somewhereinmemphis

4+ years removed from HS soccer so no predictions other than Houston should be good. my apologies, I simply followed your lead on non-related topics - you had two random posts in this thread - right???

Assuming you are on a talented team, I predict (1) that most fall RPL league games will be lopsided blowouts, (2) several games will be cancelled only a few days before they are to be played, (3) that the kids will miss not having a 3 month break from their club coaches and (4) parents will complain when they witness how bad the RPL is!

RESULTS MATTER - 5 out of 6 state championship titles on the girls side. that usually draws the best players the next year. In the age group they lost, they tied the eventual champion in bracket play - just lost the bracket on goal differential. Glad TFC is surviving the "splinter groups" of self interested coaches and parents. Congrats to TFC. I am sure you will represent the state well as state champions......

I've been close to the Samford program for a few years now and have a high degree of respect for the entire family. Great folks on all fronts and very supportive of each other. Todd recruits from all over and some happen to be from Tennessee. Anyone that has the talent to play there should consider it. The non conference schedule is always tough and the team is successful. 5-1 vs SEC schools last two years with the only loss to South Carolina. Played UVA in Birmingham last year - yes, Morgan Brian is the real deal. Next fall they will host Ole Miss, Memphis, Boise State, Wake Forest and Duke. They will travel to Baylor and Auburn. All before the conference season starts. With the exception of a few teams, the conference is very competitive. The regular season conference title came down to the last game between Samford and Mercer. In the tournament, any one of the final four teams (samford, mercer, furman, etsu) could have won. Great school/atmosphere, quality people and all you want in a schedule. Todd delivered on all fronts. I suspect his other brother being there will only add to the experience for the players.

good luck! But it looks like they are playing Michigan Jaguars not the Hawks. http://events.gotsport.com/events/schedule.aspx?eventid=39265&FieldID=0&applicationID=2480246&action=Go Also, looks like the Michigan Hawks have their non ECNL team in the USYS national league. some players probably play both. http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/national_league/201415_national_league_las_vegas_preview_u14_girls/ http://www.michiganwolveshawks.com/hawks/hawks01black.html several ECNL players have the national championship in their bios - hard to tell who played where last year..... http://www.michiganwolveshawks.com/ecnl-info/hawks01.html

1/22/2015 ADDED 2018 verbal commitment for Paige Franks (M - Richmond United) - TENNESSEE ....and sometimes Tennessee recruits 8th graders and verbally commit them in the 9the grade.... This is a nice website to follow recruiting. https://sites.google.com/site/soccerrecruits/

based on the list it appears we have 3 divisions of private schools and one division of public.....

Interesting posts and have read them for years. No easy answers but I suspect that USN, USJ and others that switched to the private division 3 or 4 years ago have seen some positives to the move. maybe others will follow over time. I have two that went to privates in Memphis. One of which just finished playing four years at the D1 level. even though they were in a "smaller conference" they went 5-1 vs the SEC over the last 2 years. she had a fabulous experience and I would recommend it to anyone with the option! Over the past few years, the public school systems in Shelby county have seen dramatic changes. I believe they are for the better and am hoping the various municipalities will "get it right" in managing their school systems. If they do, folks will have great options both public and private moving forward. why does this matter to this thread? Because it's the next argument! the municipalities with the best schools will also have the best athletic programs. When this was passed at the state level, all the representatives from middle and east TN thought this was a Memphis issue. well guess what - its not. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/nov/10/east-ridge-voters-open-door-to-city-school/ it's here to stay and Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville will have to address the issue at some point. Why would Farragut residents stay in the knox county school system? they can take the buildings and run the smaller district themselves. What about east ridge. If any level of success happens in west Tennessee, the bedroom communities and suburbs in middle and west TN will do the same. they are watching and waiting! Anyway - not pertinent to the current conversation but it will be at some point. Probably a lot sooner than most will admit!!

he is very unassuming on the sidelines - he's very positive and the work gets done prior to the game. click the "Click here" link on the page below for the "Soccer Curriculum". if every coach, player and parent followed this, youth and high school soccer would be a much more peaceful experience! http://www.sgis.org/page.cfm?p=197&teamID=23&display=Overview

