Soccer Cheers by Bruce LindsayThis year I’m coaching a City Representative (Rep) team for the first time. I’ve been a soccer coach for 10 years, but always in House League soccer. That league wasn’t very competitive.
This league is.
All the girls on my team were great house-league players. These were the girls whose names you would see in the paper for scoring goals and winning games if you ever looked. But I’m coaching the B team. There is an A and a B team. The A team’s coach had first choice of all the girls who tried out. He took the tall ones, the best athletes; the best of the best; the pick of the crop. We have the others. Good players, but short or skinny or just less aggressive and a little timid. The B team is a development team, or a reserve team. In short, we’re not expected to do very well.
We had a tournament a couple weeks ago and lost all 4 games. We had our first game of the season last night and lost it too.
The Rep league is professional. I have a uniform now and the girls have 2 uniforms (home and away) complete with different colored socks, jerseys and all. They have warm up sweat-suits and practice jerseys and matching back-packs, all first class stuff. There is much more red-tape. Each girl and coach has a book – like a passport, to prove they are eligible to play in the game. Large fines are given to teams that play ineligible players.
Players and coaches sit on one side of the field; the parents and family sit on the other. Nobody is allowed on the goal sidelines. Players have warm up time. They shake hands with the coaches of the other team before the games. They shake hands with all the parents after the games. But the coolest thing about Rep soccer is the cheering.
“ALL YOU PEOPLE IN THE STANDS! LET ME HEAR YOU CLAP YOUR HANDS!
CLAP CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP CLAP-CLAP-CLAP-CLAP CLAP-CLAP
NOW THAT YOU’VE GOT THE BEAT! LET ME HEAR YOU STOMP YOUR FEET!
STOMP STOMP STOMP-STOMP-STOMP STOMP-STOMP-STOMP-STOMP STOMP-STOMP
NOW THAT YOU’RE IN THE GROOVE! LET ME SEE YOUR BODY MOVE!
GO CITY! GO CITY! GO CITY! WHOOOOO!”
The girls made up that cheer and they do before each game. It gets them pumped up and ready to go. There’s a little girl named Nicole who is always making up more cheers and all the girls are ready to learn more and more. Part of the fun is to out-cheer the other team and to shout your head off.
In the tournament, we lost the first game about 6-0. The game was closer than the score. It was only 2-0 until the last 10 minutes of the game. But the next game we lost 11-0. That is losing UGLY!
In that game, when the score was already about 10-0, Nicole came off the field as a new shift went on. Then she started to make up cheers.
“WE’RE NUMBER 1! NOT 2, NOT 3, NOT 4!
WE’RE GONNA WIN! NOT LOSE, NOT TIE THE SCORE!”
And then:
“WE’RE NUMBER 1! NOT NUMBER 2!
WE’RE GOING TO KICK YOU IN THE WOOOOOO!”
The other team is sitting only 20 meters away and I could see them looking at her like she was from another planet. I know they were thinking, “Don’t you understand this game? WE’RE KILLING YOU!”
But something about Nicole’s relentless cheering made the game fun and exciting. The other girls picked it up and we played better. We only gave up 1 goal in the last 10 minutes.
“HEY! HEY! MAROON!
HEY! HEY! MAROON!
WE’RE GOING TO BEAT THE GREEN TEAM
AND WE’RE GOING TO DO IT SOON!
HEY! HEY! WHITE!
HEY! HEY! WHITE!
WE’RE GOING TO BEAT THE GREEN TEAM
AND WE FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”
The next game we played better. We lost only 1-0. In the final game we finally got a goal. We lost 5-1. But getting a goal made us all feel like we won. The cheers kept coming and they played their hearts out.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
LISTEN TO THE DRUMMING. LISTEN TO THE DRUMMING.
WE’RE GOING TO HIT THEM SO FAST THEY WON’T SEE IT COMING!
LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM. LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM.
WE’RE GOING TO HIT THEM SO HARD THEY WON’T KNOW WHAT HIT’ EM.
It occurred to me that the reason the cheering helps is not just that it improves your team spirit and makes playing more fun, but it’s also simple encouragement! We all need encouragement. But especially when you’re short, skinny, less aggressive, a little timid, and you’re being pushed around and bullied by a team of 5 foot monster-girls.
I have a talk I always give to players who are acting timid. I talk about how they need to act like an 800-pound Gorilla. They need to move more like a gorilla and even growl like one. This actually helps. The girls move more to the balls of their feet with their knees bent and their hands lower. This ‘set’ position is great for goal-tending but also for other players. It will take time, practice and encouragement for our team to be able to compete though. In the meantime, cheering will help.
I made up a cheer before our first league game. I knew we’d need it. We did. Here it is. (Shout it out in a Gorilla voice and jump around in a circle when you shout it.)
TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT
AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!
PETERBOROUGH PETERBOROUGH PETERBOROUGH PETERBOR-
AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!
