Blogs 27 and 28: My Debate With Mr. K
My Debate with Mr. K
Hello Mr. K, you always tell us to come make a meeting with you if we are confused or unsure about anything having to do with soccer, so here I am. It basically all comes down to why I am not playing. I didn’t make a meeting with you to beg you for more playing time, I just want to know why I am not playing. So, tell me, Mr. K.
Well, when I am putting you out there I don’t see you making a difference for the team.
Okay, what do you suggest I do to make more of a difference out there? I listen to what you say, I work really hard, and I don’t understand why I am not playing more. I want to know concretely what I am doing wrong, or what I can do to do things right.
Well, in practice I just don’t see you working hard enough.
Okay, I am not questioning that, but can you give me an example of what you mean, so that I can have a better idea of what you are talking about.
Yes, for example, at Thursday’s practice, I played you a ball wide and you took a really bad first touch, and earlier in that practice, you gave the ball away about 3 times when we were playing keep away.
Forgive me Mr. K, but don’t you agree that those are only a few mistakes, and that soccer is a game of mistakes, and one of the only ways you can learn is by making mistakes. And everyone makes mistakes, Dominic, Monica, even you make mistakes. Also, if I am not mistaken, you had said that I was not “working hard enough in practice”, and I just don’t feel that these things display that I was not working hard in practice, but simply that I made a few technical errors.
Well, when we were running at Tuesday’s practice, I didn’t feel that you were working hard enough.
Mr. K, I feel that this is a really one time thing, I happened to be tired after working hard in the defensive drill we were doing, and I knew that if I went all out on the first sprint, I would maybe not be able to work hard in all of the others, but, I mean, I wasn’t jogging, I still feel that I was working hard.
Can we go back to my original question? Why aren’t I playing in games, and more importantly, why am I not starting? There are several girls who it is their first year playing on the team, and they start every game, but me, I don’t. Do you think that they are better than me? If so, why? And if it is about the position, I don’t care what position you play me at, just let me play. Do you want to know why I want to play? I’ll tell you, Mr. K, because I want to make a difference for this team, I want to work hard, and I want to make a difference, and to be honest with you, I don’t feel that you are giving me a chance. I don’t think that you are playing me enough to understand me as a player, and I don’t think you trust me. If I seem lost in 30 seconds of the game, boom, you yank me out and don’t put me back in until the last five minutes of the game, Dominic, she is having an off-game, she seems tired, or as the assistant coach put it, she seems like she doesn’t want to play, however, even though both of you keep saying “what’s wrong with Dominic”, “she seems like she doesn’t want to play” for 10 to 15 minutes, you still don’t take her out until like 15 minutes into the game, then the assistant coach takes her aside for a few minutes, and talks to her, and she goes right back in for the rest of the game, with out even putting on her warm ups, but why is it that I, who am trying to sort out what is going on for 30 seconds, get pulled out of the game, and get sat for the rest of the second half, until the last five minutes, why?
Well, Dominic is a very different player than you.
Look Mr. K, I think Dominic is great, what I am trying to get across to you is that I feel that you aren’t giving me a chance to show you what I can do, because if I am a little lost, I get pulled out right away, and sat for the rest of the second half, until the last five minutes. I understand that Dominic is a very different case from me, but, why does it seem like you and the assistant coach are watching my every move, and taking me out as soon as it seems like I am doing something wrong.
That really is not the case.
Very well, Mr. K, explain to me why, from you perspective, I wasn’t playing well enough to be kept in the game, and I will explain to you exactly why this happened.
To be honest, you looked like you were asleep out there, I just can’t have that.
Okay, first of all, I wasn’t asleep, and second of all, the reason I was lost out there was because, our sweeper at this time, was not making it clear to me whether I should be dropping back and marking, or just playing a defensive role in the mid-field. I was trying to listen to her instructions, while you kept yelling at me from the sideline.
Here is something else I want to tell you, I feel that you aren’t seeing the good things that I am doing in the games, but when I do something wrong, you take me out of the game. For example, after Saturday’s game against Culver City, you mentioned one play at the end of the game between Zoe and Sarah, and “if only we could have scored from that beautiful play”. Well, you know what, that was me too. I played it to Sarah, she played it back to me, then I played it to Zoe, who layed it off to Sarah, and then Sarah played it to Zoe again. I started that play and I was waiting for you to say my name, but instead, it seems like you just gave credit to Zoe and Sarah, when the beauty of that play had started with me. I understand that you can’t be expected to remember everything, or credit everyone for everything, but it makes it seem to me that you don’t see the good things that I am doing out there, and instead, you seem to just take me out when I do something wrong.
So, please tell me why I am not playing, and why I am not starting, because I want to make a difference on this team, and I don’t feel that you are giving me a chance.
Well, I don’t know.
Thank you very much Mr. K, I think that concludes our debate.
Exit, Miranda.
(This blog was posted today, Sunday, but it should have been posted yesterday, Saturday, so it is a day late, I am really sorry about this.)
