Future of OR Soccer

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lazy coaches that don't want to travel.

I really don't see this. Our coach doesn't care about travel. As parents, we do, as we have to pay for the coach to travel. So yes, a league game 4 hours away that may or may not require an overnight stay.....I could really do without.

Regionalize the leagues to reduce travel. Or is that too forward thinking for OYSA? Does a high school team in any sport play in a league that stretches from Hillsboro to Baker City? But then someone else will complain that by regionalizing, they don't get to play the best competition. Play them in non-league matches, thus you have made the choice to travel.

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Portland people shouldn't complain about travel. You guys hardly travel as it is and now you want those of us that live outside the area to travel to EVERY game? Thanks a lot!

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I think we have all beat on the travel piece enough. What are the other problems with OYSA that OPL proposes to solve? There was a couple posts on scheduling and one on cost.

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Greener on The other Side?

The grass is not always greener on the other side.

"Fix" (whatever OPL has planned) one issue creates a whole other set of issues that beleive me will be just as frustrating and disappointing as anything OYSA creates.

Yes, OYSA needs to take a week and go up to WYSA or other successful state organizations and see why they can manage a larger area and more players with only 4 employees. Come back and totally revamp, lay off at least half their staff.

From the inside scoop that is going around (I will not give details) what OPL has planned will really upset ALOT of teams, players and parents. This is going to turn into something nobody is expecting, think things are exclusive now, just wait. Think things aren't fair now, oh you'll just love the things they have planned.

This isn't a change for the best of our children, it is plain and simple about playing on the frustrations of parents regarding schedules, etc to get them to support what the clubs want and what they think is best. The whole "It's what the customer's want", yah.

I predict that 2 years from now, we'll all be blogging about how pissed we are with the obsurd way they choose what teams get to play in what tournaments or what division. No more qualifyings? Now the coaches will decide who deserves Gold, Silver, etc. Just one of the fun little tidbits you should ask about during the forumn coming up.

I'm sure all the nitty gritty details aren't as exciting as the thought of running from the big bad wolf (OYSA).

Clubs overseeing themselves. Well, let's see how good that's going to work when you have a problem that you can't solve with your club and you take the next required step, going to the overseeing organization (now OYSA-soon to be OPL). An organization run by the clubs, see what the likely hood is that your concern will ever really get addressed.

Another questions, what happens when these clubs who make up OPC & OPL start disagreeing and clubs start pulling out or creating ANOTHER Coucil or League? Just some food for thought.

Hope each of you really takes the time to research and truely understand what all is involved here. No State Cup. Coaches deciding who is Gold, who isn't (not your team earning it by being successful at qualifyings). How are they going to judge a team if it has half of its roster change? And, I guarentee you there is a whole list of other goodies waiting for us.

Okay, the end.
For now.

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You do realize, the coaches decide who plays at what level from U15 up in the current OYSA system, don't you? The only teams that went through a true qualifying tournament this last year were the U13 and U14 teams. OYSA has a seeding meeting with the directors of all the clubs to determine which age groups teams should play at, and at what level. So before you paint this as the big, bad club directors imposing their will, you should know that this is how it's done already. Second, at U11 and U12 in the OPL, coaches determined their clubs' team placement with pretty great accuracy; the good thing was, if a team was smashing the competition in their bracket they got moved up, if they were consistently losing by a large margin, then they were moved down. Seemed to work pretty well, actually and most of the parents I talked to were pretty satisfied with how it worked.

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Another questions, what happens when these clubs who make up OPC & OPL start disagreeing and clubs start pulling out or creating ANOTHER Coucil or League? Just some food for thought.

If OPL as a whole is run anything like their tournament was run last year, we'll be moving on to the "next great thing" in short order.

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Second, at U11 and U12 in the OPL, coaches determined their clubs' team placement with pretty great accuracy; the good thing was, if a team was smashing the competition in their bracket they got moved up, if they were consistently losing by a large margin, then they were moved down. Seemed to work pretty well, actually and most of the parents I talked to were pretty satisfied with how it worked.

I' m interested in how this will go if more clubs are forced into OPL. Will we have the clubs on the OPC and the second-class citizen clubs? If there's a dispute about who should go into which league, will the OPC make the final "unbiased" decision?

