Science Hill Vs. Farragut

[Tin-Man]

I heard the game was an exciting one, and i was more than extatic to hear that Farragut showed that they are still around in High School soccer contentions. As for my prior posts about these two teams; regular season is one thing and tournament time is another. This game was the one that needed to be won, and Farragut did just that. Way to go Ads, and good luck to SH next season.

 

As for Tin-Man's post about not liking hard-hitting matches....I always saw you as a very physical, scrappy, rough, but still skilled player. I viewed you as someone who brought the physical aspect to the game more than others, but that isnt a bad thing. I love when games get physical and become rougher....I just was suprised to see that you put that you didnt like these games.

oh, i too enjoy physical games, i loved it when i would have someone battling for a header or for a 50/50 ball.

i was just under the false pretense that this game was a battle of fouls, but i hear that it wasn't and pretty soccer was played, my mistake sorry.

[chaser89]

actually about 5 of their free kicks were handballs right outside the box

[Coach Smelser]

From Coach Smelser,

 

This is my first and will probably be my only post on this web-site but after letting the dust settle and sleeping on it I feel it is necessary to post the facts of this match. We set the time of this match at 7 on Thur. night at Morr. West after a very emotional win. I had no idea until later that evening when I spoke to another coach from Knox. that Farragut had graduation. The next morning I told my AD and called the coach at Farragut. Three years ago the same situation occured and the coach at Farragut lied that the TSSAA can set the time if we do not move it. After getting cussed out by the coach at Farragut Fri. morning I called the AD at Farragut who explained to me that they have had private ceremonies in the past with track athletes that made it to State. I told him that if we made it to the Champinship my 10 Seniors would be in that same situation as well. I also called Gene Beck with the TSSAA who told me that last year the TSSAA changed the by-laws and if both schools don' t agree they will set the time. I got together with my 5 captains and told them we had to set a time, we chose 10 a.m. I called Gene Beck back and told him 10 a.m. and he called Farragut. Mr. Beck totally agreed with me that my guys deserved to play the game when they wanted by taking care of their business in the Regional final. Now to the match itself and to the State Championships. I hope we never make it to the State Championships if what it takes is to allow players to urinate on a field and steal warm-up cones in the process. I am not pleased with the actions of some of my players during the course of this match. However the intent was evident from the start which explains the number of direct and indirect kicks we were rewarded. Farragut took advantage of their opportunities and we did not. I am a teacher first and a coach second, I spend 180 days with my players and everyday is a success story as I use the game to teach the lessons in life and through that process wooden plaques with metal on the front of them sometimes occur. We don't understand that in some parts of the world kids their age are fighting to the death for what they believe in. I will be the first to say that the game is getting ugly and in my opinion in some parts it is because we are allowing non-faculty coaches to coach. I encourage anyone involved in coaching to walk the halls of their school, see the kids day to day, give rides home from games or practice, make home visits and see what your players lives are really like and that is were games in my eyes are won and lost. As for my players they understand that the scoreboard is and always will be in your heart. Coach Smelser

[ETSU_BucSoccerFan]

who does farragut play at state?

 

Riverdale

[CoachT]

Thanks, coach.

[Liverpool]

From Coach Smelser,

 

This is my first and will probably be my only post on this web-site but after letting the dust settle and sleeping on it I feel it is necessary to post the facts of this match. We set the time of this match at 7 on Thur. night at Morr. West after a very emotional win. I had no idea until later that evening when I spoke to another coach from Knox. that Farragut had graduation. The next morning I told my AD and called the coach at Farragut. Three years ago the same situation occured and the coach at Farragut lied that the TSSAA can set the time if we do not move it. After getting cussed out by the coach at Farragut Fri. morning I called the AD at Farragut who explained to me that they have had private ceremonies in the past with track athletes that made it to State. I told him that if we made it to the Champinship my 10 Seniors would be in that same situation as well. I also called Gene Beck with the TSSAA who told me that last year the TSSAA changed the by-laws and if both schools don' t agree they will set the time. I got together with my 5 captains and told them we had to set a time, we chose 10 a.m. I called Gene Beck back and told him 10 a.m. and he called Farragut. Mr. Beck totally agreed with me that my guys deserved to play the game when they wanted by taking care of their business in the Regional final. Now to the match itself and to the State Championships. I hope we never make it to the State Championships if what it takes is to allow players to urinate on a field and steal warm-up cones in the process. I am not pleased with the actions of some of my players during the course of this match. However the intent was evident from the start which explains the number of direct and indirect kicks we were rewarded. Farragut took advantage of their opportunities and we did not. I am a teacher first and a coach second, I spend 180 days with my players and everyday is a success story as I use the game to teach the lessons in life and through that process wooden plaques with metal on the front of them sometimes occur. We don't understand that in some parts of the world kids their age are fighting to the death for what they believe in. I will be the first to say that the game is getting ugly and in my opinion in some parts it is because we are allowing non-faculty coaches to coach. I encourage anyone involved in coaching to walk the halls of their school, see the kids day to day, give rides home from games or practice, make home visits and see what your players lives are really like and that is were games in my eyes are won and lost. As for my players they understand that the scoreboard is and always will be in your heart. Coach Smelser

 

Yeah im going to defend my team and coach on this one sorry Big G if i mess up....

