Monday Morning Quarterback: Welcome back

My Sunday lunch at NDV.

 Monday Morning Quarterback

One who criticizes or passes judgment from a position of hindsight

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Welcome everybody into the first official MMQ of the 2011-2012 school year, where we look back on the weekend that was and take a look into the happenings of our teams here at St. Mary's.

We'll start with the first St. Mary's game of the year, as the 5th/6th grade fell 3-0 Saturday in their first soccer game.

For the first time, this class has a soccer team in their own grade, as the past three years they have played up a grade, which has led to some struggles on and off the field.

Saturday marked the debut of three 5th graders, Ryan, Jonathan and Jason, as well as two 6th graders from NDV, Nick and Dante. That coupled with our 6th graders, Garrick, Ryan, Raymond, Joseph, Thomas and Jason round out the roster.

This game was winnable, but the inexperience card got them late in the first half. You have to clear the ball to the side if you are a defenseman and not bring it back to the middle. We brought it back to the middle and it became a 1-0 game.

Two late goals were the result of some holes in the defense that were a result of the team trying to push up and score the game-tying goal, so those last two goals are not really that troublesome.

Ryan K. and Jason Z. both look a lot better on defense and improved from a year ago, and the best thing a team can have is a strong defense, and hopefully those two can solidify the back end of the team.

Thomas, twin, started in goal and made a few nice stops but he also let in two goals that he probably should've had. But more experience and practice should firm up the goaltending situation.

Moving on to our other teams...A terrible miscue by myself led to a game that was never a game. Sorry to everybody who came out and wasted your time. The correct first game is this Saturday at 1 p.m. at West Sunset. I guarantee it, but I'm not sure.

Both volleyball teams begin this weekend and both teams look sharp, especially this 8th grade team. They have the potential to be our best volleyball team to date, but only time will tell if they can reach that potentail.

And finally, we did have a few people quit teams, and some other snafus within the last week that were not very pleasant.

I may be preaching the choir, because the people who quit, and aren't all in, never look at this blog.

But when you join a team, you make a commitment, and you are part of a big machine. And when even a small bolt gets loose from the big machine, the machine suffers.

Everything is laid out. I have been here for five years. You know what you are getting into, practice, team and game wise. So if you or your family is not prepared to give it your 100%, it hurts everybody else.

If we had a jillion kids that wanted to play on each team, maybe this wouldn't be as big of a deal. But on our teams, every player plays a major role in the success of our program.

And for those of you who have been dedicated to the fullest, I can't thank you enough.

I look forward to a great volleyball and soccer season.

See ya pals.