FlintDempsey
BRONZE
For me, the HS soccer season seems to go very, very slowly in NOV and DEC. Then JAN arrives and BANG - it is over in a heart beat. It's getting to crunch time. Teams need to juice their rankings for the final playoff push.
High School
- Thread starter Singh
- Start date
Playoffs now here. Should be interesting. 6a girls is a toss up. Any of Perry, Xavier, or Basha could win depending on the day and who goes into the playoffs with momentum. DV and Hamilton Dark horses. 5a girls looks like ND Prep possibly Casteel or Chaparral.. but ND pretty dominant.
FlintDempsey
BRONZE
I am involved in 3A soccer (girls and boys) and so that is the level where I see most games. We are already past the play-ins with the 1st round tomorrow (2/7). 4 upsets out of the 8 play-in games on the girls side. That's the (fun) chaos of a one-and-done tournament. There are a number of teams that could make a run for the 3A girls crown. We have watched a number of 6A girls games because of my DD's club teammates. Hoping to get out to see the later rounds of 6A girls (as long as it doesn't conflict with our own drive for the championship!)
whatithink
GOLD
So Hamilton vs Basha and DV vs Xavier in the semis. Regular season, Basha beat Hamilton & DV/Xavier was a tie. Two good semis. As an aside, that Xavier roster is very young with only 5 seniors - they will be v strong for the next 2 years with 10 sophomores.
On the boys 6a side the semis are Mesa vs Perry and Mountain View vs San Luis. Mesa are dark horses (just bt the #1 seed), but Perry are a huge team who play very direct.
whatithink
GOLD
Meant to add, Mountain View beat Mesa & Perry in regular season and always hard to know how good San Luis are due to a pretty soft schedule. Two good semis again.
Yea no one expected Hamilton to beat Perry. Complete upset. I think Basha/Xavier in the final. Edge to Xavier as they have more experience going deep in the playoffs but.. 6A has been crazy. What else was interesting was 3 of 4 of the 5A playoffs went to PKs pretty tight ... except NDP. They will dominate. Other upset i thought was 4A AZ College prep losing to Salpointe. Thought AZ College Prep would have gone deeper with the season they had.
whatithink
GOLD
Hamilton vs Xavier in the 6A final, regular season was a tie. Should be a good game. Xavier seem to be scoring for fun at the moment, 13F, 2A in the playoffs, so are prob the favs.
In the boys 6A, Perry vs San Luis. Perry used their size (2 long throws) to beat Mesa. They are very dangerous (well drilled) from set pieces. If San Luis can negate that, then they are prob favs.
whatithink
GOLD
Xavier wins the girls on PKs (4 in a row).
Perry wins the boys on PKs (2 in a row).
Perry wins the boys on PKs (2 in a row).
Hamilton making it as far as they did was the story of the girls side. In conference play they lost to Basha, Perry and DV. Really turned up in the playoffs. Xavier is the perennial winner so nothing really new there.
whatithink
GOLD
Well, when your roster (Xavier) is basically all ECNL players (may a small number of GA), spread from F>Snr, you have a built in advantage. There were only 6 seniors on the Xavier team (5 starters), so they have prob 18-19 players coming back for next year.
FlintDempsey
BRONZE
HS soccer always comes to an abrupt end. Nov and Dec seem to go by so slowly with all the training and sporadic games. Then Jan hits and it is fast and furious with games seemingly every other day. The knock-outs arrive in Feb and for all but the 2 teams in the final, the season ends too soon. Then the kids go from being together 6 days a week to back to their various club teams or other school sports. It is a weird transition (for coaches too). I'm impressed by the schools that have solid programs year after year. You never know who is going to show up for tryouts, who's injured and out for the season, who's decided to play basketball instead, who's moved to another state or transferred schools. There are surprises every year. I love HS soccer for what it is. Looking forward to next season!
Youth_Soccer_Nerd
SILVER
Does anyone have the SAAZ champions cup schedule? I can't find it
Youth_Soccer_Nerd
SILVER
thank you so much!
FlintDempsey
BRONZE
I've been away too long (real life (ie work) gets in the way of soccer sometimes). HS soccer rules, especially small school HS soccer. Think of it as a completely different version of "real" soccer, like futsal or indoor or beach or whatever they play on alien planets). I've argued this before but there is a permanence to it unlike club soccer. Case in point, last night we went to the HS for an event. Right as you walk into the entrance you pass by a trophy case with 2 amazing golden ball trophies in it won for girls soccer. My kids pass by it every day going to school. They can see their legacy. They will be able to take their kids to see the trophies and banner and plaques on the hallowed walls.
FlintDempsey
BRONZE
AZ winter HS soccer games are about to start - about 2 weeks away. Looking forward to the new season! IMO there are only 4 teams in 3A girls that can win it all (in alphabetical order): Benjamin Franklin, Gilbert Christian, Northwest Christian, and Seton Catholic. There are several next group teams like Safford and ALA-West Foothills, but it would be a huge shock if one of the big 4 doesn't win it all. Looking forward to the wild ride of HS soccer (especially 3A).
There's a lot of players that substitute cheap shots and aggression for lack of skill in HS. Also, once teams are down 5 goals it becomes a fist fight if the refs don't take control with yellows and reds.
I've seen multiple club players get hurt playing HS soccer. It's a tough call to let your kid play on this type of team. The other side of the coin is that often with minimal skill you can score goals at will which is fun/nice. But, it unfortunately puts a target on your back. So hopefully the coach knows when to take players out to avoid issues.
My son's Freshman team will have 5 ECNL, 8 RL, and 6 MLS2, if you still call that low level. Besides, no club soccer can replace the HS soccer experience.
Will all the other teams be stacked with club players? Yes/No?
Obviously your kids team probabaly wont be the one looking for fights. Can you say the same for all the other teams you play against? Thats my point.
I don't even know where to begin here. You have many wise observations about youth soccer, but this is not amongst them. HS soccer has no more injuries than club soccer. Skills are required to score - or even just play at a varsity level. Fist fights? In some worlds but in girls HS varsity soccer.....?????? Come on. HS coaches are in the main good to excellent. HS soccer game schedule is more akin to the college schedule than is club. The HS experience is much about the social experience and playing a sport for your school is a highlight.
What exactly is your beef