Another week...Another Wipe Out

[Unregistered]

I really thing people need to reevaluate their expectations. I shell out the $ for club soccer to teach my kids what it takes to win. Hopefully this will translate to other aspects of their lives. My sons team recently took a shellacking in u11. Nobody came off the field with their head held low. After the game the coach gave a speech on what they need to work on at practice this week. I praised my son for not giving up the entire, game, in fact he played harder,tougher as the game progressed.

The opposing team was not unsportmanlike, they played to win. Cudos to both coaches.

The lesson to be learned, never quit and that every dog has his day.

Win with grace, lose with grace, Lord, where have all the John Woodens gone?

Shelling out money to learn to win in hopes that it will translate into life?? I'd suggest making friends, teamwork, the value of hard work and competition, I see those. I'd actually say learning to lose gracefully is more important than learning how to win. Your kid, your priorities, but at U11 really....

[Unregistered]

Working harder to be good??? What a ridiculous statement when talking about young teams. More like born in the right month of the year or entering puberty early.

Not true at all. At younger ages, the harder working, more aggressive kids can make a difference. Birthdate might help, but the best 2 player son my son's team are playing up 1 group and work much harder. You'd be surprised how often that translates into success.

[Unregistered]

Not true at all. At younger ages, the harder working, more aggressive kids can make a difference. Birthdate might help, but the best 2 player son my son's team are playing up 1 group and work much harder. You'd be surprised how often that translates into success.

I'm quite sure the more aggressive kids do make a difference. I'm also quite sure that many of those "aggressive" kids are also bigger than many of their less aggressive teammates. I watched many less "aggressive" kids who were excellent soccer players work just as hard, and a whole lot smarter. Nine times out of ten, these kids are usually smaller, lighter weight players too many time written off because they are not "aggressive". Are they not aggressive? Or are they just smart enough to know they are going to get their clocks cleaned? Come back when they are 16 and we'll judge.

In the meantime, if kids are committed to showing up for practice and games attentive and ready to learn, and practicing on their own, that's all that can be asked of young players regardless of their future in soccer. Those are the things kids have complete control and that's what should be rewarded if we are truly interested in establishing "life lessons". Many of the "super" stars would do well to learn that lesson instead of just being allowed to get by on their God given gifts.

[Unregistered]

Learning how to lose is part of the growing up process. parents just need to get over the fact that some kids are working harder to be good at a young age.

Very good kids do loose in NEP, and they are working just as hard. Don't think the Bolts would have put their U10-U12 boys in it if they thought it was a joke. The difference is in NEP the kids get to work without the screaming and yelling from overwrought parents on the sidelines. I can see how this would threaten people who would rather bellow at their 10 year olds than win at Fantasy Football (well, almost), but without the parents invested in the win/lose equation, the kids actually get to concentrate on their coach and the game, and the coach gets to concentrate on the players.

If the Maple parents could just shut up, this might work in that league too. But they can't. They get their kicks from this, which is why they have to run NEP down. What if their weekly testosterone rush via their 10 year old child is the real joke, and their kid would actually becaome a better soccer player in a league where they were denied this rush? And they had to go out and get a life? Boggles the mind.

[Unregistered]

U-10 and U-11 is traditionally hard. The large and mid-sized clubs traditionally field an A team along with a B and even a C team on occasion. They do this for two reasons - $ and in the hope of finding a couple diamonds in the rough that they can funnel into their A team come U-12. So you have teams that don't belong which, when coupled with how MAPLE organizes teams during the U-11 Fall season leads to these kinds of blowouts and these kinds of threads. It's a problem - no one benefits from blowouts. I don't see the clubs taking fewer teams, but there is a solution - namely that clubs rate the quality of their various teams and MAPLE organize them on that basis. This won't eliminate blowouts, but it will minimize them.

As far as NEP goes, please. By U-13 the quality of play among MAPLE Div 1 and some 2 teams is markedly better.

How about this? For MAPLE ages U11, U12 and U13 - where there is no pre-qualifying tournament - simply do what MASC does and re-assign/re-schedule teams to a competitively equivalent division after the first 2-3 weeks of play?

Agree on your 2nd point....I've seen Boys U13 Maple D1 and D2, as well as NEP boys U13 matches. There is no comparision - the play in Maple is better, top to bottom.

[Unregistered]

Not to interupt the NEP lovefest...but I watched some of the Galway game and was as one-sided a game as I've seen but Galway coach while not discouraging his team from scoring was pleading for multiple touches and to play ball back into defensive end. Could have been much worse

[Unregistered]

How about this? For MAPLE ages U11, U12 and U13 - where there is no pre-qualifying tournament - simply do what MASC does and re-assign/re-schedule teams to a competitively equivalent division after the first 2-3 weeks of play?

Agree on your 2nd point....I've seen Boys U13 Maple D1 and D2, as well as NEP boys U13 matches. There is no comparision - the play in Maple is better, top to bottom.

I think the point is what happens in Maple and NEP from U10 - U12. BY U13, it's time for pre-academy, or Maple Div. 1, or HS varsity, or whatever competition you are looking for. The Bolts boys are NEP U10 - U12, Maple U13 & U14, and pre-academy and academy from U15 on. I think they will also try to keep some Maple teams in those older ages going forward as well. On the boys side, anyway, this looks like a good balance of development and competition to me.

