Santa Monica SURF " The bigger picture"

That's what the then-current Director of Coaching (MA) told me the year after the club first hosted the tournament when I asked about whether the club was doing it again. It's certainly possible he was just saying that because HE didn't want to do it again or I misunderstood and he was just referring to the run-around the rec dept had given them about getting field permits at the time. It never really made a lot of sense to me at the time because half the tournament was at Webster MS anyway, although I know Santa Monica is not the easiest to work with on field permits. In any event, when all the new fields come online, which could be after anyone on this board is done with youth soccer, especially for the Airport expansion, there definitely will be capacity.
He worked his butt off to get it done and I think we raised something like $700, another parent did the majority of the permits and we never knew what was going to happen with fields at the time. The majority of the games were held at Webster and after we had one of our G98 (U13 or U14 at the time) player's tear her ACL on one of the mud sections, no contact, NO ONE wanted to play there anymore. So when it came up, no one wanted to take it on again, MA was sort of willing but, he knew he'd be doing most of it himself. It would be nice if they do another as Surf has the structure setup already, even though both my DD's are off in college, I'd go watch!
 
I have a suggestion for everyone. All those who live West of the 605 can have all those fields during the season and stay over there and we can call it "Los Angeles (LA) Soccer League" Everyone south of San Clemente can have Oceanside and Del Mar fields and call it "San Diego (SD) Soccer League" Those East of Corona can have Silver Lakes and be called, "Inland Empire (IE) Soccer League" And those who live in the greatest soccer county in the country can have the Greatest Park in Irvine with a stadium and we can call it, "Orange County (OC) Soccer League." Four leagues in Socal and no driving into other counties to play league soccer games as a state law. We can have one summer tournament at the Great Park to see which county is developing the best talent at each age group. This will only be for kids under 14. DA can start after 8th grade for those who think Sally or Jimmy will make the National Team. Fly all you want around the country to find better competition. ECNL can start as well in 8th grade.

This would help stop all the read we see on the weekends. It's parents driving their kids to soccer games all over socal and it needs to stop!!!
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Not a bad idea however, I hope everyone is enjoying this time with their kid(s), it goes by really fast. Some will continue to play, some won't, your kids won't remember most of the places they played, they will remember some of the teams they played, some of the really exciting games but, it goes really fast. You'll turn around and they're done...hopefully, you'll have great memories of the conversations, time spend with you kid(s) and this complaining about driving will be moot. If you're lucky enough to have them play on at the collegiate level, it's not the same, watching your kid(s) play on the computer half way across the country is not the same as the time you will spend with them, in the car, driving to San Bernardino, Del Mar, Galway Downs, Las Vegas or some other place we complain about....just enjoy it
 
I have a suggestion for everyone. All those who live West of the 605 can have all those fields during the season and stay over there and we can call it "Los Angeles (LA) Soccer League" Everyone south of San Clemente can have Oceanside and Del Mar fields and call it "San Diego (SD) Soccer League" Those East of Corona can have Silver Lakes and be called, "Inland Empire (IE) Soccer League" And those who live in the greatest soccer county in the country can have the Greatest Park in Irvine with a stadium and we can call it, "Orange County (OC) Soccer League." Four leagues in Socal and no driving into other counties to play league soccer games as a state law. We can have one summer tournament at the Great Park to see which county is developing the best talent at each age group. This will only be for kids under 14. DA can start after 8th grade for those who think Sally or Jimmy will make the National Team. Fly all you want around the country to find better competition. ECNL can start as well in 8th grade.

This would help stop all the read we see on the weekends. It's parents driving their kids to soccer games all over socal and it needs to stop!!!
View attachment 5740
That will never, never work. It makes way too much sense...
 
