What a great weekend!

Well, well, well. I'm just going to put it simply - my U10s became champions over the weekend, while my U13s performed absolutely brilliantly to reach the semi finals. Let's start with my U13s, shall we?

On the first day of the tournament in the Pennsylvanian town of Lititz, the U13s played their best soccer of the summer. We won the first game 3-1, a truly great performance. We played even better in the next game even though we drew the match 2-2. It really should have been 7-2 but it did not matter as we came top of our bracket - through to the semi finals. As I headed to my very nice motel, I was just thinking of how good our performances were today. I then thought to myself - this is what I want to see: progress and improvement. Yes, winning is good but, for me, it is only a bonus. As a soccer coach, I look for player development and I definitely noticed that during those first two games, which gave me great satisfaction.

So, semi final day arrived. I was actually very calm and composed, as I knew the players were going to give it their best shot. If they were going to do that, I knew we would have a great chance to progress to the final. The match kicked off and we looked very, very good. A bit nervous to start with but we eventually got into the swing of things. However, we received a real kick in the teeth when an unfortunate mistake in the defence allowed one of the opposition players to shoot them into the lead. We rallied though and unluckily hit the post towards the end of the first half. 1-0 down but still very much in it. I told the players to carry on with what they were doing as I was very pleased with how they were all playing. All we needed was a bit of luck. We started the second half and we really piled the pressure on the opposition. Chances went begging and I started to think this was not going to be our day. This thinking was further enhanced when the other team scored a very good long range shot. 2-0 down. Game over? No because soon after we got the ball in the back of the net (finally!) and had about 10 minutes to get the equalizer. At this point, I was getting extremely nervous yet excited as I felt we were going to score that second goal. I thought that chance arrived when one of my players cut into the penalty box and was tripped - penalty kick surely? No, linesman says it was outside. I must admit, I got rather furious and things went from bad to worse when the other team hit us on the break and sealed the win by scoring their third goal. 3-1 and out.

Like all the players, I was deeply disappointed as I felt we deserved something more due to the battling performance we put in. However, after having cooled down and reflected on the match, I told the players they should be very proud of themselves, as I was of them. Yes, it is always tough to lose, but the important thing is that they performed extremely well and that is what I look for as a coach. I must say, I really enjoyed working with those kids. I just hope they enjoyed it as well! If they did not, well, they can tell it to my face (if they dare!). Remember, I am 6ft 7in after all...