Tag Archives: coaching

Message from Coach

by on 08. Feb, 2012 in Faculty, Fred Coleman

After a sound defeat by a gifted Cate team recently, I sent the following message to my boys [the varsity soccer team]:

I want you to know you behaved magnificently yesterday, and I am forever impressed with your mental toughness, spirit, and ability to hang together as a team under challenging circumstances. You never gave in, and that shows the heart of a champion. It is a distinct honor to coach you.

Looking at both games as a whole it strikes me that Cate was about two goals-a-game better and the difference was simply their ability to finish, which leads me to the crystal clear fact that we were able to create excellent chances on goal in the first half from early crosses, but that for reasons not fully understood, we failed to keep them coming after the break, and generated only one good chance on goal in the 2nd half (Willie’s excellent run and shot).

I believe our best chance to beat Cate (and any really accomplished team), should we meet in the post-season tourney, is to keep early crosses coming for the full 80 minutes. As you know, we have players capable of doing this well. So, in every game we play we will emphasize early crosses even more until it is natural to employ them several times each half. To win in the post-season we must be able to score against the excellent teams.

Now we must dedicate ourselves to continuing to play 80 minutes of superb soccer every game, and then see where the chips fall.

In this note we find the dominant characteristic of Thacher soccer teams over the years: a willingness to play with great passion and energy from the very beginning to the bitter end, regardless of the situation. And then there is always looking forward to the next practice with a plan to improve. The final whistle of our final game will mark my last look forward to the next practice, as I will step down after over thirty seasons of coaching our soccer players from 3rd team to varsity, boys and girls. It has been a great run, full of passion and drama, victory and defeat. I could not possibly have asked for more.

 

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JVVb

“Hard Work!”

by on 25. Oct, 2011 in Liz Witmer

“Hard work” the JV girls volleyball team chanted in a huddle last Wednesday. The call echoed the walls of the Cate Gymnasium, but the scoreboard taunted Thacher with a 13-8 lead, favoring the home team. Cate fans filled the stands in the fleeting minutes of the final set and Thacher’s Coach Vyhnal set the scene for his team: “ You have set the stage for what could be the greatest victory a JV match has ever had.” And it was. Freshman Laura served seven straight points and the Toads home with a delicious taste of victory.

At the Thacher School the students strive to be good athletes, and commendable players. At the end of the game, we often refer to the “second scoreboard” to gauge not the score of the game but our effort as competitors. We commend good sportsmanship and being a good sport is not merely shaking your opponents hand at the end of the match. As Mr. Mulligan noted at last Friday’s assembly, the second scoreboard is there to assess whether or not we played our best game. No surprise that there is often a correlation and when you win one scoreboard, you  also win the other. However, it is with the second scoreboard we note not just the results of the game, but also the feeling the process endured. Therefore, it seems to be that second scoreboard that makes us crave our next win.

Wednesday’s game left our JV squad salivating for another victory, and sure enough they took home another win Friday afternoon in their match against Laguna Blanca–an accomplishment no other Thacher JV volleyball team has been able to achieve in recent history.

“Hard Work!” Is not just a chant for these girls, it’s a commitment!

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