Loading your team for tournaments

LP-on-LP crime that's a first.

1.) So called named team was down to 11 players
2.) So called named Coach ask for assistance
3.) So called named players from other team agreed to assist
4.) So called other team parent integrity is not met because assisting players are not comparable to other players playing.... Oh wow! Last I recall, assisting players were dinged age pure.. Great!! Thanks US Soccer for making this happen and taking the integrity out the game.

Son_ofa_Pitch wrote:LP-on-LP crime that's a first.

1.) So called named team was down to 11 players
2.) So called named Coach ask for assistance
3.) So called named players from other team agreed to assist
4.) So called other team parent integrity is not met because assisting players are not comparable to other players playing.... Oh wow! Last I recall, assisting players were dinged age pure.. Great!! Thanks US Soccer for making this happen and taking the integrity out the game.

And the hits just keep on coming......

I think I can help here.

Suck it up cupcake, Sucks to suck, next time wear your big boy pants.

You are welcome

really just kidding. If it was just about your teams development the why do you care. They did you a favor by bringing in better talent for you to compete against. Your kids now know what they are competing against. You don't compete as a team you compete as individuals and against your peers. Your players now get to look at themselves and ask "how do "I" compare against those players." If it's not favorable its time to get to work on improving. or get to complaining.

The reality is it wasn't about development for your team either. You wanted to WIN a tournament and felt cheated because another team brought in RINGERS (your peers). You aren't concerned about their players, team or coach you are concerned about your win. So instead of worrying about blencoe maybe you should ask your coach "why are our kids so far behind those kids?" It's either, athleticism, dedication, talent, or coaching Or maybe a little of all of the above

go99 wrote:I think I can help here.

Suck it up cupcake, Sucks to suck, next time wear your big boy pants.  

You are welcome

Go99 is back!  It just took a few LP insults to draw him out. Those are harder to come by with so few LP teams left.

In any event, I don't always subscribe to Go's and others oft-repeated mantra of "just play who's in front of you."  Sure, you have to. But teams sign up for particular tournaments and divisions expecting to play comparable teams. Yes, that can result in development too. It's also more fun for the girls.  Many girls and teams want to know where they "stand" in the grand scheme of things as well.  Barring unusual circumstances and injuries, I don't understand bringing down better players as guests -particularly for an inconsequential December tourney.   Perhaps they shouldn't have signed up for a tourney if they couldn't field their own team.

It usually takes 5 minutes to see if the borrowed players are there to fill out a roster or they are there to win the game.

[/quote]

Yes this is actually a LAW in these parts.  A Brit coach, whose team was being soundly trounced this weekend, loudly encouraged one of his kids after a nasty, vicious and cynical tackle from behind.  The opposing coach questioned, "Really? Is that what you want to encourage in 10-year olds?".  His response was something akin to "you people really don't understand the game at all."


[/quote]

Yeah, that was Solar Haylock. He was just mad because his 06s were getting their butts handed to them by some 07s.

Yes this is actually a LAW in these parts.  A Brit coach, whose team was being soundly trounced this weekend, loudly encouraged one of his kids after a nasty, vicious and cynical tackle from behind.  The opposing coach questioned, "Really? Is that what you want to encourage in 10-year olds?".  His response was something akin to "you people really don't understand the game at all."


[/quote]

Yeah, that was Solar Haylock.  He was just mad because his 06s were getting their butts handed to them by some 07s.[/quote]

LOL, those 07s play that way, play the body not the ball. They don't like it when tables turned.

Axel Foley wrote:Yes this is actually a LAW in these parts.  A Brit coach, whose team was being soundly trounced this weekend, loudly encouraged one of his kids after a nasty, vicious and cynical tackle from behind.  The opposing coach questioned, "Really? Is that what you want to encourage in 10-year olds?".  His response was something akin to "you people really don't understand the game at all."

Yeah, that was Solar Haylock.  He was just mad because his 06s were getting their butts handed to them by some 07s.[/quote]

LOL, those 07s play that way, play the body not the ball. They don't like it when tables turned.[/quote]

They don't take girls down from behind because they are frustrated, and their coach certainly doesn't encourage such cowardly plays.

And I do t think any tables were getting turned in a 9-1 game where it was basically keep away in the second half.

TheMutt wrote:
They don't take girls down from behind because they are frustrated

Nice qualifier!

ForReal wrote:

go99 wrote:I think I can help here.

Suck it up cupcake, Sucks to suck, next time wear your big boy pants.  

You are welcome

Go99 is back!  It just took a few LP insults to draw him out. Those are harder to come by with so few LP teams left.

In any event, I don't always subscribe to Go's and others oft-repeated mantra of "just play who's in front of you."  Sure, you have to. But teams sign up for particular tournaments and divisions expecting to play comparable teams. Yes, that can result in development too. It's also more fun for the girls.  Many girls and teams want to know where they "stand" in the grand scheme of things as well.  Barring unusual circumstances and injuries, I don't understand bringing down better players as guests -particularly for an inconsequential December tourney.   Perhaps they shouldn't have signed up for a tourney if they couldn't field their own team.

ok to be clear I do believe that the levels should be competitive and not a fan of ringers. However just don't come on and pretend you were interested in the good of soccer or concerned about the welfare of the kids on the other team. It was simple you came in to compete and try to win and felt cheated when you were beat by your peers who you weren't expecting to be there. Yes it does suck and in some respects it does ruin what could otherwise be a good tournament.

