The season is finally upon us! There are several very exciting things going on here at Ohio Elite that Doug and I will share over the next week or so. On the field, many of the boys' teams played in the Dog Days Tournament to open the season. The results went about as expected considering the changes and training schedule. For me and my staff the tournament was about preparing our curriculum for the season, learning the good, the bad and the ugly about where our players are relative to where we believe they should be.
As I explained in the parent meetings earlier this week, it is important to understand that we are a club of players, not a collection of teams. This is important in the pre-season evaluation process because it creates focus for the individual player within the context of the entire age group. The top players will be asked to train up to continue to push them to the next level. Especially at the U12 and younger age groups where we are playing 8v8 or 6v6 it is critical that we develop the entire age group as many/most of the players that would be on our Gold team will in fact be on an Academy team when the rosters are expanded. That said, the aim is not to simply bring the less-skilled players up. We are about the very best players and therefore must continue to develop those players by training them with older teams and guest playing them when appropriate.
Some general feedback on our training goals...
(1) Change the culture. Players that feel entitled probably won't last long at Ohio Elite. It is our responsibility to teach them how to work hard both physically and mentally. We will ask more from them then perhaps they are used to. Having parental support in this basic goal is critical to our success. So far the feedback from our parents has been extremely positive.
(2) We embrace the word "development". It is what we are all about. However, "development" is not an excuse for losing. To say the results don't matter is unacceptable. We will not win at the expense of development, but my staff and I will not use our decisions on game day to develop players as an excuse for why we lost a game. Most importantly, our aim is to prepare players for their high school programs, college opportunities and the Development Academy or National team exposure. That is a fundamental value of our program. That said, so long as they keep score, we want to win!
(3) Technique! Technique! Technique! A player's decision doesn't matter is he doesn't have the skill to execute.
Lastly, I can't tell you how excited I am about the season. I had a great week of training with the U12 Academy team and by the end of the day I will have worked with both U14 teams. Its amazing how much I enjoy training when I have the time during the day to prepare for it. It is the best part of what I do. Watching the light bulb go on for kids is incredibly rewarding.
"They don't boo nobodies!"
