Heloise wrote:We saw a lot of shenanigans at Virginian this year - kids playing without shin guards or cleats, kids playing without proper jerseys (e.g., no number), a team with two kids playing with the same number, questionable rosters (e.g., dressed 18 for one game and 18 for a different game, but had more than 4 players in the later game who didn’t play in the earlier game). I don’t remember this tournament being so poorly run in the past - was this just a fluke year?

mdsoccerdad wrote:

Heloise wrote:We saw a lot of shenanigans at Virginian this year - kids playing without shin guards or cleats, kids playing without proper jerseys (e.g., no number), a team with two kids playing with the same number, questionable rosters (e.g., dressed 18 for one game and 18 for a different game, but had more than 4 players in the later game who didn’t play in the earlier game). I don’t remember this tournament being so poorly run in the past - was this just a fluke year?

lol. none of this things above are a huge deal. guest player with same number? the calamity!

and each game can have different rosters. what do you think happens with the teams that have 20/22/24 players? you have to play the same 18 every game? is that in the rules for this tourney?

and is wearing cleats a requirement? lol

Heloise wrote:We saw a lot of shenanigans at Virginian this year - kids playing without shin guards or cleats, kids playing without proper jerseys (e.g., no number), a team with two kids playing with the same number, questionable rosters (e.g., dressed 18 for one game and 18 for a different game, but had more than 4 players in the later game who didn’t play in the earlier game). I don’t remember this tournament being so poorly run in the past - was this just a fluke year?

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Arch wrote:We were surprised when at the first game there was no check-in of the players by the referees -- it did seem like you could field anyone as long as they wore the right shirt. Then, during matches, a tournament official sometimes would come ask parents to help confirm which players were there or not etc.

I am sure it's not easy running a tournament and getting enough volunteers. Maybe there was a check-in process for teams but coaches/teams didn't get the message and/or chose to ignore it. Who knows. But to any teams, coaches, families purposely trying to cheat that is indeed shameful.

We don’t do check-ins at tournaments. The managers “check in” for the tournament, and field staff keep rosters on hand in case someone raises a question.

We also check equipment on the fly, looking for shin guards and jewelry.

I think it’s just a function of fields being booked solid. No time.

Heloise wrote:

Some tournaments manage to check rosters at least before a final. At the risk of semi-outing myself, our team played in a final this weekend where parents of the other team freely admitted during the first half of the game that they were cheating their roster (and how they were doing it). When it was brought to the attention of the field marshall at halftime, he literally shrugged and walked away.