Not a bad idea however, I hope everyone is enjoying this time with their kid(s), it goes by really fast. Some will continue to play, some won't, your kids won't remember most of the places they played, they will remember some of the teams they played, some of the really exciting games but, it goes really fast. You'll turn around and they're done...hopefully, you'll have great memories of the conversations, time spend with you kid(s) and this complaining about driving will be moot. If you're lucky enough to have them play on at the collegiate level, it's not the same, watching your kid(s) play on the computer half way across the country is not the same as the time you will spend with them, in the car, driving to San Bernardino, Del Mar, Galway Downs, Las Vegas or some other place we complain about....just enjoy it
I drove from OC 4 hours to play LA Breakers today in Studio City. Fields were excellent and everyone had fun. Plus we won :) Regarding the drive, It sucked and I hated every minute of it. My wife slept 3 of those hours and my dd slept some and then was on her phone most of the time so I just tried to stay positive going 5 miles an hour around the airport. I drove by UCLA and got depressed because we lost to Hofstra in hoops and SC spanked us again in football :( I tried to play car games like we did when she was 10 but she was not interested. I thought of your comment every time I was tempted with road rage because everyone was impatient on the freeway. I think I did good today. I just got home after leaving at 12 for one game.
 
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I drove from OC 4 hours to play LA Breakers today in Studio City. Fields were excellent and everyone had fun. Plus we won :) Regarding the drive, It sucked and I hated every minute of it. My wife slept 3 of those hours and my dd slept some and then was on her phone most of the time so I just tried to stay positive going 5 miles an hour around the airport. I drove by UCLA and got depressed because we lost to Hofstra in hoops and SC spanked us again in football :( I tried to play car games like we did when she was 10 but she was not interested. I thought of your comment every time I was tempted with road rage because everyone was impatient on the freeway. I think I did good today. I just got home after leaving at 12 for one game.
Next time get your A** up earlier,, beat the traffic,, enjoy the beach,, the museum some good food,, and then the game. take in a movie mayber then head back...full day,, more than just a soccer game...and traffic jams.
 
Next time get your A** up earlier,, beat the traffic,, enjoy the beach,, the museum some good food,, and then the game. take in a movie mayber then head back...full day,, more than just a soccer game...and traffic jams.
I told my wife that. Next time, dawn patrol Malibu, lunch, game and then movie=No traffic
 
Not a bad idea however, I hope everyone is enjoying this time with their kid(s), it goes by really fast. Some will continue to play, some won't, your kids won't remember most of the places they played, they will remember some of the teams they played, some of the really exciting games but, it goes really fast. You'll turn around and they're done...hopefully, you'll have great memories of the conversations, time spend with you kid(s) and this complaining about driving will be moot. If you're lucky enough to have them play on at the collegiate level, it's not the same, watching your kid(s) play on the computer half way across the country is not the same as the time you will spend with them, in the car, driving to San Bernardino, Del Mar, Galway Downs, Las Vegas or some other place we complain about....just enjoy it

This is absolutely dead on! I miss those days and wish I had them back. Screaming at my iPad is not the same though flying across the country to attend that first college game in person was an epic experience. I miss taking her to endless practices and all of those games. It is over so quick.
 
This is absolutely dead on! I miss those days and wish I had them back. Screaming at my iPad is not the same though flying across the country to attend that first college game in person was an epic experience. I miss taking her to endless practices and all of those games. It is over so quick.
Hey, were talking 2019 and weekend games only. It's getting bad Simi soccer fan. Trust me, I have no problem driving with my baby girl talking about whatever 15 year old's want to talk about. However, we talk better in the water when were surfing. On the 405 it's road rage city and I have a different mindset. I have to pay attention to all the cars who are angry about the LA traffic. It sucks and that's the truth. Spin this all you want, it sucks to drive on the 405 from Laguna to Studio City at 12pm for one soccer game.
 
Hey, were talking 2019 and weekend games only. It's getting bad Simi soccer fan. Trust me, I have no problem driving with my baby girl talking about whatever 15 year old's want to talk about. However, we talk better in the water when were surfing. On the 405 it's road rage city and I have a different mindset. I have to pay attention to all the cars who are angry about the LA traffic. It sucks and that's the truth. Spin this all you want, it sucks to drive on the 405 from Laguna to Studio City at 12pm for one soccer game.

At least you’re centrally located. We live in Ventura County. Driving to the OC or San Diego is a nightmare.
 
