Bethesda Premier Cup - What a joke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Given that this was the second year in a row that the fields at issue have been unplayable for this tournament,

Not sure what you mean by that. I don't recall having any field issues with the tournament last year.

At their best the fields are TERRIBLE. Can we stop defending Bethesda charging $1000 for kids to play on thick grass, poorly drained, poorly drawn, uneven Polo fields?

Lets start there. Muldoons should only serve as the backup, emergency plan fields, not the primary fields.

No one's defending them...just pointing out facts. The fields were not unplayable last year.

Their best condition makes them only playable for picnic, pickup soccer. They are never playable for $1000/team. That is the fact. They are not soccer fields, they are fields.

They Are. Not. Fit. For. Soccer. Ever.

That's ridiculous.
In good conditions, the fields are fine, at least when they're mowed low. My kids have played hundreds of games there over the years, and while I hate going all the way out there, and I hate how quickly they degrade in the rain, it's decent most of the time.

This.
There's a big difference between "100% shouldn't be used for a tournament" and "not fit for soccer ever".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Given that this was the second year in a row that the fields at issue have been unplayable for this tournament,

Not sure what you mean by that. I don't recall having any field issues with the tournament last year.

At their best the fields are TERRIBLE. Can we stop defending Bethesda charging $1000 for kids to play on thick grass, poorly drained, poorly drawn, uneven Polo fields?

Lets start there. Muldoons should only serve as the backup, emergency plan fields, not the primary fields.

No one's defending them...just pointing out facts. The fields were not unplayable last year.

Their best condition makes them only playable for picnic, pickup soccer. They are never playable for $1000/team. That is the fact. They are not soccer fields, they are fields.

They Are. Not. Fit. For. Soccer. Ever.

That's ridiculous.
In good conditions, the fields are fine, at least when they're bailed. My kids have played hundreds of games there over the years, and while I hate going all the way out there, and I hate how quickly they degrade in the rain, it's decent most of the time.

Fixed it for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Given that this was the second year in a row that the fields at issue have been unplayable for this tournament,

Not sure what you mean by that. I don't recall having any field issues with the tournament last year.

At their best the fields are TERRIBLE. Can we stop defending Bethesda charging $1000 for kids to play on thick grass, poorly drained, poorly drawn, uneven Polo fields?

Lets start there. Muldoons should only serve as the backup, emergency plan fields, not the primary fields.

No one's defending them...just pointing out facts. The fields were not unplayable last year.

Their best condition makes them only playable for picnic, pickup soccer. They are never playable for $1000/team. That is the fact. They are not soccer fields, they are fields.

They Are. Not. Fit. For. Soccer. Ever.

This sounds like a post from Brad Roos, the BSC tournament director. Hi, Brad. What are you guys doing about the boys tournament in a couple days? Full slate of games still scheduled for U14 and below?

That's ridiculous.
In good conditions, the fields are fine, at least when they're mowed low. My kids have played hundreds of games there over the years, and while I hate going all the way out there, and I hate how quickly they degrade in the rain, it's decent most of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Given that this was the second year in a row that the fields at issue have been unplayable for this tournament,

Not sure what you mean by that. I don't recall having any field issues with the tournament last year.

At their best the fields are TERRIBLE. Can we stop defending Bethesda charging $1000 for kids to play on thick grass, poorly drained, poorly drawn, uneven Polo fields?

Lets start there. Muldoons should only serve as the backup, emergency plan fields, not the primary fields.

No one's defending them...just pointing out facts. The fields were not unplayable last year.

Their best condition makes them only playable for picnic, pickup soccer. They are never playable for $1000/team. That is the fact. They are not soccer fields, they are fields.

They Are. Not. Fit. For. Soccer. Ever.

That's ridiculous.
In good conditions, the fields are fine, at least when they're mowed low. My kids have played hundreds of games there over the years, and while I hate going all the way out there, and I hate how quickly they degrade in the rain, it's decent most of the time.

This sounds like a post from Brad Roos, the BSC tournament director. Hi, Brad. What are you guys doing about the boys tournament in a couple days? Full slate of games still scheduled for U14 and below?

[Sorry about double posting]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Given that this was the second year in a row that the fields at issue have been unplayable for this tournament,

Not sure what you mean by that. I don't recall having any field issues with the tournament last year.

At their best the fields are TERRIBLE. Can we stop defending Bethesda charging $1000 for kids to play on thick grass, poorly drained, poorly drawn, uneven Polo fields?

Lets start there. Muldoons should only serve as the backup, emergency plan fields, not the primary fields.

No one's defending them...just pointing out facts. The fields were not unplayable last year.

As a technical matter, games were played on those fields last year, so I guess you are correct that they were "not unplayable." However, we saw numerous games at Summer Hill last year where portions of the field were nothing but mud, and that was by the third morning game on Saturday. One of the fields that morning was basically all mud from midfield to the penalty area of one side, and nearly the entire width of the field. The ref followed play from the sideline, as he did not want to slip in the mud. Yes, games were still played on these fields, but they were so muddy that they were not safe for the players or the ref, and equating what was played on those fields to "soccer" is like equating one of those sand soccer games at the beach to a soccer game played on grass or turf. (Maybe we found a new way for BSC to market its tournament at Muldoons/Summer Hill: "Premier Mud Soccer Cup").

Nobody is saying the fields last year were as bad as they were this year, but the fields were a mess last year, and games should not have been played at many of them.

