Why Mighty Teams Fail at the Pop Warner and AYF National Championships
gorillas stumbling
In both the AYF National Championship and Pop Warner there are many very good youth soccer teams that have dominated their opponents all season. Several coaches I spoke with cited his impressive records and point totals that bordered on the absurd. One coach went 15-0 with a point total of 510-6, another went 14-0 with a point total of 456-14.
While this isn’t necessarily the rule, there were plenty of teams that, for whatever reason, had ruled their fiefdoms with an iron fist and experienced very little adversity leading up to the tournament. Several coaches told me they hadn’t punted all season, several others mentioned they had punted 2 times or less. At least 30 coaches said they hadn’t lost in a game all year. I like to call these teams “gorilla” teams, they rule the jungle and have no legitimate threat to control of their jungle. They dominate their competition and many times face teams that are mentally beaten before they even take the field, due to the looks of gorilla teams or the reputation of gorilla teams.
However, when most gorilla teams arrive in Florida, they discover that there are other gorillas just as talented as they are who have little to no fear of taking on other gorillas. I saw a team of Pee Wee gorillas at the Pop Warner tournament, apparently well trained on both offense and defense and very good athletes, fighting to move the ball against another team of gorillas. On his first punt, they barely made it and it was just 12 yards, giving his opponent some very good field position. In their next punt situation, 4th and 6th of their own 40, they decided to try and failed. On the next possession at 4 and 7 they kicked off a 14-yard kick. On another possession they had 4th and 9 and they faked the punt it was a horrible try both the kicker and the player they were cutting off the snap were only a yard away he didn’t fool anyone and the snap was bad the another team recovered and entered to score. In their last punting situation, they were 4th and 11 from their own 20-yard line. Since they punted so poorly and their fakes were just as bad, they decided to go for it and were stuffed to seal their fate.
the kicking game
This game was played on one side of the pitch for the entire game due to poor clearances by one team and fairly good clearances by the opponent. The opposing team would consistently get 30 yards on their punts or just go for it on fourth down because of their field position. The winning team was able to take a few more chances due to field position, while the losing team was unable to dig into their playbook. In the end, the punt game was the deciding factor in this game that was decided by a touchdown.
Neither team could move the ball very well, but on each exchange, the team gained 20 yards or more of field position, ultimately winning the game for them. It was very obvious that the losing team hadn’t punted much during their season, if at all. It wasn’t necessary, but obviously they hadn’t managed to perfect it for the day they might need it.
The same goes for some lock scheme settings. Like any youth soccer league with around 100 teams, our league has very good teams, good teams, average teams and bad teams, training runs the gamut. Depending on the schedule, we can have a good number of teams where we can run our 12-14 base plays with our regular rules and blocking schemes and win easily if we execute well and our players’ technique and effort are close to their potential. . However, there are always teams that are bigger, faster, and better than us on the schedule, if not during the regular season, then in the playoffs or when we play non-conference tournaments. Against teams you intimidate, things like traps, influence plays, false pulls, wrong walks, key plays, or screens may not be effective at all. When you’re playing against teams that have players who aren’t playing aggressively or aren’t well-trained, those types of plays or tactics often fail miserably, because those players are going to respond and play differently than well-trained or aggressive players. The danger is that once you run a misdirection break or extraction play and it doesn’t work well against the weaker team, the coaching staff and players lose confidence in the play or adjustment and it takes a backseat. or it is released completely. .
rules problems
In many leagues, the rules also prevent you from developing your teams for title races. Many league mercy rules prevent you from working on and developing aspects of your game that you will need once you are playing on a bigger stage. There are very few teams that are winning National Championships without a legitimate pass threat or great special teams. I’m not talking about air raiding and throwing 70% of the time, I’m talking about being able to threaten the field with the potential for a completion that will net you 20 yards or more. In a lot of leagues, once you’re up by 3 or 4 touchdowns, you can’t throw the ball. These mercy rules are well-intentioned and necessary in many places where coaches are out of control, but they can also hinder team development.
To do? If you think your team can be a league or national title contender, you have to hone parts of the game that you might not need until you take on another gorilla. You MUST perfect those parts of the game that you didn’t need to beat the weaker or average opponent with, that means putting in some practice time. If you have a youth soccer team that is aiming for the title, you may need to play a game within a game. To work on your punting game, when you have a 3-4 point lead, go ahead and punt on third down to practice. In games where you feel confident your team has the advantage, start throwing the ball earlier than you normally would or on downs where you normally wouldn’t throw the ball. Use your leverage or fake jerks/wrong way even though your base plays are working extremely well. Keep in mind the ultimate goal, which is not just to beat your opponent today, but to win the last game against another gorilla. If you’re controlling the game on offense, place your weaker players earlier on defense to keep the point differential tight enough to not get into the mercy rule so you can work on your offense and special teams. I don’t get caught up in the final score, I couldn’t care less about shutouts, my goal is to prepare the team to its full potential and win that big final game.
Training
To win on the big stage, in most cases you will need all the tricks in your bag to beat the other bouncers in the jungle. Before each game you take a moment away from it all to think about your ultimate goals, don’t get caught up in the momentum and excitement of the game that day. Write down some of the things you need to work on on your game sheet to remind yourself. My game three sheet said: Punt, Wrong, Burst 43 G, Buck, Smoke Pass, all the things we were going to need later in the season. There were points in that game where I was able to work on all five points of emphasis. When you get to that final game, you’ll be glad you invested the time to fully prepare for that opponent, many times it’s going to be the difference maker.