I've been waiting to get a few replies so I could see if what I was thinking was wrong or right in the eyes of others in the area of soccer. I want to thank those of you that READ my initial post and answered in a professional / helping manner.
Thanks to the FW manager for your professional response and bringing to light (unintentionally) that some folks are on here to just read into things and make drama (we played well against your team, we just let it get away from us. you do have a very good team). To Cleasheets and Zizou, the guess/guest banter was enjoyable (and true). I think I relate to ForReal and db10 the most, although I like to hear other views as well (other than just suck it up}.
For those that maybe misread my initial posts. Yes, we all play and want to win. But that is not the most important issue. I don't mind losing a competitive game. The way the Plano League was set up this year, we won most of our games (not that we're great by no means). Most of the parents on our team were not happy about it at all. We wanted more competition to help us grow (competition whether we win or lose,, not blowouts either way). Hopefully Plano will do a good job of adjusting for the spring season.
A couple of comments that stuck out to me was. "You don't compete as a team, you compete as individuals." That is true to a very small extent. You're on a team sport, you compete as a team. You train to be the best at your position as an individual. You want to compete as an individual there's bowling, golf or tennis.

It's insightful the difference between what a teams record is in league play -vs- tournaments.

As far as if you're told to suck it up. Which seem to be half the responses (even if not exactly with those words). I say, if you're kid played as hard as they could to the end and didn't give up, knowing a team was stacked (and they know) regardless of what the outcome is. That's sucking it up. Sucking it up doesn't mean you can't have and voice some issues you may have. Thanks again for everyone's insight. I know some of you aren't on here much and appreciate the time you take to give a response whether it's in agreement or not. It's all information.

Good luck to everyone in upcoming tournaments (Michael Brown coming up) and the spring league.

TheMutt wrote:
They don't take girls down from behind because they are frustrated

Curious..... what reason do they give?

It's funny, reading the first post I thought the thread was going to go a different way. I  expected a diatribe on parents who keep their kids on teams where the coach has clearly decided that they aren't as yet competitive enough to play at the level.

My DD was on a team back when she was U10 and wasn't getting much playing time. I knew she was new to club soccer and would have a learning curve. She started getting better and  playing a little more at the end of the season, but it all changed during tournament time. Guest players showed up and her playing time decreased and she actually sat an entire game during a tournament (one in which they were already out of contention). I asked her what the coach said, and she said "nothing". So we went to the next practice extra early and I  went to talk with the coach. He saw me coming and immediately got defensive, I quickly stopped him and told him playing time was completely up to him and that I had no problem with him deciding to sit her. I did have a problem with him not communicating the reasons to her and to me (since she was 9). He said he thought she was a hard worker with a lot of potential, but still needed to develop. I said great, that I was disappointed he hadn't communicated this to us earlier. In fact he would have happily kept her on the team, not playing. I should have recognized earlier and not have let it get to that level. So, she found a team at her level, and has progressed wonderfully in the years since. We even beat her old coach in D1 play during the season.

For every "guest" player there is a player sitting who should start looking for a new coach.

justapop wrote:It's funny, reading the first post I thought the thread was going to go a different way. I  expected a diatribe on parents who keep their kids on teams where the coach has clearly decided that they aren't as yet competitive enough to play at the level.

My DD was on a team back when she was U10 and wasn't getting much playing time. I knew she was new to club soccer and would have a learning curve. She started getting better and  playing a little more at the end of the season, but it all changed during tournament time. Guest players showed up and her playing time decreased and she actually sat an entire game during a tournament (one in which they were already out of contention). I asked her what the coach said, and she said "nothing". So we went to the next practice extra early and I  went to talk with the coach. He saw me coming and immediately got defensive, I quickly stopped him and told him playing time was completely up to him and that I had no problem with him deciding to sit her. I did have a problem with him not communicating the reasons to her and to me (since she was 9). He said he thought she was a hard worker with a lot of potential, but still needed to develop. I said great, that I was disappointed he hadn't communicated this to us earlier. In fact he would have happily kept her on the team, not playing. I should have recognized earlier and not have let it get to that level. So, she found a team at her level, and has progressed wonderfully in the years since. We even beat her old coach in D1 play during the season.

For every "guest" player there is a player sitting who should start looking for a new coach.

Was she playing for Liverpool back then?

I remember years ago when my kid played for LP. We played a against a stacked 00 team with a bunch of awesome 01s on it. We lost 1-0 in the championship after a long, hot weekend. Our girls used that as motivation. They felt like they could compete against anyone. We had no problem with it. One goal away from beating an all star team in the other team's home tournament.

justapop wrote:
For every "guest" player there is a player sitting who should start looking for a new coach.

The truest and most helpful statement in this thread.