Chuck the Deuces to Boring Soccer

Celebrate your success - Photo by Doug Mills @dougmillsnyt

We don't want clones!

Want to know what’s up with these two pictures? Read on… Sports are competitive, but they are also meant to be fun. The beauty of team sports is that everyone brings something different. This is essential for creating balance in your system of play. On our team, we have lots of variety; ball winners, two-touch passers, one-touch passers, play-makers, target players, and dribblers.

One thing we really strive for in our style is to ensure we are promoting an environment that allows for creativity. The women’s game is starving for it. As a player, I have played for coaches that encouraged this and for coaches who wanted us all to be the same. I can still hear  it… “Two-touch, two-touch, two-touch….” and the minute I went to take a third… “TOO MANY TOUCHES!”.

I’m not saying they are wrong, but I AM saying that environment is boring. As a coach now, I absolutely see the need for this simplistic mentality in certain areas of the field and in certain situations. There is an obvious need to get results and get wins. But, for as far as soccer has come on the women’s side, we are still “growing the game”, as we always will be. 

Part of growing the game is keeping the fun in it and providing excitement and entertainment for our families, friends, and fans. You only have one career, so why waste it being boring? We purposely recruit to have balance on our team, because you can’t win with an entire team of ball-winners and you can’t win with an entire team of 1v1 artists. In other words, we don’t want a bunch of clones out there (see photo). In our program, the last thing we want to do is hold back a personality player. Can they be frustrating at times when they try to take that one extra touch and lose it, or beat two players and get a little too greedy when they go for the third? Yes. Is it THAT big of a deal that we need to take away what makes them special? No.

As a coach and as an educator, I see many more benefits to a creative game than what meets the eye. It isn’t as simple as just dribbling by someone, scooping someone, nutmegging someone, or celebrating.  It promotes calculated risk-taking, self-confidence, and support from teammates. Real-world application? I think so. The icing on the cake is being able to celebrate these successes in a way where the players aren’t looking over their shoulder to see whose feelings they hurt. Pictured above, is one of our players – Junior Nicoleta Hardesty. She nutmegged the (obviously upset) defender, and “chucked the deuces” as she ran by. Some may call this unsportsmanlike, but I think it’s what is missing in the women’s game. It’s OK to be good! And for those of you who feel sorry for the defender, don’t worry, I am sure she gained just as much out of the experience and will now be a better defender because of it. A total win-win.

Now go try something new!

Got Swag?

To know if you have it, first you have to know what it is… so… what is it? Short for “swagger”, “swag” or “swagg” (however you choose to spell it) embodies many qualities in just one word. Swag is all about how you carry yourself, confidence, not what you wear but how you wear it… it’s being situation-savvy. Swag gets you through the most difficult of situations in the coolest, calmest way. 

Everyone has that awkward friend – you know, the one who seems to make a mess of even the simplest things? No swag.  Where am I going with this?  In soccer, like all sports, there are rules to the game, critical moments, physical exertion, and athletes competing against one another in extremely intense environments with much on the line.  Outcomes in sport can occur due to a number of things or mismatches in certain areas, i.e. skill, tactical execution, athleticism, and mentality.  When one team has an overwhelming edge in one of these categories, we usually see the result we expect. 

Q: So, what happens when teams are evenly matched in these categories? Who wins? 

A: Teams with swag.

Q: How do teams who aren’t as good in certain areas get a result against a superior team?

A: Swag.

Q: Where can I buy it? 

A: You can’t.  Most are born with it, and you can try to develop it. 

Swagg Development League

This spring, Coach Russell and I came up the “Swagg Development League” or “SDL”. The idea is that by next year we will have developed enough swag to drop the “D” and just call it Swagg League, because we won’t be developing it anymore, we will have it.  The SDL is comprised of four teams (five players each) and were chosen draft style by a “captain” of each team.  We’ve set up a league table for them, with team name, and points, and competitions completed.

The league runs the length of the spring season and points are awarded to the winning team based on achieving wins in a given competition.  Examples of competitions are small sided games, 1v1’s, 2v2’s, fitness, sprints, full sided games (combine two teams for this), juggle-offs, PK’s, and anything our strength coach wants to offer up in the realm of supporting one’s own body weight (and then some).  Pull-up holds, wall sits, wall sits with med balls, plank-holds… all fair game for SDL points.

The whole point of this league is to stress competition, and to create an environment where your team must find ways to win.  Sometimes we give them a competition, tell each team to pick their top person in that category, and those four players go every man for themselves to represent their team.  If they quit too soon, they let their team down.  If they don’t think quick enough, they let their team down. The team also has to put the right person forward for such events… The best juggler might not be the fittest player.  This teaches them to identify strengths and weaknesses in a “public” way that makes it okay to step up and say you’re the best at something or admit that someone is better than them.  In turn, it gives them motivation to improve individually and think about things they may not have before. Lastly, it gives them ownership. We give them the rules of the competition, they call the shots and they find ways to win. The way we figure it, finding ways to win = confidence = success = swag = ready for life.

