8/19/25

Hi Hannah. I know it is only day 2… Please keep an open mind about what I am going to say in this VERY long message…

We need to think carefully about whether we can really get players across-the-board to understand (and truly buy into) the diamond formation in the next 6 days. (For reference, Nicole, Salice and Quinn have been practicing the formation with other high-level players for the better part of a year! I sensed their concern and a bit of frustration — not with us — about getting this new formation up to speed with the mixed group we have.)

My feeling this afternoon is that we cannot afford another day of players leaving the turf not energized about EHS FH.

They all looked dejected during our talk after the scrimmaging. Never really picked up after that.

I’m not saying that we should not ever pursue the diamond formation. But, I am significantly more uncertain today than I was yesterday that we can successfully make the turn to the diamond formation this year (or at least for the start of the season) with the young group of players we have.

Maybe it will take one more year (and a summer to practice it in summer league). I don’t know.

What I do know is that getting the player energy (and confidence) up during scrimmage time in these last 6 practices before the scrimmage night and the Thomas scrimmage next week is critical.

They need to feel like winners going into those scrimmages. Our players need to be happy, comfortable and competitive in all those games.

In addition to boosting their confidence, a benefit of going back to 4-3-3 is that we can concentrate the next six days on increasing practice intensity — less time talking/explaining and standing around. ALL players (V and JV) doing the same things and working in same direction — all of it familiar, fast and comfortable to them. (Our first hit of low energy today came when I chose to have JV level kids doing a different passing drill than V kids — my mistake).

Also, going back to 4-3-3 could get kids playing faster and more freely in our scrimmaging and give us a clearer assessment of who should be on which team.

In the end, a 4-3-3 system can evolve over the season into our own EHS hybrid version of it that plays to the strengths of keys players, such as Nicole and Salice. That could be a half-way step this season.

Keeping to the 4-3-3 system will also enable us to adhere to a practice plan we can stick to, hitting all the key concepts we need to refresh in the next six days… from Defense corners and Offense corners to 16 yd hits, blocking up, interceptions, dead stops, strong outlet passing, starting ball, side-in plays, 25 yard hits, fast self starts, scrum.

We should add in solid transfer/back passing this year and stress fast one-touch passing in the transition to attack (just as we have been trying to get across in the Diamond formation).

I honestly thought they would embrace the new diamond formation with eagerness and excitement, but that is not at all what I am seeing. I honestly thought it would be a simple transition within two practices. I really, REALLY got all that wrong!

Let me know your thoughts. Thx 😊 AND, one more thought… we KNOW our kids can play a much stronger 4-3-3 than they did last year because they proved it in summer league! They just kept getting stronger, faster and more successful in each game. We need to get back to that energy and confidence.