Early Years

I would like to give a shout out to the youth players/parents/coaches and anyone else who might shape the young players of the game. When I look back on when I was a young player, just learning what offsides really meant, starting to play for a real soccer club, and going from a size 4 ball to size 5 ball, I am extremely thankful for the people who trained me. I do not know if they fully realize how much of an impact they had on my confidence with the ball, but after I write this I will be sure to remind them.

In the winter months when my team had to play indoors in a basketball gym, we would go up to the wall with a ball each and just bounce kick it over and over with the right foot. "Count how many in a row you can get." I always remember my coaches saying that. I am such a competitive person that it drove me to keep trying to beat my own personal record. I would go home after practice, race down to the basement, and keep kicking against the wall. I wanted to go to the next practice with an even higher record. That is what drives me to keep doing the simple drills even now. I want to keep improving on them. If I get to comfortable on a drill I tweak it to make it harder. Now, I warm up with the bounce kicks against the wall, but then transition to kicking against the wall with no bounce. For a visual, I am just juggling with the wall. Every couple touches I kick it against the wall and it bounces back to me where I must control it in the air and begin juggling again. I like to also add certain restrictions or juggling combinations to the drill. I will go into a raquetball court for an hour and do simple drills like kicking against a wall and enjoy it. I love being on the ball.

The Beautiful Game

I cannot begin to imagine my life without football. Since I could barely walk, that's what I have enjoyed. There is nothing like the game. I feel free when I am out on the field and for 90 minutes the game belongs to the players, and the players alone. There are no time outs. Only three subs are allowed thus, giving the power to the players on the field. In real life, getting 11 people to work together seems like a strenuous task, but on the pitch it is a different story. Once you get to a quality level of football, 11 players working together almost comes naturally. Anyone who plays the game knows the amazing feelingly when everyone just clicks and the game becomes something like a dream. You know where the ball will be in two or more passes with your teammates supporting you in every direction on the pitch. It's beautiful when everything comes together. No other team in the world has figured this out better than Barcelona. You become mesmerized when they string more then 30 passes together to create a goal. Their mix of Total Football and Tiki-taka is what every team should strive for, not only for the players, but for the fans of the game. It's amazing to watch.