2007 DA

[watfly]

Find a coach or club that believes in development and creating a great soccer experience for their players and stick with them, even through the losses. This is how change happens.

Agree wholeheartedly, and that's why we chose the coach and club we are with now. Great coach (teaching concepts that will prove successful in the long run), son is having fun again, but will not achieve many wins this season. As far as demanding change, I tried that. Last year we had a coach that was beyond verbally abusive and had a very strained relationship with the truth. I don't know how many kids he made cry from his berating. Kids that weren't even berated were crying out of sympathy, that is how mean spirited he was and how he frightened 10-11 year olds. Fortunately, my son was never really a direct target of being singled out for a verbal beat down, but the toxic environment that the coach created (aided by some parents) made my son reluctant to go to practice. It got to a point that before each practice he asked out loud "I wonder want kind of mood Coach Ahole is going to be in today." I finally contacted the club president regarding the situation with very detailed information about the repeated incidents. The president requested corroborating stories from other parents (1). I spoke to a number of other parents on the team who were fed up with the situation. Four or five families agreed to also contact the club president. You know how many families followed through? One, that's it. You now what happened to the coach despite ample evidence of his misdeeds? Nothing. I tried, but the club soccer machine has gotten too powerful and parents are afraid to speak out for fear of retribution against their child and missing the opportunity of being on a winning team.

I'm not going to apologize for being entertained by the wins and losses of the DA teams my son competes against. It's hardly contributing to "the problem" because that ship has sailed. We all just have to find the best situation for our kids, I hope we're in that place now. Good luck.

(1)As a matter of note, some families had disclosed the coaches abuse in the clubs anonymous end of the year evaluation (calendar year, long before DA season is over), which the president claimed to know nothing about, and said it didn't matter anyway since the evaluations were anonymous it was nothing they could follow up with the parents. Genius!

 

[foreveryoung]

Agree wholeheartedly, and that's why we chose the coach and club we are with now. Great coach (teaching concepts that will prove successful in the long run), son is having fun again, but will not achieve many wins this season. As far as demanding change, I tried that. Last year we had a coach that was beyond verbally abusive and had a very strained relationship with the truth. I don't know how many kids he made cry from his berating. Kids that weren't even berated were crying out of sympathy, that is how mean spirited he was and how he frightened 10-11 year olds. Fortunately, my son was never really a direct target of being singled out for a verbal beat down, but the toxic environment that the coach created (aided by some parents) made my son reluctant to go to practice. It got to a point that before each practice he asked out loud "I wonder want kind of mood Coach Ahole is going to be in today." I finally contacted the club president regarding the situation with very detailed information about the repeated incidents. The president requested corroborating stories from other parents (1). I spoke to a number of other parents on the team who were fed up with the situation. Four or five families agreed to also contact the club president. You know how many families followed through? One, that's it. You now what happened to the coach despite ample evidence of his misdeeds? Nothing. I tried, but the club soccer machine has gotten too powerful and parents are afraid to speak out for fear of retribution against their child and missing the opportunity of being on a winning team.

I'm not going to apologize for being entertained by the wins and losses of the DA teams my son competes against. It's hardly contributing to "the problem" because that ship has sailed. We all just have to find the best situation for our kids, I hope we're in that place now. Good luck.

(1)As a matter of note, some families had disclosed the coaches abuse in the clubs anonymous end of the year evaluation (calendar year, long before DA season is over), which the president claimed to know nothing about, and said it didn't matter anyway since the evaluations were anonymous it was nothing they could follow up with the parents. Genius!

You did do something, you left the coach/club. You can only control your actions. And change doesn't happen overnight. And I never asked anyone to apologize for being entertained by wins/losses. If you recall, my response began as a response to the "speaks volumes" comment. I'm suggesting we be more aware of being hyper-focused on the scores of 12 year old soccer matches.

 

[Kante]

Are you are using scores/standings to assess team improvement/decline or are there other factors as well?

not standings, only scores but in relative terms.

for example, team A plays team B. on average, team A scores 5 goals per game but team B only allowed 2 goals when they played. So, team B would have a -60% goals allowed % score for that game.

then, look at team B goals allowed % for each game over the course of the season from game 1 thru game x.

over time, does team B's goals allowed % trend better, worse or stay the same? trending better - in the absence of adding new players - indicates development

this process/metric allows teams from LAFC to Chula Vista to evaluate progress/development in more meaningful terms than wins/losses and standings. yes, there's lot of variables (eg, do coaches play 2nd string in 1h (LAFC), do coaches ease off the gas in blow-outs, player injuries etc) but generally the variables average out of the length of the season to show solid/accurate picture of improvement or decline.

things like style of play matter but are (highly) subjective and, unless there is video available on games (and people with time available), evaluating style of play is not practical.

