Ella’s letter

Here's the picture of what you're building this season.

Your stick skills on your strong side are genuinely good — the dribble, the forehand, the clean touch. That's a real foundation, and it's the part that takes the longest to build. You already have it. So let's be clear about what this season is actually about: it's not your open stick. That's good. It's about becoming a complete, two-sided player — one a defense can't take away by just forcing you one direction — through your reverse stick, receiving on the move, and reading the field.

• Your open-stick work is genuinely clean. The dribble and the forehand are ahead of your age.
• You compete and you work — the engine's there, and you'll grind the boring wall reps.
• You're coachable, which is why your reverse stick is starting to come along.
• Defenders can't just force you one way anymore, and that changes everything about how they have to guard you.

Commit to your reverse stick, even when it feels clumsy. Right now defenders force you to your left because they know you can't do anything there — and that takes away half the field before you even get the ball. The second your reverse stick is real, that whole plan stops working, and the field opens up. Do the reverse-stick wall work, and in games, when they force you left, play out of it instead of panicking back to your right. It'll be ugly for a while. Ugly reps now are what make it automatic later. A two-sided player is twice as hard to guard.

The wall work, the reverse-stick reps, receiving on the move, scanning before the ball comes — none of it is glamorous, and the reverse stick is going to feel awkward for a while. It doesn't feel like it's adding up. It is. The midfielder who controls games next season is the one who did the boring two-sided work this year. You already have the stick skills. This season is about the pieces that make you complete. Keep going.