'07 High School Soccer #2

http://highschoolsports.net/defaultinde ... ate_abb=MA

I have gone to MIAA rules and I can't get a clear sense of this so I will ask you all,

My daughter - Sophomore JV was told that there is a new rule that allows Seniors on Varsity Roster the ability to play up and down on Varsity and JV. Is this true? Is Varsity based on Grade of school, i.e. always thought if you were a Senior you could only play Varsity? Is the intenion to allow non Seniors flexibility going up and down? If so, any restrictions? Can you play JV one half then go play Varsity other half? How does this impact JV kids who never know when and if a Varsity player will come down and play over the JV kid who has been practising and playing on JV. I know JV can be pulled up but if the roster that flexible on both ways? Any age issues involved? Any insight or clafication would be very helpful...

[MASoccer]

http://highschoolsports.net/defaultindex.cfm?state_abb=MA

Schedules are listed here, but results are not always posted.

I was at the Rivers/Sudbury scimmage yesterday. The LS goalie was awesome. She must have made 5 amazing saves including on a penalty shot. Rivers won 2 - 1 and, although I'm biased, I thought they outplayed LS. LS actually scored the first goal late in the game and surprisingly went into a stall which along with LS coach's very enthusiastic reaction to their goal, woke Rivers up to quickly score two goals to win.

A game in which both teams took turns in control of the play. Rivers was tactically superior in this game. LS seemed content to kick the ball up rather than possess it, thus they were not able to sustain any offensive pressure to speak of. Rivers had a strategy for corners, LS boomed the ball through the box but could have taken advantage of a very sagging Rivers defense and an incredible amount of open space on the perimeter.
LS midfield sluggish in transition and support. Rivers generated a lot more pressure on LS defense which made many initial stops but didn't back each other up effectively. LS goalie was great. Scrimmages in part allow good coaches the opportunity to identify problems and to make adjustments and LS can easily improve on their performance. I saw no "stall" tactics which would be unusual in a scrimmage. The LS coach was certainly exuberant and but I question the effect it had on the games outcome.

Duxbury @ Marshfield

Marshfield 1- Duxbury 1

Duxbury has a new coach and started a very young team that featured 7 sophomores. Duxbury opened the scoring in the 9th minute. A cross from the right resulted in a goal mouth scramble where the was poked home from close range. The game remained very even with physical play from both sides. Most of the game was played in the midfield. Half time score 1-0 Duxbury.

Marshfield came out strong in the 2nd half. They won a ball at midfield and sent it out wide right where the ball was blasted past a diving Duxbury GK in the 10th minute. The game remained physical with one yellow card issued to Marshfield late in the game. Duxbury came close to taking the lead on a corner kick and then on a direct kick, but, the game ended as a 1-1 tie.

I was at the Rivers/Sudbury scimmage yesterday. The LS goalie was awesome. She must have made 5 amazing saves including on a penalty shot. Rivers won 2 - 1 and, although I'm biased, I thought they outplayed LS. LS actually scored the first goal late in the game and surprisingly went into a stall which along with LS coach's very enthusiastic reaction to their goal, woke Rivers up to quickly score two goals to win.

A game in which both teams took turns in control of the play. Rivers was tactically superior in this game. LS seemed content to kick the ball up rather than possess it, thus they were not able to sustain any offensive pressure to speak of. Rivers had a strategy for corners, LS boomed the ball through the box but could have taken advantage of a very sagging Rivers defense and an incredible amount of open space on the perimeter.
LS midfield sluggish in transition and support. Rivers generated a lot more pressure on LS defense which made many initial stops but didn't back each other up effectively. LS goalie was great. Scrimmages in part allow good coaches the opportunity to identify problems and to make adjustments and LS can easily improve on their performance. I saw no "stall" tactics which would be unusual in a scrimmage. The LS coach was certainly exuberant and but I question the effect it had on the games outcome.

There was definitely a stall tactic at the end which upset the Rivers' girls. In addition, the girls were not happy when the LS coach got overly excited when they scored their goal. It was perceived as over the top. The girls were surprised that she didn't get as excited and loud about the great saves made by the LS goalie. They thought it was poor sportsmanship displayed by a coach in a scrimmage.