Regarding St. George's - what most don't realize (even in Memphis) is that Tony Wicker is THE BEST coach in our area - and certainly one of the best in the state. I have watched this closely for about 10 years now. IMO, coaching Houston or Collierville is pretty straight forward when your JV team is loaded with freshman and sophmore club players AND you are cutting club keepers because you have too many. In our suburbs, I suspect parent expectations and pleasing the soccer booster club are the coaches biggest issues. Coach Wicker gets more out of his team than anyone and they usually play the big games very well. My daughter never played for him - only against him so I have a great appreciation from an opponents perspective. If you think about the games and championships they have won, and then think about the players that have played in college after leaving St. George's (I honestly cant name one that went on to play college) his record is nothing short of outstanding. If other coaches had to play without all their college prospects, I think he would slaughter them!!

well....CHANGE is one thing for certain in youth soccer!! I was not aware of that shift - I am sure it will all work out. Best of luck to your daughter and all the other players. It's a lot of work on their part and I hope they enjoy the recruiting process. it can be a lot of fun! Booger - last post on this from me as well.....

playerscoach, I think you will admit that what has happened in Nashville with TSC is unique and certainly took a lot of time to get there. they won every state championship in D1 this year. they certainly dominate the state now and I suspect the current players travel a bit to get to Nashville for their teams. players on the north side of the city generally did not play for brentwood sc. they played for TN united and Harpeth. Please don't forget that your daughter is benefiting from that structure that many fought hard to create. The leadership at TSC should be applauded for giving you and your family a great option. But look around, most cities aren't structured that way. Nashville used to look like Memphis - very unorganized and teams playing for the "county championship". The clubs here used to scoff at D2 - now most of their teams are playing in that division. Knoxville combined long ago and benefited from it as well. I'm curious, has TSC ever applied for the ECNL and would you change clubs if they did? I'm rooting for them to get in the ECNL - I think it would be the best thing for the players in Tennessee that would benefit from playing under the structure. it's not right for everyone - that's ok. Most ECNL clubs also offer non-ECNL teams for the players that don't want to travel that much. now that's the way it should be! our experience with 2 years of ECNL was $10 in scholarship for every $1 spent. I certainly didn't spend $10,000 a year and may not have spent that over the 2 year period. we actually did region 3 and ECNL the first year. I really believe that more than 5% of the team had a better experience than you mentioned. Overall, I feel very fortunate for the experience and would encourage all to pursue it if they think it's best. one final thought - it's not always about the money. some teams struggle with player numbers and that is certainly not TSC's issue. playing tournaments with 12 players is tough especially when some were out a little late the night before. priorities are different so it's very important to be on a team with "like minded" players. do they want to play in college or do they want to be the best high school player they can be. neither one is wrong but friction will come if the numbers don't lean one way or another. one set needs to travel - the other group does not. I suspect your TSC team does not have either issue - players are coming to you because of the clubs/teams success and most if not all want to play after high school. Again, be thankful - your club unique.

"My point was more from a "value perspective". Why spend additional monies to travel to play on a ECNL club team? Yes......." Do all the other parents and especially the players a favor and don't project your "value perspective" on them. I suspect they are more than able to make that call themselves. The CFCA team you referenced is interesting to me. Based in Chattanooga, the players are within 2 hours of 4 ECNL teams (3 in Atlanta and one in Bham). Given the success of the team, I suspect you have a couple of players looking at ECNL options. Good for them!! Most players don't improve by being the best on the field. They improve by surrounding themselves with more talented players and maybe even having to fight for a starting position for the first time. But the player and their parents will make that "value perspective" as it relates to their circumstances and I would hope the former coaches, teammates and parents encourage them after the decision is made. Given your initial comments, I'd bet heavily that this is going on!!

I am sure this never happens to anyone else..... but every once in a while, I shake my head after sending a response. I regret to say that this is one of those occasions. Ladymustangcoach, congrats on the 2nd place finish in the President's cup nationals. I know the girls played hard, played well and deserved to enjoy the moment - as they should. a great time to be celebrated by everyone. But comparing a 1-0-1 team in the D2 Tennessee state soccer tournament vs the ECNL finals is .....I dont even know what to say! Go back and put your baseball coaching shorts back on (you know - the ones with the skoal ring) and try to continue to figure out the offsides rule in soccer. Give it time, it will come to you.

