U13B Bolts A Team knocked out of State Cup

[Unregistered]

Nope. Pre-academy is 1998 calendar year- so yes, *some* of their best player players born Aug 1-Dec 31 1998 went to Pre-academy '98. All the others (born Jan 1 - July31 1999) couldn't make the age cutoff so they stayed in U13 - so this U13 team is their only U13 team.

Show me a '99 Pre-academy Bolts team- there isn't one.

You sound like a real moron. In addition, you are probably one that seeks the web-pages far and wide looking for anti-Bolts rhetoric. Nevertheless, let me attempt to educate you. The Bolts now have three PreAcademy teams and two Academy teams. Currently, their better players play in these leagues. The PreAcademy league consist of teams from the Northeast part of the country (Virginia to New Hampshire)

http://usclub.demosphere.com/Northeast_PreAcademy/

Liberty Division:
Albertson SC (NY)
Cosmos Academy East (NY)
FC Greater Boston (MA)
FC Westchester (NY)
Met Oval (NY)
Oakwood SC (CT)
PDA (NJ)
Seacoast United (NH)
South Central Premier (NY)

Mid-Atlantic Division:
Baltimore Bays Chelsea (MD)
D.C. United (DC)
FC DELCO (PA)
Match Fit (NJ)
McLean Youth Soccer (VA)
New York Red Bulls (NY)
NJSA 04 (NJ)
PA Classics (PA)
Potomac SA (MD)

If you were look under the U13, U14, and U15 leagues, you will find Greater Boston Bolts listed in each one. It is true that they go by year of birth. Therefore the better 1998 (and possibly younger), 1997 (and possibly younger), and 1996 (and possibly younger) are playing on these teams. These teams do not partake in the State Cup. These players are distinct from the NEP teams listed on the NEP website.

Other Bolts players not on these teams are playing in the NEP. For the older players they will either play on the two Academy teams or in the NEP. The Academy teams (like the PreAcademy teams) do not partake in the State Cup. Last years older Bolts non DAP team won the state cup.

If your next question is why can't the Bolts field 'superior' players on all their teams (Academy or otherwise) like the Stars do with their Girls teams then you will have me their. I can only answer by saying that the Boys talent at the lower (non Pre and non Academy levels) is more spread out than the Girls talent.

[Unregistered]

Even if this is true, why didn't the Bolts put together their best U13's (born Aug 1 1998 to July 31 1999) for the State Cup?!

Because they have other priorities. SC isn't as important to them as it is to you.

[Unregistered]

Even if this is true, why didn't the Bolts put together their best U13's (born Aug 1 1998 to July 31 1999) for the State Cup?!

It is very unlikely that BA would allow a B team to represent Bolts U13 in the State Cup.
7-0 loss to Valeo!?!

State cup at U13 is not the be all and end all. The best U13 players born in 98 play for the pre-academy team.

[Unregistered]

The NY, NJ, PA and MD Pre-academy teams all compete in their State Cups (Albertson, Met Oval, PDA, PA classics, Baltimore Bays etc..)

My understanding is that MYSA doesn't see the pre academy league as a qualifying league for state cup, so pre-academy teams from Mass are ineligible to play state cup, those states listed are not quite as backward in their thinking to exclude the pre-academy groups from their state cups.

[Unregistered]

MPS Bulldogs coaches worked "very hard" to find their best players this year- even took someone from their U12 team to shore up the defense. LOL 4-3 win over a glorified town team is embarrassing.

This team, which is the best MPS has in U13B, should have blown by the Sachems team.
What happened? Anyone see the game?

[Unregistered]

Boy that Bolts U13 pre-Academy team is pretty woeful - 5:0 loss to Cosmos, 7:1 to MetOval. Maybe they should send their Premier team to those games instead. Looks like BA is looking for uniformity, that is, consistently mediocre or worse.

[Unregistered]

Originally Posted by Unregistered
The NY, NJ, PA and MD Pre-academy teams all compete in their State Cups (Albertson, Met Oval, PDA, PA classics, Baltimore Bays etc..)

My understanding is that MYSA doesn't see the pre academy league as a qualifying league for state cup, so pre-academy teams from Mass are ineligible to play state cup, those states listed are not quite as backward in their thinking to exclude the pre-academy groups from their state cups.

