Day 76

Day 76.

Today we started at 2:00. We were at a school in town for a change, about 15 minutes walk away from Berghof! Joe picked us up at darling and we made our way there. It was a late addition to the programme, so I'm unfamiliar with the name but I will try and find out! Jeff took the warm up of dynamic stretching while myself and Dourey set up for the main drill which was dribbling. We focused on four basic turns.. Inside cut, outside cut, drag back and cruyff. Essential turns that you need in a match! The boys did very well and there was some real good talent on show! Much like other schools we had visited. We made sure they practiced the technique by doing a relaxed non-racing format to start just so that the skill information started to form in their brain. After they tried each turn several times we made the exercise a race! First team back wins. We started with inside cut and outside cut which meant basically, go to the first cone do an inside cut, come back, go to the second do an outside cut and pass to the next person for them to do the same thing! The boys were in teams and were all very motivating! Afterwards, we added one more cone and a different turn (dragback).. Let them race and then saw what the outcome was! It was good to see a variety of winners rather than just one team dominating! To finish, we added one last cone and one more turn, the cruyff turn. We finished the session with a 3 team, "one goal off" match and a little talk to the boys. Both Jeff and I gave several autographs and posed for photos and I was even asked by a boy to repeat my previous coaching points so that he could record it on his phone and listen to it to improve his turns! Awesome dedication. The school was situated 'under' table mountain and it was soo picturesque! A very lekke (nice) place to coach. We headed back to the hall for some refreshments and more photo's and then headed off to Atlantic FC. What a great session!!

We were given the under 15's to coach today at Atlantic FC, our favourite group. A great bunch of boys with plenty of banter but a bunch that still understand the importance of respect! From day one they have always replied to any question with coach. So for example, "yes coach!" "What about this coach?" and so on and so on! It may not mean a lot to other people reading this but to be given a title every time they answer you, it means a lot to me personally. It's better than a blunt 'yep' or a nod of the head. To have a unanimous reply of 'yes coach!' is a lot nicer! The session went really well and we focused on control and heading! The boys thoroughly enjoyed the session and were so grateful at the end. After we said our farewells,  it was time to head home!

We arrived back at Berghof around 9!

Time to chill out now and be ready for a 10:00 arrival time at Ruyterwacht, visiting Ajax Cape Towns facilities. Looking forward to Joe's braai tomorrow!

All the best

Luke