At the beginning of this season in a thread about Texas soccer I mentioned I hadn't heard of any of the clubs you all were talking about and how I thought it was a Houston thing. Someone replied maybe it was a Jim01 thing. And after this fall I can report you were right.
My daughter's D1 team got a new coach and 5 new players and it was a huge difference. We went from maybe winning 2 games all last year, to being technically undefeated this fall. Technically because we did lose one game 3-0 but one girl didn't have a player card so it was a forfeit. However that same team beat us the end of last season like 13-0 so it was a great measuring stick of how far the team has come.
The new coach moved her from wing midfield to center mid which she didn't like, but I told her it was a vote of confidence. Center mid is the heart of the team. You have to be able to do it all, box to box, sideline to sideline. She's adapted well but she's fast and she misses running free down the sideline.
On top of that she got asked to guest play on the Girls Academy 2 team (the second highest level in Dash) and played like 75% of their games with them, practicing with them once a week. This is where my knowledge grew. Made trips to Austin and Dallas, played against Lonestar, D'Feeters, Dallas Texans, Solar, etc. Played in the DKSC Thanksgiving Showcase. Got to know a lot of the Texas soccer landscape and meet a lot of players across Houston.
She also guested on a couple 07 teams.
Coming from basketball growing up I feel like it's easier to tell who is really good in basketball, because there are less players and one player can really dominate a game. Soccer has become my favorite sport but I still find it hard sometimes to recognize a great game. I don't have rose colored glasses just because it's my daughter. There are times she doesn't have a good game, like anyone, but her new D1 coach, the Girls Academy 2 coach, and the 07 coach she guested with all seem to really like her.
Most importantly she continues to love it, and so do I!
My daughter's D1 team got a new coach and 5 new players and it was a huge difference. We went from maybe winning 2 games all last year, to being technically undefeated this fall. Technically because we did lose one game 3-0 but one girl didn't have a player card so it was a forfeit. However that same team beat us the end of last season like 13-0 so it was a great measuring stick of how far the team has come.
The new coach moved her from wing midfield to center mid which she didn't like, but I told her it was a vote of confidence. Center mid is the heart of the team. You have to be able to do it all, box to box, sideline to sideline. She's adapted well but she's fast and she misses running free down the sideline.
On top of that she got asked to guest play on the Girls Academy 2 team (the second highest level in Dash) and played like 75% of their games with them, practicing with them once a week. This is where my knowledge grew. Made trips to Austin and Dallas, played against Lonestar, D'Feeters, Dallas Texans, Solar, etc. Played in the DKSC Thanksgiving Showcase. Got to know a lot of the Texas soccer landscape and meet a lot of players across Houston.
She also guested on a couple 07 teams.
Coming from basketball growing up I feel like it's easier to tell who is really good in basketball, because there are less players and one player can really dominate a game. Soccer has become my favorite sport but I still find it hard sometimes to recognize a great game. I don't have rose colored glasses just because it's my daughter. There are times she doesn't have a good game, like anyone, but her new D1 coach, the Girls Academy 2 coach, and the 07 coach she guested with all seem to really like her.
Most importantly she continues to love it, and so do I!