 

[watfly]

You did do something, you left the coach/club. You can only control your actions. And change doesn't happen overnight. And I never asked anyone to apologize for being entertained by wins/losses. If you recall, my response began as a response to the "speaks volumes" comment. I'm suggesting we be more aware of being hyper-focused on the scores of 12 year old soccer matches.

Fair enough. You and I will vote, or have voted, with our feet. Unfortunately, there are way more families in line to take our place on that winning team, so the Club never gets the message. They can just check the "disgruntled parent" box.

 

[foreveryoung]

Fair enough. You and I will vote, or have voted, with our feet. Unfortunately, there are way more families in line to take our place on that winning team, so the Club never gets the message. They can just check the "disgruntled parent" box.

And in my experience with the many parents I have seen that have left a team for the winning team it has never worked out the way they wanted it to. They find themselves replaced by the next shiny object, or the team falls apart the next year, or they lack playing time and/or realize the grass wasn't any greener. What you put out to the universe will always come back to you.

 

[RedDevilDad]

Well... what do you know?
How’d you all do today? A bunch of 9am games.

 

[RedDevilDad]

Strikers 1-1 SD Surf
LAGSD 0-0 SDSC
TFA 1-1 Legends
Arsenal 3-1 Albion

 

[RedDevilDad]

SDSC tied 0-0 with LAGSD.
From LAGSD friend:
We basically played smart soccer game, kept possession and avoided a quick counter as that would have left us exposed. They are a possession team, but to be honest they lost a lot of balls by bad passes. Particularly in the middle. SDSC did have more chance than us, but we played the defensive gave and let them come to us.. Today we actually had some great potential attacks, but like 3 on 2 but we seemed to be afraid to penetrate and shoot from outside. I feel if we had a bit more physical attack it would have given us a a goal
They were also vulnerable with thru passes in the corners.

From Murrieta Surf friend:
No... we play tomorrow. Maybe we can get out of our half.
Lol.

Arsenal and Albion:
Arsenal overran Albion and could have easily had 6 but wasted a few solid chances. Albion has good players but got clearly out-coached. Couldn’t adjust to Arsenal and kept trying to come down their right side with no joy. Albion’s only goal was confounding-ly offsides. Shot bounced off the goal post and was scored by the player behind the goalkeeper. Maybe the ref thought there was a deflection? Albion’s first half goalie was phenomenal in the air but very nervous in possession. 2nd goalkeeper was noticeably less competitive. Albion has some good sized players but looks like a team with some really good players used to beating people individually whereas Arsenal looked like a good team of good players that are disciplined.
8-0 loss to albion last year to 3-1 win and same 8-1 to murrieta last year to a 1-0 good contested loss this year hints that Arsenal has improved.

From Legends friend:
We were good. Tied TFA 1-1. No way they could give up 8 goals to LAFC. (I sent him the game report and the conversation ended, lol)

 

[Ed Ho]

SDSC tied 0-0 with LAGSD.
From LAGSD friend:
We basically played smart soccer game, kept possession and avoided a quick counter as that would have left us exposed. They are a possession team, but to be honest they lost a lot of balls by bad passes. Particularly in the middle. SDSC did have more chance than us, but we played the defensive gave and let them come to us.. Today we actually had some great potential attacks, but like 3 on 2 but we seemed to be afraid to penetrate and shoot from outside. I feel if we had a bit more physical attack it would have given us a a goal
They were also vulnerable with thru passes in the corners.

From Murrieta Surf friend:
No... we play tomorrow. Maybe we can get out of our half.
Lol.

Arsenal and Albion:
Arsenal overran Albion and could have easily had 6 but wasted a few solid chances. Albion has good players but got clearly out-coached. Couldn’t adjust to Arsenal and kept trying to come down their right side with no joy. Albion’s only goal was confounding-ly offsides. Shot bounced off the goal post and was scored by the player behind the goalkeeper. Maybe the ref thought there was a deflection? Albion’s first half goalie was phenomenal in the air but very nervous in possession. 2nd goalkeeper was noticeably less competitive. Albion has some good sized players but looks like a team with some really good players used to beating people individually whereas Arsenal looked like a good team of good players that are disciplined.
8-0 loss to albion last year to 3-1 win and same 8-1 to murrieta last year to a 1-0 good contested loss this year hints that Arsenal has improved.

From Legends friend:
We were good. Tied TFA 1-1. No way they could give up 8 goals to LAFC. (I sent him the game report and the conversation ended, lol)

Love the game insights - thanks Red Devil.

 

[JB805]

Is there a way to find the roster of a team from the 2018-2019 season?

 

[RedDevilDad]

Is there a way to find the roster of a team from the 2018-2019 season?

Hm... good question. The team manager can access previous seasons. If you are wondering about a player specifically, you can click on his name and it will tell you if he played and where/when.

