Big Win for My Little Ravens

Okay... So, even though as I've mentioned before, there is no "official" score keeping or WINS & LOSSES for the NFL Flag Football Season; The kids keep score in their heads.  The parents keep score on the sidelines & Yeah, even coaches keep track in their heads.  So, officially we are ALL WINNERS.  "Unofficially" we are 1-2.  Which is fine with me considering that the practice schedule started off a bit rough & our last Friday night practice was cut short by too much rain. 


I've said this before & I will say it again.  I love coaching.  Even with the all ups & downs that come with it.  It's fun.  Yes, it can be a bit frustrating from time to time when you call a "SWEEP RIGHT" & it turns into a "Michael Vick" style run around the field, but even then, I have to remind myself that these are young kids and that every game is a stepping stone on the path to learning life skills & learning the basics of the game.  


I do admit that there were a few moments within the two games that I felt that my team had no clue what was going on out on the field but then there were times that they were moving the ball and they were really working together really well.  It appears that I have to work on my time management better.  BOTH my games ran 5 minutes longer than expected.  A bigger issues is that I realized that I hadn't given every player equal amounts of time on the field.  *NOT COOL! 


I wanted to coach because I wanted to spend time with my children, I missed teaching kids & I didn't like the way some players were not utilized by some coaches in every game.  So, today was actually a learning experience for me.  I am going to be redesigning my playbook to include specific OFFENSIVE plays for every player.  My changes this week to the defensive plays seemed to work well & I felt that the team worked really well on defense & that we had some really great explosive plays on the offensive side of the ball too.  


So, back to drawing board even though we played very well, coach has some changes to make not just to the X's & O's but to his plan too.  


Overall, as my Assistant Coach said to me today, "the team grew immensely"... now it's time to get the basics back into it!  I'm a happy coach today & I'm glad that I learned from it all.

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence"

Getting Ready for a Double Header

Alright... it's Wednesday! The work week is half way done & my team has one more really good practice scheduled before the big double header this weekend.  I am doing some serious planning for this weekend & yes, I even stayed a while after last weeks game to watch one of this weeks opponents first half of their game.
  
The GOOD news is that my team seems to have a size advantage against one team.  Now, I know size isn't everything; especially when it's 5-6 year olds playing flag football, but I wanted to see if we were playing a passing team or a running team.  I had to see how the coach interacted with his squad.  Most importantly, I just love being out on the field watching the kids play just for the fun of it.
  
The BAD news is that I have no idea whatsoever what the second team that we are matching up against looks like.  I don't know who is on the team.  I can't prepare for a team that I know nothing about, so I will just take the advice that I hear some NFL coaches use.  The only team that can beat us, is us.  The funny thing about that phrase is that there is no "OFFICIAL" scorekeeping in this league & really there's no "Winning or Losing" which is great for some people, but as a coach, you know that an offsides, holding, false start or any kind of penalty is a little loss each time.  


Now, I know that they are just 5 & 6 year olds, so I am really just trying to teach them the basics & give them a good foundation so that they can take it with them to their next stop.  Most coaches have more time to evaluate players & see what their strengths & weaknesses are... With these kids, it's not the same & I am happy about that in a way.  Being 5 & 6 is hard enough without having a mean coach telling you can't run an "OUT ROUTE" or a  "FLEA FLICKER" play right.   Yes... you read that right... I am going to attempt it once before the season is over... I'll keep you posted on how that turns out!

(Getting my team ready for game time)

Is Coaching Supposed to be THIS much Fun?!

I have to say this right off the bat... I love coaching! I think that ever since I stopped teaching Martial Arts, I have been looking for a way to get back into a training position where I can teach & help kids learn.  The funny thing is that I find myself "Coaching" all the time in my head.  I am constantly watching videos, playing video games to see if I can work a play into my playbook.  


Sometimes when I am at work & it's slow enough for me to write something down, I find myself drawing up plays & coming up with audible signals, blitz signals & defensive packages to confuse the other coaches in a 6 week FLAG Football league... Am I nuts?  Is coaching supposed to be THIS much fun?! I don't know for sure, but I know that when 6:00 pm comes around, I am like Fred Flintstone sliding off the Dinosaur to get out of work & head to the fields to see my RAVENS & watch them light up as they run a successful play...  It's amazing... 


Maybe I will keep coaching in the regular season if everything works out & the planets align.  


I am getting my playlist ready for the drive to the field on Saturday morning... I've downloaded all the cool football music that I can find... I think that I am going to have to raid my kids "ROCK JOCK" & "JOCK JAMS" CD's to get even more music..  LOL...  This is too much.  But what can I say... I'm ready for some football!!!


