3 Hammer fans and one on the way - Week 1 of the HS Soccer Season

The week in review - oh joy!

West Ham have back to back away games. That hasn't happened for at least 4 years. After a 0-1 win at Doncaster, the lads crushed Watford 0-4 midweek. Lovely - hence the Elton John post. The Irons play Leeds at home this Sunday and a win puts us right back in the top 4 of the Championship. Despite fears that Big Sam (who actually signs his weekly email to supporters like that - good man) knows what he is doing. Nolan really has stepped into his role as captain and led from the front. O'Brien scores a wonder goal and the lads are confident and playing good football. Tomkins looks outstanding - I wonder how long the media will take to catch on to that. Interested to see what Carew can add. Is that simply strength and an aerial threat (although he has great feet) or a sign Cole is on he way out? We'll see. Leeds is one of 3 visiting teams the Police has to worry about - them, Cardiff and you know who...  

Triplets at 5 weeks - COYI...!!!!!!!!!!!

We bought a house, have a baby on the way currently the size of an avocado and I dreamed I could play lead guitar. The house is great - looking forward to painting the 3 car garage door claret and blue stripes. The baby is getting bigger - and is already a Hammers fan. That'll make 4 additional supporters I am personally responsible for. I reckon I deserve a 'key to the club' for that - (hope your reading Ben). Hannah, Ella and Henry are up for it - they sing bubbles etc and have visited the ground. Every game on TV they ask "are West Ham winning" - even if it's Wolves v Villa - I always say yes. Apparently I also can play lead guitar and you can name any song and I'll play it. Seriously. It's like I was hit by lightning or something. So last night I am dreaming I had a guitar and a crowd of people are naming songs. I play and 'bingo' we're off. Even songs I have never heard before worked. It was classic and it actually dawned on me in the dream this was going to work whatever happened - it was the point I pumped out the opening bars to 'Juke Box Hero' that I realized. Even managed to grab someones specs for a decent Elton John cameo. I've never dreamt of playing for West Ham - but did once dream I was up front for 'West' Germany and couldn't do a thing wrong. I was the BMW of strikers. Only had that dream once.....


The Gryphon's soccer season got underway, albeit with a splutter. Anderson Prep cried off the JV game - gutted. Park Tudor stuck 6 past our Varsity yesterday. Analysis in a mo. I am immune to defeat though - honestly. Of course as a Hammers fan you live the 'just like my dreams they fade and die' mantra. Indianapolis (where I now live) is too blue - all Cots fans. There is no banter about the weekends results. More and more kids at ISI are supporting teams and I love it - it's back to the good old days of having to take it when your team gets stuffed and dish it out in return. Arsenal fans beware - hopefully Spurs too....

My immunity to defeat is through playing experience. The first Sunday team I played for lost their first 3 games 0-13  0-14  0-15. I was center back (clearly the reason for defeat). My mate Dave would remember those days. We didn't score till December - its all in an early blog about Rayleigh Olympiads. Losing to Park Tudor is annoying only because everyone else thinks our season is about beating them - it's a local derby and I suspect our annual game in some way represents the entire school against them - as if it represents the difference between us. I'd rather not play them at all. Based on yesterday and past experiences I'll throw some differences out. My views, of course......


I'm not sure about them - but we have a squad of 28 players from 160 students. That's 28 boys from 160 mixed. The fact we are competitive is fabulous


Three of our 28 play for a external soccer club. So of the varsity squad of 17, 14 players haven't played a competitive 11-a-side game since October 2010. 


That point has an impact on this one. If you have a squad for 3 months a year only, what's the balance of ball work, team structure and fitness? Indiana is famously notorious for '2-a-days' - 2 practices through the month of August. It should be banned. The IHSSA want to ban the use of cell phones stripey soccer shirts but let coaches crush players physically. It must have become like this due to the compact season, which they have controlled. There is no triple jump in Indiana at high school level. Track coaches told me that was due to the injuries. Not surprised there boys - seeing as you want your athletes training twice a day.


If you are a parent please take a look at this site for 'Osgood-Schlatters Disease'.
These are not my knees - but I have the lumps below my patella simply from playing soccer on the playground everyday. It never hurt enough to stop me but it is one of the classic 'overuse' injuries.






Also, while we have a physiological spot here - please get all your kids' coaches to read this. It is not new news - we reacted to this information several years ago. Park Tudor need to change their warm up routine.

Stretching appears to acutely decrease muscle-force production capacity," its authors write, citing decreased leg-press performance, vertical jumping height, knee-extensor concentric torque, and maximum plantar flexion torque, which "remained depressed even 60 minutes after the stretching routine."  

OK, back to the analysis. Despite an early error in defense / GK communication letting one in, we play very well for 25 minutes. Then the show is over. Why? How much do we attribute to a lack of match fitness and a lack of determination - 50-50? What is sure is this - the carrot of playing in a English Youth Academy is far more effective than High School. West Ham's youth players don't run endless sprints or laps. But, of course, they are a select group who physically and psychologically can meet the demands - and are motivated to do so. That desire doesn't exist in yet at ISI. A few are passionate about playing - but how many of my players were out before August 1st getting themselves in shape? Not many. Can the drills and practices be executed at game pace? Of course. Are they doing it in practice? No. 

Do I find myself, ironically, with a justification for '2-a-days'? To counter student apathy? Maybe - I do know my mates and I didn't bother with running mile on end or weight training. We just played. That was how we got fit. We played all year round - that was how we got good. 

I guess there is the solution. In a really big school with 3,000 students you have many who specialize. We don't and most play 3 seasons through necessity and school pride. Last year we beat one of Indiana's largest schools, Ben Davis. 

3,500+ versus our 160. 

So it's back to the David and Goliath stories...