The u16A team has been through a lot, both mentally and physically these past few weeks, and all I can say is I am massively proud of them to have pulled through such a difficult period with a smile on their faces and with such determination to sort themselves out against Bishops.

The pressure from not winning has been huge from all parties involved with the team, and it has been difficult to maintain a positive mindset under these circumstances. I will be the first to admit that losing the Rondebosch game ensured that for the following week I was rather a grumpy coach, which made it hard to remain positive for the upcoming match. Losing does that, as sport doesn’t build character, it exposes it.

What impressed me with the boys was how they responded to training after the Rondebosch defeat, for I decided not to coach them on Tuesday, instead letting them make their own training plans and to coach themselves on aspects of the game they felt needed work on. It was a hugely interesting exercise for me to see how much they have developed as a unit, because most coaches will tell you that letting 15 sixteen year olds run the show can become messy! However they ran a disciplined effort, ensuring most drills were completed without anyone fooling around. I can be picky and say the intensity was not as good as I like but I won’t…

The idea behind this was that I believed they already had all the necessary tools in order to be successful, they only needed to execute what they knew. As a coach I mother duck them massively, ensuring no stone is unturned, but I felt that the players were not taking responsibility for their own destiny and as such they were stalling. Players at some point need to run the team, as it is they that play the game. Coaches facilitate this process and give guidance and leadership, but the best kind of leadership comes from the players themselves. Once the boys realise that, how they play, and what they want to achieve is in their hands alone, no one can force them to play harder or desire the sweet taste of victory more, its all down to them.

Thus an interesting week came to an end, where the players took the Tuesday and Friday practices by themselves, ensuring that the game against Bishops would determine how strong the team were mentally.

This difficult period either makes or breaks teams, and I definitely feel that the boys have come out stronger because of it. You can have all the preparation, the team spirit, the tactics and the dreams, but if you don’t play every match to the best of your capabilities, you will lose games in this league. The team have lost a few games by very small margins, and the deciding factor in games is often how much you are willing to fight for the victory. This lesson I feel has been learnt and I feel they will now put their foot down in the last 4 games and give the opposition a good fight.

Paul Roos will prove to be a good measure of how far this team has come, the boys are determined to put in a worthy performance, and if they all play for 60 mins, putting their every effort into the game, I think a certain team will be surprised at what they can do if they put their minds to it.