[Unregistered]

You do realize, the coaches decide who plays at what level from U15 up in the current OYSA system, don't you? The only teams that went through a true qualifying tournament this last year were the U13 and U14 teams. OYSA has a seeding meeting with the directors of all the clubs to determine which age groups teams should play at, and at what level. So before you paint this as the big, bad club directors imposing their will, you should know that this is how it's done already. Second, at U11 and U12 in the OPL, coaches determined their clubs' team placement with pretty great accuracy; the good thing was, if a team was smashing the competition in their bracket they got moved up, if they were consistently losing by a large margin, then they were moved down. Seemed to work pretty well, actually and most of the parents I talked to were pretty satisfied with how it worked.

So, that means if my child's team doesn't play in QTs and they are placed let's say in Div 1 but really needed to be in Silver, they would be moved. We would then have a whole new schedule and that would mean that the other division would then need new schedules. And then if we were 3 to 4 weeks (games) into season how would they deal with the whole points thing for determining who the "Top" teams are for that division they're moving into. From what I understand they OPL will decide who get to play in tournaments like USSoccer Regionals, etc.

Also, what works "good" on a small scale, can be a nightmare when you get bigger.

New schedules, undetermined way of figuring who gets seeded for what? That sounds like this year's league play & state cup with OYSA.

As for scheduling issue, OPL is no different then OYSA in the number of changes to schedules, according to some of the parents their schedules changed about as much as the U14s in the fall.

I will again say, this really isn't about the what is best for the players but more about what the clubs and coaches want. But, only time will tell.

[Unregistered]

US Soccer Regionals vs Far West Regionals

I keep reading about this US Soccer Regionals being as good as or not as good as FWR.

Can anyone educate me on what teams historically have played in the US Soccer Regionals? Are they the best in their state (#1s would be at FWR), #2, #3 or even #4 from state cup standings?

We've had friends whose kids have played in the touranament and they were not impressed.

Does ODP take away their best players during this time period so even if they are one of the top 4 they're missing best players?

I don't have much knowledge and would love some input.

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So, that means if my child's team doesn't play in QTs and they are placed let's say in Div 1 but really needed to be in Silver, they would be moved. We would then have a whole new schedule and that would mean that the other division would then need new schedules. And then if we were 3 to 4 weeks (games) into season how would they deal with the whole points thing for determining who the "Top" teams are for that division they're moving into. From what I understand they OPL will decide who get to play in tournaments like USSoccer Regionals, etc.

Not necessarily. How this worked in my daughter's league, was that within the first two weeks of the season, there was a team that was getting beat pretty handily while a team in the lower division was beating everyone pretty handily; they just swapped the teams, but kept all the originally scheduled game times. This happened in a few of the other divisions too, if I recall correctly. I would assume, for points purposes, they would retain any points earned despite moving to a higher or lower division.

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US Club Soccer Regionals In Seattle Last Yr

So, I found a list of teams in what is now our U14s who competed last year...

Eastside FC G95 Red
Crossfire 95 Black
SSC Elite '95 (Spokane Soccer Club)
Crossfire Premiere G95A
NWN G95 Red (NW Nationals)
Washington Rush Nike
ECFC F95 Green
DOS FC G95 Red
EMFC 95 Magic
THUSC Sodium

How did each of these teams place in their state cup?

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Currently ongoing, all are participating except WA Rush.

http://www.gotsport.com/events/resul...GroupID=109498

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OPL is not OYSA

Here is what your arguments are missing.

Oysa as a pseudo-public organization is I am guessing mandated to serve all of Oregon. They are offering all of us a product. The OPL is just a group of OYSA's clients that are no longer choosing to take that offering. Isn't it their right to do that? Instead they have put together something else and it appears are offering it to other clubs. The OPL is not an organization that is mandated to serve Oregon. If they put together a league that is only in Portland and that they make all the decisions, and offer it. The other clubs can either accept their offer or not. The other clubs can now choose to either play with OYSA or OPL. We can weigh both offerings and make a decision. Is it OPL's responsibility to make OYSA better?

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If OPL is saying that OYSA is too expensive and wastes money, and that they will run more efficiently, does this mean that club dues for clubs that move from OYSA to OPL will be going down? If not, then where is that saved revenue going to go?

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Isn't it their right to do that?

No one here is saying that these clubs don't have the right to do what they are doing (if by "right" you mean legal right). We're asking - is it right to be doing what they're doing? (I assume you're the same person who has been promoting that we take a business-centric, rather than kid-centric, view to answer this question)

Furthermore, OYSA isn't any more of a "pseudo-public" organization (whatever that means), than OPL is (they are both non-profits, right?). So the premise of your argument is incorrect. Second, I'm guessing that the only mandate that OYSA might have to serve all of Oregon would come from being part of usysa, but there probably isn't any mandate at all.