Boys' soccer: ALA's turnaround season
It's amazing how far a little motivation can go.
Having a background mostly in basketball and not knowing all the technical aspects of soccer, a big part of ALA's Joel Martinez's coaching style is motivation.
Martinez, a basketball coach at heart, agreed to take on the boy's soccer team. Despite not knowing as much about the sport as his counterparts, ALA has become the darkhorse team of the 2A state tournament.
Just look at the 5-0 win they had over top-ranked St. Joseph just before the regular season was over. Martinez told his players they can do anything if they worked together and believed they could. He likes to stress discipline and sacrifice and so far, the approach has worked.
The Eagles have experienced a complete turnaround. Last year, ALA was beaten in every game except one. This year, they go into the tournament 6-4-2. ALA will take on Intermountain Christian today at their home field at 4 p.m.
Though he doesn't know much about soccer, it doesn't take an expert on the sport to know the best way to motivate kids is to give them the confidence that they can accomplish things if they're willing to do what it takes.
"Sometimes I think, 'Is this my soccer team or is this another team?' Against St. Joseph, we just told them this is a big moment for big players. This is the time," Martinez said. "You gotta believe you can beat anybody. It's just a matter of belief. The kids can achieve it. They just need to work for it."
-- Maggie Thach
Having a background mostly in basketball and not knowing all the technical aspects of soccer, a big part of ALA's Joel Martinez's coaching style is motivation.
Martinez, a basketball coach at heart, agreed to take on the boy's soccer team. Despite not knowing as much about the sport as his counterparts, ALA has become the darkhorse team of the 2A state tournament.
Just look at the 5-0 win they had over top-ranked St. Joseph just before the regular season was over. Martinez told his players they can do anything if they worked together and believed they could. He likes to stress discipline and sacrifice and so far, the approach has worked.
The Eagles have experienced a complete turnaround. Last year, ALA was beaten in every game except one. This year, they go into the tournament 6-4-2. ALA will take on Intermountain Christian today at their home field at 4 p.m.
Though he doesn't know much about soccer, it doesn't take an expert on the sport to know the best way to motivate kids is to give them the confidence that they can accomplish things if they're willing to do what it takes.
"Sometimes I think, 'Is this my soccer team or is this another team?' Against St. Joseph, we just told them this is a big moment for big players. This is the time," Martinez said. "You gotta believe you can beat anybody. It's just a matter of belief. The kids can achieve it. They just need to work for it."
-- Maggie Thach
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home