At one point, we had three boys at the camp; now, we’re just down to one. While Cpher spent half days at a basketball camp; Matthew spent the week outside at the OnGoal Soccer camp.
The team: Four teams in Division 3; while it’s not a big surprise that Matthew’s the best player on his team, it is quite a surprise that there isn’t much support behind him on his team. I tried to watch a lot of his scrimmages as I came to get him at the end of the day; either he scored goals and his team would win or tie, or, he would play goalie, and stop a ton of shots and they would tie or lose. I’d say before the final day that his team was 2nd best out of the 4; the two lower teams didn’t have players as good as him (the third team had two or three players who could carry the ball forward, the fourth had none). The best team had one of Matthew’s TNT buddies AND had four other kids who could carry the ball forward……
Matthew and the Liberian Laffty-Taffies
The coach: Because Matthew’s team is so…..challenged….Matthew’s coach leaned on him a lot. Always yelling out at him, “Matthew we need a goal”, “Matthew, I need you back on defense”……I don’t think any kid could have done everything the coach wanted of Matthew, especially when, at times, Matthew was driving up-field one on four (with no one running up to pass too…)
The verse: Every year the camp has a verse that the campers learn; Matthew was intent on doing the speed challenge against his coach from last year, Roger. He got his chance on Friday……and if you click on the picture below you’ll see the verse-throwdown.
The injury: Saturday is the end of the camp and the World Cup competition. Friday night Matthew is limping around; he says he took a cleat to the tailbone and it hurts to run or bend over. Saturday morning is the same…..and this does not bode well for his team.
Game 1 (pool play in the morning) is against team 4; Matthew scores and the team wins 1-0. Matthew is not moving around very well at all; all week I’d been watching him cut passes off and be a whirling dervish on the field, and he’s just not there right now and if he didn’t need to run after the ball, he wasn’t.
Matthew right as the first game is about to start….
Game 2 is against the TNT buddy team; they put Matthew in goal, and he can’t bend over, and they lose 3-0 (without Matthew on the field, it’s one shot after another at Matthew…..).
Game 3 is against team 3; Matthew is back out on the field but still only running at half-speed and only when he has to…..they lost 2-0.
So, it’s pretty ugly…..I think finally the coach asks Matthew what’s wrong and learns that he’s injured. But, thankfully, there’s a long break here for the skills competition, so, maybe the pain will back off a little and things will be ok as Matthew does his one event and heads into the elimination round.
Goalie Wars: They choose one or two players from each team for each competition; Matthew’s been in the shooting and dribbling events in the past when he’s been on teams that are more balanced; it’s clear here that he’s going to be doing goalie wars. The concept is pretty simple, two goals, a line in the middle, and you try and score as many goals as you can against your opponent in 30 seconds. The ‘match’ starts with a jump ball (like basketball) in the middle.
Click above to see all three matches….
Round 1: Matthew’s up against a friend; he wins the jump ball (a theme here, he never lost one of these) but no goals in the 30 seconds….in fact, his friend scored on him right at the end but didn’t get the shot off in time before the whistle blows. They go to sudden death; Matthew wins the jump ball and buried the first shot to move on. Injury? He’s still limping when he walks, but, you don’t have to run flat out in this event and there’s very little discomfort visible as he competes.
Round 2: Against another Matt….who is much shorter. Matthew easily wins the jump ball and the match, 2-0.
Final: Against his TNT buddy (it was pretty clear that Matthew and this TNT buddy were the best kids in this age group). Matthew again wins the jump, but, I think they both don’t score on the first three shots each. Matthew makes the next two to win the match 2-0. Champion!
Matthew and the Goalie War champions from the other divisions…..
World Cup Playoffs: The 1-2 record in the morning earned the team the #3 seed….and they play team #3 again to start the single elimination. I’ve told Suzanne that for Matthew’s team to advance, the formula is for Matthew to play the field (and be everywhere) and when he finally scores, to move him back to goal to preserve the lead.
Matthew, in this game, now looks to be about 90% of himself; fueled by his Goalie War win he’s everywhere, he’s trying to pick off passes and is running back on defense and carrying the ball forward. And since he’s doing this, it’s a different game, there’s much more play in the opponent’s end and Matthew’s team looks a little better (one of the other players is a pretty decent goalie, so, when Matthew’s out in the field it’s not a disaster…). Seven minutes in, Matthew finally scores, and immediately, the coach moves Matthew back to goal and the team hangs on for the 1-0 win.
The final is next, against the TNT-buddy team. The coach starts Matthew in goal, and it seems clear from the start that he’s hoping to get the tie and decide the match in penalty kicks. Matthew doesn’t give up a goal, and, about halfway into the 12-minute match, switches out of goal and has one or two chances, but, again, 1-on-3 or 1-on-4, no matter how good he’s doing, it’s a challenge to score. Regular time ends 0-0.
A five-minute overtime period is next…..they move Matthew back to defense (but the coach is yelling out to him to carry forward and try to score….but make sure to get back!)……and he holds the fort and they move into penalty kicks tied 0-0.
Matthew is the goalie, the TNT buddy is the other goalie. Round 1, Matthew makes the save, TNT buddy does not, 1-0. Round 2: Two saves, 1-0. Round 3, Matthew makes the save and then is the shooter; he rockets a kick past his buddy into the top left corner, 2-0. Just a great shot, no goalie could stop that where he placed it.
If Matthew stops the next shot, they win….and he does, and they celebrate, they’ve won the World Cup!
