Monitoring The MPS Impact

Does this mean anything? Needham Tournament Finals BU15 MPS Bulldogs 4 Greater Boston Bolts 0 BU13 MPS Bulldogs 2 Greater Boston Bolts 1. If nothing else it is very interesting, I would have never have imagined that several years ago.

The Bolts put together an all star team combo BU14/U15 to play out in the Manchester United Cup in Portland this weekend. I assume that any BU15 team that played at Needham was comprised of the BU14 and BU15 players that had not been invited to go to Portland. I could be wrong. Maybe FSM or another poster would know.

As for the U13- they beat 'em. ;)

The only thing I know is that the Manchester Cup on the boys side is based on calendar birth dates like ODP. This year's tournament was for 92 birth dates which would be primarily 7 months of U15s and 5 months of U14s. Since there was no Bolts teams at Needham in the U14 age group, perhaps we might assume the team playing as U15s was made up of 91s and 93s, but I'm just guessing.

For the record, the Bolts were 0-4-1 in Oregon.

Needham Tournament

Correction - U15 boys final was Bolts 4 - MPS Bulldogs 0. I was at the game. Bulldogs put up a good game for about the first half, but once the Bolts started scoring, they seemed to lose heart.

[Susy Soccer]

So whatever the Bulldogs/Bolts BU15 score meant, it probably wasn't what was initially believed.

Needham isn't exactly covering itself in glory reporting the tournament results.

[tooslowtball]

At least 3 of the boys on the MPS U-15 team played for Bolts at U12 or U13. One had a last name of Damon. (bad joke)

Does that mean anything. The player Musical chairs only increases as they get older.

An old coach once said to me many years ago that "If you travel time to practice is longer than your practice, there is something wrong in the universe."

At least 3 of the boys on the MPS U-15 team played for Bolts at U12 or U13. One had a last name of Damon. (bad joke)

Incorrect

Only two players and most of these boys have been together for two and half years - watch out in the state cup!

I never said all or any of the kids in maple are "exceptional" .

The quality and level of european youth soccer is far higher than MA. I said the concept of both Maple and European academies is to have the kids and teams with similar abilites train together and play against one another, and to offer a high level of play. Thats the way I read the Maple mission statement. Maple offers atleast 3 levels for teams to play at.

MPS soes is a huge revenue producer for MPS and is more expensive than maple clubs. You make the judegemnt as to what program and league is best for your kid given cost and level of play.

Compare the level of players and quality of play in the u12 maple tournament to the soes league and find the best situation.

I am not sure how or why you see this comparison as bitter or negative in any way.

I re-read this thread and did find a lot of maple bashing by MPS supporters.

How about quoting some of that MAPLE bashing you keep re-reading? Or, do you consider anything said positive about MPS to be MAPLE bashing. How do you feel about the comments about MPS made by parents and officials from other clubs?

You keep confusing the roles of clubs and leagues, but I now understand where you are coming from. Bitter was the wrong term, competitive would have been a better way to describe your reaction. It's obvious you're with a club that somehow competes with MPS. That's great because most clubs don't have formal programs for U8-U12. If your club does have that kind of program why not give everyone more information about it instead up just trying to knock MPS?

The role of MAPLE is not the development of players, that’s the role of each club. MAPLE is setup around the State Cup tournament. The schedules, standings, seedings and placements are all closely linked together. That seems very different from the way MPS describes their program:

The MPS School of Excellence program is a player development program that caters for young players, boys and girls, aged 8-12 yrs old. SOE is geared towards dedicated and passionate players who are looking for advanced training with similarly talented players.

The SOE program is offered:

•To provide a conveniently located, professional training environment

•That is focused on player development and not results.

MPS recognizes that players at this stage of their development want to participate in their town soccer program but would also like additional training with motivated peers.

The School of Excellence program is year round and is broken down into three 8-week programs – fall, winter and spring. During each of these sessions players are instructed primarily on the technical aspects of the game of soccer (dribbling, passing, shooting, 1st touch, use of both feet) and will also be introduced to small group tactics (1v1, 2v2 up to 4v4 situations) in a challenging, fun and competitive environment. Players will be encouraged to express themselves on the field and try different things without fear of coach reprisal.

