Double Header! Two Travel Teams Reach Div. 1
Photo: U16 Blue Lightning scored 21 goals in Div. 2
Back at the start of the season, coach Evans Malyi asked his U16 travel players to write a self-evaluation listing their short- and long-term goals. Almost everyone set his immediate sights on seeing the Blue Lightning (photo, right) move up to Division 1. “It was ‘I want to get the team there,’ not ‘I want to play Division 1,’ ” notes Evans, who has coached the Blue Lightning from its NCSL debut in U11 Division 6 to two strong seasons last spring and this fall in Division 2.
That team spirit, plus DC Stoddert Soccer’s emphasis on technical skills and player development, paid off. Last weekend, the Blue Lightning won its final two games to tie the top team, securing a second place finish—and promotion to Division 1.
Evans’s U15 Blue Titans also trooped to Division 2 glory as the second-place finisher and is headed for Division 1. The team scored 25 goals, besting every competitor in the flight, including the first place team’s 18 goals.
The promotions say a lot about the players’ work ethic—and devotion to their teammates. Eight Blue Lightning players, including six starters this season, have remained on the roster since their U11 days. Five of the Blue Titans’ 17-member team have played together since U9. “A majority of the kids have stayed together and committed themselves to he team,” notes Evans. “Even when they had high-school games, they still showed up to practice. They like each other.”
Evans says the fact that the players “stuck with it” is all the “more impressive” given their academic workload and physically demanding high school practices and games. The boys were tired the last few travel games, yet they gave it their all.
Photo: Coach Evans Malyi @ Maryland SoccerPlex, October 2009
Evans attributes this season’s stellar performance to several things. First is spirit. “They are playing because they want to play,” he says. “They believe in each other.” The boys’ deepened commitment to the game shows up in little ways as well, such as watching and following professional soccer teams on TV, if only to tease their coach about his beloved Arsenal. “They’re actually becoming soccer junkies,” marvels Evans. Another contributor to this season’s success were combined practices that helped boost both teams’ skills and sense of camaraderie while providing older role models for the freshmen. Instead of a dreaded routine, “it became, cool, I’ve got to go to practice,” reports Evans. He also gives “a lot of credit to the parents who believed in us and stuck with us, because they had choices” and rebuffed recruitment to higher-ranking suburban teams.
Blue Titan parent Mike Matini credits the coach for changing the team’s culture and creating confident, disciplined and skilled young players. “This team truly flourished under Evans’ guidance,” attests Matini, whose wife, Sheila, is the team’s manager. While conflicts with high-school practices meant the Blue Titans didn’t have many practices as a full team, Evans nevertheless “changed the culture of this team by installing a new philosophy including emphasis on ball possession which was clearly lacking in the past and discipline of showing up early before each game,” continues Matini. “He pretty much used the time before each game to teach them fundamentals and game philosophy and being really active from the sideline correcting each player’s mistakes as they happened.”
Evans considers the dual accomplishments a “big validation” of Stoddert Soccer’s philosophy of developing players’ technical skills and passion for the game, rather than recruiting ringers to win games. “It’s great for [the Blue Lightning] to get to Division 1, because this is the same team who struggled through the lower divisions,” says Evans. “They earned the promotion.” Indeed, Evans notes that many of the teams the Blue Lightning encountered in Division 2 “destroyed us a couple of year ago” because they bigger and stronger. Now that our players have caught up physically, the difference in training and coaching carries the day. “It takes a while, but the Stoddert method does work,” says Evans
Blue Titans parent Matini saw proof of Evans’ coaching philosophy in this season’s outcome. “We started the preseason by losing all of our games in the warm-up tournaments, but even then we all noticed that he was the right man for the job,” he explains. Talking to Evans afterward, “you could feel his confidence in what he had planned and everything started to click by midseason.” For example, “minor stuff” such as switching a few players’ positions “completely changed the looks of the team and utilized our
abilities to the max.” The season’s sluggish 2-2-1 start concluding with four wins, including three away games, in which the Blue Titans outscored their opponents 16 to 2. Concludes Matini: “He has really put the confidence back in this team.”
As thrilled as he is about his teams’ double Division 1 promotion, Evans believes the bigger triumph lies in the enhanced work ethic that will propel his players to the top of their game, be it soccer or life. “There’s no short cut to success. Only hard work will get you there,” says Evans. “Most bought into that and they see the results.” He cites the former rec. player who joined the Blue Lightning at the end of last season, spent the summer improving his ball skills and made an impact on the field this fall. “Once they have that mentality, it will work for the rest of their lives,” says Evans. The ultimate goal, he adds, has never been coaching his teams to Division 1. It’s instilling a lifelong love and appreciation for soccer among young players. “If five to 10 years from now, my players are coaching, or reffing, or still involved in the sport,” says Evans, “I’ll know I did something good.”
by Mary Lord. Posted 11/17/20009
