Banquet

Our end-of-season, program-wide soccer banquet will take place on Wednesday, June 8 at 6 P.M. at a location yet to be determined. Hope to see you all there!

More details to come....

Final Game Thoughts...and more

Ladies, our 1-1 tie vs. Zeeland West was fitting, I thought: two evenly-matched teams battling it out all afternoon. You guys really responded to a poor first half with a strong all-around second half...job well down with that.

If you check the "game recap" link, you'll see this:

**Final overall record: 11-4-2 (5-3-2 OK Green)
**Goals For: 48
**Goals Against: 9

That's a pretty successful season right there, girls! Be proud of your work this season!

We'll talk a bit more at our end-of-season team meeting tomorrow (Friday) right after school in my room. PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING ALL (CLEAN) UNIFORM ITEMS: FULL WARM-UPS, TWO SETS OF TOPS, AND SHORTS.

See you all soon! Enjoy your first weekday off in a while....

2-0 Loss to Unity...and more.

Girls, you took another small, positive step last night in a tightly-contested match at Unity. The score perhaps doesn't reflect it, but you aptly hung with that team for much of the game. Job well done! Now we've got one final practice and one final game left...let's match the overall JV wins record (12) tomorrow, PERFORM, and end with a bang!

Details:

**Home game vs. Zeeland West tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4 PM...meet in my room directly after school before dressing...be fully dressed and ready to go on the game field by 315 PM...we need ball girl volunteers as well!

6-0 Win Over West Catholic...and more

Girls, I thought we did a great job all over the field last night in the dominating win over West Catholic...a number of good PERFORMANCES up and down our roster. Nice job! On Monday, we've got a whole different beast to match up against: Unity. We'll certainly have to have the level of PERFORMING that day like we did last night in the win. We can do it though! Remember the solid way in which we played vs. Unity earlier in the season, and remain confident!

Schedule for next week:

**Monday: game at Unity (5 PM)...bus leaves at 3:45...wear warmups/black tops to school...we'll vote on a team captain before the game regarding PERFORMANCE.

**Tuesday: practice...our last one!

**Wednesday: last game...time/location yet to be determined.

**Thursday: OFF

**Friday: short team meeting in Robinson's classroom after school (no later than 4 PM)...bring all uniform items!

Enjoy this last week of soccer, girls! No regrets...PERFORM!

0-0 Byron Center Tie

Ladies, simply put: we need to do a better job of finishing quality offensive chances. I'm sure you guys would agree that today's game should have been a win. We dominated possession, had numerous quality offensive chances, and were solid defensively for the most part (despite two late breakaways for B.C.). Our remaining THEME on the season is PERFORM...and we need to do a better job of focusing and PERFORMING all over the field and especially on offense.

Keep this in mind for our next game vs. West Catholic!

See you for practice tomorrow...our second-to-last practice for the season.

Random

Please pass this along to anyone who might be interested in a soccer goalkeeping camp this summer that I plan to run myself!

http://elitegoalkeepingcamp.blogspot.com/

1-0 Win vs. Wayland

Girls, you did a nice job of battling through some adversity today (injuries, heat, etc.) and staying MENTALLY TOUGH in pulling out the win. We now sit at 10-3 overall on the year...and that's something to be PROUD of...but NOT complacent about! With 4 remaining games in the season, we've got to win at least 3 of them in order to reach our "new" goal of surpassing all other Hamilton JV girls soccer teams in terms of overall number of wins in a season (12).

Our theme for the last two weeks of the season is simply this: PERFORM. Think back to one of our first conversations as a team in my classroom. I stated how every team goes through a typical cycle during a season: forming, storming/norming, and PERFORMING. Luckily, we've had little to no drama on the team thus far, so the "storming" has taken care of itself. "Norming", if you recall, refers to players knowing their roles on the team and being comfortable with them...and I think we've been there for a while now. NOW it's simply PERFORM! In other words, it's time to just buckle down and come through with winning plays during "money time"...stepping up in the clutch...delivering under pressure...however you want to phrase it. So how can you, yourself, do this?! And who has been portraying this idea on a consistent basis? We'll vote on Tuesday for our next interim captain....

Tentative schedule for next week:

**Monday/Tuesday: practice 3-5 PM

**Wednesday: home game at 4 vs. ?

**Thursday: practice 3-5 PM

**Friday: game at GR West Catholic at 5 PM.

I hope you enjoyed the festivities at Amelia's house, girls! Thanks again for the offer, Amelia (and fam). See you soon, girls.

