Julien Caron C.A.S: September 2012

Sunday, 30 September 2012

I scored, we lost

I started off playing as a central midfielder today and that position made me more communicative with my team mates for some reason. I kept on calling for the ball and telling them what options they had. I managed to score, however, it was more of a tap-in. Playing as a central midfielder made me more active, determined and involved so I think next week I will ask to once again start off in that position because I feel very comfortable there.

However, I only played as a midfielder for about 30 minutes since I alternated with two other players for that position. As a defender, I wasn't as communicative as when I was playing midfield but I still did communicate a bit with my team mates. I played for aggressively since our opponents were very physical and I couldn't try to restrict myself since I knew they wouldn't.

We ended up losing 4-2 which is a shame since the first goal we let in was because of a bad catch of our replacement goalkeeper which could have triggered a physiological effect on our game. Personally, I think I should have closed down the attackers faster since they were given too much time to control the ball and pass it on which is how they managed to score 2 other goals. The weakness in our team is our attackers and midfielders since our defence gets the job done most of the time but our attack has a lot of issues scoring goals that is why I will ask to play more often in midfield so that I can help our strikers score more often.

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Losing Streak

We lost 1-0 today against a team we should have defeated but our midfield and attack was too weak to get many chances at goal. Every time we tried to move forward with the ball, our players would try to show off their skill instead of playing simple which is why we found it hard to score. Our defence was the strongest aspect of the team today since we had the most to do.

I played three different roles today; right defence, sweeper and centre midfielder. The reason for all this change was because I told our coach that I wanted to play a more offensive role so I started of being at the side of the defence since that would give me an opportunity to push up now and then. Near the end of the match I switched with one of my team mates to play in midfield since that is a position I really want to try to play in. Tomorrow, I was told I would start midfield and my goal is to find space by looking around myself more often since today I made it hard for my team mates to make a pass to me since my positioning was off. My passing and running was good but it was the positioning that ruined it. As a defender, I was very communicative especially when my brother was at centre defence with me. I told him where to be and what to do so that the opponents couldn't move towards goal. I gave him tips out of my experience so that he would learn something new which could come in handy for him. This helped me become a better communicator and more caring in a sense which is part of the IB learner profile.

My aim for tomorrow is to have at least one shot at goal or assist two people in having a shot on target since that would help me adapt to my new part-time position. I should put my head up more often since most of the time I am not aware of my surroundings. I will try to give tips to my team mates and not just my brother so that we can all improve as a team and win more games.

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Link

Link to video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywNi34simFk&feature=youtu.be

Week 3 - HARDCORE

Before going into what this post is all about I just want to make a quick comment. Some of you may have noticed that I have now put titles on my blog entries and I decided to do that to make my blog more inviting and who doesn't like little cheeky titles.

The video I will post later on will show under what circumstances our team was exposed to this week so I encourage you to watch it even though the quality of image isn't so great because the initial video I has to go through a process which requires to change it's file type which diminishes the quality so I have a question for whoever is reading this; could you please leave a comment and say if you would rather a high quality original video or a mediocre quality video with music and text?

This week I think our team came on top once again and I think I scored at least 5 goals. I think our team did well to communicate with each other to help each other out and keep our team organised and in shape. We kept to our man which is why most of the time the opponents found it hard to score against us. On a personal level, I think my passes should have been more accurate since we lost the ball because of some of my passes and on a small pitch we can't afford to lose possession like that. On a technical level, I think I dribbled well as you will see in the video I dribble 3 players and score. My communication has increased drastically since I made my team mates aware of, for example, which player I was marking and that I was going to get the man on the ball. When it comes to one-on-one physical battles I win some, however, I do lose some as well that is why I can't wait to start swimming in order to gain a bit more upper-body strength so I can mostly always win those battles.

Most of the time I found it hard to breathe maybe because of a lack of fitness so to resolve that issue I am going to try and join the running club on Mondays so that my stamina increases.

Next week, I hope to score once again a minimum of 5 goals and keep our team on a winning streak. My aim is to be more communicative even though this week was a huge improvement and maybe try to pass when I'm near the goal instead of trying to score complex shots.

