judah stepped up to play goalkeeper (despite not having a huge amount of prior experience), and they made a couple of nifty saves.

-- We worked on what it looks like to be a supportive and positive teammate while on the bench. Coach Connors talked about the way that we want to cheer for our teammates while also being respectful of our opponents.

-- We also talked about the importance of humility. In Charlottesville, we are fortunate to have Coach Bennett as a fantastic role model for demonstrating that it's possible to be an exceptional athlete while still maintaining a humble approach to the game.

-- Awesome year-opening goals from Kai (2), Keegan (2), Matteo, Gavin, Kevin and Charlie!

And here are some things to work on:

-- As we have been talking about during practice: when you stop, steal or receive the ball in the middle of the field, you will almost always want to consider sending it towards the side (unless we are already very close to the opponent's goal), so that we can stretch and space the field.

-- Please talk to each other out there!! Lots! (examples: "I got it, I got it." "You've got time." "Man on." "Pass to the side.") The more we start to communicate, the more we become a team, rather than a collection of eleven individual players.

Game balls:

Kevin: Your goal was terrific, but I was even more impressed by the way that you maintained a sharp focus and strong effort until the final whistle.

Charlie to Gavin: A gorgeous corner kick and a perfectly placed header, for the score.

Holmes: I love the way that you move to open space, constantly opening up possibilities for your teammates and keeping the defense on its heels.