I just noticed a Smithfield Strikers girls team is in Fall MAPLE U11. Does anyone know anything about this? And why don't more towns in RI do this to find better competition? It would save us all a lot of $$ if we didn't have to go premier to find good competition.
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Couldn't agree with you more. It's not the first time, either. Smithfield has had other talented girls teams play in MAPLE in the past, too.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
Bristol is in there, so's Tiverton. I'm sure there's more. And in Mass, Easton Youth Soccer - among others - sends teams to compete in MAPLE.
Based on the countless state cup, SuperLiga, MASC and MAPLE matches I have watched over the past 5 years, there is no question that good town teams can compete effectively in D3 MAPLE, especially in ages U13 and younger. It gets tougher as the kids get older (U14 and up, due largely to the natural consolidation of talent to fewer teams) but there's A LOT of bad premier club teams out there, believe me, especially in RI.
I have heard that part of the reason more RI town teams don't play MAPLE is because there is a certain amount of pressure from SRI for town associations to support SuperLiga. Most of the South County, Portsmouth, Barrington teams would fare well in MAPLE. And, they'd get consistent quality matches week after week in MAPLE, unlike SuperLiga where these teams might get 2-3 good matches a season (the rest blowouts). But they stay in SuperLiga for political reasons.
To that point, both Ocean State Soccer Club and South County YSA sponsored a rule change with SRI about 8-9 months back. They asked SRI to rescind the "3 town limit" rule that SRI and SuperLiga have in place. The spirit of the proposal was to open up more choices to parents as to where to take their kids because of better coaching, facilities, etc.
Needless to say, SRI member towns and clubs voted it down.
Don't be surprised to see more SCYSA and Ocean State teams looking to play in MAPLE and MASC - where there are no restrictions as to where the kids come from - in the future.
The question you ask - why don't more towns do this - is something you should ask your town association. -
There's a notice on the MAPLE website that they're still looking for a Boys U11, Girls U12 and Girls U13 team.Comment
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MAPLE is the one league where U11's and U12's can play 11 v 11, if you're looking for that sort of thing.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Excuse me, just U12's lay 11 v 11 in Maple, not U11's. My bad.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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