GWA's varsity soccer season started a few weeks before Christmas break, when Dusty and I held try outs for all high school boys who were interested in playing for the team. We could tell right away that we were going to have a strong group of players this year; however, we could also tell that the team would struggle to score goals... especially since the schools best striker, under the impression that the fitness requirements were too strenuous, decided to opt out of try outs.
After Christmas vacation, we were able to cut the team down to 24 players (18 players who would travel to the 2-day tournament in Marrakech, and 6 practice squad players). Similar to last year, we held very high fitness standards. The players worked up to running three miles, practiced twice a week, and played pre-tournament games every Saturday. Over the course of the season, we played 12 pre-tournament games and never lost. The most memorable of these games was against the official Raja youth club team in Casablanca. Raja scored first, but we were able to tie the game with three minutes remaining. It was a great source of pride for the whole team.
In April, We got ready to travel to Marrakech for the two day tournament. Several of our original 18 players had been replaced by practice squad players because of either injury, grades, or behavioral problems. We left by bus, traveling together with the girl's varsity team, on a Thursday afternoon. In order to make sure that the boys stayed focused and well-rested for the tournament, we confiscated their hotel room keys and taped their doors shut.
The guys played really well for the entire tournament. As we expected, defense was our biggest strength and offense was our biggest struggle. Over the course of five games, we only conceded two goals but we were only able to score six.
We won all three games on the first day, which qualified us for the final with one game remaining. On the second day, we had to shuffle our team around a bit because one of our starting defenders had to leave for vacation. We played Marrakech, knowing that we would be playing them again that afternoon for the final. Both teams rested a number of players, and we drew the match 1:1. GWA's only goal was my favorite moment of the tournament:
We had a free kick on the edge of the box, and two players were standing over the ball. The other team was so focused on making a good wall that they weren't paying attention to the second player standing over the ball. I turned to Dusty and said something like, "Oh man, I wish I could call a time out right now. The perfect play would be for our left-footed player to run over the ball, and then for the other player to pass it into his path where he would have a clean path to goal". I couldn't believe my eyes when they started to take the free kick and the left-footed player ran over the ball. I immediately started screaming with happiness because I could see that they were doing exactly what I had hoped. The substitutes couldn't figure out why I was so excited until the other player passed it right into his path, and then he ran right into the goal and scored.
As a coach, it's very exciting to know that your players are on the same page as you and understand what you want them to do... even if you haven't explicitly practiced it.
In the afternoon, we played the championship game against the home team: Marrakech. We completely dominated the game. Marrakech didn't even shoot for the entire game. Unfortunately, our goal-scoring struggle persisted, and despite a number of clear cut chances (including hitting the crossbar) we were unable to score either. In the end, we went into a penalty shoot out. Our goal keeper saved two of their shots and they saved one of ours. With the score tied, our final shooter stepped up to the ball and confidently struck the winning shot. We stormed the field in celebration.
During the award ceremony we were awarded the sportsmanship award in addition to the first place championship cup. Usually the last place team wins the sportsmanship award as a consolation for losing the tournament. We were very proud that our guys were not only the best players on the field, but that they were able to play with no cheating and by respecting their opponents. We capped our undefeated season with GWA's third varsity boy's championship in a row. Spanning back to our days as Middle school coaches, this was Dusty and I's fifth consecutive championship!
(Actually, this post was dictated by Dave, but written by Nicole)
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