Interesting article about how soccer is influencing the NFL. Man when I was in high school, this article "How Soccer is Reshaping the NFL" would have been considered blasphemy on the football team.

Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The friends you spend time with dramatically affect your behavior — whether you like it or not.The Longevity Project, which studied over 1000 people from youth to death had this to say:

The groups you associate with often determine the type of person you become.

After the loss to East I went home and thought about what I wanted to say to you tonight. For those of you who have been to my house you know that there are a lot of stairs. My room is located on the Northeast side of the home and it takes a fair amount of stairs to get there.

From my bathroom there is a large window that looks out at the mountains surrounding Utah valley. Right next to this window there is a mother in law’s tounge, (how many of you know what that is?). It’s small house plant that Tasia has had for about 10 years. The plant has stayed alive the whole time but hasn’t grown much in height nor health. It’s about a foot high by 1 foot wide. It’s pretty much stayed the same and will always stay the same.

When I went to my mother in law’s house to feed her dogs while she was away I noticed a large, beautiful plant that filled a huge pot in the corner of her living room. Plant was probably about 3 feet high by 4 feet wide. I was amazed at the awesomeness (yep that’s a word, I looked it up - an unmeasurable amount of awesomenimity something can produce) of this plant and somehow it looked familiar. I asked my wife what kind of plant it was and she told me it was the same plant as we have in our house. The one in our upstairs bathroom.

The only difference between the two plants was the size of the pot. Some of you may already realize that the Uncle Rico pot of your current high school experience is too small for your potential, your future, life and success on my team. My goal this year was to develop strong enough roots for you players to get ready and be willing to be transplanted into the much bigger pot of life. If you don’t know who Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite is, he’s a middle aged man who lives in a van at his mother’s house and dreams of past high school aspirations. 

"How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?... Yeah... Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would've been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind. Ohhhh, man I wish I could go back in time. I'd take state."

I believe you all were meant for much greater things than a couple extra wins in soccer. I know I’ve stretched you guys both physically, psychologically, spiritually, socially and any other ly that can be stretched. I’m proud of you and look forward to staying in touch with you the rest of your lives. Though the pot may seem big, you will be amazed at the growth you will experience as a person if you give it your all in every aspect of this life.

Thanks for letting me be your coach.

Before our last regular season game I wanted to point out something about the potential of our team. Here are some of our accomplishments this year so far:

Been outshot only twice this year – Murray, Skyline 1^st time

Tied Pleasant Grove #5 team in 5A – PG beat the #3 team in 5A
Tied Copper Hills who lost golden goal to the #1 team in 5A
Beat Murray #5 team in state twice, 7-2 goal differential –  They beat #1 team in 4A, tied #2 team in 5A and beat undefeated in region play Taylorsville also 5A
Lost 2-1 a man down for 75 mintues to the #4 team in 4A
Lost 3-2 a man down 75 minutes of play
Leading the next ranked team in our region in goal scoring by 10 goals
Only 6 total goals less than top scoring team in region
One of 2 teams to score 2 goals on #4 team in the state, the only other team is the #1 team in the state
Won every overtime we’ve been in
Have players on both leaderboards (scoring, shutouts)
3.8 GPA varsity squad
Not one ineligible player
Not one sportsmanship card

Let's go out and show this state what we are capable of!

There are a couple terms for people that can see into the future - clairvoyant, fortune teller, psychic, prophet, seer, etc. and one scientist Professor Bierman, a psychologist at the University of Amsterdam has been studying this extra sensory perception for years. He has observed that horrible accidents with trains and planes usually occur when the trains and planes are unusually empty. When talking to the people that decided not to go on these trips they all experienced a "sick feeling" and for no reason other than this feeling decided to take a different route. I had this feeling right when the game started when I put a certain player in the game instead of another. I ignored the feeling and played him anyway. About 5 minutes into the game I found out why I had had that feeling and wanted to spray myself in the face with a fire hose. Then, you'd think I would have learned, I was riding my bike home and had the same feeling to go to my grandparent's house, but ignored it because I needed to get back to my family. Turns out my family was at this grandparent's house. I am not claiming I can see the future, but I do believe we are given insight into our lives by powers beyond us. I have seen and felt these promptings countless times in my life. When I follow them, seems like things work out a lot better, when I don't, well I have a couple emergency room visits and huge regrets from not listening.

Some of you may know what the idiom "to eat crow"  From Wikipedia - "eating crow" is an American colloquial idiom, meaning humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proved wrong after taking a strong position. Crow is presumably foul-tasting in the same way that being proved wrong might be emotionally hard to swallow. In other words I'm sorry for not playing the player I felt I should have played. Would we have won? I don't know, but in any case sometimes in life you make the wrong decision and since I'm on an idiom kick, hindsight is always 20/20.
We outplayed, outshot, out-passed and almost beat Orem down 2 goals and down a man. That's a pretty respectable accomplishment. I still think it was the wrong call with the red card but as I said after the game, we could have still won.  

