Week 11

Wow, I missed weeks 8, 9, and 10!! That was enough time to see Spain completely eliminated from the Champions League play. Who'd of thought that it would be all Germany? I guess they are going to be legitimate contenders for the World Cup again. Should we be surprised that it was Spain & Germany in the final four?

Well, week 8 was great - that's when I took four of those indestructible soccer balls to Nicaragua. THANK YOU for supporting that effort. They were a hit. They play a lot like a normal ball, and yet they were soft enough for other playground purposes, including VOLLEYBALL! But they used them for basketball, water sports, four square, soccer, dodge ball, and other playground games for younger ages. It was really cool. And so long as they aren't stolen, we know they will be in use for a long time. Thanks again.

OK - so week 8, 9, 10 we increased our push-ups to 12, 13, and 14. That means we are at 15+15+15 this week 45 Push-ups! Woo hooo! If we keep this up until June (five more weeks when practices start) then 60 pushups won't be a problem for any of you right?!

My top tips for tryouts:

1) Juggle your ball every day between now and tryouts. Don't stop until you achieve your personal goal. Maybe it's 10 with one foot. Maybe its 20 with both. Increase your goal every day.

2) Wall passes. Do wall passes in groups of 100 with both feet. Any wall. Try to vary your distances (2.5 -5 yards away)

3) If you haven't taken shots on a big goal for a while, get to a park while the weather is nice and do it.

4) Being in shape for tryouts really helps. I know many of you have been playing indoor or other sports. This is great. If you are out of shape (can't run for 90 minutes in the sun) it may be too late. Be cautious about training too hard before tryouts. You're likely to pull a muscle and then you're in worse shape.

5) Water. Our own son was dehydrated this last weekend. Bring plenty of water. (Sunscreen too for that matter).

6) Work your tail off at tryouts. Don't ever assume that you've done enough. Last year two players made the selection by doing something that stood out in the last five minutes of tryouts. That's 185 minutes of evaluation before the scale tipped. Who has it at the end? Who is making that positive impact on the field all day long?