Areas of improvement

As an out of shape beginner, I've found that I need to improve in several areas. Some I can work on at the gym or at home: endurance, fitness, and running with the ball.

Others require playing more: game awareness, reaction time, and positioning.

There is one more class, which I think requires actual team practice rather than more game play or gym time: dribbling, ball skills, and tackling.

For instance, I can execute a Maradona spin move at moderate pace on my front lawn, but I have trouble with basic cuts under game type pressure.



Finding a practice group is much harder than finding a game. I've been unable to arrange a practice time with my team. Part of that is time commitment and part of it is due to the expense of finding a practice space in the winter. My attempts to "be an extra body at practice" with some of the teams from a very organized region wide adult league also failed. That leaves adult clinics.

These are a sorry state in my neck of the woods. There are at least two women's only clinics within driving distance (ok, one would be a bit of a drive). There is also one half-assed coed clinic about 75 minutes away, but that is the subject of a future rant.