With five goals and two assists in two games, you could say that Zach Santangelo is off to a decent start. The senior halfback has been knifing through defenses and hitting the holes (Because he’s a halfback. Get it? Because… never mind) and the 2007 All-State selection has propelled New Hyde Park to a 2-0 record.
Through two games, the team has nine goals. But, according to coach Jeff Kaiser, Santangelo is scoring a lot because he isn’t trying too hard to score (There’s a joke to be made there, but it’s family blog).
“He has great field sense,” the coach said. “He can take over a game by keeping the flow.”
Uh-huh. Coach is clearly familiar with the “Wu Wei” teachings of Taoism. The belief, if I recall, is that the wise man knows when to act and when not to; he does without doing and, thus, allows the universe to continue its natural flow.
The Sage is occupied with the unspoken
and acts without effort.
Teaching without verbosity,
producing without possessing…
- Lao Tse (ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher)
Gimme a second, I’ll bring it back to soccer… Producing without possessing is what Santangelo has done. He needn’t ball-hog to score. And instead of the universe maintaining its flow, it’s his team’s offense.
Like that transition?
“He has a great ability to finish, but he also knows where to make the play and where to send the ball,” Kaiser continued. “Zach’s the focus, but that's not his concern. He’s about getting wins. We have 10 guys on the field that are willing to do the same thing and that's why they're good. Teams that are unselfish tend to score a lot.”
Ball movement, kids. That’s what gits'r done.