Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winning your pool absolutely matters! Not everybody can face Gateway or the WC Eagles. There are just too many teams at these big showcases!

Gateway?

NP. Yes, Gateway. Look them up.

Clearly not everyone on this thread has the same experience or knowledge.

Well, I'm a long-time field hockey parent (Freedom) and coach, with several current and former college players. It just surprised that when somebody thinks of the most competitive teams they would say Gateway. But I guess I just think of the ones that my kids' teams lost to, and Gateway doesn't come to mind. WC, AGH, Windy City, Texas Pride. Obviously, I know of Gateway. I think they're stronger at younger ages, which must be where you are right now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winning your pool absolutely matters! Not everybody can face Gateway or the WC Eagles. There are just too many teams at these big showcases!

Gateway?

NP. Yes, Gateway. Look them up.

Clearly not everyone on this thread has the same experience or knowledge.

Anonymous wrote:In 2021, next level won the Shooting Star Thanksgiving tournament with their U16 team and a roster loaded with Juniors (2023 grads). And their U19 team won the ESPN/Disney showcase earlier this year.

U19s also won their pool, mainly with 2023s, at the Easter Shooting Star Tournament in 2022. They have shown nicely together here and there.

Anonymous wrote:Winning your pool absolutely matters! Not everybody can face Gateway or the WC Eagles. There are just too many teams at these big showcases!

Gateway?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no way they are resending teams to another qualifier. 100% against the rules. Honestly, NL does some odd things with those indoor teams. Rather than putting all the best players on one team, she spreads a few out and I think it weakens their opportunities, rather than enhances them. There were some pretty hard feelings last year when those teams were set and they didn't do well last year either. The "top" team qualified, but not highly and didn't do well at NITs.

One complaint I have heard about NL is that when it comes to the big tournaments they don’t play to win.

How so?

By not playing the starters as much as they should in an effort to give everyone playing time. At the big tournaments, people want to win. Not all coaches can effectively manage playing time and still play to win. Its a delicate balance and you really have to know your players and their strengths against the team you are playing.

Some of the PPs stated the opposite and only favorites are played or put on top teams regardless of skill.

This is the NL way. One would wonder what makes the favorites the favorites. It's hard to figure out sometimes. They won their pool at Disney. It was not the bottom pool, not at all. But it also wasn't a great showing. It was a tough one, with the "favorites" all hanging together and making newcomers feel far less than welcome. It was not a great team dynamic. I think because there is so much coming and going with this club that it just doesn't gel that well. Incredible coaching, but a shallow bench and some big egos that don't need to be so big. That has been a problem with NL for a while now, too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no way they are resending teams to another qualifier. 100% against the rules. Honestly, NL does some odd things with those indoor teams. Rather than putting all the best players on one team, she spreads a few out and I think it weakens their opportunities, rather than enhances them. There were some pretty hard feelings last year when those teams were set and they didn't do well last year either. The "top" team qualified, but not highly and didn't do well at NITs.

One complaint I have heard about NL is that when it comes to the big tournaments they don’t play to win.

How so?

By not playing the starters as much as they should in an effort to give everyone playing time. At the big tournaments, people want to win. Not all coaches can effectively manage playing time and still play to win. Its a delicate balance and you really have to know your players and their strengths against the team you are playing.

Some of the PPs stated the opposite and only favorites are played or put on top teams regardless of skill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no way they are resending teams to another qualifier. 100% against the rules. Honestly, NL does some odd things with those indoor teams. Rather than putting all the best players on one team, she spreads a few out and I think it weakens their opportunities, rather than enhances them. There were some pretty hard feelings last year when those teams were set and they didn't do well last year either. The "top" team qualified, but not highly and didn't do well at NITs.

One complaint I have heard about NL is that when it comes to the big tournaments they don’t play to win.

How so?

By not playing the starters as much as they should in an effort to give everyone playing time. At the big tournaments, people want to win. Not all coaches can effectively manage playing time and still play to win. Its a delicate balance and you really have to know your players and their strengths against the team you are playing.

Anonymous wrote:Winning your pool absolutely matters! Not everybody can face Gateway or the WC Eagles. There are just too many teams at these big showcases!

Which pool also matters. Winning the last pool means far less than winning the first pool.

Winning your pool absolutely matters! Not everybody can face Gateway or the WC Eagles. There are just too many teams at these big showcases!

Anonymous wrote:In 2021, next level won the Shooting Star Thanksgiving tournament with their U16 team and a roster loaded with Juniors (2023 grads). And their U19 team won the ESPN/Disney showcase earlier this year.

What pool at SS? it matters.

NL did not win the top flight at the Sunshine Showcase in 2023 (new name). Again, the pool matters. After the first few games at Sunshine Showcase they reseed all the teams. The pool NL won is listed last. There were like 70 U19 teams.

In 2021, next level won the Shooting Star Thanksgiving tournament with their U16 team and a roster loaded with Juniors (2023 grads). And their U19 team won the ESPN/Disney showcase earlier this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's no way they are resending teams to another qualifier. 100% against the rules. Honestly, NL does some odd things with those indoor teams. Rather than putting all the best players on one team, she spreads a few out and I think it weakens their opportunities, rather than enhances them. There were some pretty hard feelings last year when those teams were set and they didn't do well last year either. The "top" team qualified, but not highly and didn't do well at NITs.

One complaint I have heard about NL is that when it comes to the big tournaments they don’t play to win.

How so?

Anonymous wrote:There's no way they are resending teams to another qualifier. 100% against the rules. Honestly, NL does some odd things with those indoor teams. Rather than putting all the best players on one team, she spreads a few out and I think it weakens their opportunities, rather than enhances them. There were some pretty hard feelings last year when those teams were set and they didn't do well last year either. The "top" team qualified, but not highly and didn't do well at NITs.

One complaint I have heard about NL is that when it comes to the big tournaments they don’t play to win.

There's no way they are resending teams to another qualifier. 100% against the rules. Honestly, NL does some odd things with those indoor teams. Rather than putting all the best players on one team, she spreads a few out and I think it weakens their opportunities, rather than enhances them. There were some pretty hard feelings last year when those teams were set and they didn't do well last year either. The "top" team qualified, but not highly and didn't do well at NITs.

I’m sure some clubs try to get away with it, but by the rules a player can only be on one NIT qualifier roster. The roster for the NIT qualifier must match the NIT roster if qualified anyway. This is per age group though. You could have a kid on different U16 and U19 NIT Qualifier rosters as the U16 and U19 are different tournaments.