Vegas Cup 2013 - '01s

Inside of 10 minutes remaining and SC is up 2-1 and Gold is up 4-1.

Kicks SC and Gold get it done!! Congrats ladies on the hard work. Well deserved wins.

Nice job girls!


Way to bring it home!

Androfan wrote:Kicks SC and Gold get it done!! Congrats ladies on the hard work. Well deserved wins.

Congrats to both Kicks teams! I'd say the Texas teams have closed the gap with SoCal.

DD'SBIGGERTHANYOURS wrote:

codxat wrote:at least one Solar Bates player playing for Kicks

You said that to say what?

The truth...

You forgot to switch back to your alter ID.

Congrats to the Kicks Club for bringing cup to Texas.

Congrats to all NTX '01 teams. We've been saying for years this age group has depth and quality. Vegas results make it hard to argue otherwise. Socal was strong, fast and (some) were also very skilled, but I definitely don't think there is any gap in either individual or team development.

The coolest part for me was the TX teams rooting for eachother. Teams that are normally hate your guts rivals said good luck and actually meant it. At one point in quarterfinals it felt like TX teams energy was feeding each other ( Grubb was in middle with Kicks and Sting on either side). When all three were leading it started to look like a all TX final was in the making. When blades beat Grubb in semi the Grubbies encouraged kicks to bring it home in the final. Classy stuff all round.

Kudos to JM and ALSO coach Edgar, who people don't know much about but is a huge part of the success formula for Kicks teams. Also have to thank Bates for allowing one of his top players to guest with us.

To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Blah-Blah-Blah wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Not an 01 but here is a ballpark on what I spent this weekend going to Vegas for two of us.

Southwest Airlines-$220 per ticket
Rental Car-$225 for 5 days and that included gas
Hotel (Circus Circus)-$243 total for 5 nights
Food-@$400 for 5 days. Not 100% sure on this one but I would guess $80 a day covered two of us. I will look at my bank statement and add it up later to give you an accurate count. We covered a lot of ground site seeing Vegas so we ate at a lot of places that was $15-$20 for burger and fries so it adds up quickly.

Hope that gives you a rough guestimate!

KatCon wrote:

Blah-Blah-Blah wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Not an 01 but here is a ballpark on what I spent this weekend going to Vegas for two of us.

Southwest Airlines-$220 per ticket
Rental Car-$225 for 5 days and that included gas
Hotel (Circus Circus)-$243 total for 5 nights
Food-@$400 for 5 days. Not 100% sure on this one but I would guess $80 a day covered two of us. I will look at my bank statement and add it up later to give you an accurate count. We covered a lot of ground site seeing Vegas so we ate at a lot of places that was $15-$20 for burger and fries so it adds up quickly.


Hope that gives you a rough guestimate!

Wow, thats not bad at all KatCon. You got a great rate on your hotel. Thanks for sharing. I am sure the food expense can get expensive..

jabberjaw wrote:

KatCon wrote:

Blah-Blah-Blah wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Not an 01 but here is a ballpark on what I spent this weekend going to Vegas for two of us.

Southwest Airlines-$220 per ticket
Rental Car-$225 for 5 days and that included gas
Hotel (Circus Circus)-$243 total for 5 nights
Food-@$400 for 5 days. Not 100% sure on this one but I would guess $80 a day covered two of us. I will look at my bank statement and add it up later to give you an accurate count. We covered a lot of ground site seeing Vegas so we ate at a lot of places that was $15-$20 for burger and fries so it adds up quickly.


Hope that gives you a rough guestimate!

Wow, thats not bad at all KatCon. You got a great rate on your hotel. Thanks for sharing. I am sure the food expense can get expensive..

You are welcome. That also doesn't cover tournament fees or coaches travel either but those are to bad. All said and done you probably spend between $1500-$2000 for the entire trip.

KatCon wrote:
You are welcome. That also doesn't cover tournament fees or coaches travel either but those are to bad. All said and done you probably spend between $1500-$2000 for the entire trip.

Which is a pretty typical dollar amount for any tournament you have to get on a plane to attend. I usually expect to spend ~$750 per person attending.

KatCon wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:

KatCon wrote:

Blah-Blah-Blah wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Not an 01 but here is a ballpark on what I spent this weekend going to Vegas for two of us.

Southwest Airlines-$220 per ticket
Rental Car-$225 for 5 days and that included gas
Hotel (Circus Circus)-$243 total for 5 nights
Food-@$400 for 5 days. Not 100% sure on this one but I would guess $80 a day covered two of us. I will look at my bank statement and add it up later to give you an accurate count. We covered a lot of ground site seeing Vegas so we ate at a lot of places that was $15-$20 for burger and fries so it adds up quickly.


Hope that gives you a rough guestimate!

Wow, thats not bad at all KatCon. You got a great rate on your hotel. Thanks for sharing. I am sure the food expense can get expensive..

You are welcome. That also doesn't cover tournament fees or coaches travel either but those are to bad. All said and done you probably spend between $1500-$2000 for the entire trip.