The concepts and methods I've been talking about are those used by MPS in their SOE program, which is a lot more than league games. I don't see how a league, MAPLE or any other has the same goals.

For the many clubs that don't have a formal program for this age group, the MPS SOE would seem to be a plus. Those kids in the SOE are most likely going to keep playing soccer and the seer number of kids in the SOE, means that most will be going to clubs playing in MAPLE. The club that I know best already has invited a number of SOE players to tryouts - with the help of MPS I might add.

I see the SOE program as a benefit to most MAPLE clubs, unless of course you have a competing program, so I better understand the tone of your postings. I just think it would be more positive to share the details and benefits of your program rather be negative about another.

[pitch420]

The club that I know best already has invited a number of SOE players to tryouts - with the help of MPS I might add.

Seems like the philosphy is 'grow the player' more than 'grow the club.'

If you believe that you are smoking the koolaid.

[pitch420]

If you believe that you are smoking the koolaid.

I'm not an MPS person and I usually prefer to drink my koolaid.

Just interpreting what I read.

I think a point of clarification needs to be made regarding terms MPS and MAPLE.

Yes Maple is a league. I believe most use the word MAPLE to also generically refer to the non-MPS clubs as a whole.... I.e. MAPLE CLUB Environment, as Maple is what these clubs revolve around for their bread and butter business.

I think a point of clarification needs to be made regarding terms MPS and MAPLE.

Yes Maple is a league. I believe most use the word MAPLE to also generically refer to the non-MPS clubs as a whole.... I.e. MAPLE CLUB Environment, as Maple is what these clubs revolve around for their bread and butter business.

I think this would have been absolutely correct 5 years ago, but now clubs like Greater Boston, Pioneers, Stars and Scorpions are more broad based than that and use U-10 academies, tournaments, regional leagues and even Super Y as a way to expand out of the traditional MAPLE model to which you refer. Maybe MPS was the trail blazer in doing this but today they certainly aren't alone.

[pitch420]

I think a point of clarification needs to be made regarding terms MPS and MAPLE.

Yes Maple is a league. I believe most use the word MAPLE to also generically refer to the non-MPS clubs as a whole.... I.e. MAPLE CLUB Environment, as Maple is what these clubs revolve around for their bread and butter business.

Good point

[onthree]

Overthetop writes, "Does this mean anything? Needham Tournament Finals BU15 MPS Bulldogs 4 Greater Boston Bolts 0 BU13 MPS Bulldogs 2 Greater Boston Bolts 1. If nothing else it is very interesting, I would have never have imagined that several years ago."

It means that the scores were reported incorrectly. BU15 Bolts won. BU13 Bolts won.

Also, the Manchester United Cup tournament in OR was fabulous. Bolts brought a mixed group of 92s, 93s, and 94s. As a whole, the competition was stronger than most local teams I have ever seen at a Mass tournament--several teams were stronger by far than anything in these here parts. Nike really knows how to make the players feel special; the boys I spoke with were grateful for the opportunity to test themselves in that arena at that level. It would have been interesting to see them play if they had trained together before leaving. Overall, they were completely competitive, coming out of their 4-game bracket (the only bracket featuring two southern California teams) with a 3-goal differential, as I recall. Plus, it was really cool to watch Wayne Rooney and Shannon Boxx draw the brackets on Thursday night!

Why were they taking 93s and 94s if it is a 92 tournament? It's great that they were competitive, but on paper they were 0-5-1 with only 1 goal scored in 6 games and ended up 20th of 20 teams. Isn't that kind of embarassing for the club?

[onthree]

Everyone takes something different away from every situation, so there is no one truth to this tale. You'd have to ask the club how they feel about the wins and losses. I only know about how some of the boys felt about the exposure to the quality of play, the quality of venue, the quality of experience. Yes, they were disappointed with the win/loss tally, but, truthfully, the benefit echoes beyond that measure. Stats are one thing, but 20th at one level looks quite different from 20th in another. I wonder about the value of results in local tourneys that feature +5 goal differentials--in one game alone! As for the mixed age of the group, there were several factors at work, including injuries and prep school final exam schedules.