Halfway There — A Few Thoughts

We’re nearly halfway through the season. Five quick things:

1. Player feedback is coming

With enough game data now, Coach Darren and I are preparing individual feedback for each player. We’ll do these during the last 15–20 minutes of scrimmage, spread across several practices. I’ll message you beforehand if I need your player to stick around that day. Feedback will focus on the one or two things that matter most for each player right now.

2. I’m coaching myself, too

I’m intentionally giving less in-the-moment instruction during games. Sometimes failure is the best teacher — I want players taking chances and making plays on their own. Mistakes will happen, but they give us concrete teaching moments. And every so often a player sees a play I don’t. They can’t do that if I’m narrating every touch.

3. Please don’t coach from the sideline

We’re building game understanding one concept at a time, and we can only prioritize a few. Instructions from the sideline — “Go there!”, “Kick it!” — undercuts our messaging. Instead, encourage effort, not actions. Cheer for hustle, aggressiveness, a good pass or shot. These are 10- and 11-year-olds with a still-developing sense of the game; mistakes are part of it. Let’s celebrate the good plays from the sideline and let the coaches handle the corrections.

4. Our theme word is “Possession”

Ask your player — hopefully that’s their answer. Possession simply means keeping control of the ball. If the other team doesn’t have it, they can’t score. We keep it by making the easy pass to the open teammate, then attacking when we see a real opportunity. Sometimes that looks like a few “boring” passes across the back — and that’s exactly right. We don’t need to force the ball forward without purpose.

5. Think long-term

I use an idea called time preference: high time preference chases the immediate; low time preference invests for the future. Everything great comes from the low end. Dribbling through a whole team or booting the ball downfield stops working as competition rises. But moving the ball away from pressure, making a smart pass, controlling it, attacking space with purpose — those skills translate at every level. Let’s be a low-time-preference team: develop every player to make the right decision and execute it.