These other clubs have distinct teams that play in State Cup play. For example the PDA teams that play at the State Cup are not as good as those that play PreAcademy....at least for the U14 and U15 PreAcademy. In fact, the Nike Academy rules are that the PreAcademy teams (not necessarily other teams in the club) will not play at the State Cup.
This was evident in the relatively 'poor' showing of the Baltimore Bays U14 (last year....now U15) at the State and Region 1 play. The year before, this team was mopping up everything. Last year many of their players went to the U15 PreAcademy and U16 DAP teams (The Bays did not have a U14 PreAcademy team last year). The same was true for PDA, which fielded both U14 and U15 PreAcademy teams. The years before, their Region 1 play was excellent.

Now, if you want to make a statement that is worthwhile then you can wonder why the Bolts can't field great teams in both leagues like the Bays and PDA do. Last year the Bolts had very good U15 and U14 (2nd and 4th respectively) PreAcademy teams in this 16 team league, however the non PreAcademy teams were weak (exception of the U18 team). The lack of success at the U13 and U14 PreAcademy teams will reflect the weak teams from last years U13 and U14 (1997 births) teams.
However, their is some hope on the horizon for the Bolts as they are currently fielding decent U11 and U12 teams (two at each age group) which might provide with improved quality and success as these boys get older.

All said, I think this year the Bolts have to prove something at the U15 PreAcademy and DAP teams. They need to show more success than last year, otherwise, many will really question whether or not the Bolts are able to keep up. They will have a rough time with the Revs U16 DAP as they have acquired a number of solid players.

[Unregistered]

This team, which is the best MPS has in U13B, should have blown by the Sachems team.
What happened? Anyone see the game?

MPS Parent here- team played a boring game- very predictable. They were no strong individual players who could split the defense and create chances. Also, finishing was poor.

MPS needs to step it up and stop playing boring soccer- take chances in the attacking third, dribble to split the defense and play the beautiful game.

[Unregistered]

Originally Posted by Unregistered
The NY, NJ, PA and MD Pre-academy teams all compete in their State Cups (Albertson, Met Oval, PDA, PA classics, Baltimore Bays etc..)




These other clubs have distinct teams that play in State Cup play. For example the PDA teams that play at the State Cup are not as good as those that play PreAcademy....at least for the U14 and U15 PreAcademy. In fact, the Nike Academy rules are that the PreAcademy teams (not necessarily other teams in the club) will not play at the State Cup.
This was evident in the relatively 'poor' showing of the Baltimore Bays U14 (last year....now U15) at the State and Region 1 play. The year before, this team was mopping up everything. Last year many of their players went to the U15 PreAcademy and U16 DAP teams (The Bays did not have a U14 PreAcademy team last year). The same was true for PDA, which fielded both U14 and U15 PreAcademy teams. The years before, their Region 1 play was excellent.

Now, if you want to make a statement that is worthwhile then you can wonder why the Bolts can't field great teams in both leagues like the Bays and PDA do. Last year the Bolts had very good U15 and U14 (2nd and 4th respectively) PreAcademy teams in this 16 team league, however the non PreAcademy teams were weak (exception of the U18 team). The lack of success at the U13 and U14 PreAcademy teams will reflect the weak teams from last years U13 and U14 (1997 births) teams.
However, their is some hope on the horizon for the Bolts as they are currently fielding decent U11 and U12 teams (two at each age group) which might provide with improved quality and success as these boys get older.

All said, I think this year the Bolts have to prove something at the U15 PreAcademy and DAP teams. They need to show more success than last year, otherwise, many will really question whether or not the Bolts are able to keep up. They will have a rough time with the Revs U16 DAP as they have acquired a number of solid players.

Bolts training just isn't the calibre it needs to be to get the job done. Usually a few common drills, possession and a half-field game. Been doing that for years - good players either come to the bolts ready made, and if they stay in the bolts too long, they lag behind their peers getting better training elsewhere. That's the whole reason the bolts club is getting weaker - not teaching them how to improve

[Unregistered]

My understanding is that MYSA doesn't see the pre academy league as a qualifying league for state cup, so pre-academy teams from Mass are ineligible to play state cup, those states listed are not quite as backward in their thinking to exclude the pre-academy groups from their state cups.

This is correct - note that the PreAcademy league is accredited by US Club Soccer (as opposed to US Youth Soccer (with which Region I and, in turn, MYSA are affiliated and the organizer of the National Championship Series of which State Cup and regionals are a part).

