The following is the first instalment of a 10-part "Diary of a Winning Season." Only the player's names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty!

Friday, March 15, 1996

Hard to believe only 18 days have passed since the first day of tryouts. We've come such a long way. As tryouts go this one was relatively uneventful -- little soul searching and relatively little stress. Making cuts was easier than normal because we had 14 players coming back. At least I didn't put myself in the hospital worrying about it this time!

Last night I had a tough time making a starting line-up for today's game. Everyone played well theng game. I could have left that starting line-up unchanged but I wanted to get Caleb and Glenn playing.

Caleb didn't play at all last game following a suspension from school for fighting. I know the administration questioned whether I should keep him on the team. Delicately the question was raised, "What is Caleb's status on the team?"

“Starting right full back!”

Yes! We like those scrappy players! Caleb will have to watch it though. This is his second suspension for fighting. Seems he has an urge to protect the meek. Not surprising really, his dad being a pastor and all.

Glenn has been a revelation. Another problem child, he was forced to quit the team last year because of poor grades. The first decision was: should we make the effort with him this year? His grades were horrendous at the beginning of the season. He would be allowed to turn out, but not compete. Did he deserve another chance? It became clear that if he didn't play he would just bag school. Stand up and be counted. I went to bat for him. Got good support from the Administration and the Football Coach. Glenn stayed home from our retreat last week to catch up on 6 years of homework.

Grading period review. Miraculously he pulls it off! Straight D's! He's beaming as he shows me his report. I'm so happy for him. And a little relieved. I had meant to have a word with him about 6 weeks before the season when the Athletic Director warned me he wasn't doing well. I didn't get it done. I would have felt badly if he didn't make it.

Question: Glenn is a great kid and a good player. Would you make the same effort for a marginal player that you didn't like? Answer. Probably not. But then, what would I be doing with a marginal player I didn't like on my team?

Anyway it's not my team: it’s our team. That was the point I tried to get over last week at our bonding weekend. Which incidentally, worked out pretty well. Except I thought I might have overdone it on the conditioning prior to breakfast. One or two of the boys were starting to go green around the gills. But they recovered enough to play indoor soccer in the barn during rest period. It was going so well that I cancelled the hike that I had meticulously planned the previous day. Or rather the team did. It was a team vote. And it was a team vote that kept Akeem in the starting line-up after he was late to practice last night. Poor bugger. He missed the team photo after being stranded on the freeway. He was choked about that. He's never previously missed a practice or ever been late. Maybe we can get his picture taken and insert it into the team photo. Or maybe we should just do it over.

Well, with Akeem playing and Dennis moved forward to midfield to accommodate Caleb, I've left out Alan and Greg, neither of whom are happy. Greg scored the goal in Wednesday's 1- 0 win over Kentridge. Alan has a confidence problem. I knew he'd be bothered if I left him out and for that reason I nearly left Dennis at the back and dropped Joe, who is mentally tough. It would have been water off a duck's back if I had left him out.

Practice was a bit frustrating last night. Photos took longer than expected. And I didn't progress Bill and Akeem's striking partnership to any level of sophistication. Both have a lot of speed, but are tactically naive. I've got to be careful with Bill. He's easily frustrated and very sensitive to criticism. He blew up at me last week. Accused me of always picking on him, which I thought was unfair, but I heard him out. I confess he is the hardest player on the team for me to love. Bill's parents are filthy rich and he's spoiled rotten. He's the nearest thing we've got to a cancer on the team. In part, he's played so much because he drives me crazy when he's on the bench. Even when he's just come out he wants to know when he is going back in.

Anyway, team selection made, apart from the goalkeeper. I told both Mike and Jack that the position was up for grabs. The team seem to favor Mike but he wasn't able to make the retreat last week. I've penciled him in for tonight, but he's told me he's got work commitments that he is trying to resolve. What a fine young man. Just come up from the deep South. Got terrific Southern manners. Calls me Sir! We could do with more of that up here if you ask me. But am not sure of his commitment yet.

Speak of the Devil. Mike just called. He's O.K. for tonight. So we're set. I feel very good about our team this year. It's not as good as the team that won the league in '91, but it's the fastest team I've had at Federal Way, and, oh! joy, the most coachable.

Editor’s Note: I’ve read John’s diary from start to finish. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And that you can relate to some of the situations that John had to deal with. Most of my team coaching experience has been at the pro level, but the problem solving that John faced with his high school team is not very different than the pro scene or any other level for that matter.