But of course you were able to win this all back right?

GOTB@LLZ?? wrote:

KatCon wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:

KatCon wrote:

Blah-Blah-Blah wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Not an 01 but here is a ballpark on what I spent this weekend going to Vegas for two of us.

Southwest Airlines-$220 per ticket
Rental Car-$225 for 5 days and that included gas
Hotel (Circus Circus)-$243 total for 5 nights
Food-@$400 for 5 days. Not 100% sure on this one but I would guess $80 a day covered two of us. I will look at my bank statement and add it up later to give you an accurate count. We covered a lot of ground site seeing Vegas so we ate at a lot of places that was $15-$20 for burger and fries so it adds up quickly.


Hope that gives you a rough guestimate!

Wow, thats not bad at all KatCon. You got a great rate on your hotel. Thanks for sharing. I am sure the food expense can get expensive..

You are welcome. That also doesn't cover tournament fees or coaches travel either but those are to bad. All said and done you probably spend between $1500-$2000 for the entire trip.

But of course you were able to win this all back right?

GOTB@LLZ, Long time no see! Not all of it but a majority of it. Roullette was very very good to me this trip to Vegas

jabberjaw wrote:To Kicks Team: Curious to the out of pocket expense this tournament set you back? hotel, food, travel etc.... Was this a buiness only trip or was there time to enjoy Vegas? Sounds like the Kicks teams did very well. Glad to hear this. Please give us an idea of what something like that will cost a family..assuming parents went as well...

I will bite- I know several of our families made the trip for under $1,000. We had several players with only one parent making the trip. These families split hotel cost by 2 and rental car by 3 to save cost. Flights were booked as low as $170 round trip per person. We also stayed at Circus Circus which was the cheapest hotel. I know several families went to walmart and bought food and snacks for the day to save a little. Like the old saying goes, "where there is a will there is a way". Our parents always do what they can to find a way.

As far as thinking playing for Kicks is cheap that is not the case. When we were academy and the first year of select (U11) every player was only responsible for their league fees and tournament fees. In academy even when we advertised our low cost benefit for playing with us we didn't get many players showing up to our practices. After U11, even after our teams did well, we lost several girls from our 2nd team for different reasons but the main reason was they wanted the opportunity to play D1. I don't think any of the parents even thought twice of the cost of playing with their new club. NTX clubs charge what they can bc parents WILL pay it. I use to think cost will play a bigger factor but after coaching for several years I've realized it doesn't play as big of a factor. You can be the cheapest or even get offer to play for free but it really doesn't matter. If the parent doesn't feel the coach is good or have a track record people don't care about saving money and giving you a chance to show your coaching ability.

Again, I want to make it clear it is NOT cheap to play for Kicks. I believe we are cheaper than the big clubs, JMO.

Our goal is to do two out of town trips each year. Our goal is to compete in every State cup and when they get to U13-14 hopefully win and get a chance to go to regional and nationals. We would like to do premier league and quality showcase tournaments as the girls get older. We will plan each year and get started early with fundraising for needed families. We went to Colorado and Vegas this year. These trips were planned for over 9 months, maybe over a year. We already have one tournament planned out for next year. Still working on the second one.

3-4-3 wrote:Congrats to all NTX '01 teams. We've been saying for years this age group has depth and quality. Vegas results make it hard to argue otherwise. Socal was strong, fast and (some) were also very skilled, but I definitely don't think there is any gap in either individual or team development.

The coolest part for me was the TX teams rooting for eachother. Teams that are normally hate your guts rivals said good luck and actually meant it. At one point in quarterfinals it felt like TX teams energy was feeding each other ( Grubb was in middle with Kicks and Sting on either side). When all three were leading it started to look like a all TX final was in the making. When blades beat Grubb in semi the Grubbies encouraged kicks to bring it home in the final. Classy stuff all round.

Kudos to JM and ALSO coach Edgar, who people don't know much about but is a huge part of the success formula for Kicks teams. Also have to thank Bates for allowing one of his top players to guest with us.

Big thanks to our strength/agility and conditioning trainer (Edgar). Kicks is very lucky to have him on our team. He is very knowledgeable about having players prepared physically to perform at a high level. It is not every day you have someone on your team that has spent some time with Cruz Azul's professional team helping with your team. Coach Edgar made the trip to Vegas and was able to do recovery work every night to have girls ready for the next day. Playing 6 games in 3 days is brutal. He is also very committed to teams by being at all or most of training sessions. I know the parents also appreciate the nutrition tips.


Big thanks to Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). In the semis and finals, coach Adrian coached KG and Coach Edgar coached KSC. The games were at the same time. We tried to get them moved but with people having to catch scheduled flights it was impossible. They moved fields to allow me to keep an eye on both teams. Very thankful to Vegas Cup tournament director. This is the best ran tournament IMO. The staff was very professional and responsive.


