# Tournament Comments- Albion or Copa?



## Monkey (Jul 15, 2018)

So last year there was a lot of debate on who had the better tournament.  The better competition seemed to be divided between the 2 tournaments in a lot of the age groups.  This year I think Albion cleaned up, having a lot more teams in all age groups and most of the better teams. Maybe it is because most of Albion’s games were in Oceanside and so they were more convenient to OC and LA teams?


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## outside! (Jul 16, 2018)

Albion Cup games were all over the county:

http://events.gotsport.com/events/fields.aspx?EventID=63199&FieldID=

Only the u-littles were in Oceanside.


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## Calisoccer11 (Jul 16, 2018)

My only complaint about Albion is the shorter game times--25 minute halves!


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## MWN (Jul 16, 2018)

In the tournament game, reciprocal agreements are an important element.  Albion took a hit two tournaments ago with a partial rain out, but I think Albion has the leg up because it has about 105 teams between SD and South, whereas the Sharks are roughly half that.



Calisoccer11 said:


> My only complaint about Albion is the shorter game times--25 minute halves!


Shaving off 5 to 10 minutes per half is smart and good for the player's health when teams are often playing 2 games per day.


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## Banana Hammock (Jul 16, 2018)

Team Check in at Albion was seamless.  Food was wanting.  Gatorade or water available at the sites.  Not bad


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## Eagle33 (Jul 16, 2018)

MWN said:


> Shaving off 5 to 10 minutes per half is smart and good for the player's health when teams are often playing 2 games per day.


If I have 18 players on the roster, 25 min halves is not enough.


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## Buckyballer (Jul 16, 2018)

Banana Hammock said:


> Team Check in at Albion was seamless.  Food was wanting.  Gatorade or water available at the sites.  Not bad


Totally agree but the city street traffic around the hotel was crazy!  Area to be skipped for the next year or two. I would also give props to the two hours of free parking.  They did a very good job.


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## Fact (Jul 16, 2018)

outside! said:


> Albion Cup games were all over the county:
> 
> http://events.gotsport.com/events/fields.aspx?EventID=63199&FieldID=
> 
> Only the u-littles were in Oceanside.


All of the girls top flights 2003-2004 and most 2002s were at
Oceanside.

I just looked at the schedules. Albion DA and DPL teams played. Both teams faired well against no name completion as would be expected. But in the 02 and 04 ages the DA teams did not even make the semi-finals. 02s lost to A CDA Slammers team and O4s tied a San Diego Strikers team. 03 DPL lost all 3 games and 04 DPL team did not even play in the top bracket.


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## outside! (Jul 16, 2018)

Fact said:


> All of the girls top flights 2003-2004 and most 2002s were at
> Oceanside.


You are right, I needed to scroll more.


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## Fact (Jul 16, 2018)

outside! said:


> You are right, I needed to scroll more.


Thinking about it, shouldn’t they have had all the olders in Oceanside? They claim it is a college Showcase so were the coaches, especially on the boys side supposed to drive all over town?


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## ChrisD (Jul 16, 2018)

Albion Cup was great, everything was ran just like the bigger event, no complaints here, except for today, dont like games on Monday, ruins my work day.........  They put effort into it which is nice , not just a couple pot a potty's and bunc ass snack tent......good teams, good competition, good times.....My son had fun with his friends and ultimately that is what we want.


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## Frank (Jul 16, 2018)

Eagle33 said:


> If I have 18 players on the roster, 25 min halves is not enough.


It isn't if you play to the final


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## Surfref (Jul 16, 2018)

Albion had full length finals.  I refereed both tournaments and think Albion was run slightly better.  Both did not have enough Field Marshal and Trainer tents.  It sucks having to go three fields over to complete paperwork after the games and not enough trainers at either facility.  Maybe I am just used to Surf tournaments which are the benchmark for big tournaments.  Royal pain in the ass getting into the Polo fields on Saturday afternoon.  There was the gun show and country concert at the fair grounds and an accident just before Via De La Via.  Luckily my Waze app took us in the back way but still took 30 minutes longer than it should.  Field condition was great at both Polo and O-side. As for competition, I think Albion was slightly better.  I did see a couple DA and DPL teams at Albion and was not impressed.


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## Soccer Bum 06 (Jul 16, 2018)

Albion G02 DPL team ended up winning their final over CDA Slammers team.


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## Surfref (Jul 16, 2018)

Soccer Bum 06 said:


> Albion G02 DPL team ended up winning their final over CDA Slammers team.


Albion G02 DPL was definitely the better team.  Slammers could not get anything by Albions defense or keeper


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## Fact (Jul 16, 2018)

Surfref said:


> Albion G02 DPL was definitely the better team.  Slammers could not get anything by Albions defense or keeper


Did Albion keep all their defenders back at all times?  When I saw their DA teams play in the Spring I was surprised that even their outside backs were not dribbling up the sidelines when they had room. It was one touch and done. While camping the back line may win games, there will not be a lot of development for these ladies. At the time I wondered if US Soccer would condone such an approach.


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## MWN (Jul 16, 2018)

Eagle33 said:


> If I have 18 players on the roster, 25 min halves is not enough.


25 Min halves for U13 and U14 is kinda silly, I'll agree with that.  I see that the U18's were at 30 min halves, which means they lost 15 per half or 30 min per game.  Summer Tournaments are supposed to be about getting your players in and tuning up for the season.



Fact said:


> Thinking about it, shouldn’t they have had all the olders in Oceanside? They claim it is a college Showcase so were the coaches, especially on the boys side supposed to drive all over town?


Good point, but boys get the short end of the stick when it comes to college anyway.  Any "showcase" event should put all the "scouted" teams in the same location.  Fail for Albion on this.


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## Surfref (Jul 17, 2018)

Fact said:


> Did Albion keep all their defenders back at all times?  When I saw their DA teams play in the Spring I was surprised that even their outside backs were not dribbling up the sidelines when they had room. It was one touch and done. While camping the back line may win games, there will not be a lot of development for these ladies. At the time I wondered if US Soccer would condone such an approach.


No, the defenders were making runs up the wings and I remember at least one defender making a run up the middle. They just did a good job in the center midfield and defense.  The nail in the coffin was a 35ish yard goal from one of the center mids.  This Albion team was probably the best DPL team that I have seen.  There were a good number of really dumb and avoidable fouls by both teams that you don't usually see at G17.   

So, from what I have seen of DPL teams they are about on the level of the EGSL teams from a couple years ago.  Most of the DPL teams would probably be middle to bottom of the standings in EGSL of two years ago. I have seen only two DPL teams that would be near the top.


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