In theory, you could go to the schedule and see a game report from a previous season (of a U13 or older team) and the roster is there.

 

[JB805]

Hm... good question. The team manager can access previous seasons. If you are wondering about a player specifically, you can click on his name and it will tell you if he played and where/when.

In theory, you could go to the schedule and see a game report from a previous season (of a U13 or older team) and the roster is there.

Got it from the game report as you suggested. Thanks!

 

[RedDevilDad]

Heard that Murrieta Surf won 2-0 over a "weak Nomads."

Meaning the whole SD side results are:
Murrieta 2-0 Nomads
Arsenal 3-1 Albion
Strikers 1-1 SD Surf
OC Surf 2-2 Chula Vista
LAGSD 0-0 SDSC
Real SL 2-1 del Sol

 

[watfly]

Heard that Murrieta Surf won 2-0 over a "weak Nomads."

Correct. Nomads (my son's team) was without both core starting center backs and starting striker which resulted in a position shuffle and a lack of overall strength. Most notably our strongest midfielder had to play center back. Game was lackluster in general, not poorly played, but not much action in the final third for either team. Might have been of function of the 120 yard field (which is 45 feet shorter than what NYCFC plays on) and the heat for some kids.

 

[watfly]

Might have been of function of the 120 yard field (which is 45 feet shorter than what NYCFC plays on) and the heat for some kids.

45 feet longer.

 

[Kante]

here's actuals vs predict for this last weekend (9/14/19)

Have incorporated 2019-20 results but the algo is still largely based on 2018-19 u12 results, so please insert appropriate caveats about accuracy here.

San Diego
predict: Albion 6 vs Arsenal 1. Actuals: Albion 1 vs Arsenal 3.
note: interesting result. in the last match-up at u12 in May 2019, Arsenal lost in aggregate 2-13.

here's RedDevilDad's commentary (thx!) "Arsenal overran Albion and could have easily had 6 but wasted a few solid chances. Albion has good players but got clearly out-coached. Couldn’t adjust to Arsenal and kept trying to come down their right side with no joy. Albion’s only goal was confounding-ly offsides. Shot bounced off the goal post and was scored by the player behind the goalkeeper. Maybe the ref thought there was a deflection? Albion’s first half goalie was phenomenal in the air but very nervous in possession. 2nd goalkeeper was noticeably less competitive. Albion has some good sized players but looks like a team with some really good players used to beating people individually whereas Arsenal looked like a good team of good players that are disciplined.
8-0 loss to albion last year to 3-1 win and same 8-1 to murrieta last year to a 1-0 good contested loss this year hints that Arsenal has improved."

Any other commentary here?

predict: OC Surf 5 vs Chula Vista 1. Actuals: OC Surf 2 vs Chula Vista 2.
note: Chula Vista generated an interesting result last week, and beat the algo again this week. keep it up! (am a sucker for the underdog) Any commentary/insight on CV's apparent improvements yoy?

predict: Strikers 1 vs San Diego Surf 4. Actuals: Strikers 1 vs San Diego Surf 1
note: looking at the trends and GS%, it's early but SD Surf offense may not be what it was this time last year. any commentary here?

predict: LAGSD 1 vs San Diego SC 6 Actuals: LAGSD 0 vs San Diego SC 0
note: the key for LAGSD keeping SDSC's DR ( seven goals in the last two games) under control. sounds like they played conservative and relied on counters. no shame in that. be interesting to see, as word gets out on SDSC strength this year, how SDSC responds.

here's 2nd hand commentary from RedDevilDad (thx!) "We basically played smart soccer game, kept possession and avoided a quick counter as that would have left us exposed. They are a possession team, but to be honest they lost a lot of balls by bad passes. Particularly in the middle. SDSC did have more chance than us, but we played the defensive gave and let them come to us.. Today we actually had some great potential attacks, but like 3 on 2 but we seemed to be afraid to penetrate and shoot from outside. I feel if we had a bit more physical attack it would have given us a a goal. They were also vulnerable with thru passes in the corners."

Any other commentary?

predict: Murrieta Surf 5 vs Nomads 0. Actuals: Murrieta Surf 2 vs Nomads 0.
here's commentary from Watfly (thx!): "Nomads (my son's team) was without both core starting center backs and starting striker which resulted in a position shuffle and a lack of overall strength. Most notably our strongest midfielder had to play center back. Game was lackluster in general, not poorly played, but not much action in the final third for either team. Might have been of function of the 120 yard field (which is 45 feet shorter than what NYCFC plays on) and the heat for some kids."

Any other commentary?