Just curious - what was your impression of the college coach representation - ECNL vs Region 3 finals or US youth soccer nationals? and be honest. As for "high-jacking", I have experienced both US youth Soccer, region 3 and the first two years of the ECNL. The ECNL was created and now flourishes because of the way US youth Soccer ran the program. Don't believe for a minute that "highjacking" never occurred prior to ECNL. i would argue that the number of players having access to quality events has increased because of the ECNL. That's a good thing. As for the cost, I've paid both and can tell you that the ECNL structure is clearly superior from a planning standpoint. At tryouts, you are given a schedule for the next 12 months and it does not change. I don't think you can say that about state league or region 3 pool play. Many of those decisions were made the week of the game. As for the cost, that really depends on the level of exposure a non-ECNL team wants. A team can play all local tournaments and not spend a lot. That's totally fine. Or a team can compete in all the required events (plus other tournaments) to get to the US soccer "Nationals". I suspect the total cost will be similar for an ECNL team and the one trying to get to US Soccer Nationals. From my overall experience, I found two critical differences. One, the overall quality of your ECNL games from your first game to your last is better - no if's and or buts. Two, parents can actually plan their families life because you know the schedule. I found that feature to be invaluable.

I think that's awesome!! thanks for the heads-up. While she certainly did the work on the field, I think it illustrates the power of the consolidated club in Nashville - an organized club structure with knowledgable and connected folks can help players get to the next level. Not saying that happened, but it didnt hurt. As an example - look at the WPL draft last week. Only TWO players were selected from the SEC. A forward from Brazil (playing at ole miss) and a forward from Memphis (from Miss state). Most in middle and east Tennesee have never heard of Elizabeth Sullivan, yet she was selected by Portland and will train/play with forwards Alex Morgan and candian NT captain Christine Sinclair. Pretty cool!! IMO, splintered clubs in west Tennessee barely had enough pull to get kids on the state ODP teams - which was not that challenging 8 to 10 years ago. Players pretty much had to handle things themselves if they wanted to play outside Shelby county. Club directors operated like it was 1990 and the world passed them by. Congrats to the adults in the Nashville community for creating a vehicle that will only help their players!! http://www.hailstate.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=209376960

Interesting on many fronts.....so many topics to choose from! I dont know anything about the player but hope she continues to improve and get further opportunities. i appreciate the heads up as it will be fun to keep tabs as time goes on. We need some in-state talent to succeed at the Parlow level! I also dont know anything about the team so i went to the usual sites to "explore". For non-ECNL teams, GotSoccer seems to be a good source for game/tournament results as most non-ECNL teams and tournaments post there in an effort to increase their ranking. That game has not changed. As U-15's, the team certainly had a lot of success and presented some great opportunities for the players. the merger that took place in Nashville has benefitted the players in that regard. I only noticed one ECNL opponent (from Atlanta) which they appeared to beat handily 3-0. So they certainly have talent and can compete with some of those teams. I also noticed that several of their games were lopsided. Certainly happens at all levels but i wonder if a good team has trouble consistantly finding good events since the start of the ECNL. As a parent, i have some experience with the first two years of the ECNL and noticed the changes to the competive level at the Region 3 tournament - attended both Baton rouge and Greenville, SC. The overall change was significant. When you remove ten clubs from Texas alone and eleven additional clubs between Alabama, georgia, florida and north/south Carolina, the region 3 tournament level has to change. Ask any college coach that question. Ask them how important the tournament is today for recruiting. It doesn't hold the same weight. The same thing has happened to WAGS - the tournament is a shadow of it's former self. So in my mind it's simply hard to guage a u-15 team's success relative to the pre-ECNL days. Nice question - just unanswerable!! Overall, it's unfortunate that no Tennessee team can join the ECNL. But until that time, i hope our teams continue to excel at regionals and the USYSA events. There are no negatives with that kind of success! The only thing that i know for sure is that there will be player movement. Team success will draw new players and others will leave for various reasons including injury, playing time, boyfriends.......and yes some will leave for a better team and a more competive schedule. Timing often plays into that decision. Most players invited to national team events commit during their sophmore year or the first few months of their junior year. At that point, their future coaches carry a lot of influence and might very well encourage them to find the best competition they can. A starting position your freshman year might very well depend on it. Being the best player on a team while playing up will bring several challenges in high school. what is that player supposed to do their junior and senior years?? As a junior, her teamates will be done with high school soccer in the fall and have "senioritis" in the spring. Then as a senior there will be no team. Knowing that is coming down the road, players in this position may very well explore options a year or two earlier. It's nobody's fault - just timing. The good news is that most families will make the right decision for THEIR daughter and they deserve to be supported even if that means changes to the status quo. Some adults will be supportive and some will not. That's when the fun begins!

i think there were two players from the west that skipped high school and played ECNL with two Atlanta teams. did that happen with any players from the middle or east? this certainly had no impact on the high school state outcome - I was just curious if any players took advantage of the ECNL.

