Blues Cup

F

futboldad1

PREMIER
Unusually quiet around here!

Looks like a strong 05 field.

Homer pick: I have Surf to win it all.

Bracket A: Eagles and Socal Acad Hazell to advance...AZ Arsenal Teal Premier dark horse
Bracket B: Surf and Heat to advance...Blues Kale dark horse
Bracket C: Beach Perez and Albion Acad Hughes to advance...Rebels Elite dark horse
Bracket D: Blues Draluck and....I'll totally guess Tudela to also advance
 
Really strong field, with some wild cards from out of state (I'd be guessing on Bracket D, too!) Our girls are looking forward to it. It'll be fun to watch some of the matchups in other brackets, too, though.
 
Nothing from Del Mar/Oceanside? I see Perez/Draluck made the final. My DD didn't get out of group. I saw some good games over the weekend I was also surprised so many of these "top" teams just play kick and run. They have some good athletes and they can win games sending them long balls but I don't see good shape. I don't see girls comfortable with the ball at their feet. I don't know. It was my first time seeing some of these teams and I was expecting more.
 
FilpoFutbol9 said:
Nothing from Del Mar/Oceanside? I see Perez/Draluck made the final. My DD didn't get out of group. I saw some good games over the weekend I was also surprised so many of these "top" teams just play kick and run. They have some good athletes and they can win games sending them long balls but I don't see good shape. I don't see girls comfortable with the ball at their feet. I don't know. It was my first time seeing some of these teams and I was expecting more.
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Yes in my experience with the younger age groups there is almost zero correlation between success as measured in wins and trophies and better quality soccer. I would say easily 90% of the "top" teams play some variation of kickball. Makes sense because it is much easier to teach that to recruited "top" athletes than to develop technical skills and a sophisticated understanding of the game, which requires a long-term commitment on the part of coaches and players.
 
My daughter guested with her legends south 04s and after their final (lost on a penalty ... bummer) We were able to watch some of Beach and Blues final ...(my daughter loves to watch both teams play) and was very impressed by both. And do feel the best team took it... atleast in that particular game... though the coach was going crazy .. so not sure if he thought his girls were playing well..but we did. Lol.
 
ajaxahi said:
Yes in my experience with the younger age groups there is almost zero correlation between success as measured in wins and trophies and better quality soccer. I would say easily 90% of the "top" teams play some variation of kickball. Makes sense because it is much easier to teach that to recruited "top" athletes than to develop technical skills and a sophisticated understanding of the game, which requires a long-term commitment on the part of coaches and players.
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I agree completely. And, of course, kids who can physically dominate at 11 or 12 may not at 15 or 20 or 25. So if their coaches haven't developed the technical skills and understanding of the game, it's the kids who pay for it in the long run, while the coaches collect what are ultimately pretty meaningless trophies.

Obviously, everyone wants to win games, but at this age group I think there's too much emphasis on GotSoccer points that reward hoofing it to the big fast girl. There are definitely some really well-coached teams in the top tier of SoCal soccer, but I've been much more impressed by the potential of some teams we've beaten than teams we've lost to.
 
ajaxahi said:
Yes in my experience with the younger age groups there is almost zero correlation between success as measured in wins and trophies and better quality soccer. I would say easily 90% of the "top" teams play some variation of kickball. Makes sense because it is much easier to teach that to recruited "top" athletes than to develop technical skills and a sophisticated understanding of the game, which requires a long-term commitment on the part of coaches and players.
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Yada Yada Yada...heard this drivel infinite times.
 
genesis said:
Yada Yada Yada...heard this drivel infinite times.
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I have to agree, and I usually like most of ajaxahi's posts, but it is becoming sort of ridiculous. Can somebody please explain to me how the most dominant U9 team 3-1/2 years ago (a Galaxy team), one that played well above the level of any team other than SD Surf, after three years of having the supposedly best development, is just a very good team but does not really dominate the game? It should be impossible, in addition to the leg up they have had three years of top 10% development, compared to those poor kids in the bottom 90% development pool ...
Could the explanation be that the zealots are confusing player development with style of play?
 
