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GPS does have a good back line and their gk is not bad, but the real issue for ND was the hard fought CCS game 2 days prior. I think GPS' last game was Saturday. Yes, ND does use a lot of subs, but Cooper, Ciabbatone, Brannen, and Cambron looked leg weary imo (the 2 center-mids and 2 forwards). The other, tactical issue is how GPS successfully maintained possession with their back line, switching from one flank to the other. ND was too tired to chase successfully and GPS didn't turn it over in the back. The normal adjustment would be to have outside mids watch the outside backs and try to generate turn overs from the square pass between the center back and outside back. ND never did that, so they chased all night. Baylor will not do that. They will play direct from their backs like almost everyone else. I don't think ND will see anyone else play like that. Also, GPS's strength is the pace of their outside mids and that's one of ND's weak spots. I do think that Baylor will win, but that's the weakest game I've seen ND play this year and GPS' best.

Caroline is a very good defender, great ball striker ( restarts, clears, shots ) and barely missed ODP Region Pool this past summer.

I came in at half time, so I don't know if the CCS goalie had a big save in the first half or not. But , while ND dominated the 2nd half I don't think that they ever made her make a great save. She just didn't drop one in the net or let it go between her legs like so many other high school goalies. She did what she needed to do, but I think ND helped her out a bit by missing some chances to put a hard shot on frame. She never really had to make a great save that I saw (at least in the 2nd half).

On the issue of officiating a soccer match, I feel that many of the high school matches end up with 2 officials and should have 3 instead. I don't like the 2 man crew for any matches in the high school age, boys or girls. Too many times the two officials call two different games/styles and the match becomes disjointed quickly. I'd rather have one person in charge with 2 extra sets of eyes to assist. With regard to injuries, I think the officials should get to the point where they are carding tackles from behind almost every time regardless of intent. Everyone will get the picture fairly quickly. Shoulder to shoulder or any tackle in front of the hips without the studs up, no problem. As far as acl tear with girls, many of them do happen without any contact. Many of them happen on the landing after some kind of jump. Girls have a physiological problem with priprioception (sp?) which basically means they aren't sure how their body relates positionally with the ground. Kinda of like when you're carrying something in your arms down the stairs, it's dark , and you aren't sure where that last step is even though you see the floor in front of you. Partaking in a thorough plyometrics program has been proving to help somewhat. Also, strength training so the ratio of the quad and hamstring strength levels are comparable will help as well (girls usually have weaker hamstrings ). The one thing you can't fix is the "Q" angle which is the angle of the upper leg from the hip joint to the outside of the knee joint. Like when you're measured for you outseam for dress pants but stop at the knee. Girls with wider hips tend to have a higher q angle and are more predisposed for acl problems. This also is why younger girls don't have many acl problems as their hips get wider when they "go through their change". Plyometrics seem to help as well as strength training , but a girl may just be in a shooting drill , land on her shooting foot and tear her acl. Sometimes it just happens.

It has to be Ann Shelton imo. I think she led the nation in goals against and percentage saved last year in her second year at Ole Miss (I think she red shirted ). She single handedly got Tullahoma to the state final (I think, maybe semi) when they probably didn't deserve it if I remember right. But , Erin Lycan, Soddy Daisy and U. of Virginia is a close second. Of course Kelly Dyer is very good, but both Ann and Erin were as good and probably better at certain things than Kelly. Ann and Erin seemed to be very good at stopping people from scoring in their box. I think that is somewhat of a lost art with today's keepers since there is so much zonal play, and rightly so, that there is always a field player a step away to get a piece of the shot.

Who was the best team ? Collierville looked pretty good to me last year .

Notre Dame and Baylor may be even, but GPS is behind both of them. GPS hasn't scored in 5 of their games this season. Notre Dame is 19-20 players deep. Baylor has a Jamacian national team girl playing for them and she's not even the one scoring.