I’m proud of all of your efforts.

Player of the Game: Ammon Nimmer – he won so many headers, backed up his defense and communicated well. Also on a much more important note – I found out he’s been shoveling my grandparent’s driveway in the wintertime. My aunt was at the game and recognized his dad and told me the whole story. What a great family. This was one of those moments that made me proud to be able to serve.

Goals: Griffin Bodine, Griffin Bodine
Assists: Ben Jenson, Ben Jenson

I think the Olympics would be the most difficult sporting event of any sporting event on earth. These athletes spend hour upon hour, year upon year to compete in an event that lasts in some cases less than 1 minute. Any error in the skeleton, for example, will cost you a medal. The difference between the gold medalist and the last place individual in the 2014 Sochi Olympics was barely 1 second. Could you imagine, 1 second quicker and you would be a gold medalist. What proper and correct training for these athelete does is gives them an opportunity to perform up to their potential for the length of their event. They prepare physically, psychologically and in some cases spiritually for their one chance of being the best in the world. Their training increases their ability for them to perform to their maximum potential.

I have been waiting all year for the game where I believed all of our hard work would show our potential as a team on the field. Murray was this game. I saw our one touch passing disassemble their midfielders, I saw our fitness frustrate their forwards, I saw midfielders finish from outside the box, I heard us talk, move, pass and sprint back to our positions. Had we not done early mornings and so much training, we would not have been capable to perform at this level. Murray and just recently Alta are the only two teams in the state that have played Bingham (Ranked #2 in state 5A) and not lost. Murray was ranked in the top 5 4A teams in the state even after we beat them the first time. They are a great team and we made it look easy.

Great job guys, now let's show Orem

Player(s) of the game: Seniors you really stepped up and I couldn't be more proud. You guys were the difference.

Goals: Dallin Delgado, Parker Richards, Ben Jenson, Preston Chapman (inside joke)
Assists: Ryan Steggel, Nathan Conrad

2 mistakes, game over. We've lost twice this year to teams that we are better than on mistakes - Orem and Springville. Orem is definitely not the better team in this match and the score isn't indicative of how the game went. However, the beauty and controversy of soccer is that many times a game can be won or lost on a single play. Possession helps win games, but in and of itself it doesn't. Another Mel Gibson movie (not a huge fan of his acting but he does star in a couple great one) illustrates the point I would like to make about leadership. In the edited version of this movie the troops are falling back into a retreat because they are getting badly beat at first, but Benjamin grabs the American Flag and yells "hold the line, hold the line!" The retreating troops turn around and push forward to win the battle. I was hoping someone would've stepped up and said "This is our game, this is our home, we win this game." It takes a lot of maturity and confidence to believe that you can be the difference in a game like this. I think we've realized this and will from here on out step up to the challenge. Who is going to hold the line and who is going to be the one who sacrifices a little comfort to step up when it counts?

Player of the Game: Dallin Delgado - when he got in he gave it his all - the pass through to the halfbacks was stopped because of his marking.

Rumor has it that a 2-0 lead at halftime is the most dangerous lead in soccer. Well, we realized that about 45 seconds into the second half and even more so 10 minutes later. The overtime buildup to a goal is how we should play all season, Caden to T, T to Ben, Ben to Aaron, back to Ben, to Griff.....ryan to ben to ryan, shot, rebound T to Nate to Griff - Goal!!!!!!!!!! The system works.

Player of the Game: Caiden Brown - if you watch the game film you'll know why.

Stats:

Goals - Griffin, Ryan, Griffin
Assists - Ryan, Dallin, Nate

The last 10 minutes of the Olympus game showed how capable of a team we are when we really want it. We can beat anybody if we keep our heads and play our hearts out for the entire 80 minutes. No special insights to this game since we all know that getting off to a good start at anything greatly increases the chances that it will be successful.

Player of the Game: Ryan Steggel, hustled the whole game, never gave up, scored a goal.

In the early 90's a show came out called Maverick. *Spoiler Alert* The protagonist is a gambling man that is decent at poker but has the saying in his mind that if he believes enough he will get the card that he wants. It doesn't work for him until the end of the movie when he truly does believe that he will win and get the card that he wants - which he does. Coincidence, maybe, divine intervention in a poker game, probably not, but I have seen this time and time again in life that luck comes to those who believe that it will.

Both times we played Mountain View it looked as if we might be in trouble. Last time it was tied 2-2 with only about 15 minutes left and a free kick went our way. This time in Golden Goal overtime it looked like luck would go their way when they were awarded a PK 2 minutes into overtime. Caden saves the PK and the player misses an even easier follow up shot. The saying that luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity comes to mind.