Questionnaires

Today and yesterday, I volunteered myself to help some Yr 11s with their sociology by answering 5 different questionnaires. I answered with total honesty so that I did my part for their data to be as accurate as possible and I took this very seriously. I also helped some friends who didn't understand the wording of some questions and helped them answer the questions or at least comprehend to a level they could answer the questions themselves. This helped me be more communicative, caring and open-minded. I learnt to collaborate with others but I think I could have been more helpful or at least clearer in my definitions to help my friends. I think I should have taken more time to answer the questionnaires so that they would be as valid as possible.

This is a youtube link to the video of me juggling an apple. It is not very long and you shouldn't expect too much of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkZkbc51WBg&feature=youtu.be

Special thanks to Han Zhang for posting this video on youtube so I could offer this thrilling entertainment to you.

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Today's hope of swimming drowns

Unfortunately, I needed a health certificate which I don't yet have to enter the swimming pool however I will get one on Saturday so that I can access the swimming pool on Wednesday for 45 minutes. This taught me that you have to be prepared and be informed in advance. However, I was reflective upon this and to replace this CAS activity, I decided to play football with an apple so that I could improve my touch and control. I juggled with the apple and was apple to juggle 10 times in a row and do an "around the world" which I hope to post a video of tomorrow along with the weekly Thursday after school video. This helped me improve skills and undertake a challenge I had never tried before. This made me use my imagination and creativity.

Monday, 24 September 2012

Schedule

This is what my schedule for this week will be and it will more or less stay the same for every week until the end of this term since that is when the football season that I take part in during the week-end ends.

On Wednesdays, I will go swimming in a pool near my house which I can easily access by walking. I will be swimming for 45 minutes for now but, gradually, I will be swimming an hour and every week I will try to swim at least two more lengths than the previous week.

On Thursdays, I will play football after school in the league our school has set up. My goal is to help our team to victory every match and support my team mates. My personal goal is to score a minimum of 3 goals every week.

On Saturdays and Sundays ( dates may vary ), I will play football for the expat / Russian league. My aim here is to try to dribble up with the ball occasionally since that is one of my many talents I have in football but I need to practice with it and not restrict myself. However, I am also aiming to increase my communication skills and to be less shy to make my team mates aware off their surrounding which would help them. I will also suggest tactics we might want to employ during a game since holding the role of centre defence requires communication skills and authority.

For service, I plan to help whoever needs help whenever I can e.g. teachers for certain tasks or French students for something they do not comprehend ( inter-connecting with creativity in a way ). My help is always there for people.

International day is coming up and this will play a big part for my C.A.S since it will involve creativity, service and action at the same time and I will do my best to make that day a success.

Sunday, 23 September 2012

Bad Weather, Bad Loss

Today, our team played a match under the rain and lost again a Russian team who had fast and skillful attackers. I think our team didn't pass the ball enough and instead held on it too long which is why we lost it several times. I think I was more communicative today than the other times but didn't go forward enough since I only tried moving up with the ball once. I think I should also call for the ball instead of expecting it to come to me since when I saw that I was open for a back pass I didn't say anything even though my team mate didn't have a lot of open options. If we were more aggressive and offensive we could have put sufficient pressure to have the majority of the possession since the opponents couldn't be able to move with the ball since most of the times they were able to have a shot on goal was because we let them build momentum so it was harder to stop them. Next week, my aim is to go forward at least three times so I can help out the midfielders and attackers and be a more communicative centre defender since, even though I was more communicative today than last week, I wasn't very authoritarian even though my role as the centre of the defence requires that.

Thursday, 20 September 2012

Week 2 Thursday Football

I believe that our team came top this week as well since we were the only team not shouting at each other and actually getting along and playing good collaborate football. Personally, I think I should have put my head up more often during games since most of the times, when I was on the ball, I wasn't very aware of my surrounding which is why I think I lost the ball more times than I had to. I tried dribbling with the ball since that was one of my aims and I was mostly successful with that, however, sometimes my touch was too heavy so I had difficulties controlling the ball. Instead of going for goal, I should first look if there is one of my team mates available and who has a better chance of scoring than me since this is a team sport and to win games we have to play as a team. Next week, I will aim to score at least 3 goals since this week I think I was only able to bury 2 shots into the back of the net. I will try to be more aware of the people around me by putting my head up so that I can look for a pass quickly making our team play more fluid.

Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Translator

One of our teacher was attempting to talk to one of our students in his second language which he isn't fully comfortable using therefore I was asked to aid them since this student spoke french which is my mother-tongue. I helped for any translations which had to be made in order for the student to understand what was going to happen related to his EAL lessons. I think I could have been more clearly when I translated to french because at times I confused myself with what I was trying to say but that is a result of me being a bit rusty in my own native language considering I don't use it most of the day. This made me realise that I needed more practice with my french therefore I will try to use it more often. Communication was the key here and I think this challenge increased my ability to do so and not be so reserved and quiet.

Future Form Tutor?

Our form tutor had to go to a meeting this morning during our registration so I was given charge to hand out letters to my fellow students and take a register of who was present and who wasn't. I waited for the time to be 8.50 exactly to take the register so I wouldn't mark anyone absent or late before it was official. I also waited for everyone to be in the classroom in order to hand out letters to everyone in the room. This was a whole new challenge for me since I had never done such a thing before but I think I handled the situation well even though I had it sprung up at me suddenly. I developed a new skill with this experience, a one of patience and organisation.

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

The top goal scorers for Thursday after school football

Creative Wall Decoration

Today, I helped friends put some pictures on the wall of our Physics room in order to make it look more lively and attractive. I helped out by giving the pictures to the person standing on the chair stapling. I also helped staple some pictures to contribute to what we were doing a bit more. I gave some advice as to where about on the wall we should place the pictures since the person stapling couldn't always see where was the best position to place the pictures. I think we should have had more than one person stapling so that the process would go faster and already have cut out strips that were used to connect the description to the picture. Not all of us were doing something since at times one of us had nothing to do which is a loss of efficiency on our part. We could have taken more time in planning where we wanted to place things since the wall looked very slightly messy with all the lines connecting the description and picture.

Mr Short's Physics class with the new pictures

Monday, 17 September 2012

Who said you can't have fun with no opponent?

Yesterday, my team was scheduled to have a football match but the fact that the opposite team wasn't here was problematic. That is why we came up with the idea, instead of just kicking a football into an empty net, that we would play against each other on a smaller pitch.

We divided each other into two teams of six with me as one captain and my brother as the other. I decided to get three other defenders on my team and one attacker so that the opposition would have a lot of troubles getting passed us; and I was right since at the end we scored so many that we lost track of the score.

Physically, I was suffering from a hip injury that stopped me from running long distances but I tried my best to have little sprints to help out my team. I mostly stayed at the back since I knew I couldn't run back fast enough to help my team mates if I decided to go up front. Since it would just a simple match against friends I decided to use as much skill as possible so that I would build the confidence to use those moves again in other matches. That all paid off since I kept on dribbling so many of my opponents that they started to get mad at me since they couldn't get the ball off me. It was the most fun I had in a long time since I got to have fun with friends and also get closer to them since we hadn't really properly bonded before. I think that at times I might have dribbled too much and should have passed it instead to my team mates since I can imagine how annoying it is to have a player keeping the ball all the time but I only started doing this when our victory was obvious. I think that I improved my confidence and developed new skills yesterday and I hope to be able to use these skills next week during a real match.

Saturday, 15 September 2012

Beat the English

Today we had a football match against an English team whom we defeated by a significant margin. I played centre defence as oppose to my normal position, left back. My partner at centre back and I communicated well together so it was hard for the opposition to get past our defence which is one of the reasons we were successful today. I made sure I had his back when he attacked the ball so that in case the opponent gets past him I can be there to kick it away and visa versa. I gave tips to my younger brother who was playing with us out of experience and I made him aware of the players around him so he could act from that. We played very well as a team but I think we should have played the ball more out wide instead of channelling the play through the middle since it gave us difficulties to get close to the goal that is why most of our shots were outside the penalty box and weren't always on target. I think that I, personally, should have at times just cleared the ball away from our half instead of playing it too smart e.g. instead of trying to let the ball just roll out, I should have just cleared it since when I tried to do that I lost possession. Compared to Thursdays after school, I feel that my stamina is better but that might just be because there is more fresh air outside so it is easier to breathe. Tomorrow we will have another match and I think I should try out some new tricks when I move upwards to try and improve my skills and so that I get used to them enough to apply them several times during a game. Maybe I should also try to push up front more often and help the midfielders since as a defender I see the options we have at the sides clearer, therefore when I get the ball I can spread the play out to the wings.

