Twelve months ago I wrote a blog post about how I had travelled a soccer coaching journey to build a boys under 11 team that ended with a State Championship.  It was an amazing experience that enabled those boys to become a successful team with foundations built on hard work and good habits.

This year many of those boys moved to a newly formed age group due to a change in team formation, so they became Bu13 overnight and many migrated with a different set of players to become the Bainbridge Island FC B04 Blue. The desire, work rate, skill and commitment to be the best still remained and grew.  It is especially rewarding to say that they won a State Championship again today.  They instill all the right ingredients that I believe make good soccer players and lead to building good kids.  Those key core values of respect, good manners, good time keeping, pride, passion, hard work, belief and integrity run through all they do.  I therefore could not be more proud that they have won a State Championship by winning all their games and having ZERO goals scored against them.

As a coach you would think that would be enough, but 2017 has a new story.  A new version of the B04 team that came in the guise of the new BU11 and Bainbridge Island FC B06.  This  team have travelled down the same road, gone through the same learning curves and seen  the kids traveling within the Phil Avison coaching philosophy.  Through the summer and fall season they had many learning curves, much building of a team and commencing a journey that led to a State Final today.

The journey that takes months ended with a State Final, but the reality is it was the journey that prepared them for the State Final, that meant they were ready to take on the challenge and be able to feel confident in their skills and abilities to allow themselves to be successful.  It has been amazing to witness. The B06 team became State Champions following a 2-o win today with two goals scored with left footed shots by right footed players, another ingredient of persistence towards development and success.

In August both these teams played in our host tournament (Island Cup) and both finished 2nd, in the fall league season both these teams in their respective divisions finished 2nd, but in the post season their relentless commitment led them both to be State Champion teams.  It is pretty darn amazing.