Cape Coral August 3rd- Our U9 Boys ended last weekend at the 3v3 Nationals in Orlando on the 3rd place in the Silver Bracket. Coach Ronald wrote a recap about the tournament.
First day at the Nationals
On the 1st day at the Nationals we played 2 games. The first one was not that good, unfortunately we lost, but after that slow start we showed again what we were able to. We played defensively very good, because we had good pressure on our opponent. With that mentality we won the second game with 9-3. One loss and one win at our first day.
After our win against Lehigh we went back to our resort. The coaches played some Cronhole against the parents and the kids played in the swimming pool. We ended up the first day with a Fifa Tournament on the PlayStation.
Second day at the Nationals
The 2nd day we played 2 games. We knew after the first day that these opponents were the strongest in our bracket. The first one we started bad. We were losing 6-3 but in the last 5 minutes, thanks to a good mentality, we came back to 6-6 and tied the game. The last game that we played was against PST South (they ended up second in the golden division). We lost that one 9-5 against a very strong opponent. After this day we knew that we had to play in the silver bracket.
In the afternoon we had a team activity in the swimming pool and we ended the day with a great cook out and miniature golf.
Third day at the Nationals
The quarter final in the silver bracket was our best game of the tournament. We won that one 11-2. We played phenomenal with good passing and very good pressure too. By this win we qualified for the semi-finals. After a very bad first half we were losing 8-2 against a team from Miami. So we had nothing to lose anymore, gave everything we had and came back to a 10-8. So a very good comeback, but the distance in the first half was unfortunately already too big.
Losing in the semi-finals meant for us that we had to play for the 3rd place. We played Elite FC and after a very good game we won well deserved with 11-6 and ended on a 3rd place in the silver bracket!
What a tournament
This whole 3v3 experience was great! We have been working with each other for 2 months and I've seen the players growing in this little time. Tactical, technical and mentally. At the Nationals we didn't play every game well, but you could see what we have been practicing on. A lot of people who were not from Dutch Lions, like coaches from other teams, were very positive about the way we played and presented ourselves. The biggest compliment that we got from the coach of our opponent in the quarter finals was: ''You guys make this game beautiful.'' That says all about our intentions. Also the time we spend together at the hotel as coaches, parents and kids was amazing and we really enjoyed it!