Idea - Rhode Island Cup

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My town has boys who play together on the town team, but who also play on various club teams. All of their teams have experienced some success, and it has led to good-natured "my team is better than yours" comments. However, their teams rarely play each other, if ever, so there's really no way to resolve the argument.

A few dads were talking about this and thought maybe there's an appetite for an end-of-season (spring) tournament that invited all the RI clubs, plus maybe some of the SuperLiga anchor teams (and maybe a classic gold team or two who should be in anchor but prefer to sandbag it in the lower tier). We were thinking of starting off with just one age group as a kind of pilot.

These are the club teams in RI, off the top of my head (figure a club could only bring their one best team, so would not include all the various Bayside affiliates):

Bayside (RDL/NEP)
NEFC Southeast (NEP)
GPS RI South (NEP)
Bruno (NEP)
Liverpool (new RI team?) (NEP)
Rams (NSL)

We could invite the anchor and gold state champions to make it a nice 1-day, 8-team knockout tournament. Bayside might run away with it, but who knows (especially if you put them on a grass field that would slow them down a bit)?

Thoughts?

[Unregistered]

https://www.nepstatecups.com/rhode-island-cup1.html

I think there is already something similar to what you're suggesting.

Also, most of the anchor teams are heavy with premier players? Which team would the kids play on (premier team or town team)?

[Unregistered]

Coming in here and raining on my parade with useful information...

The only problem with the NEP cup is that it's only NEP. While it doesn't affect my kid, I know the kids on one Rams team in particular are itching to play against some better competition (and to prove to their friends that their team is just as good as GPS, etc.), but they're stuck in NSL.

Regarding anchor, I'd heard anecdotally that at the older ages, some anchor teams are rostered with kids who would otherwise be playing for clubs, but who might come from modest backgrounds and can't afford that. The guy who told me that could be completely wrong, I don't know. My kid's club talks a lot about covering costs for kids like this, but I don't know how much that actually happens in reality.

[Unregistered]

This basically sounds like State Cup to me.

[Unregistered]

The top teams are already in the state cup so it doesn’t make sense for those teams to play an additional state tournament.

[Unregistered]

The top teams are already in the state cup so it doesn’t make sense for those teams to play an additional state tournament.

OP here. My fellow dads and I were being myopic in that we have only concentrated on the boys we know and have been taking things as they come. The boys in question are 08s. Most of them have been playing for 7-8 years. While I won't say they're getting bored, they are frustrated from time to time because the competition they get can be limited, and as I mentioned, the clubs they play for rarely (or never) play one another. SuperLiga has a state championship competition for U12, so I guess the question we were thinking about was why not club?

It was just an intellectual exercise. They'll continue to play in their clubs this year and we can all wait another year to really start seeing who's who in the state.

[Unregistered]

You will look back in 5 years and realize how crazy this thread is (for your sake I hope you will). If kids are playing town soccer and NSL and they are U12's let them have fun and find a good coach to help them develop. They are so young. Half the kids haven't even grown yet. Spend ZERO time worrying about "who's who in the state (of RI)", which is a comical statement on 5 different levels.

The truth is if there are any among you who are truly elite and want to play at a higher level there are many levels higher than where you are now to aspire to. Elite kids will eventually leave their town friends behind and your future teams will look nothing like they do now. Those kids will be found and switch clubs/leagues - NPL, DA, ECNL, etc, soon enough. There's plenty of competition and plenty of time ahead for that to sort out. That's just how the pyramid works. Unfortunately they (you) don't know how much you don't know.

Anyway, the point is just have fun, don't waste time measuring "the competition", and tell the daddys to stay out of the way. It sounds like this isn't the kids that are frustrated, but the helicopters flying overhead who want to prove my kid's better than yours...in RI...at U12.

[Unregistered]

You will look back in 5 years and realize how crazy this thread is (for your sake I hope you will). If kids are playing town soccer and NSL and they are U12's let them have fun and find a good coach to help them develop. They are so young. Half the kids haven't even grown yet. Spend ZERO time worrying about "who's who in the state (of RI)", which is a comical statement on 5 different levels.

The truth is if there are any among you who are truly elite and want to play at a higher level there are many levels higher than where you are now to aspire to. Elite kids will eventually leave their town friends behind and your future teams will look nothing like they do now. Those kids will be found and switch clubs/leagues - NPL, DA, ECNL, etc, soon enough. There's plenty of competition and plenty of time ahead for that to sort out. That's just how the pyramid works. Unfortunately they (you) don't know how much you don't know.

Anyway, the point is just have fun, don't waste time measuring "the competition", and tell the daddys to stay out of the way. It sounds like this isn't the kids that are frustrated, but the helicopters flying overhead who want to prove my kid's better than yours...in RI...at U12.

