Details.

A week before I flew to Israel, I decided to do a YouTube search to see if there were any games available to watch from last season. I had already searched my new team’s webpage numerous times, as I always did with a new team, frequently visiting the roster page. In the past, I would make flashcards of the players’ names and faces. While this may seem strange, I spend a lot of time preparing in order to minimize stress. For me, I want to feel like I know the environment I am about to walk into and knowing the names of who I will be working with is one of the ways to help me feel that way. Unfortunately, my new team’s roster was not updated yet and so I decided to turn to game film to help with my preparation.

In Israel, each team is allowed to have five international players on their teams. If an international player has any Jewish roots, then that player would not count towards their total number of international players—a clever loophole to weaponize a team. Having said that, half of the starting line up could be composed of international players. If those international players did not renew their contracts for the following year, then the film I was watching from last year would be useless because I would be playing for a team composed of entirely new players. Nevertheless, what the film would tell me is what the coach is like and what he wants from his team. This is based on the assumption that the coach from the previous year would remain on for the next year, and in my case the coach did renew his contract.

Watching the game film, I could tell right away that this was a coach who valued possession. Every time my team lost possession of the ball, the closest player applied immediate pressure to win the ball back. When they did, I could hear, “pass, pass, pass” yelled from the sideline. My teammates would quickly execute 3, 4, 5 passes to regain possession and control of the game.

In my first few practices in Israel, we worked on passing patterns. played games with 2 touch restrictions. and games that mirrored what I had watched in the YouTube game films. One of the first games we played is a personal favorite and a game I thought was trained over and over again.

There are two boxes, one big box and one small box inside of the big box. Three red players start the play inside of the small box. The three players are trying to maintain possession inside of the small box. If the blue defender wins the ball, they are to connect with the other blue players in the big box. Additionally, if the red players leave the small box, then the blue players can immediately apply pressure to win the ball. Once the blue players win the ball, they are to maintain possession for 20 seconds using the big box as the new playing area. The three red players are now defending trying to disrupt the blue team’s possession. Once the three red players win possession or clear the ball away, the play starts over again back in the small box.

Every coaching point and freeze that my coach made was specific. In one word, my coach wants simplicity. He would question if the flair some players used is to make the player look and feel good or if it was for the benefit of the team. I think that this is a valuable lesson for a lot of players. While there is a time and a place for creativity and for a coach to encourage creativity, this was not the time and place for flair.

While this is only the beginning, it is clear to me that each activity, each practice, is intentional. It is refreshing to see a purpose in what we are doing and how it will be used come game time. This is the style of play and vision that resonates with me as a player and why I am excited to play for this team.