hamlet7478

H2ODog: Fair comment about the private schools out West. ECS, St. Agnes, and Briarcrest are all excellent teams. And lest we forget, the SAA team of a couple of years ago featuring the Kinsella sisters and Kelly Dyer is (or should be) on everyone's list of all time best TN high school teams.

I think it was BigG who hit on something I'd agree with. Most of the time in a game, when the score gets to 3-0 or 4-0 (the Emsworth / ND game notwithstanding) you know it's going to be a blowout. A good sport would make adjustments at that point, probably while the game is still in the first half of the first half, and not wait until the game is 8-0 and the weaker team is completely demoralized.

DonC--Wow, I'm impressed with your research.

Opinions, based on current performance: AAA - Siegel, Franklin above OR. Riverdale in top 10 A/AA - CAK above CCS and FRA Div II - Baylor above BGA

Sound like an excellent game. Soddy must be good, because I know Cleveland's no slouch.

This is certainly a good story worth sharing. Let's hope your daughter's injury is not serious and that she'll be back out there soon.

Congratulations, CREE.

Congratulations soccerCoach. You have a right to be proud, I think.

Speaking of Karns, apparently they now have a dedicated soccer pitch after years of playing on the football field. Congratulations Karns players, coaches, parents, administrators, and supporters assuming this is true. Anyone have the scoop on how this was accomplished?

Amazing.

Chas: Try this. http://www.ladydragonsoccer.com/rivals.html

USN and ECS, congratulations on the sportsmanship awards. As we all know, under the stress of a hard fought game it's very easy to lash out at ref's and opponents.

Probably the toughest AAA district in the State...again.

I'd go with Chasanooga...CAK is very good, but Bearden has just a smidgeon more in offensive weaponry. Bearden 3, CAK 2. CAK will have to find a way to control Porter and Turner (the "er" kids?). Maybe they can tie them up before the game?

First time I've seen Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville referred to as the "triangle"! Don't know about the W. TN rankings, but the discussion is wittier than that coming from the triangle.

If you want your daughter to be the best player she can be, go to a club that is committed to and capable of good skills training for the younger players as opposed to over emphasis on rankings, excessive travel, winning / losing. If the kids get a good base of skills (e.g. excellent touch with a ball), success will come in the U12 and beyond age groups.

Get well soon, mj, look forward to having you back. I was always amazed by your knowledge. The polls stimulated lots of interesting discussion.

This is a real shame. Sorry for the kids. There are some really good players on these teams.

Well Region III showed pretty well at the National's, concluding today. Or should I say North Texas showed pretty well. Dallas Texans Girls won U15, U16, and U17 age groups. Dallas Texans Boys won the U16 bracket. Andromeda (also North Texas) won U17 and U18 brackets. Solar (yes, North Texas) won the U19 bracket. That's 7 out of the 12 age groups from one state, actually one metropolitan area. I bet those are some pretty entertaining intersquad scrimmages at Dallas Texans practice fields! http://www.t7sports.com:8080/2005/B102018.htm

Becuase of all the discussion here I decided to look at the video. Canes, I think the keeper probably wishes she had gathered the first shot, but it looks like the keeper makes a nice diving tip on the second shot forcing the ball off the post. The aforementioned, alert OR player is there to tap it home with her head. Nice play. What do you think?

Global warming.

Good point. I would like to take a moment just to reflect on how good of a HS soccer player Trenna Howell was. I got to see her a couple of times last year. Just a lot of fun to watch. You know, we are blessed with a lot of excellent players here in the East / Southeast. Even with the graduation of Trenna and similar talents such as Ulrich, Canter, etc, we still have a lot of exciting kids and teams out here.

Happy to see a lot of discussion from one district in the East. How about the Middle? You guys are really silent. One could make the point that there are more outstanding teams from the Middle part of the State than anywhere else. For example, as a soccer fan, I am interested in the Franklin team. I thought that at the end of last year they seemed to be as strong as anyone. They got knocked out of the State tourney last year (by Siegel?). Will they rebound this year? Are they going to be as strong, or nearly as strong as last year? Any other good story lines from the Middle?

Transam, If most of the OR players are from the Krossfire team, and if the club teams that roster most of the Powell team beat the Krossfire fairly soundly, then the Powell team should be considered the favorite in this district, unless West is also loaded this year?

1.Bearden 2.CAK 3.Farragut 4.Oakridge 5.Maryville 6.West 7.Karns 8.Catholic 9.Powell 10.Seymour