Last Fall, I was approached regarding coaching two new high school boys teams here in Springfield for the Spring 2006 season. The organizational ground work had already been laid before I was approached. The proposal outlined to me was to create two competitive soccer teams for high school young men, to provide training, league, and competitive tournament play during the off-season of high school soccer. The following specific principles and purposes were also outlined to me:
1. To enjoy quality, competitive soccer training and play;
2. While demonstrating professional and positive attitudes, appearance, and sportsmanship at all times, both on and off the field; and
3. Learning and emphasizing positive life skills and lessons.
I understood and agreed with those philosophies, and after talking with my Drury administration, several coaches, friends, and family, accepted the offer. I am glad I did; it was a great experience.
Both teams played in the Central Missouri Soccer League high school premier division, where our U-16s went 3-0-1, finishing with the highest win percentage of any team, and our U-18s went 1-1-2. Both teams were accepted to all three season tournaments to which we applied – the WSA Friendship Cup in Tulsa, the Governor’s Cup in Topeka, and the Memphis Invitational. At the WSA Friendship Cup, our U-16 team won their division, and the U-18s took second in their division. Our U-18s also took second in the U-19 division at the Governor’s Cup. We were invited and took a combination team to the local St. Patrick’s Day Pre-Season Classic, U-17/18 division, which we also won.
Both teams played in their respective divisions in the Missouri State Cup. Except for one game for the U-18s, every game was competitive and very close. The U-16s won their first game against Emil Draglcevic, tied their second game against Scott Gallagher Green, and was planning to advance to the quarterfinals but had an “off” day for game three. The U-18s drew a difficult pool, but after “getting through” the first game against Scott Gallagher Gold, played very well against Mid Rivers and Lou Fusz-Kaercher.
I have asked each player and parent for feedback about this first year, and am still waiting to receive some of the responses. However, as I personally look back over the season, and evaluate the results according to the intended purposes, I have three primary thoughts.
First, I believe each and every player improved his skills. I did not pick or select any players. Rather, I took the players brought to me. Being new to Springfield, I had no idea of the specific soccer talent in this area. I remember thinking and commenting, after just two practices with the guys, that there was great talent represented on the teams and many of the players will have opportunities to go far in their soccer career, including in college. As the season progressed, those skills improved.
Second, the players learned many lessons which I believe will benefit them in life. The players brought to me were from several local high schools, including the rivals Glendale and Kickapoo. I was both amazed and pleased to see friendships form, and cohesiveness and comrade among the teams develop. I was most encouraged to see the stronger players encourage and assist those who were not quite so strong in their play. In addition to the soccer success, I believe we grew together both on and off the field as we trained, traveled, and played together.
Finally, and most importantly, we had fun playing soccer. And, because the players were having fun, they consistently came to practice, improved their skills, and improved as a team.
Five of our players will be traveling to Scotland July 24-August 1, on the Scotland Tour 2006, to train and play with/against Scottish club teams and professional youth teams. They will also be attending a Manchester United v. Celtic professional game.
I am definitely looking forward to next season with SpringHigh. Except for our two graduating seniors, who I am happy to say will be playing with me at Drury, each and every player is guaranteed his spot on his team if he desires to return. For those open spots, we will have a signup in November for outside players interested, and select/fill those positions based on needed positions, skills, and attitude.
Coach Alf Bilbao
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I’d like to thank Coach Bilbao for taking the time to share his thoughts on this, the inaugural season for the SpringHigh Select boys teams. Highlights for me were seeing Coach Bilbao sign two deserving local boys, Steve Wilczewski (Glendale, and I can spell it without looking it up finally) and Bryan Simpson (Kickapoo). Bryan’s story in particular is worth digging into which I promise to do this summer.
From a purely selfish standpoint, I had the opportunity to see some boys I have overlooked during the Fall season. I won’t make that mistake this Fall. Finally, it was easy to see that this group bought into Coach Bilbao’s system. Each game I saw at the State Cup (2 for each team) featured a team intent on a system of play that required intelligence, touch and teamwork. They scored on all counts in my estimation. Congratulations!
I have two more clubs lined up to provide articles in the coming week and I invite any other club in the region to provide a similar overview. The one criteria is that this soccer blog is focused on high school and above. So the discussion should be based upon your U14 or higher squads. If you have a youth program as well, a brief description of those programs should suffice. Use the Contact form above to get hold of me. Thanks!
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