High school soccer blowout games

[Anonymous]

My DD is on a pretty good (public) high school soccer team. When they play teams in their division, with the exception of one other team in the division, the games tend to be blowouts (her team winning by a lot; games get called at the half because score is over ten, etc). Just awful, awful soccer - where it is clear the other team's players maybe just started playing. Very painful to watch actually; might as well just put cones out and tell player to dribble down the field and take a shot. (DD's team has mostly club players and they are really pretty good). Note - when they play non-division teams (mostly private schools) the matches are pretty good/evenly matched/maybe they lwin maybe they ose after a good game.

I have two questions. One (somewhat related to other current thread about going to watch games if your player is always benched) - should a parent go to these (gonna be a blowout) games to support DD (she plays a lot, so not a question of not seeing her play, just a question of watching really terrible, not fun soccer)? Sometimes the games are early/a longish drive. DD doesn't think the blowout games are very fun either. Two - why don't the leagues do something about this? Rather than having public/private split for official league games - maybe set up a higher and lower division (combining schools in the general vicinity)? The blowouts are no good for either team - the team that loses badly can't be getting much, if anyting (other than low morale) out of the experience.

[Anonymous]

The Coach could use these type games to work on skills [and sportsmanship]. All runs must be built out of the back. Minimum of 10 connected passed before you go to goal, etc

[Anonymous]

Rich school, right? Where parents can pay for private clubs and private coaching and does your HS coach coach for a club team also?

Public schools already group schools by size and game history. What district are you in? I know ours does and while some games are blowouts it really varies year to year because 1-2 kids headed to D1 on the team can make a big difference.

No you don't need to go.

Agree with PP that the coach could do lots of things to make things more challenging and fun. You could also take a player off the field. Is your coach only playing starters or can he start the non-starters first?

Do you have any idea of the logistics that would be required for a public private league that runs on weekdays in our area? Our school districts are huge and they have enough trouble coordinating within themselves. The only people that would benefit are rich people like you.

[Anonymous]

Let me understand. You want schools to form different leagues so one strong team in sport one year can get better competition? And if that same school’s football or volleyball or baseball teams are not strong, they should each be in different leagues and conferences? And then each year as seniors graduate the strong teams change so the leagues need to reshuffle to match the competition? But you can’t really know how good a school’s team is year to year so maybe adjust the leagues after the preseason? Do all this with having to schedule team buses and field reservations. Which barely paid teacher that does this as a side job to being a chemistry teacher will organize all this?

You think this should be a priority for public schools? To ensure good competition for soccer games? The lack of awareness is shocking. This is why there are private club leagues and why they cost a lot of money. Schools are schools. I hope you are as concerned about competition in the school’s classroom as on the soccer field.

[Anonymous]

I’ve noticed lots of blowouts in girls JV and a few in varsity. At least with varsity, the games will be a lot more competitive once playoffs begins. JV is like Rec and coaches allocate playing time equally regardless of skills/abilities.

Once JV games become a blowout, coaches move players around and let defenders play forwards, etc. Good opportunities for players to play in positions that they don’t normally play at. Just look a the positives…..JV should always play their best to improve regardless of what they play at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me understand. You want schools to form different leagues so one strong team in sport one year can get better competition? And if that same school’s football or volleyball or baseball teams are not strong, they should each be in different leagues and conferences? And then each year as seniors graduate the strong teams change so the leagues need to reshuffle to match the competition? But you can’t really know how good a school’s team is year to year so maybe adjust the leagues after the preseason? Do all this with having to schedule team buses and field reservations. Which barely paid teacher that does this as a side job to being a chemistry teacher will organize all this?

You think this should be a priority for public schools? To ensure good competition for soccer games? The lack of awareness is shocking. This is why there are private club leagues and why they cost a lot of money. Schools are schools. I hope you are as concerned about competition in the school’s classroom as on the soccer field.

+1

[Anonymous]

The league my kids play in has only maybe 1 or 2 semi-competitive games. They are one of the bigger schools that play teeny tiny schools that need just about any kid that is athletic to be on the field...so these kids that play on top club teams are playing hockey players and wrestlers and swimmers...or kids that don't play any other sport. It's not uncommon to have an 11-0+ win and then the school acts like this is the best program ever.

And, the 'playing for your school' for kids that really really love and are into the sport becomes a nothing burger because playing crap soccer and not being challenged isn't fun for a competitive player.

[Anonymous]

I have seen this two over the past two years. My DD goes to a wealthy MCPS HS and when they play the not wealthy teams it's just painful to watch. The coach tells them to stop scoring after 8 goals. Which is usually about 20 minutes in. Then they spend the rest of the time just passing the ball to one another.
I still go to the games for support of my kid but she doesn't much care.
I wish there were a better way to equalize the teams. The other teams just don't have the years of coaching, nor the conditioning and tend to have very few subs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen this two over the past two years. My DD goes to a wealthy MCPS HS and when they play the not wealthy teams it's just painful to watch. The coach tells them to stop scoring after 8 goals. Which is usually about 20 minutes in. Then they spend the rest of the time just passing the ball to one another.
I still go to the games for support of my kid but she doesn't much care.
I wish there were a better way to equalize the teams. The other teams just don't have the years of coaching, nor the conditioning and tend to have very few subs.

Our wealthy school got beat by a great 'poor' public. The public had great players that played and didn't have all the private political BS that our school has. The entitlement by some of our players completely grossed me out, and the fact our coaches don't reign it in. These kids on the other team were much more respectful and played much better soccer.