Thursday, 13 September 2012

Week 1 - The Start

13/09/12

The football season at school properly started today and I was putin a team with pupils from a variety of year groups. Unfortunately, our goalkeeper didn't make an appearance so we had to take turns in goal. I scored atotal of 6 or 7 goals and made some assists. I think this week I was more braveto go up and help the attackers which is why we won most of our games since weattacked and defended as a team efficiently. We set a man-mark in order to keepthe attackers at bay. We passed the ball around well and got on well as a teamwhilst other teams had some arguments. I think that our team will do well alongthe season since we have the mentality of a team and we play well as one aswell. Personally, I think I should have communicated a bit better, e.g. to callfor the ball or tell someone to mark one of the attackers, I was a bit toosilent and I think that is why we let some goals in; because of a lack ofcommunication between us. My fitness level was better than last week so I wasable to endure the matches better. Next week, I will start being more active incommunicating with my team mates in order to know what is happening around usand so we can be more effective defensively and offensively.

Football 101

12/09/12

Today I taught a basic new skill tothree other pupils; to be able to kick a football into a goal well-enough to beable to score a goal. Considering that sports day will be coming up, it seemedto me like a good idea to give tips to others in a sport they will be involvedin so that they can do well in it. I taught them different type of shots youcan make and what kind of body positions you have to be in to make the balltake the direction you want it to e.g. lean back to kick it high or leanforward to kick it low. I also taught them to use the inside of their foot andtheir laces (front of their foot) and what effects it has on the shot i.e.using the inside of your foot will guarantee more accuracy but less powerwhilst your laces will create a more powerful but less accurate shot. Toimprove on the teaching I think I should have thought through what I was goingto say more thoroughly and explained more clearly since at times I think what Isaid was confusing and hard to understand but I tried to explain throughexample which was a good idea. I also think I should have been better preparedmentally since I wasn’t totally sure on what I wanted to do and I only decidedat the last minute when it was my turn to teach a skill. I let the other pupilshave a try at shooting having in mind what I showed and taught them and then Itried to give them tips that I use so that their shots are more accurate e.g.when you use the inside of your foot aim for the post to the side of the footyou are using (for example, if you are right footed aim for the right-handpost) so that it curls back towards the goal and your shot is on target.

Not the best start

08/09/12

The football season for expats juststarted for us and we played against a Russian team whom we lost 5-3 against.We should have spread out the ball more and played the ball faster instead oftrying to dribble through the opponent. I should try to go up front more oftenand try to help the midfield and attackers to move forward since I'm good atdribbling and fast enough to be able to dash along the wing and cross it in orsomething like that. However, I think I would have marked the opponent betterand stopped them from getting a shooting opportunity since they scored twicebecause no one stopped them from shooting. Next week, I will try to be lessafraid to go up even though I'm a defender and try to support the offensiveplayers so that we have more chances at goal. I will also mark my players moreeffectively so that they don't have the chance to build momentum with the ball.

Selections

06/09/12

There was aselection training session today for football after school which I came to takepart in like every year because football is my major sport. There were a lot ofnew faces in the group and we were divided into 3 teams. My team included onenew player to this session and I tried to give him the opportunity to show hisskills in order for him to be able to participle every week here since he hasthe potential to be a skilful individual and also a good team player.Personally, I think my fitness was low since I found it hard to breathethroughout most of the games when I had a few sprint. After the summer it isn’tsurprising such a thing would occur since I didn’t focus on physical exerciseduring this period of time. To solve this issue, I will go to the gym duringweekends in order to keep my fitness and stamina level where it should be; at ahigh standard. On the technical side of the football, I kept my head high to bemore aware of what was happening around me and I focused more on being a teamplayer rather than being a one man team since the sport isn’t about oneindividual but rather a team as a whole.