Football drives everything.....women's soccer is not in the classification discussion in the athletic departments unless it is an all girls school. However it is easy to see that things get more competitve in womens soccer when private schools move to DII - just look at the West and Nashville regions for proof..... the good news - the discussion will continue for at least another 4 years! Out there somewhere in the public school arena, there is a father who is watching his 7th grade studdette score multiple goals in middle school. I feel for him - in about 24 months he will post his frustration only to rehash the same old posts....quite predictable unless she gets an "academic" scholarship to a private school!

Great comments guys!! While i had not overlooked those scores on purpose you certainly made me think. i almost hit the send button on an apology note but instead want to send a thank you note for making my comments more valid. So THANK YOU!! since i am dealing with two highly educated individuals i am sure you can follow along..... I was responding to Mr. CC's comment which was this: "I like this idea except we will have yet another district out west with no competitive soccer teams". it is interesting when you breakdown the first round games and see which section (East (including knoxville), Chattanooga, Nashville and west (including Jackson))was actually the most competitive (least lopsided). Regions 1& 2 (East & knoxville) was the most lopsided. Their four games had a net goal differential of 20 including 3 of the games Mr. Booger mentioned - Greenville, elizabethton and Gatlinburg. For the record, I grew up in the tri cities playing soccer for two italian immigrants at the boy's clubs in the 70's. I also went to public school there thru high school. Two quick obervations from a "native" - there are "pockets" of decent soccer in east Tennessee (Greenville and Elizabethton vs Cosby and Chuckey Doak) and second, there are no private schools except a couple in knoxville. Soccer has always been lopsided due to limited exposure in some areas. With the exception of CAK, Private vs public is not a factor in east Tennessee. Regions 3&4 - Chattanooga - net score of their first round games was 16. note that none of the private schools switched 4 years ago and lopsided scores persist in the region. ND beat Smith county 6-1. can you believe smith county's record was 17-3-1 prior to that match? maybe ND just had a great game - or maybe smith county simply didnt draw Chuckey Doak or cosby. Region 5&6 - Nashville - net goal differential for their first round games was 13. interestingly enough, USN and St. Cecilia went to the private side 4 years ago. had those schools stayed in A-AA, the first rounds scores would have been less competitive. Region 7&8 - west - net goal differential was 11 for the four games. same story - four years ago, USJ and Jackson Christian went to the private side. if Chester county draws USJ, i bet they lose by more than 2 goals.... SOOOO....let's discuss "Competitive" - which of the four areas games were more competitive and why? Nashville and the west are clearly more comptitive because USJ, Jackson Christian, USN and St cecilia went to DII. As stated above, east is irrelavant since there are (and always have been) so few private schools. Chattanooga remains lopsided because no school went to DII four years ago. Hence the first round results speak for themselves. Nice wins for everyone last night - congrats to all. what is interesting at this point is that 6 private schools have the chance to win 6 of the 8 final spots in A-AA. Sounds reasonable and "competitive" to me......

did i still get a long distance chest bump?!? just askin'....

this is way too easy.....notable winners in the first round playoff games in A-AA girls soccer: CAK 7 - 0 Notre Dame 6-1 CPA 4-0 Chatt. Christian 6-0 Sacred Heart 4-2 (dont know this school - just assumed they were private...) Combined margin 27-3

also, you may want to define "competitive" - check the scores on Eurosport for Silverdale vs sequoyah, polk, sequatchie, walker, tyner and sweetwater.......that looks like a post for "running up the score" thread!! http://www.eurosportscoreboard.com/page_team.php?id=3794&year=2012

dont "knock the west" for no competitive teams in AA soccer - we have had a true separation between public and private (which you do not). Hence the public sector teams in the "lowly west" are playing with other public teams that are competitive on their level.

i believe the deadline to declare Public or DII was yesterday. Were there any changes in Middle or East Tennessee? http://www.tssaa.org/Classifications/classification.cfm