I will also like to give kudos to Exiles and Hot Spurs. These two teams were VERY classy teams. After the games players do not immediately shake players hands like we do here in TX. Instead they huddle with coach for a couple of minutes, then turn around and walk to midfield to shake hands. After their huddle break they each did a "KICKS" chant. VERY VERY CLASSY teams.


I have already thank Jason for allowing us to use one of his top players but I will thank him again. Thanks Jason. Only 13 players making the trip from KSC and with KG in the same tournament we couldn't use one of our own. If we didn't take a guest player it would have been much tougher. Playing 6 games and one of our players getting injured in the qtr final and unable to play in semis or final would have been brutal against the very talented CA teams.


Last, I would like to thank 3 of Kicks Blue players for making the trip to Vegas to fill in for 3 very strong starters that couldn't make the trip. The 3 starters that didn't make the trip were missed on and off the field. I'm glad the 3 Kicks blue players were able to step in and not have the team miss a beat. These players have played in other tournaments, indoor, pickup etc... with their sister team so the transition wasn't too difficult. I was happy they had the opportunity to experience such a quality tournament.

Congratulations to Juan, Adrian , Edgar, & those amazing girls! Kicks is top shelf. Very fun teams to watch! Way to play girls!!!!

Not sure about your age bracket but ours, 99's, was run terrible. Regardless of how much time was left they ended the game 5 minutes before next game was schedule to start to stay on time. The ref said it was because they didn't have enough fields and the games were all scheduled so close together. Our first game alone we were shorted 7 minutes in the second half in a 1 goal game because it was 5 minutes before the next scheduled game.

KatCon wrote:Not sure about your age bracket but ours, 99's, was run terrible. Regardless of how much time was left they ended the game 5 minutes before next game was schedule to start to stay on time. The ref said it was because they didn't have enough fields and the games were all scheduled so close together. Our first game alone we were shorted 7 minutes in the second half in a 1 goal game because it was 5 minutes before the next scheduled game.

That is messed up. All our games were full length.

KatCon wrote:Not sure about your age bracket but ours, 99's, was run terrible. Regardless of how much time was left they ended the game 5 minutes before next game was schedule to start to stay on time. The ref said it was because they didn't have enough fields and the games were all scheduled so close together. Our first game alone we were shorted 7 minutes in the second half in a 1 goal game because it was 5 minutes before the next scheduled game.

Katcon is correct! There were games that referees were shaving minutes off to try to stay on schedule. Games were scheduled back to back with zero on field warm-up. The referees were definately told to stay on schedule even if it meant shaving time.

totalsoccer wrote:

KatCon wrote:Not sure about your age bracket but ours, 99's, was run terrible. Regardless of how much time was left they ended the game 5 minutes before next game was schedule to start to stay on time. The ref said it was because they didn't have enough fields and the games were all scheduled so close together. Our first game alone we were shorted 7 minutes in the second half in a 1 goal game because it was 5 minutes before the next scheduled game.

Katcon is correct! There were games that referees were shaving minutes off to try to stay on schedule. Games were scheduled back to back with zero on field warm-up. The referees were definately told to stay on schedule even if it meant shaving time.

Vegas Sounds Awesome!!!

Joga14:55 wrote:Congratulations to Juan, Adrian , Edgar, & those amazing girls! Kicks is top shelf. Very fun teams to watch! Way to play girls!!!!

Thank you Joga.

KatCon wrote:

GOTB@LLZ?? wrote:

KatCon wrote:

jabberjaw wrote:

KatCon wrote:

Blah-Blah-Blah wrote:


Don't bite!! They will then use the $$$ amount you say against your "Lowest Cost" speech. Congrats to the Kicks (SC & Gold) and 3-4-3, let's not forget about Adrian (Kicking & Screaming). He's a huge part of the Kicks success.

Not an 01 but here is a ballpark on what I spent this weekend going to Vegas for two of us.

Southwest Airlines-$220 per ticket
Rental Car-$225 for 5 days and that included gas
Hotel (Circus Circus)-$243 total for 5 nights
Food-@$400 for 5 days. Not 100% sure on this one but I would guess $80 a day covered two of us. I will look at my bank statement and add it up later to give you an accurate count. We covered a lot of ground site seeing Vegas so we ate at a lot of places that was $15-$20 for burger and fries so it adds up quickly.


Hope that gives you a rough guestimate!

Wow, thats not bad at all KatCon. You got a great rate on your hotel. Thanks for sharing. I am sure the food expense can get expensive..

You are welcome. That also doesn't cover tournament fees or coaches travel either but those are to bad. All said and done you probably spend between $1500-$2000 for the entire trip.

But of course you were able to win this all back right?

GOTB@LLZ, Long time no see! Not all of it but a majority of it. Roullette was very very good to me this trip to Vegas

Been hiding out. The family held a NTXSOCCER intervention, so now I only troll by from time to time. Plus the 99 forum is all but dead. Glad to hear you had a $$weet time in Vegas. Remember to always bet on Black (&Gold.)
Wait, think I just had a relapse.