A letter to the parents of Infinity SC '93 & '92 Girls

U16 & U17 Parents,

When I met with the U17 girls in October I defined mandatory to them. When I meet with the U16's on Tuesday I will define mandatory to them as well. Parents, I would like to explain to you my definition.

I have strict rules when it comes to training. For example: Show up 5 minutes late, miss half of a game. Leave 5 minutes early, miss half a game. Miss a training session without a valid reason (not excuse) don't dress for the next game. My big expectation is that the girls communicate with me prior to any absences or if they are going to be running late (communication goes a VERY long way with me). That being said, I only follow those rules when we are in regular season (March- May) and even then, I let the players approach me if one of their teammates is not following the rules. Only then do I enforce the rules. This is the players team, not my team. If the players are o.k. with letting their teammates slide, well that is up to them. It is their duty to ask me to enforce the rules if they feel it is necessary. I don't show up to training with an attendance clipboard and mark a player absent or tardy.

I have expressed that the training sessions during January and February are "mandatory." I want everyone to know that if they miss a session that they are not going to be cut, or sat or frowned upon. However, with the Mayors Cup (in Las Vegas) only five weeks away, I have to provide an opportunity for the girls to be prepared to compete and learn the system of play. If the teams were younger I would be o.k. with the soccer that they are playing on the indoor surface and rent out the USA indoor arena and play small sided games for training. But these young ladies need to be prepared to play 70-90 minute matches twice a day and you can't properly simulate that with the small field experience alone. The Stan Laub Training Center (SLTC) that we are currently using over the next 5 weeks is the only full sized indoor field in the local community. As much as I do not like using Friday and Saturday nights to train teenage girls, this is the only time we were offered to use it. The new a.d. and new football coach at USU have really changed the availability at the SLTC, therefore limiting it to weekends in the month of January and February. I apologize for any inconveniences that this may cause, but I am confident that when we hit the parks in Vegas that we will be better prepared because of our time in the SLTC.

A philosophy of mine... I am focused on the long term development of each player and providing opportunities for these players to showcase their abilities to their families, friends, teammates, college coaches, the world. However, I strongly believe that it is ultimately the player that makes herself great. The player must stay fit and keep her touch even in the worst of winters to be at her peak. The players job is to have the tools to perform the technical abilities necessary to execute the tactics provided by the coach. I will provide an avenue for them to be successful by developing a defensive and offensive strategy, teach it to them and expect them to execute it. The players ultimately win and lose games. Winning is fun and I am extremely competitive, but my playing days are over. The girls have to want to win and make sacrifices on the training field, on their own and during match play to win. As the U17 girls found out when they were in California, if they do not play team soccer and stick to a plan they will be exploited badly when they play quality teams. They also learned that they can hang with some of the best teams. If these two teams play united, with a purpose and allow themselves to play out of their comfort zones they will find themselves as powerful of a team as Cache Valley (and Utah for that matter) has ever seen. The player has to win the game, the coach has to provide a system in which they are prepared to win.

Now that you understand my philosophy. When we go to Las Vegas, the focus will be defensive team shape and fast counter attacking. It is as simple as that. When they get these two aspects down we will work on possessing the ball, changing the point of attack and work on unbalancing runs in to the offensive half and third of the field. I expect to have success in Las Vegas, but we may make errors while trying to learn how to play in a system that is very new to the U16 girls and fairly new to the U17 girls.

I am very excited to have these two teams under my direction. I believe they will provide one another with competition in training, social comradery and ultimately demonstrate to the younger teams in our club and community what Infinity is all about. Both teams have impressed me so far and I expect that they will continue to impress me and everyone else they have the chance to meet on a soccer pitch and in life.

Thank you for allowing me to work with your daughters. This is a privilege and not a day goes by that I am not grateful for my opportunities to work with our youth.

-Ginn