The spirit of the kids was infectious, I coached vicariously. I stated that I wished I were seven years old again at least twenty times to anyone who was listening. These kids learned, they listened, and they grew into better soccer players. Coaching was a lot of work, it was time consuming, and there were a lot of plans and decisions to make. I came to totally appreciate the volunteer coach role and what it takes to coach a youth soccer team. I hope any wisdom gained can be passed on. WHITE MOUNTAIN LIONS: SEASON TO REMEMBER A Memoir By BOB KASZAS AuthorHouse Copyright © 2013 Bob Kaszas All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4817-0705-3 Contents Author's Note....................................ixForeword.........................................xiAnother author's note............................xviiBeginnings.......................................1The Team Forms...................................10Cat Herding......................................15The Schedule.....................................24Practice Drills..................................27Early Games......................................39Players Improve..................................47New England Weather..............................53Mid-Season Form..................................57Rough And Tumble.................................61The Last Regular-Season Game.....................67Endings..........................................72Appendix.........................................79About the Author.................................81 Chapter One Beginnings August 21, 2012. 5:00 p.m. I walked toward a familiar face, Coach Mark, coordinator for the junior league. I reached out my hand and said, "How are you, Mark?" "Good. Are you coaching?" asked Mark. "Yeah, I'm one of your volunteers," I replied. "I would like to help out. I'm Bob; not sure you remember me from a couple years ago coaching kindergarten." I really enjoyed the game of soccer and teaching the kids and had been a parental volunteer coach for my daughter Maddie's kindergarten and first-grade teams. Now that second grade was about to start, I was ready to go again. Mark turned away to engage a parent who had signed up late and was handing in the forms. Nearby groups of parents conversed with excitement and animation. I spotted my coaching partner, Tony, crossing the field and walked over and extended my hand. "Are you ready for another season?" I asked. "Good to see you. Oh yeah, I'm ready. We're bound to do better than last year," he said. (Tony and I had coached together the year before, not winning much and having a tough time with discipline). I surely could remember the past year. During an early practice, I spent several minutes with an individual player teaching dribbling skills, and when I finished I looked up. Five of my other players were sitting on top of the goal crossbar like a row of pigeons, having climbed the net. Tony and I had the answer this year. We'd have snap practices and snap through each drill, ten minutes or so per drill, one after another. Our plan was to use short bursts of instructions–some kids would get it; others wouldn't immediately. We'd keep it moving; any long intervals working with individuals would be done before or after practice. "Coaches and players circle up," shouted Mark. When all were grouped together Mark took charge. "I'm Coach Mark, the coordinator for the junior league. We should plan to have twelve to thirteen players per team. This may seem like a lot, but some of the other towns in the league complained that we were short players last year for a lot of games. During games there are six field players and a goalie. We should plan to play ten-or twelve-minute quarters. That's about it concerning teams and games. What we will do today is break into groups and do some drills. We will have four drill stations and rotate through them–about fifteen minutes each. First, I'll bring all the players out to the field for warm up. Follow me." Mark had the players run and then stretch. Once all the players were warmed up Mark spoke again. "Bob, Tyler–do the give 'n' go; Tony, Mike–play keep away; Alfy, Bud–do the cone-dribbling drill; and I'll do a passing drill." Mark divided the players into four groups. Tyler and I brought our ten-player group to the far goal area. I thought Mark didn't know that Tony and I were a coaching team. I would inform Mark later; for now I worked with Tyler. Tyler and I organized the players and began the drill. The players stood in a line just outside the penalty area, each player with a soccer ball. One at a time they passed the ball to Tyler, who passed it back as they ran toward the goal and tried to shoot a moving ball into the goal, a challenge for most six- or seven-year-olds. "Tyler, one thing I learned last year was to always have a goalie in the goal during practice drills. It's the way it will be the rest of their soccer lives, so they need to be aware of the goalie and