Some of the girls teams that played on those fields were McLean's top team and Arlington, and neither McLean's top team nor Arlington were in the Premier Cup this year for those age groups. McLean instead chose to go to the Girls Junior Showcase tournament in NC the week before Premier Cup. Hmmm. I wonder if there is any link between their experience last year and their decision not to attend Premier Cup this year . . . Even BSC's leadership group should be able to figure this one out.

My kids were at Muldoons last year and it was the same. The far back fields were extremely muddy and getting to them meant wading through mud for all of us. The field conditions absolutely affected the play. If it were a one-time thing and you learn your lesson, that would be one thing. But year after year, I don't get it. I guess they continue to use Muldoons and Summer Hill because we continue to register!

I don't know what they are thinking about this coming weekend. It is kind of no-win at this point. If they don't cancel and it is a mudpit (it will be!), people are going to be annoyed. If they start and have to cancel like last week, people will be (rightfully) livid. How can this end well??

[Anonymous]

Simple answer: They need to cancel the games at Polo Fields, Muldoons and Summer Hill. Those fields are not currently playable, and tomorrow's weather will only make them worse. If substitute fields cannot be found and booked before tomorrow night (i.e., before people from out of state need to start traveling on Friday), then BSC should cancel the age brackets that are currently scheduled for those fields and refund their money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer: They need to cancel the games at Polo Fields, Muldoons and Summer Hill. Those fields are not currently playable, and tomorrow's weather will only make them worse. If substitute fields cannot be found and booked before tomorrow night (i.e., before people from out of state need to start traveling on Friday), then BSC should cancel the age brackets that are currently scheduled for those fields and refund their money.

Agreed

[Anonymous]

Even if I went out with a lawnmower and cut every blade of grass equal and took out the weeds by hand it would still be a CRAP field for playing soccer. It's inclined, it has divots, it's just plain a crappy place to play anything but polo or picnic.

Yea kids in Brazil are playing on the street, but they aren't paying over $2,000 to Bethesda for that experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple answer: They need to cancel the games at Polo Fields, Muldoons and Summer Hill. Those fields are not currently playable, and tomorrow's weather will only make them worse. If substitute fields cannot be found and booked before tomorrow night (i.e., before people from out of state need to start traveling on Friday), then BSC should cancel the age brackets that are currently scheduled for those fields and refund their money.

Agreed

Couldn't agree more! Well said.

[Anonymous]

To Coaches , Managers , and Team Contacts of the Boys Premier Cup:

As we eagerly await the beginning of our 35 th annual Bethesda Premier Cup this upcoming weekend, I wanted to provide an update to all of our participating teams. I'm sure all of the teams, especially on the East Coast can attest, this has been a very trying fall season, with some of our teams only playing 50% of their matches so far. Recently I heard on the news that this is the 2 nd wettest year ever in the DC area and we have already had over 16 inches over the norm al rainfall just for this fall. All grass fields have been completely saturated for most of the season and currently that continues to be the case. Just this past Monday and Tuesday we received another inch of additional rain with a mixed rain/sleet/snow on Thursday expected .

That being said, we are committed to playing as many of the games this weekend as possible. I am in the process of moving as many games as possible that were scheduled on grass fields to turf fields to make sure we can complete the weekend schedule. We are currently looking for fields in Frederick, Montgomery, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia to secure as many turf fields as possible. I am currently working with all of my age group coordinators to determine the best course of action moving forward. My goal is to have any changes to the schedule available by 6 p.m. on Thursday evening and would ask teams to check the schedule at that time for any updates. You can also contact your age group coordinator if you still have any questions regarding any part of the tournament.

As a longtime coach, my frustration in traveling to tournaments in the past was not having any information regarding possible scenarios or information regarding the schedule. I am committed to coming up with a plan and communicating it as early as is possible. We in Bethesda are committed to being as transparent and timely in our communications to the teams as is humanly possible. At this point it will not do any good to email me regarding questions on the schedule as no decisions have been made at this time.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing everyone this upcoming weekend.

Brad Roos

[Anonymous]

Isn't that basically what Roos said this time last week about the girls' weekend, including the "as a longtime coach" paragraph which I believe is identical? In other words, nothing was learned from last week and they intend to repeat it. Wow. So, based on last week, here's a spoiler alert: on Thursday night they will say they need more time to make changes. People traveling will have to decide if they still want to make the trip without knowing if, or how much, they will play. Amazing. We're local but I really feel for the out of town teams.

[Anonymous]

Good for them. Hopefully they handle this correctly over the next few days. With that said, this is very similar to the email sent before the girls tournament last weekend, and we know how that turned out.

If BSC handles this well, I will be the first applauding Brad and his team for the huge amount of work that they are doing right now. But if BSC makes this weekend a fiasco like last weekend, then he should lose his job.

[Anonymous]

The crying and complaining about the condition of the fields for playing soccer is the exact reason that America will never be competative in soccer on the world stage. Take a look at the field conditions in other countries that their PROs play on. They are literally running through puddles and mud patches.
And here some parents are complaining about their little princes and princesses not having an adequate field to play on. What a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The crying and complaining about the condition of the fields for playing soccer is the exact reason that America will never be competative in soccer on the world stage. Take a look at the field conditions in other countries that their PROs play on. They are literally running through puddles and mud patches.
And here some parents are complaining about their little princes and princesses not having an adequate field to play on. What a joke.

Sure, but they aren't paying through the nose for it either. It's not about princes and princesses, it's about getting value for money spent.

[Anonymous]

Good point. We should keep spending thousands of dollars on these “elite” clubs and “premier” tournaments and just be thankful to them that they are able to book something better than the local park or a back alley.