Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Regarding the Virginian, the brackets were poorly matched IMHO, and the refs appeared to make most calls to the advantage of the weaker team of the match.

[Anonymous]

10:40 - after 2-0 and 4-2 wins, we came up against a BRYC team that was at least a couple levels above the BRYC team in our regular season division. They killed us 8-1 after killing other teams 11-0 and 9-1. What the hell, dude? Don't seed yourself against much lower teams - the tournament win is meaningless. We were really annoyed and might not do the Virginian next year if they allow this BS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:40 - after 2-0 and 4-2 wins, we came up against a BRYC team that was at least a couple levels above the BRYC team in our regular season division. They killed us 8-1 after killing other teams 11-0 and 9-1. What the hell, dude? Don't seed yourself against much lower teams - the tournament win is meaningless. We were really annoyed and might not do the Virginian next year if they allow this BS.

They all sandbag to get into lower divisions. This should be a no brainer, if you are the club's 1st team then you should play against other club's 1st team. I see this crap all the time, when you see a 3rd team play against another club's 1st team. I agree with you, they do it for the swag. Our 1st team always compete at the top level and although we don't always win, it's always a good tournament.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginian -- Witnessed some horrific coach behavior ... yelling the whole time..at his players, at the ref..Then he used the F word in front of 9 and 10-year olds. No card. Pretty shocking. Also discovered a team playing illegally. No roster...and they used the same jerseys...switched shirts w subs. No idea how they let them play. Not too impressed with that.

Where was the field marshal?

Standing there doing nothing.

The refs at this year's Virginian were incompetent at best, in every age group, boys and girls.

I thought the refereeing I saw at the Cannon Cup wasn’t that terrible, but my expectations continue to be extremely low. At these tournaments and in the NCSL and ODSL a senior citizen or kid is expected to keep track of split-second events on crowded small-sided fields made of turf that greatly intensifies the speed of the ball and the game in a way that suggests the perceptual effect of psychedelics. The linesmen tend to be useless or proactively harmful to the integrity of the game (if they’re STARs or are from the tournament-hosting club at a “home game,” they’re probably doing their best to pull the wool over the ref’s eyes/corneal implants). Anyway, it’s a very, very difficult job, being a ref, and just about no one can do it well under modern-day DMV conditions, and almost none of them do. Look: there’s no offsides in a kick-and-run game on turf with a ref who is too immobile to leave the middle of the pitch. All of those “illegal” goals are going to count in Manassas and everywhere else. If the ref wants to end the game a minute or two early, he will (happened on Sunday in an apparent act of mercy). If he’s too drunk to orchestrate a penalty kick, there won’t be one no matter how many injuries pile up. But keep the expectations as low as you possibly can, and then you’ll be giddy when a ref shows up on time and without a massive knee brace, and if he knows that U12s are allowed to head the ball. Take heart, too, in the idea that losses are just the randomness and absurdity of the universe playing out through the errant, coin-flip lurchings of referees’ fallibly human minds while your team’s wins are fully earned.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure I recognize the game you're describing because the rules seem different from soccer, but okay I'll keep expectations low

[Anonymous]

I saw medical transport come to a field at the virginian after a player had been down for a long time. I'm hoping it was a bodily injury, like his leg, rather than a head injury. Does anyone know if the player is ok? It was scary to watch an ambulance pull up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10:40 - after 2-0 and 4-2 wins, we came up against a BRYC team that was at least a couple levels above the BRYC team in our regular season division. They killed us 8-1 after killing other teams 11-0 and 9-1. What the hell, dude? Don't seed yourself against much lower teams - the tournament win is meaningless. We were really annoyed and might not do the Virginian next year if they allow this BS.