Embrace the Winter

It comes in many different forms and combinations... the inevitable questions about the winter, snow, or cold. When you live in New England, the minute you step outside the region these questions hunt you down, capture you, and won't let you go until you tap out and say "uncle". "How is the weather up there? Bet it's not as nice as HERE!" ... "You guys warm enough up there?"... "Had enough of the snow yet?" ... "Boy, I bet it's brutal up there!".

I get that these are often conversation starters and would never say it's not cold here, but I would like to dispel the myth that the winter months here are brutal. They're only brutal if that's how you think. Ski, snowboard, hike, snowshoe, ice skate, ice fish and the list goes on. The people of Vermont who have it figured out don't just deal with winter, they embrace it. Even the person who is not the least bit enthused by outdoor activities in the cold can find an excuse to upgrade their wardrobe with a cool new jacket, a new pair of boots or other accessories. As you can see below, one of our coaches from this fall, Anthony DiCicco, is a great example of this with his bright orange ski suit!

In a recent conversation with a parent of one of our recruits, I was told that an out of region weather channel was reporting Burlington to be -17 when in fact it was a balmy 40 degrees.  A total conspiracy!

Coach Russell and I on a winter hike on Camel's Hump 

So here's to an enjoyable winter in the beautiful state of Vermont - home of the Catamounts. 

Coach DiCicco and Coach Russell at Stowe - Look fun? It is!

Memories from 2011

I have a photographic memory.  When I remember events, I picture snapshots in my mind.  I associate images and perceptions from that day with the event so they are easier to recall later.  I always joke with Coach Russell that if he doesn't want to take notes while recruiting, to just associate the player's jersey number and team with something so he will remember..."UVM, # 28, right back, purple headband, runs on her toes, crunching tackles".  Anyone who knows our program, knows that this is a description of Jill Dellipriscoli.  If you want to check it out for yourself just click the link, and minus the purple headband, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.  There are so many great memories from 2011 that it would be impossible to share them all... especially in writing.

So, because I find pictures and images so powerful, in honor of 2011 you will find a small collection of some of my favorite moments and images from the year... Looking forward to a successful 2012!

UVM Soccer - Racquetball

Tourney and Costume Contest.. Costume winners Morgan Nichols & Sarah Leiby

Pre-season beach soccer tournament in Malletts Bay (Colchester, VT)

Sophomore Ellie Mills celebrates her game winning goal vs Stony Brook

Three Catamounts were named All-America East Conference L-R (A. Dezenzo, A. DeMaio, K. Glynn)

Team hike on Sterling Pond trail during pre-season in Stowe. VT

Always time to study! Cats earned a 3.46 GPA

Caught on camera: Junior Nicoleta Hardesty makes a couple players look silly!

Made it back to the America East Playoffs for the first time since 2005

Scoreboard with 2:25 remaining in double OT of our playoff game at Albany... painful, but totally motivating!

So we decided to Blog...

Part I
Facebook: Check. Twitter: Check.  Blog: Now, we can say "check".  This blog is written by yours truly (Kristi Lefebvre) and should not be confused with Lily's Life, a blog written by junior Lily Feldman.  The idea is that between Lily's blog and my blog that we will be able to provide as much of an "inside scoop" as we can.  You'll get the player's perspective and coach's perspective...
Before we even start, I would like to make the disclaimer that between myself, Coach Russell, and many of the players there is a lot of sarcasm and unique senses of humor in this program.  In lieu of a box where you can "check here to agree to terms and conditions", we would just ask that if something doesn't make sense to you, that you simply refer back to this disclaimer where I warned you it might not make sense. Am I making sense?
Part II
Ok, now we can start.  It's only right to give a proper introduction.  Here is a picture of our team.  It's not all of them, but there will be plenty more pictures to follow.  The players on our team are more than just soccer players... they are tremendous students (3.46 GPA for 2010-11), active members of our community, and great people.  Some of them (and I stress SOME) are even funny!  And I have to say that after some of the things they see and go through as a Division I student-athlete, entering the "real world" upon graduation will be a piece of cake.  Those who may have read the latest post in Lily's Life, will know that she closed it out by saying "Everything has a purpose in order to reach its goal".  So as you read through our blogs, keep in mind that our end goal is not just preparing our student-athletes for the soccer field, but for anything life might throw at them.  Through these postings, we will try to bring you as close as we can to all the "you kinda had to be there" moments, because let's face it; being connected is just more fun... so judge us, but don't judge us!