mbeach said:
I have to agree, and I usually like most of ajaxahi's posts, but it is becoming sort of ridiculous. Can somebody please explain to me how the most dominant U9 team 3-1/2 years ago (a Galaxy team), one that played well above the level of any team other than SD Surf, after three years of having the supposedly best development, is just a very good team but does not really dominate the game? It should be impossible, in addition to the leg up they have had three years of top 10% development, compared to those poor kids in the bottom 90% development pool ...
Could the explanation be that the zealots are confusing player development with style of play?
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Recruiting, puberty. Just wait until 8th grade and it flip flops again.
 
allstarsoccer310 said:
Recruiting, puberty. Just wait until 8th grade and it flip flops again.
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I do not think so. I have not seen a single player in my daughters' teams that, because of reaching puberty earlier has become all of a sudden a super player. I am talking about top teams. The top players at 11-12 years old have continued being the top players through and up to 14-15. There may be a few exceptions but it is not the norm.
Recruiting from where, the 90% underdeveloping clubs?
 
mbeach said:
I have to agree, and I usually like most of ajaxahi's posts, but it is becoming sort of ridiculous. Can somebody please explain to me how the most dominant U9 team 3-1/2 years ago (a Galaxy team), one that played well above the level of any team other than SD Surf, after three years of having the supposedly best development, is just a very good team but does not really dominate the game? It should be impossible, in addition to the leg up they have had three years of top 10% development, compared to those poor kids in the bottom 90% development pool ...
Could the explanation be that the zealots are confusing player development with style of play?
Click to expand...


In the second flight, my DD team played Total Futbol Academy in the semi-finals and they implemented a style our team had not seen before. Very effective at pushing their defensive line up and trapping our offensive players in an off-side position. It was interesting for me, I did not grow up playing the game and it was neat to see a different style of soccer being implemented by the u-littles. There was skill, and patience demonstrated from both sides and it definitely made for an interesting game. A lot of action but ultimately our girls got flustered and were not able to use their first touch to make the right plays. I am hoping it was a good lesson for them.

Congrats to the Total Futball Academey for winning the blue flight. Your daughters played great.
 
mbeach said:
I have to agree, and I usually like most of ajaxahi's posts, but it is becoming sort of ridiculous. Can somebody please explain to me how the most dominant U9 team 3-1/2 years ago (a Galaxy team), one that played well above the level of any team other than SD Surf, after three years of having the supposedly best development, is just a very good team but does not really dominate the game? It should be impossible, in addition to the leg up they have had three years of top 10% development, compared to those poor kids in the bottom 90% development pool ...
Could the explanation be that the zealots are confusing player development with style of play?
Click to expand...

Some coaches reach their limits too!
 
allstarsoccer310 said:
Recruiting, puberty. Just wait until 8th grade and it flip flops again.
Click to expand...
mbeach said:
I do not think so. I have not seen a single player in my daughters' teams that, because of reaching puberty earlier has become all of a sudden a super player. I am talking about top teams. The top players at 11-12 years old have continued being the top players through and up to 14-15. There may be a few exceptions but it is not the norm.
Recruiting from where, the 90% underdeveloping clubs?
Click to expand...
Wait until 11th and 12th grade, surprise surprise.
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
Some coaches reach their limits too!
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True...but as an outside observer of this team over a few years, they had a small roster going into this new season. Added several new players and lost 2 key central players to DA only a few weeks ago (just after Surf cup). I watched the Blues final and agreed that Blues outplayed them, mainly in the Second half. I'm not sure why but the ref chose to let a lot go physically. Most notibly a foul at the goal line in the closing minutes that would have given Beach a PK to retake the lead (I was siding at the end line watching this and the '02 Surf v Blues game on the adjacent field so the "incessant happened right in front of me.)

It did appear the Beach began to panic in the 2nd and was happy to just try to clear the ball up to their striker too often. A bad habit to fall back upon but I expect the Coach to continue to correct that over the course of the season.
 
A few notes on this tournament.
1 - Beach Perez is a quality team. My daughter's team has played the team twice in the last month (CRL & Blues Cup). They were lucky enough to escape CRL with a tie, but couldn't hold them off last weekend. They have a game changer on the roster plus several girls that can flat out fly.
2 - Surf was missing a key piece this weekend and her absence was noticeable.