Same thing happened to us in our bracket. One team that is two levels higher than the same club's team that is in our NCSL division. Tournament officials actually warned us and apologized and accepted blame! Said they goofed and mis-placed them. Best part is --- we won!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginian -- Witnessed some horrific coach behavior ... yelling the whole time..at his players, at the ref..Then he used the F word in front of 9 and 10-year olds. No card. Pretty shocking. Also discovered a team playing illegally. No roster...and they used the same jerseys...switched shirts w subs. No idea how they let them play. Not too impressed with that.

Where was the field marshal?

Standing there doing nothing.

Field marshalls are volunteers (likely syc parents that were required to fill slots). They do not have any authority. The center ref has the power (and responsibility) to discipline the offending coach / team.

Agreed -- and this poor ref was young and completely intimidated by the screamy Md coach and the Md parent volunteer he had picked to run the sideline.

What club? Age group? I'm curious. What happens to a coach if this happens? I would think he would get fired AT LEAST! If my son's coach was screaming at the ref dropping F bombs, I feel like I would punch him right in the face and I hope that there would be a line of parents behind me. This is unacceptable. If he still has a job, then the club needs to be called out.

U11 boys. I was seriously surprised. I actually asked the parents if that was normal behavior for their coach. They were not pleased with me, but they did not exactly defend him either. Maybe they don't have a lot of other clubs nearby and he's the only option at that club.

What Club?

Agreed, what club? Call them out, everyone post as "anonymous" anyways. Don't hold back now.

No need to. It's not one of the bigger or well known Md clubs and this was very much a coach thing. The kids (remember, 9 and 10 year olds) were just fine. Good sportsmanship (expect for one little faker!) mostly. I don't want to taint an entire club for what could be an issue with just that team. If you come across them, trust me you will know! The coach screams in a whiny, very high pitch.

The center referee should have given the coach a yellow card and if this type of behavior continued a red card. As parents, we should pull together and not have our kids play under such conditions. This goes with the rough play mentioned in another play. If we band together and say this is not acceptable and not smart soccer, that is how changes will be made. But parents are all too often afraid to rock the boat, and then someone gets hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the Potomac tournament always so muddy? What a swamp it was this weekend.

This is our second year doing this one and I hope it is the last. Muldoon's farm shouldn't qualify as a freaking soccer field, more like a mud swamp. I saw a dad get hit in the parking lot because a car was sliding sideways on that steep mud hill. He wasn't hurt, but it was bad. Also, Fields 1-4 weren't even mowed because you could still see the dandelions were still visible. I understand these conditions with some clubs renting fields for league play, but for a "high" quality tournament this should have been addressed. Shitty fields and shitty parking, you have to be in the older age groups to get the much nicer MD Sportsplex.

Muldoon was paradise compared to Summerhill Farm. Every mini-van was getting stuck in the parking lot, and by early Sunday afternoon they had signs on the potty potties indicating they were closed because they were 'Full'. Our Semi's moved to Muldoon which, comparatively, was a huge upgrade. We lost, and not one single parent complained about not having to spend a third day in Poolesville.

[Anonymous]

14:05 - that is awesome. Congratulations to your team! Our ill-seeded opponent won the championship, but the other team managed to hold them to 4-0 or 4-1, which is pretty impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the Potomac tournament always so muddy? What a swamp it was this weekend.

This is our second year doing this one and I hope it is the last. Muldoon's farm shouldn't qualify as a freaking soccer field, more like a mud swamp. I saw a dad get hit in the parking lot because a car was sliding sideways on that steep mud hill. He wasn't hurt, but it was bad. Also, Fields 1-4 weren't even mowed because you could still see the dandelions were still visible. I understand these conditions with some clubs renting fields for league play, but for a "high" quality tournament this should have been addressed. Shitty fields and shitty parking, you have to be in the older age groups to get the much nicer MD Sportsplex.

Muldoon was paradise compared to Summerhill Farm. Every mini-van was getting stuck in the parking lot, and by early Sunday afternoon they had signs on the potty potties indicating they were closed because they were 'Full'. Our Semi's moved to Muldoon which, comparatively, was a huge upgrade. We lost, and not one single parent complained about not having to spend a third day in Poolesville.