I understand that the perception is that club soccer puts more of a demand on the kids, but, I don't understand given the reality. If a 12 year old does not play club ball but does play school ball, the demand of their time and effort isn't reduced. Playing school ball is not less time and effort even at the middle school level. The only thing reduced is parent's time spent driving. Additionally, most of the time, if school ball were traded for club ball it would be a step up in quality of play . Many club coaches see school ball as the lower form of soccer and in most cases , they are correct (compared to D1 club soccer). In all other areas of life we would encourage the kids to push themselves but when it comes to school athletics we encourage them to participate in the lower form. Also, every time I see one of my players at a high school game , the question is usually when does club start ? Even from players from the private schools that win state championships. 5 of them have already said they will not play high school soccer next year (who knows what that means).

Big Express, Would you let a sr. player go to the Dallas Cup to be recruited or would you put him on the spot and say no ? At this point I don't know what process he'd have to complete with TSSAA , but assuming he could go proper and also wanted to play high school , would you let him go ?

I've been coaching club (and high school) for a while now. Albeit on the girls side mostly. When was this such a problem ? Club soccer in TN. has been serious for a little over 10 years imo. From what I understand this policy is a blanket policy that started because of high school coaches requiring some of their players to play club basketball on teams that they controlled. I don't think this is a policy due to the over zealousness of club coaches but because of high school coaches that have abused the system in another sport. And, again, surrounding states that allow dual participation do not have significant problems with club soccer. I suspect because the parents won't allow it and rightly so.They should be the ones to decide what is appropriate for their child, not TSSAA.

But no club team is going to decide to do that. The parents wouldn't let it happen and the coaches don't want to coach during high school either. They want a break as well. The boys season would continue to be during the summer and fall months. Now , my question to you would be -- Would you allow a sr. to play in the Dallas Cup who is trying to get recruited for college ?What if there was a coach that was interested but could only see him play in Dallas or wanted to see him play against better teams ? Would you make another exception ? Or would you make it either/or ?

If you're on the 18 in an offside position, ball is shot, are you not involved in the play ?Does the gk not have to consider you ?I'm not talking about screening the gk. Or are you saying the player has to be so far out of the way as to be obviouly out of the play i.e. in the flank third with a shot happening middle third.

A 5 minute difference per half ends up being a 30 minute difference over three games. It doesn't sound like a lot until you're the one playing and it's 95 mid-afternoon. 30 minutes less and FRA ties Notre Dame instead of losing 2-0 (and it wasn't that close in the 2nd). Again, I'm just interested that TSSAA will allow it , and will allow students to play multiple high school sports with no known restrictions, but decides that it's not in their best interest to be available for club. I'm not even saying they should play club during high school, I'm saying that they shouldn't be the ones deciding what is best for the student away from school, it should be the parents. They shouldn't have any policy regarding playing for club at all imo.

But not with 80 minute games. Most tournaments with u16 and up go to 80 minutes for the semi and final but not the group play. Additionally if you have a early Sat. game (say 8:00 AM) and a second game that afternoon, your first Sunday game would be outside the 24 time frame. You wouldn't get another early game. At the GPS tournament teams were playing 3 80 minute games in less than 20 hours. I think ECS played Friday at 7:00 and their 3rd game Sat. started at 3:00 at Ooltewah I think. Also, I've coached girls for 8 years, two teams at a time, and I've only seen 3 games in a day once. Maybe it's different with the boys.

But if they don't inform them, they penalize their school. TSSAA decides to approve them to play for the national team. Would they approve them to play for the regional team ? state team ? district tryouts ? There may be conflicts in the other states, but there aren't dramatic ones that I'm aware of on the high school level. Parents get to decide what is best for their children, not an athletic board, and they seem to make the right decision as high school soccer continues to exist in these other states. TSSAA does not know what is best for the individual athlete !

Without everybody going crazy-- is this the same coach dakis that was arrested for mis-appropriating soccer funds (alledgedly) ? Why would you want someone like that ?

It's still incredible to me that someone would have to get permission from TSSAA to participate with the National team (or any other team for that matter). Again, with the states that don't regulate athletes away from the school, select soccer has not conflicted with school soccer in a disruptive manner that I'm aware of. The players have the opportunity to attend important tournaments if needed and to train with college teams that they are interest them (Naia and D3 allow this). I still am incredulous that TSSAA knows better than someone's parents.