If the LS coach had been a man no one would have expected anything different. Grow up.

[onthree]

It's always interesting to hear different perspectives of a shared experience. In my world, the relationship between Rivers and L-S is quite friendly, so it saddens me to hear that recognition of outstanding moments is perceived of as unsportsmanlike. It intrigues me to hear that the public praise of our goalkeeper, who deservedly received such praise more than once during play the other day, went unnoticed by some.

However, I may have learned something: Praise from the sideline might spark the opponent's drive. I will certainly mull that one over during this season; while I appreciate our opponents, I don't wish to help them in their efforts against us! Still, it would take much convincing to get me to stop my commitment to public praise. I've heard enough sideline bellowing, berating players for mistakes, to last a lifetime. Perhaps total silence is golden? I'll think about it.

[Guest]

I have gone to MIAA rules and I can't get a clear sense of this so I will ask you all,

My daughter - Sophomore JV was told that there is a new rule that allows Seniors on Varsity Roster the ability to play up and down on Varsity and JV. Is this true? Is Varsity based on Grade of school, i.e. always thought if you were a Senior you could only play Varsity? Is the intenion to allow non Seniors flexibility going up and down? If so, any restrictions? Can you play JV one half then go play Varsity other half? How does this impact JV kids who never know when and if a Varsity player will come down and play over the JV kid who has been practising and playing on JV. I know JV can be pulled up but if the roster that flexible on both ways? Any age issues involved? Any insight or clafication would be very helpful...

I don't know the MIAA ruling on this, but our high school, both boys and girls have consistently had seniors on the JV team. It used to be that schools themselves had "rules" stating that seniors (out of respect for school year) played varsity, but that seems to be done away with.

It is my understanding that anyone can be double rostered, but they are supposed to play one game or the other. We've had players play up or down on individual games, but again I believe they have to play one or the other, not half of each. Since we play at separate fields it would be impossible to handle it that way.

Thanks. I am not sure it's a good thing though.

I know competion amongst players for position can be good but how does it benefit the true JV player trying to learn, get better to "make varsity"? If at this point in a Seniors career he/she is not consistently "good" enough where is the benefit to send a SR up and down to JV. I am only speaking to Seniors only not JV playing up.

Thanks. I am not sure it's a good thing though.

I know competion amongst players for position can be good but how does it benefit the true JV player trying to learn, get better to "make varsity"? If at this point in a Seniors career he/she is not consistently "good" enough where is the benefit to send a SR up and down to JV. I am only speaking to Seniors only not JV playing up.

All high school sports are in the process of moving more toward a participation philosophy. Ob esity and lack of physical exercise is rampant in our society. At the same time, physical education or free play in the form of recess for younger grades is being cut back or eliminated all together. School systems are trying to compensate by offering more extra curricular sports opportunities. In their opinion it is better for the senior to play JV then to worry whether a freshman or sophomore is being "developed" for the varsity team. Of course, some schools are more "progressive" than others. Many schools still carry the rule that if you haven't made the varsity team by junior year, you shouldn't get to play at all.

[MASoccer]

I have gone to MIAA rules and I can't get a clear sense of this so I will ask you all,
My daughter - Sophomore JV was told that there is a new rule that allows Seniors on Varsity Roster the ability to play up and down on Varsity and JV. Is this true? Is Varsity based on Grade of school, i.e. always thought if you were a Senior you could only play Varsity? Is the intenion to allow non Seniors flexibility going up and down? If so, any restrictions? Can you play JV one half then go play Varsity other half? How does this impact JV kids who never know when and if a Varsity player will come down and play over the JV kid who has been practising and playing on JV. I know JV can be pulled up but if the roster that flexible on both ways? Any age issues involved? Any insight or clafication would be very helpful...

There is no rule regarding upperclassman playing JV as far as MIAA is concerned. The only restriction is that on the same day, players may only play one full game of JV or varsity or a combination of the two (If a player plays one half of JV, can only play one half of varsity.)