Which brings me to: There are a lot of quality girls playing good soccer, but the number of game changers is small. At this age group 1 or 2 on your team can make a large difference. As the girls get older it seems that the game changers get swooped up and consolidated onto super teams. It appears that there are a lot fewer teams at the top age groups, and each top team has a handful of these game changers diminishing 1 girl's ability to impact the game (to an extent).
Congratulations to the teams that advanced out of bracket play. And a tip of the hat to all the girls who played their hearts out but came up short. Good luck. Wishing all a successful and safe fall season.
 
mbeach said:
I do not think so. I have not seen a single player in my daughters' teams that, because of reaching puberty earlier has become all of a sudden a super player. I am talking about top teams. The top players at 11-12 years old have continued being the top players through and up to 14-15. There may be a few exceptions but it is not the norm.
Recruiting from where, the 90% underdeveloping clubs?
Click to expand...

Top players at 11-12 being the top players at 14-15. ROFLMAO
 
Kicker4Life said:
True...but as an outside observer of this team over a few years, they had a small roster going into this new season. Added several new players and lost 2 key central players to DA only a few weeks ago (just after Surf cup). I watched the Blues final and agreed that Blues outplayed them, mainly in the Second half. I'm not sure why but the ref chose to let a lot go physically. Most notibly a foul at the goal line in the closing minutes that would have given Beach a PK to retake the lead (I was siding at the end line watching this and the '02 Surf v Blues game on the adjacent field so the "incessant happened right in front of me.)

It did appear the Beach began to panic in the 2nd and was happy to just try to clear the ball up to their striker too often. A bad habit to fall back upon but I expect the Coach to continue to correct that over the course of the season.[/
MyDaughtersAKeeper said:
A few notes on this tournament.
1 - Beach Perez is a quality team. My daughter's team has played the team twice in the last month (CRL & Blues Cup). They were lucky enough to escape CRL with a tie, but couldn't hold them off last weekend. They have a game changer on the roster plus several girls that can flat out fly.
2 - Surf was missing a key piece this weekend and her absence was noticeable.

Which brings me to: There are a lot of quality girls playing good soccer, but the number of game changers is small. At this age group 1 or 2 on your team can make a large difference. As the girls get older it seems that the game changers get swooped up and consolidated onto super teams. It appears that there are a lot fewer teams at the top age groups, and each top team has a handful of these game changers diminishing 1 girl's ability to impact the game (to an extent).
Congratulations to the teams that advanced out of bracket play. And a tip of the hat to all the girls who played their hearts out but came up short. Good luck. Wishing all a successful and safe fall season.
Click to expand...


Yes!!!! Those 2 girls can flat out fly! Amazing to watch. My daughters team plays them again this coming weekend. They will have to be on their toes.
Click to expand...
 
Kicker4Life said:
True...but as an outside observer of this team over a few years, they had a small roster going into this new season. Added several new players and lost 2 key central players to DA only a few weeks ago (just after Surf cup). I watched the Blues final and agreed that Blues outplayed them, mainly in the Second half. I'm not sure why but the ref chose to let a lot go physically. Most notibly a foul at the goal line in the closing minutes that would have given Beach a PK to retake the lead (I was siding at the end line watching this and the '02 Surf v Blues game on the adjacent field so the "incessant happened right in front of me.)

It did appear the Beach began to panic in the 2nd and was happy to just try to clear the ball up to their striker too often. A bad habit to fall back upon but I expect the Coach to continue to correct that over the course of the season.
Click to expand...

"It did appear the Beach began to panic in the 2nd and was happy to just try to clear the ball up to their striker too often." I saw them do that against Tudela in the quarterfinal! They were up 1-0 at the half and then they put like 8 kids in the box and just kicked long balls to #7! And their coach was subbing every couple minutes... that's what I was talking about... they're supposed to be a top team and they didn't play good soccer they just sat on a lead and wasted time. Look, they won so good for them, but I want to see kids learn to play. That's my yada yada yada or whatever.
 
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