GO RAVENS!!! & Yes, for my other sons team - GO DOLPHINS * (they might even do better than the actual NFL team)


DOWN! SET! HIKE!!!

(Actual Game Day Footage)

First Game is in the books!

OK, so it's now almost 12 hours since I arrived at the fields and got mentally ready for a game that in so many ways seemed like so much more than just a game.  My first time coaching a flag football team.  My first time coaching my son.  My first time working with an assistant coach whom I just barely met.  My first time in years of feeling parents eyes hovering on me as to whether or not I would make the right choice for their child... 


I'm happy to report that it was a great first game & that the vibe from the parents was really awesome!  It was also nice to have 2 coaches come up to me after the game & tell me how well my team competed.  That made me feel great too.  I have to say that the only down part to today's game was not having my wife, daughter & my oldest son with me to enjoy the game.  It really stinks that the kids were sick & that MOMMY had to be there & not be on the sidelines to enjoy the game with us.  I am sure that there will be other opportunities for them to come down & hear the kids chant, "WHAT TIME IS IT? GAME TIME!!!" 


Today was a really important day for me & overall a fantastic day for the Ravens of NFL Flag Football!


Can't wait to draw up some new plays for next week's double header!


Coach Carlos

First Game

OK - It's Friday night & I just finished my last practice before the teams first Flag Football game.  I have to admit that even though it's been a short practice schedule I've already seen great improvement in these kids.  It's always amazing to me just how quickly kids can pick up plays & ideas.  Man I love football.  I am also blessed to have a great assistant head coach & assistant coaches that are willing to help.  


I am really excited about getting out there early Saturday morning & finally getting those first game jitters out of the way.  I feel like it's going to be a great season.  Another great aspect is that the parents seem to be really behind me & the team.  I mean, a 6 week season may not seem like much, but a bond can be made during that short time.  If all goes well, I want to coach during the regular Flag football season.  


I hope that tomorrow some of the parents will have their camera's out there to take a team picture at the first game & then we'll take another one on the the last day of the season.  It's always fun to see how much the kids grow up during a short time & how much a team can work together.  


I guess what I am trying to say is that I am READY for some football!!!  


Coach Carlos

Practice & the joy of kids

So, today was the First OFFICIAL practice for my Ravens.  It was so much fun.  We still don't have access to the fields but that didn't stop us from having a good time.  The kids did really well & we were only missing 1 kid.  We got to practice basics, warm-ups & go over some of the rules of NFL Flag Football.  I have to admit that I still don't understand them all but I will just go along with it.

The best part was just getting out there with the kids & watching them have fun.  The kids were smiling, laughing & learning the color coded system.  We ran 2 plays over & over... More importantly we practiced getting out of the huddle & on to the line of scrimmage as as team.  Believe me; it's pretty important.

The weather was perfect out there on the fields today & I am so grateful for that.  I am really happy with the 1st practice.  We have a game next week so our Tuesday night practice is going to be really important.  My goal is gonna be pretty simple.  5 offensive plays that the team can run consistently & be able to pull flags on defense.  That's it!

As for me, I just have to get ready & make sure that I do my best with these kids so that everyone of them gets a chance to shine... because in the end, it's all about having fun & learning to play football.  I'm lucky that I have a great support system at home & a great assistant coach.  That makes it more fun for me.

So, I'm going to get my playbook ready for next week & get the mind thinking of a way to teach these kids how to run a flea-flicker.  LOL!!! That should make for some good entertainment.

Coach Carlos

First Meet & Greet

So, New Years Day was a good day for Coach Carlos.  Even though I was sick... Correction, I am STILL sick, but I was well enough to go out & meet some of my team & their parents.  We got to Practice some drills & just wet our feet as a team.  Even though some of my players weren't there, it was still nice to be able to go over my expectations.  It was nice to have my eldest son out there assisting me too.  My assistant coach is great & I am excited to see her running drills as well.  The kids seem very excited to be there and they all smiled when they got their jerseys & go to put on their flags for the first time.  I wish I had a camera to get some shots of them working on their first day.

The parents seemed to enjoy the practice too.  That's when it happened.  Last 3 minutes of practice & my head started to spin & I had to call it short.  The good news is that I have a chance to make this experience a wonderful one for these children and their parents if they participate in practice and really get behind the program.

It was also fun to come home and watch the College games and know that maybe one day some of these kids might be out there playing in a bowl game.

I'm really excited about this opportunity!  Now, if I can just get over this bug & be running on all cylinders next week I'll really be happy!

Coach Carlos