SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer 2007 Best HS Teams & Players

Tony King, i understand that you are their coach and heck i've seen every game that ya'll have played that i have been able to see but i believe that you are trying to defend some of your players in their playing ability. This is bethany's first year being on the offensive side b/c last year you thought that she would benefit ya'll in the back... i think that you have come to realize that once you did that you took away the majority of your offense seeing as how ya'll scored very few goals last season...not to trash any of your players but ya'll are young and with that comes a sense of majurity on the soccer field...i believe that ya'll have some talent on the team that will emerge as the team gets older...at this moment though they are not quite at the level but i can see them becoming a decent team in the next few years...ne way i just dont understand why you would decide to keep her in the back last year and suddenly push her forward into the midfield like you did against Ridge View...also from what i understand was that she was upset about playing in the back and wanted to push up last year but you wouldnt let her.

A player thinking they know better than their coach????? No way!!!! Ahhhh haaaa haaaa!!!!! You play your best in the back, it keeps scores down. You play them in the midfield or up top and you can get blown out...but might score a goal. Pick your poison, PK.

So you're either her dad or her boyfriend...which one?

PK,

I'm sure Coach King is quite competent and doesn't need me defending him. If Bethany is "The Man", and the rest of the team as inexperienced as you have described it, then why wouldn't you start her near the back, keep the score down, stay in the game....and move her up when you have to? If the team was as bad last year as you describe it....Bethany would have been "starving" up top. She would have never seen a ball.

Put much better than I could have, Hurst.

its not whether you choose your poison or not...you are not going to win games unless you can put the ball in the net...blythewood is not strong up top without bethany...Coach King even said that Graber stepped up last year and became the sweeper...now that blythewood has an ok back that can get the ball to the better player(bethany) they will start to do better than they did last year...you dont need to start your best offensive player near the back...put her in the mid to where she can score and defend therefore you are getting both sides out of her...her offensive and defensive side...this is how you are going to get the best out of her.

Offense can fail 100 times and succeed only once, and you can win; defense can succeed 100 times and fail only once, and you can lose. I always say build your team from back to front, then move players forward only after you can do so without sacrificing the defense that gives them their opportunities. Sounds like that's what Coach King has done...all part of developing a team.

This is why I should have kept my mouth shut. The point I was trying to make was that Bethany- while a very good player- is not the only player with skill that we have and quite quickly my words have been turned around in an attempt to prove the other point of view and therefore after this post I will try my best to take my own advice and remain mute on such things.

First of all- Bethany actually played the majority of the time last year in a forward position while the year previous at Ridgeview she did in fact anchor the defense as an 8th grader for the entire season. Last year she was not moved forward at the expense of the defense or a “realization” as it was that I had lost the majority of my offense. Put quite simply that was where she best fit the rest of the team, just as Sara’s best fit was and is at sweeper where she best worked with the other girls on the team. Even at this point, nothing is set in stone as to who will play where for any given game or even part of a game. I am beginning to wonder how many games you may have seen last year and if you are simply basing your decision on a few early games. (I am also beginning to have a very good idea of who you actually are.) Almost everyone on the team played in different positions early on in the season to simply gauge and assess talent and chemistry. Heck- my starting keeper actually served time on the field before being settled up on to play goal just to give everyone a look at every possible position. I am a firm believer in the “complete soccer player” as opposed to the position specific player. If you came to me and said you were a forward, I’d say nice to meet you- go play defense so we can have a look at you. The decision to move Bethany forward against the other day RV was not a “sudden” one, or knee jerk reaction, but rather according to a previously scripted scenario. Ask the girls that you know on the team and they should be able to tell you the same.

I understand that you are basing your opinion on what you feel to be accurate and true, however- with no malice intended- I must state that in my opinion, which is hopefully just a bit more informed than yours, that you are way off base in your assessment of the other players on the team. Yes- Bethany is good- no argument there, I have told her so, just as I tell her and all the girls on the team when they make a great play or a poor decision/mistake in hopes that they will become better players - and yes she is one to watch, but please do not do the rest of the girls the disservice to state that she is the only player of merit on the team. Yes the other girls are young, but then again so is Bethany and given time and hopefully the opportunity to continue working with Bethany and the rest of the girls along with the necessary wisdom, humility, and awareness on my own part we will be a very good team in the very near future.

I have no objection to the statement that Bethany is one to watch, I in fact concur. However she is not the only one to watch and that is the only point I want to make.

Oh- and if this is who I think it might be- See you soon and thanks for the opportunity to brag on ‘the girls!’

Sorry folks for the long post!

…and with that- I bid adieu…

Coach King

I've been to your games and seen how you coach, and your good at what you do and I believe you'll place your girls in the necessary positions to win games. While I dont know all the girls on the team, I do know Bethany's got talent along with other girls. Where players played a previous year shouldn't matter, because this years a new season and a new opportunity to either win your old position, or find a new one. All I'm trying to say is good luck Coach and get some W's

Well put Coach King and keep up the good work. It's hard to find good coaches who care about player development instead of winning.

I'm sure he cares about winning a little bit