How many PKs have we taken on Caden this year? Right when Caden blocked the kick I think everyone really believed that this was our game. We started playing with real intensity and immediately got chances to score. We started playing how I know we can play. One touch quick passing, intensity, talking and within a few minutes Ben places a perfect cross to Griffin for a GOALLL!!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked around to many people after the game and this is by anyone's recollection the first time that we have beaten Mountain View twice in one season. Congratulations guys, we are now in the driver's seat on the journey to an incredible season.

Player(s) of the Game: This one is a tie - Caiden Brown and Griffin Bodine - Caiden not only saved the game with the PK but had numerous other great saves to keep us in it. Griffin had 2 header goals from Ben Jenson, not one, 2. I can't remember when the last time it was that I saw 2 header goals in one game and one to win it. So proud of you both.

Back in high school I used to love boxing. If there was one thing I knew how to do growing up with 5 brothers and a lot of neighbor boys it was how to take and throw a punch. I'll never forget my first match against a kid about twice my size. He hit me with his hardest punch right off the bat and it didn't even phase me. The match was over in a few minutes as I knocked him out easily and wasn't even tired afterwards. Was he stronger than me, yes, did he underestimate me, yes. This was what happened to us against Corner Canyon. We came out and scored right off the bat and then we underestimated the other team because, hey, it's corner canyon, they haven't won a game all year. They scored not too longer after. Then we scored again and underestimated them again - they scored right back. It took us 85 minutes to win and they almost scored in the last minute. I'l never forget my last boxing match - it was against a kid who was 3 years younger than me. I thought this was an easy match, he was skinny, tall and I'd beaten kids twice his size. I came out hands dropped, not taking it seriously at all. Man, was I in for it, it took me a good 3 minutes before I finally realized that I was going to lose - the same way I had beaten almost everybody was the exact way I was going to lose the match, by underestimating my opponent and not taking the match seriously. Had I boxed the way I always did, this wouldn't have been much of a match, but in the end I was lucky to come out with a draw.

One thing that went well in the match is that we won - we believed we would win and we did. We broke two curses. 1st curse was getting both our forwards to score, now they have - good job Ryan, game winner. Second is that both Varsity and JV won their games.

Player of the Game: Parker Richards with two goals and the goal of the year. Left foot from 25 yards, bending away from the goalie, unbelievable.

My good friend Elaine Bradley and I talked about the soccer team the other day. We talked about fear, heart and courage. She was interviewed on channel 5 for the programming after the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints conference for her role in the band Neon Trees. She has some great advice that I'd like to share - interview. Have the courage to do the right things no matter how scared you are. Secondly, you never know who you are going to meet and how they are going to influence your life.

How do you want to be remembered?

I'm sure my brother had no idea that his influence was going to change Elaine's life. Imagine if he didn't have the courage to invite her to come to Provo and play in a band in front of very judgmental people.

There was a much better feeling on the sidelines the last 2 games. Even though we lost against Olympus I can't get a talk out of my mind by John Wooden that I recently heard. He talks about the difference between winning and succeeding - listen here - Being successful isn't necessarily about winning all the time, it's about giving your best effort in every minute of every game. When I was watching the game film against Olympus, it's hard to tell that we were down a man for 75 minutes. We had some mental composure mistakes, but they were few and far between. We played well as a team and we'll get them next time.

Player of the Game:
Aaron Conrad - his big wins in the middle and distribution kept the ball in the front third most of the game.

Sometimes not getting the result we want helps us step up to the next challenge. We went down early (like almost every game this year) but that didn't phase us against Mountain View. Our nerves got us again and I think every player at one point or another got pulled because of them. Our first goal from Drew happened when a couple starters were on the bench. 80% of high school soccer is hustle and when we started to hustle and want this game it became apparent that we would win the game.

There is a funny video online of some dude dancing in the middle of a park, all by himself. He really is enjoying himself and many people are watching but nobody is really joining in. This doesn't phase him. Soon another guy joins him and then invites his friends, within 30 seconds half the people in the park are dancing with the renegade lone dancer. This is exactly what hustle did for us against Mountain View. After sitting Parker down and telling him if he goes back in he needs to make a difference, he went in and started hustling - winning tackles, talking, making passes, etc. Then, Aaron starting upping his game, then Ben, Griffon, etc. and before you knew it we were up 2-1 after going down a goal early. The opposite is also true, if he went in, didn't hustle, didn't talk, etc. Aaron would think, why am I trying so hard?