US Club has its own set of State Cups, regionals, and national Playoffs in the areas where it is strong - mid Atlantic and in the Southwest if I remember correctly.
Thus also the distinction between ODP (USYS) and Id2 (USCS).
Welcome to the office politics of youth soccer. Understand that a couple of bucks of your club fee (and your town soccer registration) goes to these organizations and on up the line through them to US Soccer (our National Federation) and eventually FIFA. (!)

For example, this is where referees come from - and passcards, and international clearances.

A distinction of DAP is that it is organized by US Soccer directly.

Also, adult soccer has it's own set of (amateur and professional) administrative structure that works up to US Soccer, while high school sports (MIAA, prep leagues) and college (NCAA, etc) are distinct, for example, the referees are certified separately. Curiously, Olympic soccer is sort of a hybrid, US Soccer participates, but it is outside of FIFA.

Remember, you and millions of others put a few dollars into this at the bottom, at the top there is big money in broadcast rights - but this is all part of the global sports industry.

[Unregistered]

Bolts training just isn't the calibre it needs to be to get the job done. Usually a few common drills, possession and a half-field game. Been doing that for years - good players either come to the bolts ready made, and if they stay in the bolts too long, they lag behind their peers getting better training elsewhere. That's the whole reason the bolts club is getting weaker - not teaching them how to improve

This post is just plain dumb!! You are going to use the success of lack of success of the Bolts 'B'....or non DAP and nonPreAcademy teams to conclude what you think about the training for the whole club??
Have you been to any of the practices at all?? The other night I watched the U14 NEP team practice and the drills were excellent with fantastic enthusiasm. The U10 coach ran drills that forced each and every kid to play the game.

With that said, the success of most clubs that I have seen is very much related to recruitment of bigger, faster, and possibly more skilled players from other clubs.

I would redirect your thoughts to the following: The Bolts have a sag in their success that occurred during the Kerr and Ainscough transition. Actually, I would say it started to occur during the end of the Kerr period as the club attitude toward extremism (FO and DC) shifted. The recruitment that once was, went away.

This year, the club has two U11, two U12, two U13 (NEP and PreAcad), two U14 (NEP, PreAcad) teams. This has never been the case before. Last year the PreAcad U14 and U15 teams were very successful in the 16-team Northeast leagues against competition that would blow away Region 1 teams......in fact, these teams used to be the best region 1 teams.

The coaching on the Bolts is strong and consistent. While I will agree that there are great coaches elsewhere on other clubs, I would challenge any club to show similar consistency across their slate of coaches. EW from Valeo is one of the best trainers, but the coaching slate at Valeo is not equal to the Bolts. FO controls the Blazers (4 teams each year).....DC is a decent coach...but the rest at the Blazers are weak.

Getting back to your original statement, if you are going to use the W/L records of a club to determine whether or not the coaching is good, then I would conclude that you are missing the point of youth soccer. Instead you seem to be commenting more on the ability of certain clubs to recruit and therefore win.

[Unregistered]

This is the same old retort, but I've watched Bolts trainings for many years, more than you (with a kid in U14 NEP). Real good youth coaches (and I'm specifically pointing out that youth development is a different specialty than college coaching), like the coaches at European academies, get to know each player and work to improve each one, by understanding their weaknesses - all players have them and if you don't work with each player and address those weaknesses, they fade. That means individual instruction on how to play, even in a team context. What you see at the bolts is the opposite mentality - every kid shows up and shows his stuff and if he's dominant player at the right time (ie, late Spring), he advances in the club. Unfortunately, what this means is that players who are at one time NT (and I can name one on the Bolts in particular) don't get the frank advice they need to take their seed of talent and expand that into a complete player. They fade. That is the Bolts downfall in development. The great thing Bolts offer is high level competition, and that's also necessary for development. But as far as the individual player is concerned, its sink or swim, not development. And what you will notice over time is that many of the bolts most talented young players fade away because they never get to understand their weaknesses and overcome them.

