MFC9

FYI, My son is a senior at Collierville High School and was featured on ESPNrise.com today. In 2006, Kevin suffered a trauma induced ischemic stroke. We surmise it was caused by a dissection to his neck artery while training for Tennessee ODP in Cookeville three weeks earlier when he was up-ended during a header and slammed down on his shoulder "popping" his neck. The ensuing healing threw a clot that caused the stroke. We are sharing this story because Kevin wants everyone to hear his story and to stick to their dreams despite any obstacles life might throw at you. This happened to Kevin during Christmas break before his Freshman soccer season at Collierville. Since the accident he has played and captained in Brazil with his club, lead them to a 3rd place finish in D1 State, earned HS team defensive MVP three years, captain's arm band for HS, was named Pepsi® Commercial Appeal All Metro twice, and THSSCA All State in 2009. He has participated in all star games at college camps and was named Team MVP at the 2009 Mike Getman UAB camp by coach Dave Giffard (asst. at Univ. of Akron) and just completed his fourth Region III ODP camp as co-captain of the 92 State ODP Team this past July. Obviously as parents we are proud and thankful for Kevin's' achievements, but more importantly, Kevin wants everyone, old and young to set goals and strive to achieve them while cherishing life and NEVER giving up! The story is here: http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/soccer/news/story?id=4460488

Answering my own question....a rep from THSSCA tells me the 2009 Coaches' All State List for Boy's will be released by this weekend (8/8/09).

The Coaches' all state lists were finalized this week. I don't know the exact release date, but it should be soon. Any word yet on when this will be released?

The Donovan blasting Beckham incident and all the attention it received (ESPY's, MLS Broadcasts, Beckham interviews, etc.) does not help American Soccer, in fact it hurts it. To have Donovan criticize Beckham looks silly to football fans worldwide, and thus makes US Soccer look whiny and immature. I believe you earn the Captain's armband, and if Beckham's reported attitude and demands forced Donovan to step up and act and play like a real Captain, then Becks should be commended for pushing Landon. (After all, isn't that what true leaders do? Push their teammates to perform better?) As I taught my son long ago...you don't need trophies to be a winner, nor do you need an armband to be a leader.

Does Each District & Region name an "ALL-****" Team? If so, where can these lists be found? Also, any word on when the Coaches' All-State list will be out? Thanks in advance.

Thanks, this does help and seems to be the the consensus timeline. I wanted to make sure he wasn't wasting his time talking to schools that already had their recruiting class set. Good luck to your son.

Odd, since again I don't know of any of the 92 ODP players that have verbally committed. My son still has D1 schools scouting him, granted they are not top 30 pre-season ranked schools. Maybe I should ask...which Tennessee 2010 graduating student-athletes have committed to play collegiate soccer already and with whom? I would still be curious to know when the 91's committed to schools like Memphis, ETSU etc.

Ok, I hear mixed answers to this question and I know it varies by college... ...When did these '91 players commit? I have a '92 son and I hear stories of schools already having their 2010 recruiting class set, yet none of the top 92 players (ODP or otherwise) that we know in Tennessee has committed yet, and we know that there is college soccer at various levels in many of their futures. They are all attending summer college camps and ODP Regional camp to add to exposure from last club season's Showcase Tournament exposure. Many will continue attending College Showcases this fall with their club teams and some are getting "interested" responses from these events. I also know all about the communication rules of the NCAA and the July 1st phone call thing, but does anyone know when it actually gets to be crunch time and when the coaches start putting names down on paper for real? The names listed from the 2009 ('91) class...when did they actually get offers and commit?

There are plenty of good players in the West in all divisions. Unfortunately there are only a couple good teams in the West which advanced or/won in State, which is why CBHS has so many on the list. The other good players on mediocre teams are not on the list because the team failed to make it to or advance far in State.

Ok, I'm going to disagree on two things here. 1) Donovan is overrated in my opinion. Sure he is fast, sure he can score when he outruns someone. He isn't USA's best player and an interview last year where he was asked about being Captain he said, "I want to try not to lose" (paraphrased) made my jaw drop open. I have seen the USMNT live twice and both times he did not impress me. I don't think he gives 100% all the time. And he is one of those players that thinks no one should touch him. That being said, the Confed Cup was his best showing in some time. He even got yellow carded for making a hard defensive tackle!! 2) Michael Bradley. Decent player but would not be on the team if dad wasn't coaching. His dad has opened up all the doors for him. Was at ODP event this past weekend, and the discussion came up, most of the coaches there agreed that Bradley was spotty. Sure he has scored some opportunistic goals, but his passing in mid is sporadic with multiple turn-overs. The red card is not surprising. He tires at the end of games and gets sloppy chasing the ball around the field and eventually tackling from behind. He has been caught doing this several times. On the plus side, I agree that Timmie Howard (who lives here whenever he has time off) is becoming a World Class GK. His play with Everton and his recent play with the USMNT shows he is the real deal. Coach Bradley's style is much better than Bruce Arena's and the Confed Cup strategy to come out with an attacking mindset from minute 1:00 is what lead to early leads, which everyone here will agree, changes the whole game.

District 15-AAA Semifinals White Station 1-0 over Germantown (White Station wins District title) Houston 4-0 over Collierville (Houston also advances)

Guess I will never understand governing bodies. TSSAA's reversal, while I am glad the players are going to get to play, seems typical of sports organizations. Based on posts, teams have been banned in the past from post season play based on one player violating the rules (playing in rec leagues etc.). That should have presented precedents. However, from what I am reading, with only four teams in that division, the absence of two teams would have screwed the bracket. What makes this reversal acceptable and not the others that are posted here? These organizations should have proper hearings BEFORE making decisions and not spouting off and then becoming reactionary to those that scream the loudest. I have seen it happen on the competitive side where the State makes a ruling and then someone threatens a lawyer and gets the decision reversed, only to have the same ruling applied the next year on another team or club. Yeah, I'm still bitter (LOL) that my son has to sit out two games (the same number as the boxing culprits in this match) because he put his hands on a player who stumbled on the way to goal. (Impeding a clear path). It wasn't flagrant, it wasn't malicious...but it was intentional. My son politely took the red-card (since he knows the rule), walked off the field and even shook the refs hand at the end of the game. His coach tells me the ruling was changed in January but doesn't go into effect until this fall during the girls HS season! SO, he could have clocked the guy and cursed the ref on the way off and still missed the same amount of games....silly. Lessons learned: Don't get a red card! Good luck to all in the post-season.

From what I hear, Overton is notorious for this (forfeiting), which begs the question why they are allowed to participate in the sport? Collierville could have used the game so their center back could serve one of his TWO game suspensions for the red card received in the regular season finale. Now CHS has to get past Houston and another tough opponent (Kingsbury?) without him. With all the rain, I wonder if Thursday's games will be played since Houston cancelled their Monday night game (which was then moved to Tues...prompting a rescheduling of Wednesday's games to Thursday). Collierville was prepared to host Overton Monday at CHS field despite the weather.

A 12 year old at a private Catholic school was tested positive this week in Collierville, TN. The Press conference from the mayor and health department said they were taking the CDC's recommendation of closing for 7 to 10 days in order to "clean" the school and investigate possible contacts with the infected students. Collierville is a relatively small town suburb of Memphis and part of the Shelby County school district. The School Board indicated that they would react to cases or probable cases on a "per school" basis unless directed otherwise by the health department. Although the school in question has about four or five other schools (elementary, private, high school, middle), none of them have closed as a result of this positive test. So as to the question: I would say no, unless your school district goes beyond the cautionary recommendations of the CDC.

15-AAA Monday May 4th: Overton vs. Collierville Kirby vs. Houston Winners advance to semifinals Wed. May 6th Ridgeway vs. Germantown winner faces top seed White Station Wed. May 6th, and since WS doesn't have a field they have chosen Houston, which means if Collierville gets by Overton (as they should) and Houston gets past Kirby (as they should) then Houston will have the home field advantage even though Collierville has already defeated them and is seeded higher! Bet you can't guess, I'm a Collierville parent! The two semi-final winners advance (no finals) highest remaining seed is District Champ. Caveat to the games, is Collierville's All-Metro starting Center back, co-captain (who was the team's 2nd leading scorer) Kevin Hensley received a red card in the regular season finale as he impeded a player with a clear path to the goal. Oh, BTW, he's my son...so yes, I'm a bit angry at him, bit depressed...eager to see his teammates step up.

I want to know where you order these buzzers? Our clock stops with 2 minutes left and the end of the game is at the ref's discretion. I've been told this is "High School rules" but apparently out East you guys let the clock run to the buzzer? The Collierville vs. Houston game went over 8:00 after the clock was stopped at 2:00 with CHS holding a 3-2 lead. During that time Houston was awarded a pk that was missed high and wide!

This goes on in all sports at all levels. Soccer is a contact sport and High School soccer is a contact sport played by teenagers. I don't condone brawls, and fighting on the field, regardless of calls or lack thereof is inexcusable. However, whistles for simply breathing on an opponent is not the answer either. Consistency is always the key to a well refereed game. If a ref allows physical play, then the teams need to adjust to his calls and the ref should make consistent calls. If a ref is a bit whistle-happy, then the players should adjust to these types of calls. After years of watching competitive club and odp soccer, the biggest adjustment I see when these players transistion to high school is adjusting to the refs calls. That combined with a mix of less talented, or multi-sport athletes tend to make the High School game often a bit rougher (late tackles, hard shoulder charges, etc.). This in turn can cause referees to over-react to contact. All too often I see the year-round soccer player perform a text book slide tackle on the ball and the inexperienced player trip over his own feet to earn the whistle. This frustrates the player who then gets his ankles repeatedly kicked at by the basketball player turned midfielder. On the flip-side, inexperienced parents seeing "Johnny" knocked over for the first time often start yelling for non-existent fouls which feeds through to the players, escalating tension. Tough balancing act for the players, refs, coaches and fans. However totally eliminating grabbing, holding, pushing and smack talk out of soccer would leave no expectation of the USA ever competing on the world soccer stage.

It appears that Richie has used his past few years as ODP coach to prime and recruit these new players. Notorious (whether truthful or not) for not recruiting local players, it is good to see U of M go after Tennessee players instead of all the Irish boys! So take notice 94 ODP players who now get Richie as their coach....you may have a D1 ticket waiting if you work hard. Oh...and Richie Grant has finally been lured to club soccer as well, accepting a position with the Collierville LOBOS organization.

As a parent and fan, I've done my share of complaining about calls...its part of the sport. The good refs ignore it, the poor ones engage the players or fans and show they aren't really focused on the game. A ref should be invisible and not try to be the star of the show. Weathermen and Refs...they get paid regardless of their accuracy!!! Regarding the comment about the District Player of the Year being denied that title because of his constant whining about calls? I agree with this approach. Yes, it may be a character flaw, but so is "diving", overly criticizing teammates instead of leading them on the field, disrespect to your coach, complaining about being subbed out, being (in your own mind) you are infallible and anything bad (including calls) is someone else's fault....all these character attributes add up to make the whole player. Prima Donnas should be awarded the Prima Donna title, otherwise, the players with the best talent, best work ethic, best leadership skills on the field + the least amount of character flaws affecting their and their teams' game are the top players in my book.

I can imagine that this would be logistically hard to pull off. After TSSA State, most of your top players (depending on age and club) go into ODP Mini-Camp/Regional Camp, summer college prospect camps, international club travel or even family vacations. For instance, this year TN Soccer is trying to plan a Mexico Trip for the ODP teams the Weekend after TSSA State.

You can pull starters, go to two touch possession game (great way to teach players to pass and hold the ball), force a header only scoring rule (great way to teach crossing and heading), require X amount of passing before sending a through ball (great at teaching build-ups) or simply pull a player or two and play a man short (great practice for when you are in a tough game with a red card). I've also seen coaches reverse the field. Center Backs become forwards, etc. (although one coach told me that if you ever let a goalie score, he will never want to go back into net again!) Any solution is still going to humiliate a team getting clobbered, and so does a mercy rule. Unless you are competiting in a tournament where goal's scored or goals differential is awarded, anything over 5-nil is a blow-out in soccer.

OK, I'm sold... A player with a great work ethic is all I needed to hear. Most "star" forwards are coddled and get away with sluffing off (some coaches think should stand and let the rest of the team work to get them the ball), but its the ones that practice hard, love the game and work to get goals who succeed. I look forward to watching him play for the Tigers.

I have probably seen him and just don't know his name. True my son is a Junior in HS and plays '92 club, but we still have heard and seen the likes of players such as Brandon Tarr, Jonah Powers and the McCoys through ODP and the general soccer community. We are in Memphis where Sherrod has signed so obviously Richie knows him.

I thought I had heard of all the top club players in the state, but neither I nor my son has heard of this guy. What club team does he play for? Obviously, can't comment on you all's argument since I haven't seen him play.

You've got Houston ranked 3rd. They lost David Haba, Matt Lightfoot and Brady Ondra just to name three of their guns. Haba went on to the new Div1 program at ETSU, Lightfoot had a stellar fresman season at Sewanne and Ondra, an adidas ESP participant, signed with Florida Gulf Coast but transferred to U of Memphis showing you the talent these three possess. Rumors abound that Houston's top-notch goalkeeper is "soccer-ed out" as well. They will have a good team and most likely join Collierville at State, but a 3rd place ranking, albeit a pre-season one, seems generous and wishful.