drsanders

Glad to hear it; sportsmanship is what we all want to see. It was a good game. We already got the girl into physical therapy, and she has an appointment with Dr. Elrod. Dr. Alan Anderson is great too-I'm sure there are others. The problem with rushing young players back into competition, is that it truly takes almost a year to fully recover from an ACL, even though players can sometimes play earlier than that. Re-injuries occur when they come back too soon. Running may not be as much a problem, but the cutting and quick starts/stops with soccer can present a problem if they come back too soon. I have seen many college athletes come back too soon, have another ACL surgery, and have it happen a third time! She will be OK by next H.S. soccer season, but her spring/select soccer may not happen.

One of our players (Tullahoma) was hurt during the game in the final two minutes, and we found out today she has a torn ACL. She was playing midfield at the time, and the girl who"took her out" was heard laughing about that after the incident, and saying she wanted to take someone out. I hope that is not true. We have the game taped and can review the incident. The girl who was hurt is also a great runner, and went to state last year, so this takes her out of track also. Several girls on the Tullahoma team were taken down from behind; I hope it was not intentional. I really don't remember any McMinn soccer players hurt, but if some were, I hope they are ok. In the excitement of the game, things do happen, but nobody ever wants someone hurt, especially deliberately. For some, this is their dream to play soccer, and maybe even in college. I just hope everyone can settle down from now on and play clean soccer.

There was no "whining" by "Maaarrrgaret" - I was the one who asked the question. It was a great game by both teams- coaches, fans, and teams were well behaved. She is just learning defense, and is new at it-I thought both teams had good defense. I think we will see these teams next week, and they both deserve it! Also, thanks Bacca for the support and comment.

Doesn't the ball have to be all the way over the line for it to be a goal? My daughter who was standing at the goal, says that the ball (Shelbyville's goal) did not cross the line. If the ball only has to touch the line, then it was a goal.

Talia Wright from Baylor also plays for Tennessee. I don't believe she saw much action last year, but she was a great player in high school.

Margaret started the season at center midfield and was moved to the forward position because of her speed. She moved to outside halfback occassionally, which is considered midfield, whenever she was needed for defense and offense, and rotated during the games between positons. During the postseason and at state, one of our Center midfielders has been hurt, so she was needed there, and she usually started as a forward, but was moved to center midfield during the games. She also saw some time as an outside halfback during the state tournament.

Tullahoma would love that!! Of course Siegel and Centennial are two teams that are very strong and I expect them in the mix next year also. Players and parents can be very proud that playing select soccer has changed Middle Tennessee soccer and has created more parity between teams. Teams that were once dominant in their District and Region are now finding it more difficult to find their way to state. Congratulations to our neighbors in Shelbyville and coach Neil Gordon; he has done a fine job with his girls, and we expect a tough battle next year, along with Coffee Co. and Murfreesboro. This is good; more girls playing soccer will grow interest in our sport and improve college soccer also. Watch out Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis; Region 4 is coming along, and we are hungry! We may be several next year! Traveling is difficult from our area; we still have school to contend with! Remember that is still why we are here! We wish the best to everyone; people at state were very nice and there was wonderful sportsmanship this last week. All the girls our team met were just excited to be there-just as it should be.

I may be alittle biased, but I think Margaret Sanders from Tullahoma has also played well, usually playing three positions in one game, forward, center and outside, whatever is needed by the team. She has had alot of goals this season and assists.

Elite eight play offs start Wednesday in Chattanooga, October 20. Then the semi-final matches will be Thursday, with the finals on Saturday. All eight teams meeting tomorrow in Division AAA will be tough to beat. Farragut is ranked #1 right now, with Oak Ridge #2, but anything can happen as we have seen before. Whichever team comes to play will be successful. Good luck to all.

Franklin won the state last year beating Hendersonville I think 3-1 in the final. Franklin has been to state the last four years. Their record over the years is hard to beat.

Tullahoma beat Oak Ridge, who were ranked either first or second in the state, last year in the first round of the Elite Eight. They then played a tight game against Hendersonville in the final four and did lose, I think 2-1, but I don't think either the players or the coach thought it was an easy game. It was hotly contested and was a good game. Tullahoma had several games against ranked teams cancelled this year due to untimely weather and rain. They look forward to a good match-this year, many teams have had their ups and downs, so we will have to see. Good luck to all the teams that have made it to state-they have all worked hard. This is Tullahoma's 6th year to make an appearance at the state play offs; we are quite proud of that.

Mike McGee is a photographer and reporter and not with the school system, definitely not an elitist -get it right! His response was merely to show that Tullahoma was a fine soccer area even before the Kyle's came, even though we are proud they are here now. Many of those who pay tuition are outside the city limits, (which is actually only about 6-7 miles appr. end to end), and are either farmers or have small acreages, or are in subdivisions that have voted not to be in the city possibly due to taxes or other factors. It may have been to their advantage; it is their decision, not based on an athletic decision certainly, although, this is a wonderful scholastic school system! I probably have some facts incorrect; this is not the place for this. I'm sure this can be discussed ad nauseum, but I thought this was a forum for state predictions! Now that this is over, can we get back to what is important - the girls state tournament! There is some mighty fine soccer being played today!!!

Tullahoma is 45 minutes from Murfreesboro, 1 1/2 hours from Chattanooga, and 1 1/2 hours from Franklin, so we are not in an "area', certainly not in the Smryna/Murfreesboro area - I guess that is our Region. For us to play club soccer, it is a real family and financial committment. Our soccer program has grown because of individuals that have a love of soccer; we have rec soccer and an active middle school program; many have gotten their advanced licences, our teams go to camp as a team each year and we play all year round. As for the '99 and '00 teams, when we played at state, we played the #1 ranked teams first- and it is hard to look good playing that caliber of team. As I remember, that Germantown team (was it the Germantown team?) that year was ranked #1 in the nation, and was probably the best high school team I have ever seen! I cannot remember all the games, and I have had a girl play in every one, and I think those teams were superb! I don't think I have seen a team as well schooled since. It is unfortunate that the format meant that fans could not see their team play due to playing during the week day. Also, playing back to back games was physically difficult, especially when you have to play both the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the state! Thought they were good games. Good job Tullahoma!