Many coaches fully understand that JV is meant to be a feeder program for the varsity team. Because of this most will only place freshmen and sophomores with an occasional junior on the JV squad. For my younger son's team, all upperclassman (Juniors and Seniors) are automatically on varsity and all freshmen and sophomores (that didn't make varsity) play JV. At this high school, however, there is only a total of 32 players that tried out for both teams so the coach doesn't have a lot of wiggle room as it is. Last year there was one senior on the JV team (he had never played soccer before) and there was some uproar with some of the younger players' parents. Understandably, this player was taking playing time from an underclassman that needs to prove himself in order to hopefully make varsity for the next year. The reality, however, is that if this player was not rostered the JV bench would have been seriously lacking for substitutions. The only saving grace is that the varsity coach is not considering that senior for the following year, and only the underclassman are rightfully selected to fill in those varsity spots in the future.

High school is what it is. If your child is semi-serious about soccer, they shouldn't be looking at the JV experience to be anything more than a little bit of insight into the high school game. Players that work hard in the off months tend to be the ones that get seriously looked at and ideally awarded varsity spots for those future years.

[There was definitely a stall tactic at the end which upset the Rivers' girls. In addition, the girls were not happy when the LS coach got overly excited when they scored their goal. It was perceived as over the top. The girls were surprised that she didn't get as excited and loud about the great saves made by the LS goalie. They thought it was poor sportsmanship displayed by a coach in a scrimmage.[/quote]

It is interesting how different people have different perceptions. I saw LS trying to posses the ball toward the end of the game. Something they had not been doing effectively. Others saw a stall tactic. Was coach trying to develop her players or was coach stalling during a scrimmage? I could be wrong but I quess only LS knows for sure. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion and should not be told to "grow up" because the LS coach is a woman and this is why someone at Rivers is picking on her????? Come on, the LS coach can and will take care of herself which is evidenced by her writing.

Lastly, Rivers parent, please give LS coach a break as I believe it was her kid that scored the goal and you just can't shut that emotion off. As long as it is somewhat balanced for all of her team members's successes who cares. Do you think that Pete Carroll of USC goes overboard with his celebrations after a touchdown? Hasn't hurt his teams!

[There was definitely a stall tactic at the end which upset the Rivers' girls. In addition, the girls were not happy when the LS coach got overly excited when they scored their goal. It was perceived as over the top. The girls were surprised that she didn't get as excited and loud about the great saves made by the LS goalie. They thought it was poor sportsmanship displayed by a coach in a scrimmage.

Lastly, Rivers parent, please give LS coach a break as I believe it was her kid that scored the goal and you just can't shut that emotion off. As long as it is somewhat balanced for all of her team members's successes who cares. Do you think that Pete Carroll of USC goes overboard with his celebrations after a touchdown? Hasn't hurt his teams![/quote]

Aren't all her players ... 'her kid'?

[Cujo]

[There was definitely a stall tactic at the end which upset the Rivers' girls. In addition, the girls were not happy when the LS coach got overly excited when they scored their goal. It was perceived as over the top. The girls were surprised that she didn't get as excited and loud about the great saves made by the LS goalie. They thought it was poor sportsmanship displayed by a coach in a scrimmage.

It is interesting how different people have different perceptions. I saw LS trying to posses the ball toward the end of the game. Something they had not been doing effectively. Others saw a stall tactic. Was coach trying to develop her players or was coach stalling during a scrimmage? I could be wrong but I quess only LS knows for sure. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion and should not be told to "grow up" because the LS coach is a woman and this is why someone at Rivers is picking on her????? Come on, the LS coach can and will take care of herself which is evidenced by her writing.

Lastly, Rivers parent, please give LS coach a break as I believe it was her kid that scored the goal and you just can't shut that emotion off. As long as it is somewhat balanced for all of her team members's successes who cares. Do you think that Pete Carroll of USC goes overboard with his celebrations after a touchdown? Hasn't hurt his teams![/quote]

Last time I checked the goal in HS soccer was to win and to upbraid a coach for getting excited in a 2-1 is totally beyond the pale. If it was a 5-0 game and the goal was scored in the last few minutes I could understand but even that is misleading sometimes. I had a four year bench player score a goal in a 9-0 game and the team went nuts - it was the first goal for a graduating senior. I explained to the coach what happened after the game so there was no misunderstanding. People need to stop being sore losers and stop looking to be offended. Sports always involve winning and losing so take a chill pill and try to understand what is going on from the perspective of your opponent. It makes life a lot easier.