1-0 Loss to H.C.

Girls, overall it was a spirited, strong effort vs. a talented team in tough conditions last night. And for THAT alone, you should be proud. The scoreboard didn't show it, but you guys should remain confident and view the game as yet another building block for the season. Keep it up!

Now, how do we MENTALLY handle an admittedly "lesser" game vs. Wayland tomorrow? In other words, are we MENTALLY TOUGH enough to handle the inevitable emotional come-down of a big game and handle business vs. a lesser foe?! I think we are...but we have to prove it. Let's get back to our winning ways and keep striving toward our team goals posted to the left!

See you at practice.

8-0 win vs. Wyo. Rogers

Girls, another solid job today "taking care of business". Despite some sloppy play in the first half, I thought you really came out in the second half with guns a' blazin'. Way to go...again.

Now, it's time for H.C. Finally...

Our theme this week is MENTAL TOUGHNESS. How can you/we stay even-keel, cool, and composed through ANY situation (i.e. inclement weather, refereeing, opponents, mistakes, etc.)? Let's shoot for that...on the field, in the classroom, and in general!

We'll meet in the HS gym tomorrow for practice from 3-5 PM...come prepared to practice like we'll play vs. H.C.!

Next Week

Ladies, here is the schedule for next week:

**Monday: game vs. Rogers...meet on the field at 3 PM...wear warm-ups to school...ball girls, be ready.

**Tuesday: practice INSIDE from 3-5 PM...dinner/get-together afterward? Let me know ASAP via email and/or text what you're thinking...or you can post on here with a message!

**Wednesday: game @ Holland Christian at 5 PM.

**Thursday: practice 3-5 PM

**Friday: game vs. Wayland...ball girls, be ready.

Remember our current THEME, girls: QUIET CONFIDENCE. Let's take care of business vs. Rogers on Monday and BELIEVE that we can win vs. H.C. on Wednesday!

Have a good, safe weekend, girls.

8-0 win vs. Wyo. Park

And we march on....

Way to give a professional, confident effort today, girls, in "taking care of business" vs. Park. I thought we played a pretty complete game; in other words, our defense was stout once again and our offense created plenty of varied scoring opportunities throughout the shortened match. Keep this up! Especially heading into another big week of soccer next week...

Remember, our THEME of this week continues to be carrying yourselves with QUIET CONFIDENCE. Do this in every aspect of your lives, girls!

See you tomorrow for practice.

2-1 Win @ B.C.

Girls, it was another solid performance yesterday, this time vs. a physical conference opponent. Way to keep the winning ways going! I mean it when I say that this team has a realistic chance to surpass any other JV soccer team here at Hamilton in terms of overall and conference record by the end of the season. BUT, like I said at last night's game, we need to take care of business vs. the lesser opponents and overachieve a bit vs. the "more skilled" opponents coming up on our schedule (i.e. Holland Christian?).

For that reason, our THEME for this week is simply CONFIDENCE...but more importantly HUMBLE CONFIDENCE. In other words it's important that we walk the walk (quietly) and believe that every game will be a win...and then go out and do the positive things you know to do in order to GET that win. Believe that this team can be special. Have that attitude every day! So, how can YOU develop/keep this mentality going personally?! In life, you ARE what you THINK you are.

Let's keep it up!

Scheduling Update

The scheduled JV game for this Thursday vs. Calvin Christian is NOW CANCELED. The varsity game will still occur that day.

4-0 Win vs. Hopkins

Girls, another strong effort today all around. Keep up the good work! I'm proud of the way you girls handle yourselves professionally...during practices, during warmups, and during games. It's a pleasure to watch and experience. I think I told you this before, but the best teams in any sport are the teams that run themselves...without a coach dictating things all the time; in other words, quality player leadership amongst mature teammates = success. We have that...and we NEED to keep that up.

Here's the schedule for next week:

**Monday: game at Byron Center...bus leaves right after school...wear Hamilton-related gear to school.

**Tuesday: practice

**Wednesday: game vs. Wyo. Park at home.

**Thursday: practice (C. Christian game = canceled)...help out with "Formidable Feet" at 4:30 PM before Varsity game at 5 PM.

**Friday: practice

Enjoy the weekend, ladies! Let's keep up the good, hard work!