I asked the original question. I thought for sec I was the only one that thought it was a mess and it was normal. Ok glad to know it was a wreck compared to the older kids. Next year if we get stuck there we might be "out of town" that weekend!!
Granted the kids didnt care about the mud...crap...so we might just have to suck it up again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginian -- Witnessed some horrific coach behavior ... yelling the whole time..at his players, at the ref..Then he used the F word in front of 9 and 10-year olds. No card. Pretty shocking. Also discovered a team playing illegally. No roster...and they used the same jerseys...switched shirts w subs. No idea how they let them play. Not too impressed with that.

Where was the field marshal?

Standing there doing nothing.

The refs at this year's Virginian were incompetent at best, in every age group, boys and girls.

I thought the refereeing I saw at the Cannon Cup wasn’t that terrible, but my expectations continue to be extremely low. At these tournaments and in the NCSL and ODSL a senior citizen or kid is expected to keep track of split-second events on crowded small-sided fields made of turf that greatly intensifies the speed of the ball and the game in a way that suggests the perceptual effect of psychedelics. The linesmen tend to be useless or proactively harmful to the integrity of the game (if they’re STARs or are from the tournament-hosting club at a “home game,” they’re probably doing their best to pull the wool over the ref’s eyes/corneal implants). Anyway, it’s a very, very difficult job, being a ref, and just about no one can do it well under modern-day DMV conditions, and almost none of them do. Look: there’s no offsides in a kick-and-run game on turf with a ref who is too immobile to leave the middle of the pitch. All of those “illegal” goals are going to count in Manassas and everywhere else. If the ref wants to end the game a minute or two early, he will (happened on Sunday in an apparent act of mercy). If he’s too drunk to orchestrate a penalty kick, there won’t be one no matter how many injuries pile up. But keep the expectations as low as you possibly can, and then you’ll be giddy when a ref shows up on time and without a massive knee brace, and if he knows that U12s are allowed to head the ball. Take heart, too, in the idea that losses are just the randomness and absurdity of the universe playing out through the errant, coin-flip lurchings of referees’ fallibly human minds while your team’s wins are fully earned.

Um, it's not hard to keep control of the game and issue a card (or ejection) when one player sends another to the hospital. End of story.

[Anonymous]

Doing what you describe is of no interest to pretty much every youth soccer referee out there, so I guess it isn't as easy as you seem to think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Virginian -- Witnessed some horrific coach behavior ... yelling the whole time..at his players, at the ref..Then he used the F word in front of 9 and 10-year olds. No card. Pretty shocking. Also discovered a team playing illegally. No roster...and they used the same jerseys...switched shirts w subs. No idea how they let them play. Not too impressed with that.

Where was the field marshal?

Standing there doing nothing.

The refs at this year's Virginian were incompetent at best, in every age group, boys and girls.

We had a young referee in one of our games. He made a LOT of horrible calls. Other ref were fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:10:40 - after 2-0 and 4-2 wins, we came up against a BRYC team that was at least a couple levels above the BRYC team in our regular season division. They killed us 8-1 after killing other teams 11-0 and 9-1. What the hell, dude? Don't seed yourself against much lower teams - the tournament win is meaningless. We were really annoyed and might not do the Virginian next year if they allow this BS.

They all sandbag to get into lower divisions. This should be a no brainer, if you are the club's 1st team then you should play against other club's 1st team. I see this crap all the time, when you see a 3rd team play against another club's 1st team. I agree with you, they do it for the swag. Our 1st team always compete at the top level and although we don't always win, it's always a good tournament.

So you are saying that a u9 team intentionally loses games so they can win the third bracket at the Virginian? The team you are accusing of sand bagging had asked to be placed in the second bracket. The tournament placed them in the third. If you had seen this team earlier in the year - you would have agreed that the second bracket was appropriate. The parents on that team were not thrilled with the placement either.