[Unregistered]

This is the same old retort, but I've watched Bolts trainings for many years, more than you (with a kid in U14 NEP). Real good youth coaches (and I'm specifically pointing out that youth development is a different specialty than college coaching), like the coaches at European academies, get to know each player and work to improve each one, by understanding their weaknesses - all players have them and if you don't work with each player and address those weaknesses, they fade. That means individual instruction on how to play, even in a team context. What you see at the bolts is the opposite mentality - every kid shows up and shows his stuff and if he's dominant player at the right time (ie, late Spring), he advances in the club. Unfortunately, what this means is that players who are at one time NT (and I can name one on the Bolts in particular) don't get the frank advice they need to take their seed of talent and expand that into a complete player. They fade. That is the Bolts downfall in development. The great thing Bolts offer is high level competition, and that's also necessary for development. But as far as the individual player is concerned, its sink or swim, not development. And what you will notice over time is that many of the bolts most talented young players fade away because they never get to understand their weaknesses and overcome them.

Well....you have not been around as long as I have. U14 only makes this the 5th year with the club.....a brief amount of time and not enough to see the transition from Kerr to Ainscough. You may or may not have appreciated the lull that occurred toward the end of the Kerr era, but you should certainly be able to appreciate the potential growth that is occurring on both the boys and the girls side, the latter of which fell into oblivion during Kerr (not surprising with the rapid rise of the Stars and Scorpions).

With regard to the individual NT players, I can name 5 that were ID'd and two that are listed on the NT pool. To this day, I am not sure what it actually means. I don't know whether it is reflecting politics, timing, or talent. Being ID'd at age 12-14 is good, but somewhat premature as there are so many physical and emotional changes that are about to occur, the latter including burn-out. Being ID'd at 16-18 has more meaning, but may not reflect the training that you received at your current club, as many kids (Revs players) come from elsewhere to play on teams that offer more exposure. I have seen great players become the norm as the other players gain in ability and physical size/speed.

As for improving the skill and ability of the individual player, I have seen it happen for Bolts players. Looking across the board, as I stated above, the coaching in the Bolts organization is consistently very good to excellent, and, as a group (i.e. average/mean and median) they are better than other clubs. This is not to say that other coaches elsewhere are not excellent as well.....

[Unregistered]

T
This year, the club has two U11, two U12, two U13 (NEP and PreAcad), two U14 (NEP, PreAcad) teams. This has never been the case before. Last year the PreAcad U14 and U15 teams were very successful in the 16-team Northeast leagues against competition that would blow away Region 1 teams......in fact, these teams used to be the best region 1 teams.

This is the DAP norm: two teams per age-group. Mediocre B teams footing the bill for the A teams which must recruit/offer scholarships for the real talent in the area. Nothing wrong with this but the Beamer parents who pay for this should have some modesty. Your kids are just not that good--you can't buy soccer skills. The #9 seeding for the Bolts was a joke. 7-0 to Valeo. Pay your $5000 bill and shut up!

[Unregistered]

This is the DAP norm: two teams per age-group. Mediocre B teams footing the bill for the A teams which must recruit/offer scholarships for the real talent in the area. Nothing wrong with this but the Beamer parents who pay for this should have some modesty. Your kids are just not that good--you can't buy soccer skills. The #9 seeding for the Bolts was a joke. 7-0 to Valeo. Pay your $5000 bill and shut up!

Right...every club does this. Not just the Bolts. The Stars, Scorpions, NEFC, and MPS do it for their girls teams...even more so than any boys club. MPS and NEFC do it for their boys teams. Yet, I don't hear you, or too many people bashing these clubs and their respective wealthy suburban families.
Your post, although containing truths about youth soccer clubs, has too much anger for many intelligent readers to take your points to heart. You are bitter about something. In fact, unless my kid is playing up an age group, I would not pay so much money to play on a 'B' or 'C' team. I would recognize that my kid just isn't so good at soccer and move on.

Nevertheless, welcome to the world of youth sports. This happens for all the club/AAU sports. It has, in fact, become a big business. If you can find a positive balance between what you pay, how much your kids plays, and what they are taught then you have won a battle...congratulations. If not, then you will be bitter.

With regard to the Bolts, they are not the most expensive club in the area. Most other clubs, in FACT, are catching up quickly. There are at least three prominent boys clubs that are more expensive. Obviously cost comparisons may depend on the year. The Bolts U10 team is under 2000 for the year with minimal travel and no out of town tournaments. As the teams get older they will travel more. The price drops significantly for the DAP players. In other words...you don't have to drive a 'Beamer' to get in.........