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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote] Do they do the same BS as most higher level clubs trying to recruit kids/teams and win tournaments by playing a kid "down" who was playing up a year? [/quote]

How is it BS to play a kid at age level to try and have the team/club win a medal? Clubs let parents know kids may play up or get sent down either in age or within the stratified pool. I don’t see that as a BS move. The talent levels are so strong all around I think more kids should play on age level for tournaments/the most important competitions. [/quote]

I agree that this is not cheating.  What is BS is parents who complain about this because their little Johnny lost the tournament.   However the reason to play a kid up a year is because it is good for that kid's development.  The reason to play them back down a year for a specific tournament is because it is good for the club.  This is an example of a club putting its own interest ahead of the kid's.  But it is a pretty mild example when compared to clubs that, for example, roster too many players or refuse to allow kids to tryout at other teams, or refuse to return the kid's player card.  And I'm guessing the kid often doesn't mind - they probably quite enjoy occasionally playing with their old teammates and winning things.[/quote]

Pipeline plays kids down, not up. For instance, girls on the "A" team will often guest on the "B" or "C" teams in order to win tournaments. Most clubs will ask players from the year below to play up on these "B" and "C" teams as that is what is better for Development. Also what happens is if a team is playing one year up, players from the top team on age will guest with that team even though the team playing a year up may be in the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th EDP division.

Cheating, no. Perfectly within the rules. But the choice of trying to win games rather than develop its younger or weaker players shows what a club's priority is. It also shows there are likely many other problems within the club because they choose to do things the wrong way in an ethical matter.

Good Luck.  [/quote]

Well, calling it "guesting" on the lower teams isn't the entire story, but your point is understandable and accurate, but it's a broader "guesting" policy than club-internal.  Pipeline tends to bring in external guest players for tournaments that join their teams (particularly at younger levels on their A roster, see Jeff Cup as an example), which pushes some of the regular players down to the B or C teams.  This definitely has the result you describe where they're much more competitive than they already are in tournaments across the board.   I presume this is a recruiting strategy, a way to get new players to know the team and unofficially try out.  I don't know how they handle communication of it, but when we saw them at Jeff Cup the parents seemed to openly talk about it and be fine with it, but I'm making a big assumption there.   Personally, I think it's a great plan if you're looking to build a competitive, winning team and extending a tryout period, but it does support what several have said on here that there's a clear focus on winning.  I just think there can be a focus on putting the strongest kids togethe and winning while focusing on their development and practicing against the best players you can practice against.[/quote]

There was one Pipellne boy's team that had a rash of injuries and several players move up to the top team that brought several guest players to Jeff cup.  I don’t think  this is  a typical practice, and the reason parents seemed ok with it was they would not have been able to field  a team otherwise for that particular tournament.[/quote]

Oh, I thought PP was talking about the 2010 Girls who had multiple McLean Guest players at Jefferson Cup. That's a long drive just to play for Pipeline...As a parent at Pipeline, I can tell you that BEST players at the younger ages do in fact play on the 2nd and 3rd teams to get wins. Yes, some players also play up on top teams. No idea about ECNL ages. We are leaving after Spring as our experience has been disappointing. I also know there are many other families across other age groups that are leaving. The girls side is managed completely different than the boys side. It's night and day actually. [/quote]

I'm the OP.  Can you please share some more on why you are leaving?  Is your daughter above or below u12? I think what I have gathered is that it will be a great place for my son and I may have to look a little deeper or elsewhere for my daughter.  I was trying to make it work at the same organization since the boys and girls practice at nearby locations, but I'm concerned about the girls side.  Also agree with the other poster that most girls teams are managed much differently than the boys teams[/quote]

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