WE’RE NUMBER 1! NOT NUMBER 2. WE’RE GONNA KICK YOU IN THE WOOOOO!
AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!
AAA-OOH! GO PETERBOROUGH!
We lost the game 17-0. But the girls were all walking back to their cars cheering, “AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!”
They still had fun!
That’s the power of cheers. That’s the power of encouragement.
There’s a commercial, where a woman’s chocolate bar got stuck in a vending machine. She was going to give up and walk away, but then a man behind her began to cheer for her.
In that game, when the score was already about 10-0, Nicole came off the field as a new shift went on. Then she started to make up cheers.
“WE’RE NUMBER 1! NOT 2, NOT 3, NOT 4!
WE’RE GONNA WIN! NOT LOSE, NOT TIE THE SCORE!”
And then:
“WE’RE NUMBER 1! NOT NUMBER 2!
WE’RE GOING TO KICK YOU IN THE WOOOOOO!”
The other team is sitting only 20 meters away and I could see them looking at her like she was from another planet. I know they were thinking, “Don’t you understand this game? WE’RE KILLING YOU!”
But something about Nicole’s relentless cheering made the game fun and exciting. The other girls picked it up and we played better. We only gave up 1 goal in the last 10 minutes.
“HEY! HEY! MAROON!
HEY! HEY! MAROON!
WE’RE GOING TO BEAT THE GREEN TEAM
AND WE’RE GOING TO DO IT SOON!
HEY! HEY! WHITE!
HEY! HEY! WHITE!
WE’RE GOING TO BEAT THE GREEN TEAM
AND WE FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”
The next game we played better. We lost only 1-0. In the final game we finally got a goal. We lost 5-1. But getting a goal made us all feel like we won. The cheers kept coming and they played their hearts out.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
LISTEN TO THE DRUMMING. LISTEN TO THE DRUMMING.
WE’RE GOING TO HIT THEM SO FAST THEY WON’T SEE IT COMING!
LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM. LISTEN TO THE RHYTHM.
WE’RE GOING TO HIT THEM SO HARD THEY WON’T KNOW WHAT HIT’ EM.
It occurred to me that the reason the cheering helps is not just that it improves your team spirit and makes playing more fun, but it’s also simple encouragement! We all need encouragement. But especially when you’re short, skinny, less aggressive, a little timid, and you’re being pushed around and bullied by a team of 5 foot monster-girls.
I have a talk I always give to players who are acting timid. I talk about how they need to act like an 800-pound Gorilla. They need to move more like a gorilla and even growl like one. This actually helps. The girls move more to the balls of their feet with their knees bent and their hands lower. This ‘set’ position is great for goal-tending but also for other players. It will take time, practice and encouragement for our team to be able to compete though. In the meantime, cheering will help.
I made up a cheer before our first league game. I knew we’d need it. We did. Here it is. (Shout it out in a Gorilla voice and jump around in a circle when you shout it.)
TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT TO THE LEFT
AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!
PETERBOROUGH PETERBOROUGH PETERBOROUGH PETERBOR-
AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!
WE’RE NUMBER 1! NOT NUMBER 2. WE’RE GONNA KICK YOU IN THE WOOOOO!
AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!
AAA-OOH! GO PETERBOROUGH!
We lost the game 17-0. But the girls were all walking back to their cars cheering, “AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH! AAA-OOH OOH-OOH-OOH!”
They still had fun!
That’s the power of cheers. That’s the power of encouragement.
There’s a commercial, where a woman’s chocolate bar got stuck in a vending machine. She was going to give up and walk away, but then a man behind her began to cheer for her.
“GO LADY GO!
SHAKE THAT THING!
COME ON!
YOU’VE GOT TO GET IN THERE AND FIGHT!
YOU CAN DO IT! GO-GO-GO!”
The woman began pushing the vending machine and bumping it with her hips, rocking it and slamming it. Finally the chocolate bar fell out. She picked it up in triumph and held it high. The man was cheering now and clapping.
Do you know someone who is down? Is there a job that seems too difficult for them? Why not make up a cheer to help them make it through. Help them get it done!
Here’s one for my wife…
COME ON GIRL! I LOVE YOU FONDLY!
LET ME SEE YOU FOLD THAT LAUNDRY!
GOOOOOO DANA!
And she can shout for me…
LETS GO BRUCE! YOU’VE GOT THE POWER!
CLEAN THE BATHROOM AND THE SHOWER!
GOOOOO BRUCE!
Do you know someone who is down? Is there a job that seems too difficult for them? Why not make up a cheer to help them make it through. Help them get it done!
Here’s one for my wife…
COME ON GIRL! I LOVE YOU FONDLY!
LET ME SEE YOU FOLD THAT LAUNDRY!
GOOOOOO DANA!
And she can shout for me…
LETS GO BRUCE! YOU’VE GOT THE POWER!
CLEAN THE BATHROOM AND THE SHOWER!
GOOOOO BRUCE!
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Thanks Bruce...
~ Murray Lincoln ~
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