I don't think that the select coaches would require a normal committment to their team as they would during the select season. None of the parents would allow it. All the clubs are parent driven across the country. Some of the high end clubs might try, but those examples would be in areas of huge numbers of players and the better players may not be playing high school soccer anyway. Right now the girls miss out on a couple of good college prospect tournaments as well as not being allowed to participate in ODP with the younger ages and not being allowed to tryout/train at schools they are interested in. Also, again, TSSAA won't stop someone from playing two sports in highschool at the same time. What's the difference if you're playing soccer and running cross country ? Or soccer and track in the Spring ?The girls can play select soccer and run track in the Spring but can't play school soccer and go to a tournament with a club team in the fall? Most of the surrounding states' athletic associations do not impose their will on the student-athletes away from school. Most of the other states can do both at the same time and the parents end up deciding what is best for their child. Not the state. I think TSSAA is arbitrary and is out of bounds with some of their decisions. The bottom line is that

I find it interesting that TSSAA isn't allowing soccer players to play club ball or anything with more players than 6 v. 6 which includes TN. ODP. They also will no longer allow soccer players in season to go to colleges and "tryout" with the school they interested in. My understanding has always been that they don't want the players to get overworked . Yet they can run cross country and play soccer. Or track and soccer in the Spring. I also don't understand why they allow these tournaments like the GPS and Baylor tournaments where the teams play one game Friday and two on Saturday. Last weekend's best game was supposed to be Notre Dame v. FRA and it was for about 10 minutes. Then FRA realized they were fried after playing 2 tough games prior. Think about it-- TSSAA let's them play 3 80 minute games in less than 24 hours !! We don't even do that in club ball. I don't think that they should be allowed to tell players what they can and can't do away from school ball -- it's none of their business imo -- but I guess it's another area they will regulate eventually.

After watching PJP2 play against CCS on Saturday, I'd have to say that Baylor is their equal and probably better. PJP2 was winning 3-0 at halftime and played their younger players in the 2nd half but they are very young in the back and have one legit scoring threat, and she seems to need to score on break-aways. No more Graces or Megans . Their goalie also seemed inexperienced. In other words, without seeing the others, I would at least put them in front of PJP2.

JP2 scored 3 goals on her inside 10 yards on Saturday . She went down too early all three times. She needs to learn to support her back line better. She is a good goalie, though. Why doesn't she play club soccer ?

I don't know about the possibiblity of a class action suit, but the probable argument would be that TSSAA has a voluntary membership. In other words if you don't like something -- then don't belong. Seperately, as far as fall soccer for the girls, it actually works very well for them because not many college coaches will watch a recruit at a high school game. They will always want to see them against the best competition which will always be a select team (especially after their freshman year) as opposed to a highschool team. Also, they can see them at a tournament while being able to see many games and other recruits. There has been some high school coaches that have basically coached their team and just haven't been listed as the official coach. They've been listed as the manager. Either way, TSSAA shouldn't be able to dictate this situation. I am a club coach and a college coach and what I see coming is the reduction of high school sports other than football within 10 years. All will be involved in club athletics like over in Europe. The bottom line is that most of the time, the players will receive better coaching in almost every sport from a club than having a teacher coach them. Got to go -- can't finish my thoughts .

And yet there they were in the state finals at the end. They will have a great back 4 with Taylor Davidson as the GK ( best gk in Chatt. at any age ) and speed on the outside. The center mid will be solid-not great- and there will be question marks up front. Coach Weekley is one of the best D2 coaches and will have them ready to go. They cannot, however, deal with significant injuries. They don't usually have the best talent, just the best team concept. Whatever they need to do to win they usually do it.

GPS's Carly Morrow tore her ACL 2-3 weeks ago. She has a scholarship to Kentucky for basketball and isn't allowwed to even contemplate making it back for any of the fall season. Huge loss. Also, Caroline Scales has transferred to Baylor and will be available to play for them at regionals I think. Another big loss. In other words GPS shouldn't be ranked 2nd and you know that Coach Weekley will have his team ready to play. They should be thought of a little more highly , I think.