[Unregistered]

I think the point is what happens in Maple and NEP from U10 - U12. BY U13, it's time for pre-academy, or Maple Div. 1, or HS varsity, or whatever competition you are looking for. The Bolts boys are NEP U10 - U12, Maple U13 & U14, and pre-academy and academy from U15 on. I think they will also try to keep some Maple teams in those older ages going forward as well. On the boys side, anyway, this looks like a good balance of development and competition to me.

The Bolts will only keep in MAPLE if they have boys teams in Division 1, or they accept the possibility that some of their boys teams will be in the lower divisions. They have not been able to accept the latter as evidenced by last years attempts to maintain older MAPLE teams.

[Unregistered]

Stupid?

It's "being allowed" because ANY team that applies and meets the age requirements can play in State Cup. Are you really that stupid?

You're the mis-informed one. The poster is correct. The team has to be in a qualifying league and there are minimum requirements for the qualifying league.

Read rule 305-1 in the MYSA bylaws. A five team league is three teams short of the requirement.

I wonder what MPS is going to do about this?

[Unregistered]

You're the mis-informed one. The poster is correct. The team has to be in a qualifying league and there are minimum requirements for the qualifying league.

Read rule 305-1 in the MYSA bylaws. A five team league is three teams short of the requirement.

I wonder what MPS is going to do about this?

MPS should definitely given a lifetime ban.

But you raise an interesting point. How many of the MASC teams are similarly ineligible? I fact, what about a MAPLE league that has multiple teams from the same club competing in the same division? They might be ineligible too. It's soccer for kids after all, so we really should do everything possible to keep the riff-raff out.

These are all vitally important questions. I think we should go get a court injunction halting all State Cup rostering, paperwork, discussion and certainly play until there can be a full inquiry. And we probably need said inquiry to look at historical info/data going back at least 7 years.


Signed,

Citizens Concerned about Rule 305-1

[Unregistered]

The Bolts will only keep in MAPLE if they have boys teams in Division 1, or they accept the possibility that some of their boys teams will be in the lower divisions. They have not been able to accept the latter as evidenced by last years attempts to maintain older MAPLE teams.

The questions is not will the NEP develop enough Bolts Div 1 Maple level players. The
will np doubt continue to develop R1 and Academy level players, which is
uclearly a step above Maple D1.

I reason the Bolts may not be able to continue in Maple at the older ages is that when their players don't make the pre-academy cut, they may head to another club's A team rather than be left behind on the Bolts Maple team. Last year their U15's barely qualified for the Div. 1 spot because they had so few returning players. All the rest of their A & B team went to pre-academy or left. Now a year later, the pre-academy players who didn't make academy have moved on to other clubs.

Will the Bolts ever be able to convince the boys who don't make the pre- academy or academy cuts to stick around for Maple? I just don't see how.

[MASC]

Please read the rule again:

Each soccer year he league must petition the Director, National Championship Series for certification as a cup qualifying league. This certification must be done by March 1 of the soccer year for a spring or spring /summer league and by July 15 for a fall league ( for 2006, the date shall be August 1, thereafter it shall be July 15). Such request must include a listing of all teams entered in the league by age group and a tentative schedule which shows compliance with the playing requirements of the paragraph above. Failure to meet these requirements could jeopardize the league’s status as a “Cup” qualifying league.

Each year the Director makes league eligibility determination. The primary intent is to insure that the league play meets minimum requirements and that the league is a real entity. That is: the league plays an established, schedule, all players are properly registered with their state associations, the games are of proper duration, the games are officiated by USSF qualified referees, etc. The goal is not to arbitrarily exclude teams. MASC places teams in competitive sections. The size of the sections is determined by the number of teams and their perceived competitive level.

The rule allows some discretionary power to the director. It also insures that teams playing in a league meeting the full criteria would not be excluded.

The only league that is fully compliant is MAPLE. BAYS is the largest league in the state. All of their sections are 6 teams or less. Certainly BAYS is a real league.

One needs to understand/read the deed of the Nation's Cup. It's intention was to be a competiton open to any team in a competitive league. It establishes theminimum requirements for teams and leagues. The intent is to not allow "all star" teams, rather that the teams play a schedule in a properly organized league.

Most of the rules with respect to transfers, roster integrity, etc. were put in place due to abuses by teams in past competitions.

[Unregistered]

I just laugh at all of you people who shell out thousands of dollars for "Premier" soccer. Why not just build a fire in your backyard and throw all the money in that?

[Unregistered]

I just laugh at all of you people who shell out thousands of dollars for "Premier" soccer. Why not just build a fire in your backyard and throw all the money in that?

Maple = taking the premier out of soccer, one club, one family, one kid, one dollah at a time.

[Unregistered]

I just laugh at all of you people who shell out thousands of dollars for "Premier" soccer. Why not just build a fire in your backyard and throw all the money in that?

Because that would provide only about an hour or two of fun for kids. In addition, you would like cook a pig over the pit and the kids would get fat. Instead, although possibly excessive, these parents have decided to pay for exercise and an instant social network. The kids have fun and get some decent exercise.