U12 DA THE LANIER SOCCER ASSOCIATION U12 DA (DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY) TEAM, coached by Henry Rohde and Diego Vacca, has been together for three to four years. Rohde says the team’s playing style varies. “We have very technical players who like passing, but we also have direct players who like to go forward,” Rohde says. “Passing has been a great emphasis this season as we need to become dominant in this area. We are strong in the defensive area, but we must improve in certain areas, such as high balls.” Rohde says the team’s main motivation comes from the game itself. “Our boys just like playing the game. This is what motivates them. We have been coaching them on setting more specific goals so their motivation does not diminish if the results don’t go as well.” Along those lines, the team does set goals for success. “For the first part of the season, (the goal) was to experience a new league and understanding the goal of the Development Academy system. It was a bit hard for them to know that winning was not the main goal. “For the second part of the season, we played a much better soccer. Our goal was to improve the areas we struggled with during the beginning of the season. For example, consistency on our playing style, finishing our goal opportunities, and to be a more balanced team, defensively and offensively,” Rohde explains. He says the team is close; most of them know each other from school or due to living in a small community. “During practice, they challenge each other — which motivates their learning. And during games they work for each other,” Rohde says. This year brought some changes for the team. “This has been our first year in the Development Academy, which in itself has been an exciting step. We have had the opportunity to play really competitive and strong teams like Concorde Fire and Atlanta United,” Rohde says. “We have also had both of our goalkeepers invited to the US national training centers, which speaks volumes of our Goalkeeper Academy. One of our players, Ramon Aguilar, scored 27 goals — which put him in second place in the Georgia conference for U12 DA teams.” When asked what he would brag about if given the chance, Rohde says, “First of all, we are a family and family stays together — and this is what the boys know. Regardless of the result, we will stay together and work. We might not be a big club, but we have a big heart and we will work hard to get better regardless of the results.”