I think I can speak for the others when I say we're not "worrying about it" so much as we're engaged, but we go out of our way (I do, at least) to not let these kinds of conversations with other soccer-fanatic fathers trickle down to the kids. I think my son is at the best club for him, and so does he, which is good enough for me at this point. Others are questioning their kids' clubs a little, at least in part because their kids have expressed interest in knowing what other clubs are like for one reason or another. Hard to do comparison shopping with annual contracts and locked-in fees, so the next best thing would be to see how other teams play in person. Because you certainly can't rely on any of the BS about clubs you read online, on here especially.

[Unregistered]

I think I can speak for the others when I say we're not "worrying about it" so much as we're engaged, but we go out of our way (I do, at least) to not let these kinds of conversations with other soccer-fanatic fathers trickle down to the kids. I think my son is at the best club for him, and so does he, which is good enough for me at this point. Others are questioning their kids' clubs a little, at least in part because their kids have expressed interest in knowing what other clubs are like for one reason or another. Hard to do comparison shopping with annual contracts and locked-in fees, so the next best thing would be to see how other teams play in person. Because you certainly can't rely on any of the BS about clubs you read online, on here especially.

You have nailed what the most important part is. Your son is at the right club “for HIM”. That is literally everything you need, especially at U12. From a parent of older kids, trust me when I say that in the long run it truly does not matter how everyone else or other teams compare. If your son is enjoying himself, making friends and developing. The rest will fall into place if it’s meant to be.

[Unregistered]

You have nailed what the most important part is. Your son is at the right club “for HIM”. That is literally everything you need, especially at U12. From a parent of older kids, trust me when I say that in the long run it truly does not matter how everyone else or other teams compare. If your son is enjoying himself, making friends and developing. The rest will fall into place if it’s meant to be.

Pretty sure the point of the post was to figure out a way for their 12 year old boys to play against their friends teams for bragging rights... sounds harmless but nearly impossible to coordinate. Maybe these dads would have a good natured bet between them as well. It didn't sound as serious as the recent posts are making it out to be. These dads sound like they just love watching their kid play and enjoy each other's company enough to think outside the box to further their kids enjoyment of the sport or think it might be a fun day. We all know those "other over the top" Moms and Dad's but not everyone is in that boat that suggests these types of things. The years go by quickly don;t shame them for trying to extend their enjoyment. You want to see nuts look at the Massachusetts board. I'll hop off now this thread has nothing to do with me, have fun with your kids!

[Unregistered]

Pretty sure the point of the post was to figure out a way for their 12 year old boys to play against their friends teams for bragging rights... sounds harmless but nearly impossible to coordinate. Maybe these dads would have a good natured bet between them as well. It didn't sound as serious as the recent posts are making it out to be. These dads sound like they just love watching their kid play and enjoy each other's company enough to think outside the box to further their kids enjoyment of the sport or think it might be a fun day. We all know those "other over the top" Moms and Dad's but not everyone is in that boat that suggests these types of things. The years go by quickly don;t shame them for trying to extend their enjoyment. You want to see nuts look at the Massachusetts board. I'll hop off now this thread has nothing to do with me, have fun with your kids!

Well said, sometimes everyone is so quick to react on TS makes me wonder if they are too jittery from all the coffee around here. To try and answer the OP question... The teams could always enter a summer tournament (NK Fathers day classic, Portsmouth...) - normally at the end of the season the premier league is "off the clock" but with some coercing (don't forget who the well paying customer is...) and parent interest who knows. Another option is these 4v4 summer tournaments popping up everywhere lately. I've seen parent/s ask the coach to allow a small group of players from the premier team to enter (usually under a different team name) these 4v4 games to hone their skills. That could give them some bragging rights. Enjoy the fun times!

[Unregistered]

Well said, sometimes everyone is so quick to react on TS makes me wonder if they are too jittery from all the coffee around here. To try and answer the OP question... The teams could always enter a summer tournament (NK Fathers day classic, Portsmouth...) - normally at the end of the season the premier league is "off the clock" but with some coercing (don't forget who the well paying customer is...) and parent interest who knows. Another option is these 4v4 summer tournaments popping up everywhere lately. I've seen parent/s ask the coach to allow a small group of players from the premier team to enter (usually under a different team name) these 4v4 games to hone their skills. That could give them some bragging rights. Enjoy the fun times!

The end of season "fun" tournaments are a good idea. I agree, sometimes it seems like people are on a hair trigger on this board, probably because there's so much cynicism and negativity everywhere you look. More on the MA part (those people are really nuts) than RI, but still.