2-0 Zeeland East Win

Girls, check out the "results" link on the left for a game recap for tonight's game.

Overall, another job well done tonight, girls. As a coach, it's great to see that an entire team plays hard, smart, and for each other each and every time out. We NEED to keep that up as we progress through the heart of the season. Remember one of our first conversations as a team? It was about the four phases in which every team in any team sport goes through during the course of a given season: forming, storming, norming, and performing. It seems to me that we're officially in the norming/performing stages, which a is a great sign. In other words, girls are understanding their roles, their positions, and their expectations as players on the team...and performing to the best of their abilities. Keep that up, girls!

Remember, DETAILS are so important. Keep in mind how YOU can pay more attention to the details of everyday life...it all leads to success!

Hopkins is next...let's go get 'em. See you all tomorrow at 3 PM on the game field dressed and ready to go!

2-0 Loss to Unity...and more.

Girls, it was another hard-fought effort today...this time vs. a talented opponent. I really thought, despite the occasional physical lulls (i.e. headers), that we hung tough throughout the game, didn't look intimidated, and made an honest, composed attempt at offensive possession until the final whistle. In other words, keep that up, girls! We've GOT to keep getting better though...NO COMPLACENCY!!

If you haven't seen the THEME for the week, check out the message below...let's pay attention to the DETAILS of life!

Heads-up: Due to inclement weather and P/T conferences, we will meet in my room tomorrow at 3 PM. Be prepared for indoor athletic work. We should be done by about 4 PM.

Take care tonight, girls!

2-0 Allegan Win...and More.

Girls, it was a nice rebound in the second half of today's game, but again, we NEED to exhibit that physical presence and possession offense for the ENTIRE course of a given game. Either way, job well done fighting through a sloppy game.

Next week's tentative schedule:

**Monday...home game vs. Unity at 4 PM...dress up for school...meet on the game field at 3 PM...ball girls, be ready.

**Tuesday/Wednesday: practice 3-5 PM

**Thursday: game AT Zeeland East at 5 PM.

**Friday...no school...home game vs. Hopkins at 4 PM.

Our theme for this next week is DETAILS. In other words, the team/individuals who pay attention to the small things (finishing every offensive run, making an honest effort on every 50/50 ball, going hard until hearing a whistle, being mentally focused at all times, finishing every sprint, even stretching and warming up properly, etc.) have the most success. It's that way in everyday life as well. So, how can YOU/WE get better with the DETAILS of the game on a daily basis? Let's make every effort to get better in this area.

Have a great weekend, girls. Look forward to a true challenge this Monday vs. Unity! Believe in yourselves!

Scheduling Update

Our canceled game vs. Calvin Christian this past Monday has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 5 at 4 P.M. (home).

Impressive 2-0 Win vs. Zeeland West

Girls, I meant what I said after the game today: it was one of the more impressive wins that i've witnessed in my history as Hamilton's JV girls soccer coach...what with the consistent physical play, teamwork, individual performances, and battling through the existing weather conditions...all against a quality opponent. Overall, a job well done, ladies!

You know (or should know) what's coming next from me though: we CANNOT become complacent all of the sudden. In other words, if we are simply satisfied with this win and start to get lazy, we're in for a letdown at Allegan on Friday and beyond. Let's prevent that from happening and keep working toward our team and individual goals!

We'll see you for practice tomorrow (Thursday) for important Allegan prep time...our next opponent.

Loss to Middleville...and more.

Girls, I really think the Middleville game was lost due to their physical superiority and overall toughness. Hence, our theme this coming week (and staring today) will be PHYSICAL TOUGHNESS. In other words, we need to bring that aura of aggressive assertiveness on EVERY tackle and 50/50 ball...in any context on the practice and game field...no matter how physically big we actually are. Don't get me wrong, I felt like we still played a pretty strong game last night, but we needed to step up physically and match their intensity a bit more. The great thing is, we've got a lot of time to right the ship in that regard!

Here's the lineup for next week:

**Monday: home game vs. Calvin Christian at 4 PM...wear full game warm-ups to school..meet on the game field at 3 PM.

**Tuesday: practice 3-515 PM

**Wednesday: home game vs. Zeeland West at 4 PM...meet on the game field at 3 PM.

**Thursday: practice 3-515 PM

**Friday: game at Allegan at 5 PM...bus leaves ??

Have a great weekend, girls. Keep in mind how you can individually improve thus far and how we, as a team, can keep improving!