At least you’re centrally located. We live in Ventura County. Driving to the OC or San Diego is a nightmare.
Ventura is the best place to live. Away from the rat race you guys are. You just have to drive into it to find some good games. We played that Eagles team way back u9. They were killing everyone up there and in LA and one of the competitive dads called our Legends combo coach and they drove from Ventura to Chino for 8am scrimmage one Saturday. We won!!!
We played Eagles ECNL last week and that was a worse drive than to Studio City. Spent the night up there as well. $400 road game plus 6 hours driving......It's all fun or I wouldn't be doing it. It's just not as fun when they were 9 and 10 if that makes any sense.
 
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I drove from OC 4 hours to play LA Breakers today in Studio City. Fields were excellent and everyone had fun. Plus we won :) Regarding the drive, It sucked and I hated every minute of it. My wife slept 3 of those hours and my dd slept some and then was on her phone most of the time so I just tried to stay positive going 5 miles an hour around the airport. I drove by UCLA and got depressed because we lost to Hofstra in hoops and SC spanked us again in football :( I tried to play car games like we did when she was 10 but she was not interested. I thought of your comment every time I was tempted with road rage because everyone was impatient on the freeway. I think I did good today. I just got home after leaving at 12 for one game.
Build that Wall.
 
I drove from OC 4 hours to play LA Breakers today in Studio City. Fields were excellent and everyone had fun. Plus we won :) Regarding the drive, It sucked and I hated every minute of it. My wife slept 3 of those hours and my dd slept some and then was on her phone most of the time so I just tried to stay positive going 5 miles an hour around the airport. I drove by UCLA and got depressed because we lost to Hofstra in hoops and SC spanked us again in football :( I tried to play car games like we did when she was 10 but she was not interested. I thought of your comment every time I was tempted with road rage because everyone was impatient on the freeway. I think I did good today. I just got home after leaving at 12 for one game.
Never heard of Breakers playing a home game in Studio City. Fields are in West LA and Venice. But I only know boys’ teams.
 
Never heard of Breakers playing a home game in Studio City. Fields are in West LA and Venice. But I only know boys’ teams.
We play at Harvard Westlake School on occasion, also at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino. But most games are at University High School and the VA in West L.A.
 
Not a bad idea however, I hope everyone is enjoying this time with their kid(s), it goes by really fast. Some will continue to play, some won't, your kids won't remember most of the places they played, they will remember some of the teams they played, some of the really exciting games but, it goes really fast. You'll turn around and they're done...hopefully, you'll have great memories of the conversations, time spend with you kid(s) and this complaining about driving will be moot. If you're lucky enough to have them play on at the collegiate level, it's not the same, watching your kid(s) play on the computer half way across the country is not the same as the time you will spend with them, in the car, driving to San Bernardino, Del Mar, Galway Downs, Las Vegas or some other place we complain about....just enjoy it
Absolutely true!
 
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I have a suggestion for everyone. All those who live West of the 605 can have all those fields during the season and stay over there and we can call it "Los Angeles (LA) Soccer League" Everyone south of San Clemente can have Oceanside and Del Mar fields and call it "San Diego (SD) Soccer League" Those East of Corona can have Silver Lakes and be called, "Inland Empire (IE) Soccer League" And those who live in the greatest soccer county in the country can have the Greatest Park in Irvine with a stadium and we can call it, "Orange County (OC) Soccer League." Four leagues in Socal and no driving into other counties to play league soccer games as a state law. We can have one summer tournament at the Great Park to see which county is developing the best talent at each age group. This will only be for kids under 14. DA can start after 8th grade for those who think Sally or Jimmy will make the National Team. Fly all you want around the country to find better competition. ECNL can start as well in 8th grade.

This would help stop all the red we see on the weekends. It's parents driving their kids to soccer games all over socal and it needs to stop!!!
View attachment 5740
And Lancaster and, god forbid, Bakersfield...?
 
Never heard of Breakers playing a home game in Studio City. Fields are in West LA and Venice. But I only know boys’ teams.
Harvard Westlake (HW) was very nice. They needed more room for all the scouts and switched the fields. It was awesome experience. All the parents sitting together cheering our goats on together. I told everyone next time lets have bbq before the game like we did in my GOAT FC days:)
 
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