The Thang

Thang 1: Groups of 4 take a net with 1 ball

5 min: 2 v 1 with a goalie, two offensive position, flip sides,  rotated groups at 2:30 mark. YHC was the odd man out and checked out each net as guys loosened up. It looks easier on TV but the 2 v 1 was a quick way to get it through that passing is key.

Combined 4 groups of 4 into 2 groups of 8

5 min 2 v 3 with a goalie, two offensive positions, offense rotates to D, D out, out to offense. Bongo hit a sweet backward pass to set up an easy goal but surprisingly much more difficult to score. Fake ID, Mia Hamm, Hootie, Gordons and BabyWipes started to stick out from the crowd.

Counted off new teams of 4 – Normally YHC opts for captains but a lot of new faces and it wouldn’t have had the same effect.

10 min 4 v 4 no goalie, shot must be from inside box, no egregious offsides, shirts vs skins

Rotated skins to play other shirts team and vis versa.

The goals did not move up as close as I was hoping so we had to go 4 v 4 on a full field. Kept up the moving and bad passes were rewarded with long runs for the defense. Play started to get a little more competitive, bodies starting to fly around a bit more and chasing loose balls. Bartle’s took WiaB’s spot as the enforcer today, contesting all shots, relentless defense and never giving up the direct line to the ball :). Lots of good play out there, guys having a good time but still pushing the tempo.

8 min 9 v 8 with goalies, shots from anywhere and no egregious offsides, shirts vs skins

Some time left to add a few players to the pitch, add a goalie and it was time for shirts vs skins. A few memorable moments. Overthrow had a beautiful slide tackle on Jackie Chiles, unfortunately JC had but no option than to go over the top, his soccer balls knocked off Overthrow’s baseball hat, both appeared to be okay. Bartle’s sacrificed himself, throwing caution to the wind and frankly risking his life to block a long sought after boomer from the top of the box by YHC. Frankly, I’m not sure how he walked off after that one. More than one shot bounced off the post to keep it close.

Merkin ring of fire to finish it off. Mia Hamm busted out the jump merkins with hands and feet leaving on each one.