Day 2 Preseason -Staff Event / Attacking Session

A 9.30am start allowed a little sleep in and a chance to say bye to the family before I got in the car and headed for our Mount Vernon Athletic Complex for the first of our two sessions for the day. After watching the USA come from 2-0 down and win 4-3 yesterday with a Jozy Altidore hat rick and my Southampton Legend Rickie Lambert scoring the winner on his international debut for England it was definately going to be an attacking session.  Shooting or goalscoring always seems to get the players moving and after some goals hit the back of the net it was exciting to watch the players get into the session and add some quality.  A lighter session this morning would keep us somewhat fresh for a tougher physical evening session so it was off to the ice baths and lunch.

 In between today's sessions I had a chance to take part in our Athletic Department staff and coaches event at the Vern.  After starting with a game of kickball I was then paired with our very own, Jessica Bernheim from athletics communication and the voice behind all those interviews I'm sure you've listened to lol.  Anyways in was tennis and against Dawn Buth tennis legend at the Vern and head women's tennis coach.  Dawn was rather kind not to embarrass us too badly and I must say I had some fun.  After some other team events/games I already knew us coaches can be a competitive lot but I came to realize that us coaches have nothing on the competitiveness and will to win of some of our athletics dept. staff.  Putting their bodies on the line we had turf burns, injuries, bending of the rules and flat out unsportsmanlike behavior.   Great event and hope everyone heals quickly.

Back to the PM session and following up on the AM session it was attacking again and trying to get the ball in the back of the net followed by a scrimmage.  Adding some defenders seemed to kill the free flowing goal scoring we had experienced this morning or maybe it was the good work of our goalkeepers that was proving to be the stumbling block.  Either way we weren't finding the net as frequently as I would have liked but when we did it was a goal worth watching.  The 11 v11 scrimmage was played at a high tempo and dare I say it, almost too quick to begin with as it was like watching a track meet.  It settled down and allowed both teams to establish a rhythm without losing the intensity so it was a good way to end the Day 2. 

Raise High Moment of the Day
After spending the day with the players  and members of our Athletic Department staff I was home by 8.15pm and able to say goodnight to the kids, looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow.