drsoccer

It seems like this topic of Chattanooga Top Ten has digressed to conversation that could be started on another thread. Back to the subject, where are we on the top ten?

When is the girl's team camp?

I believe that during your junior year that you should be narrowing the colleges that you are interested in. Be proactive and send a letter along with a resume that includes soccer information and academic information. If you are playing club soccer, inform the coaches the dates of tournaments or games if they are in his or her area. Inform the coach of the fields where you will be playing in that letter or another one according to the dates of the events. If you don't get a contact back, email the coach. Many college soccer coaches have sites where they encourage you to inform them of your intentions. A phone call is appropriate at a later time depending on the division of the college that you are talking to. When a coach goes to a showcase or other tournaments, they look at the players that have been recommended to them as well as the ones who write. ODP can be helpful in some situations but unless the coach has a big staff or lots of time to travel, odp looks good on the resume- but he may not come to those events. It is very tough in Tennesseee to get noticed for the first time in the spring because most of the coaches are finished recruiting and are looking at juniors. Don't wait to your senior year.

Several posts state that Grace will be in the top ten. Have they got a bunch of upperclassmen or some odp players?

I would say that a majority(at least 51%) of high school players play in the fall. Some soccer saturated areas such as Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga and theBristol -Johnson City area probably have a greater % of fall players. As to your other question, my guess would be that most scholarships are awarded to players that college coaches have seen in tournaments or league play. Showcases are good especially for players that want exposure to schools outside their general area or region.

Hulk, Are you saying that the players you mentioned and the ones not mentioned at Baylor will not only start but will an impact in the games they play?

Hey Jumparound, how come you rated McMinn so high? You know about some new players that Coach Earls has found?

There is a new player at Cleveland High who is supposed to be a very good keeper. I heard he transferred in as a senior.

I totally agree with Coach Blair. He can recover, stay where he is now and still have strength and stamina to wrestle well. If he keeps trying to cut he could have a relapse.

Congratulations to Coach Earls and the Cherokees. This regional title is well-deserved.

I guess you mean beat a real decent team. They have played Science Hill and Brentwood. This will be for the # 1 spot in their district only.

They have a young team with a very good coach. McMinn has only beaten one AAA team so far with a winning record but the Cherokees will get better as the season goes by. A home game against Cleveland on monday should show where they are.

To get the attention of a college coach, you should send them a letter with your soccer resume and academic accomplishments. Tell them when your club team is in a tournament and invite them to come watch. Check out the school and team on a website to discover the nuances of the program and the particulars that you want in a college education. Follow that letter with a phone call a couple of weeks later if you haven't been contacted. Many schools now have email buttons on their soccer sites in order to directly contact a coach. Once in awhile a coach will come to a high school game, but not very often. Coaches are busy and don't have the staff that other college sports have. The whole idea is to be proactive and contact them in your junior year if possible. Good luck. [Edited by drsoccer on 4-11-03 10:03P]

Hey Itchymomma! What does Lee have to do with Ooltewah and Notre Dame and division 5?

What school is Lee and what is a division 5 school?

I used delusional because he said there was no doubt.

OK. I'm sure Coach Earls would love to see this post and also know which one of his players sent this. You just set your team up as a target for any team that you play. This type of post can only fire up the other teams and McMinn does not have to send messages for other teams to use as bulletin board material. Think next time before you post something that borders on delusional thought and can't be backed up.

Cleveland is scheduled to play their first game tomorrow.

It all boils down to these facts. The game consists of players, coaches and referees. Great advances have been made3 in the past few decades concerning player technique and tactical understanding. The same can be said for coaching. As a whole the referee side has not advanced as fast. Many are officiating who have never played . There are alot of great officials. We as players and coaches have to get involved and officiate when we are in the offseason or after we retire from playing. But for now we will be disatisfied because we don't get perfect offials. But have we as players played a perfect game or played great with no mistakes all the time? Have we coached a perfect game every time? Even the FIFA officials at the top level make mistakes. The only answer that I can come up with is let's officiate(we usually do that when we play and coach anyway) when we are ready and maybe we can help the game more.

Eastside, I believe the tsaa and other associations want you to play soccer. Taunting, cursing and getting into someone's head is not soccer. That's why there are rules against that. Soccer is using technical skills and combining them with teammates to try to outscore the other team. If there is a soccer book that you have read that lists the things you like to do as soccer tactics, please let us know. We would like to read it. I really believe that you know the game of soccer and are probably a good player. Forget this other stuff and think positive when you play. I wish you luck and hope you can lead your team to a great season.

The NCAA rules committee has just announced this new rule for next fall's college season. Foul and obscene language or obscene gestures used by any player are to be dealt with by immediate red cards. Incidental, at opponents or referees will be judged the same. To read the article go to www.nscaa.com.

I believe that Baylor should be above McCallie. There are several McCallie players injured and at least one of them is out for the season. Baylor has many players with alot of quality and successful experience. Coach Weekly will have them at the top of their game.

You don't need to curse to be mad at yourself or acknowlege your poor play. In fact, not saying anything or letting the opposition know that you are mad at yourself works wonders. Danielle Borgman, a 17 year ol who played on the national team before distinguishing herself at UNC did just that. The same expression and demeanor for mistakes as well as great plays. Maybe the penalty for cussing incidentally and that is a referee's opinion should just be a foul. At a referee it is an automatic red in college and in college it can be red for cursing at an opponent. Like I said, discussion is good and great thoughts come out of this.

As I said earlier most recruiting is done through club. Yes there are instances for high school game watching. Fifa or Ussf refs will not solve the issue. Many of them already do high school. You can do a middle your first year if you are good. How do you make an open book test harder. Too much harder or going to a closed book will eliminate numbers and we are short now.

This thread has made me do a lot of thinking. I have played college soccer and recreation soccer afterward, officiated TSSAA as well as USSF, coached club soccer, coached many years of college soccer. I am not saying this to say that I am a great authority. I am going to give some thoughts from years of varied experience. I have also passed the NISOA referee course for intercollegiate officiating. Anyway, the reason for 2 officials in TN and in other states that I have lived is subject to the state high school associations. It is not just money, numbers of referees available, but it is the associations beliefs that 2 are adequate for regular season high school play. This system is not perfect by far. At least for playoff games, 3 officials are used. No matter what level of referee experience or grade, these officials are all vulnerable to liability suits. They usually are protected by the prudent man test and most of the times backed financially and physically by their association or chapter. They can be sued just like a coach or player can be. But they would have to lose the case. I am rambling but we can't blame TSSAA for inexperienced referees. Even experienced ones will make mistakes or interpret an action wrong sometimes. College coaches do their recruiting almost exclusively at the club games, not high school. Therefore a player will not really be at a disadvantage from an ejection in high school and lose his one chance to play in college. I believe that the 2 referee system would work better if they were assessed during their first season as well as once a season after that. If several coaches or schools are having problems, then have the referee evaluated by the chapter. Lastly, obscene language has become a societal problem and many people use it without thinking. Yes, coaches, referees, and players. All soccer organizations should work on eliminating obscene languagge during games. Sorry this is long but alot of ideas are being thrown around in this thread. It is great to see them discussed and debated.