When I was teaching marketing to college students there was something I always talked about when running a marketing department (or any department or playing on a team) if you want to see lasting change you need to inspire vs criticize. If you want someone to make the right pass, you need to make the right pass, you want to see your forwards score, put one in the net, defense needs to mark better, don't lose your mark - model the behavior you want to see and encourage others to do the same - lecturing/criticizing might help in the moment, but the change won't stick. Although lecturing is much safer if you are 33 years old and try to jump in the drills only to get injured.

I knew you guys could do it!

Player of the Game:
Griffon Bodine - goal and assist, hustled and really wanted it this game. Although Parker, Ben, Drew and Elijah definitely deserve honorable mentions.

Goal of the Year (so far):
BYU Ben from a perfect pass from Griffon. Stegel and his backheel is somewhere in the mix as well ;)

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johnwooden402561.html#ip3W3AwX8shYpc1A.99

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_wooden.html#X841EcJTGo1GdJ5t.99

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/john_wooden.html#X841EcJTGo1GdJ5t.99

The USA national team has had a rough go for a long time. When Jürgen Klinsman came in to change the program and do things the German way there was a lot of heads shaking and a lot of lost games in the beginning. Then the players started to listen and play his system. I recently read an interview with him and he had this to say, "When you get to 50-50 games, it's the mindset that beats them, like a strong belief in yourself and staying calm when it gets really hostile in Central America. That's why the U.S. built a strong position against Mexico, even if Mexico won the previous two Gold Cups. You know, they don't really like to play the U.S. They know we have a certain edge of toughness. Argentina knows when they play Germany that there will be constant grinding. Are the Argentineans better players? Yes. But we'd steal their ball. Your toy is gone; now do something about it."

Not the best English, he's a German give him a break, but he's got a great point and track record. Today our toy was stolen (three times), we did nothing about it and the game was over, mentally, in the first five minutes.

I know we want to win, but I'm not sure we know how. I'm not sure we know that it takes the right mindset and a lot of trust in fellow players to win games. One problem I have with my mind is that I don't forget things very easily and when things get in there they have a tough time getting out. Here are some quotes from the last couple games that concern me:

"Why can't we play easy teams?"
"Let's schedule preseason games with Maeser Academy."
"When nobody else was talking, I stopped."
"There were two guys coming at me, I got scared."
"I've flopped and got plenty of penalty kicks."
"After the second goal, I was done."
"I seriously didn't say anything the whole game."
"I just don't trust so and so, he just boots it."
"Dude, did you kiss her?"
"Why can't I play soccer? Seriously, this is so dumb!"
"It's because so and so isn't talking!"
"We don't give it all in practice because they are so long!"

Here are quotes from the other team today:
"You put me in I'm going to score - I need to score."
"Come on guys, let's put another one in the net."
"I'm going in and I'm scoring." (which he did, #14)

Blaming, easy way outs, lack of intensity, lack of concentration, self deprecation and the list goes on. Our problem is not skill, formations, fitness, etc., it's having a winning attitude. I called up a couple of coaches I respect and admire and they all agreed that "you can't coach intensity, that's the one thing you just can't coach." I hope they are wrong because I think there is a way to awaken the little voice inside of you that tells you to give it your all for 80 minutes no matter the circumstances. The error of my coaching today was starting and playing the best players but not the best team.

I truly believe we are capable of winning region and state if we change our attitudes and truly be "all in".


Player of the game:
Ian Berlin - talked, hustled, gave it his all the whole game no matter where I put him on the field. Kudos again to Tmonney and Vince for playing their hearts out. Your bodies will grow into your hearts.

Thanks Aaron for filming the game, thanks to those who carried the canvas, thanks Ryan for the granola bar, thanks calculus kids for helping each other out and thanks Korbin for keeping stats.

Banner Fundraiser Timpanogos High School - 2014

Applications for banner placements are now being accepted. Email Josh Terry -  soccersquash@gmail.com for more information.

Rough game tonight but it might be what we needed. Lost 1-0 vs Springville.

I'm a religious man and answers to prayers sometimes come in strange ways. When I pray for the boys I usually pray for them to win, but this time I said "help them learn out of each game what they need to learn." Here are my two insights on what I hope they learned.

Varsity squad
1. Fundamentals win games - communicate, pass, hustle - happened the 1st game, hasn't happened since.
2. We are a team, there are no good players or bad players, there's only a team and you either make the team a good team or you make them a bad team by what you do on and off the field.
3. If you kept your head, played hard and were positive with yourself, the only thing you lost today was a game.

Junior Varsity
1. Fundamentals win games - communicate, pass, hustle - finally paid off and will continue to do so.
2. You are a team and you act like it, you are going to win more and more of these games.

Players of the Games:
Varsity - Trevor Monney - great passing, great hustle, way to give it your all.
JV - Vince, crazy sick hat trick