Los Angeles
predict: Legends 1 vs TFA 2. Actuals: Legends 1 vs TFA 1.
note: TFA just isn't what they were last year. Any commentary/insight into player churn or other cause?

predict: Ventura Fusion 4 vs LAUFA 1. Actuals: Ventura Fusion 1 vs LAUFA 5
note: not sure what to think about this one. Game report has two yellows and two LAUFA goals in the last five minutes of the match, and a Ventura own goal early on. Any commentary/insight here?

predict: FC Golden State 2 vs Santa Barbara SC 4. Actuals: FC Golden State 2 vs Santa Barbara SC 1
note: looks like the 3-1 win vs the Pats may have been an outlier for Santa Barbara and that FC Golden State (w/ a 2-1 win against LAG at Carson - always tough to do) may be a team to watch this season.

predict: LAFC 12 vs Pateadores 2. Actuals: LAFC 5 vs Pateadores 0
note: LAFC, with other age group, has essentially played the first half with the 2nd line and then subbed in the first line in the 2nd half. per game report, that may have happened here. Any commentary/insight on this?

predict: Real SoCal 2 vs Los Angeles Surf 3 Actuals: Real SoCal 0 vs Los Angeles Surf 2
note: interesting result. LA Surf is good example of showing improvement over time. going back to beginning of season last year, LA Surf has consistently improved on both sides of the ball. Haven't check roster this season vs last, so don't know if this due to adding player or actual development. Seems like they'll be a team to watch this season if the improvement keeps up.

 

[Zacrob]

here's actuals vs predict for this last weekend (9/14/19)

predict: LAFC 12 vs Pateadores 2. Actuals: LAFC 5 vs Pateadores 0
note: LAFC, with other age group, has essentially played the first half with the 2nd line and then subbed in the first line in the 2nd half. per game report, that may have happened here. Any commentary/insight on this?

While I wasn't at this one, I spoke to a couple of LAFC parents that were. According to them, LAFC played uninspired soccer and looked bored at times on the pitch, making lazy passes and not moving the ball the way they did against TFA. They just did not bring the intensity they did the week before. From the start, it was clear that Pats would not be able to penetrate the defense much less get more than a shot or two on goal. I don't know why LAFC wouldn't try to play this team up an age group like TS discussed in March. Also, knowing this team reasonably well and looking at the game report, the first line did, in fact, start the game and the second line subbed in after half.

 

[Kante]

While I wasn't at this one, I spoke to a couple of LAFC parents that were. According to them, LAFC played uninspired soccer and looked bored at times on the pitch, making lazy passes and not moving the ball the way they did against TFA. They just did not bring the intensity they did the week before. From the start, it was clear that Pats would not be able to penetrate the defense much less get more than a shot or two on goal. I don't know why LAFC wouldn't try to play this team up an age group like TS discussed in March. Also, knowing this team reasonably well and looking at the game report, the first line did, in fact, start the game and the second line subbed in after half.

thx for this. seems like LAFC won't be able to consistently play full teams - as opposed to just some players - up until they add a u19 team and a USL team. seems like the choice to add an age group every year - rather than expand more rapidly - is now hurting player development, and not just for LAFC players. games like this are a bummer for everyone involved. It's this kind of situation that causes players - who are advanced right now - to plateau out by ~u17.

 

[jpeter]

thx for this. seems like LAFC won't be able to consistently play full teams - as opposed to just some players - up until they add a u19 team and a USL team. seems like the choice to add an age group every year - rather than expand more rapidly - is now hurting player development, and not just for LAFC players. games like this are a bummer for everyone involved. It's this kind of situation that causes players - who are advanced right now - to plateau out by ~u17.

Yup don't have room to play many players up.

The U16/17 are almost all 04's but they don't have the luxury of pushing any of them to u18/19 without a team so that trickles down: the U15s (05) have been killing it but not much room on the u16/17 to get playing time.

Would have been better if they had a u18/19 team this season with all the coaches they have, come playoffs time this could hurt them as other clubs have players with more experience playing up.

 

[Kante]

here's predicts for this weekend. home team is listed first. am including predicts for the AZ games but most of the AZ team data is from YSR ... most of the data for the other teams is still from last season, so insert all previous caveats here.

Los Angeles
TFA 2 vs LA Galaxy 1

Ventura Fusion 6 vs Pateadores 2

LAUFA 3 vs FC Golden State 2

Santa Barbara SC 2 vs Legends 4

Real So Cal 2 vs LA Galaxy 3

San Diego
Arsenal 0 vs San Diego SC 3

Real Salt Lake AZ 3 vs OC Surf 1
note: all the AZ matches are based mostly on YSR rankings data, so ...

San Diego Surf 3 vs Murrieta Surf 1

SC del Sol 3 vs Strikers 4
note: all the AZ matches are based mostly on YSR rankings data, so ...

Real Salt Lake AZ 2 vs Strikers 2
note: all the AZ matches are based mostly on YSR rankings data, so ...

SC del Sol 3 vs OC Surf 2
note: all the AZ matches are based mostly on YSR rankings data, so ...