Well, the only problem with that is, it's really kind of a hollow victory when you score a goal against 6 players; not exactly something the kids can go home and brag about. With 11 on the field, and against a team they know is really good, every little tiny victory...whether it's a stopped goal (no matter what the number), a stolen ball, or a shot on goal (maybe even making the keeper dive), or even getting the ball across half field...those little accomplishments against an obviously more skilled team can mean something. Against 6 players...those little victories suddenly lose their significance.
It's kind of funny...5-6 years ago, Berkeley was losing to Summerville, West Ashley, Wando and James Island by scores like 15-0, 18-0, and the like. I don't remember anyone stressing about people running up the scores back then...there was no public outcry. We just used it as a measuring stick as to how far we had to come to compete with teams who were more experienced, had more training, had great feeder programs, and were considered "soccer schools" where top-notch athletes gravitated to the soccer program. Every time we cut those scores down, we knew we were measuring progress. Had those teams not given us an honest starting point to show where we were, we'd have no true picture of how far we've come.
As I told the team when I first took them on back in those early days, I've seldom gotten good at anything competitive except by having someone beat the snot out of me until I figured out how to stop them from doing it. Those old drubbings didn't ruin our program or embarrass us right out of soccer...they gave us the motivation to get better.