 

 

First of all, I believe that you are the one who has a reputation of lieing. And i know of several players who have told me that there coaches said they are not willing to play you all anymore beacuase of your reputaion. Our coach is a very honest and kind person if you actually know him. Obviously you do not. I belive when our coach asked for the game time and was told 7 p.m. he said that would not work becasue of our graduation. You told him to bad that you all won your regional match and we would play at 7 or forfeit. You make it seem like you are the nice guy and changed it right away. I saw our coach at school almost all day talking to the principles because SH would not agree to change the time. Our principal and coach together finally got the time changed through the state since SH was not willing to change the time. And im sorry if i offended you or your team by urinating on a tree off to the side of your field. i apoligize but when a mans got to go, a man go to go. Also, i have never been to that complex and so i had no idea where else to go. As for the stealing of cones, we both warm up with cones on the half line, so it was probably an accident if some cones were mistaken for. And i would say that had nothing to do with the game or as you said what it takes to make it to the State Championships. And for the free kicks.... it was wet that morning and our goalie slid outside the box with the ball about 5 times on accident, we had atleast 3 handballs outside the box, that were interesting calls, and we had some upstruction calls against us too. thats about 10. so minus that from 15. I would say 5 is a reasonable number. I believe Eddie Yah had a red card for pushing someone over and stepping on him. And also some other yellows from your team. we had 2 i believe but one was from arguing so i would say we played a clean game. And after reading that post i really know you do not know our coach. Just because he is not a faculy member does not mean he is not close to us. Our caoch is one of the most dedicated coaches i have ever met. He does so much for our team off and on the field its crazy. We have meetings at his house and there have several occasions when we have just gone over there just to talk after games and things like that. You may be that way for your team, but by the way you worded what you said it sounds like you think our coach is not. and you are definately wrong. Also i forgot to mention that i have been playing for Coach Wallie for 3 years now and i have never heard him cuss one time. He told us that he did say one cuss word and it was in a phrase and it was "payback is a bi***. i would say that does not qualify for cussing you out.

[stevescarb]

From Coach Smelser,

 

I will be the first to say that the game is getting ugly and in my opinion in some parts it is because we are allowing non-faculty coaches to coach. I encourage anyone involved in coaching to walk the halls of their school, see the kids day to day, give rides home from games or practice, make home visits and see what your players lives are really like and that is were games in my eyes are won and lost. As for my players they understand that the scoreboard is and always will be in your heart. Coach Smelser

 

Coach, I both disagree and agree. The highschool game is rather brutish, but after a number of discussions with folks, I feel it has more to do with the level of coaching and reffing than any simplistic thing like non-faculty coaches.

 

My son plays club ball with some of your players as well as several Farragut players. His highschool team has a non faculty coach, and we are very happy with the result. The two faculty coaches we have experienced were disasters, with essentially no knowlege of the game. This is not to speak ill of all faculty coaches but rather of how little some school officials relate to our sport.

 

Our parents group has a very active voice in our team. We have done everything from raising the money and lining the field to discussing proper behavior for fans after the school representative failed to deal with situations. We were instrumental in recruiting the current coach and recommending him to the school and have been pleased with the results both on and off the field.

 

Perhaps one day, School administrators will come to see that students deserve a high level of coaching expertise in all aspects, and not just in wins and losses as you point out.

 

I personally feel that some level of coaching liscensing should be a requirement, much like what has developed for club teams. Until we get some minimum profficiency across the board we'll keep having problems. Our sport continues to grow and all this takes time, though we can get frustrated.

 

 

Now... get me started on our ref situation....

 

;>)

 

Steve

[ETSU_BucSoccerFan]

Let bygones be bygones is all I got to say. None of this will change the outcome and the he said, he said, comments won't prove anything either. The coaches are the only ones who know what really happened and it should be kept to themselves. Looks like it's time to close this topic!

[Liverpool]

Let bygones be bygones is all I got to say. None of this will change the outcome and the he said, he said, comments won't prove anything either. The coaches are the only ones who know what really happened and it should be kept to themselves. Looks like it's time to close this topic!

 

Agreed, i just did want it to seem like we (Farragut) were the bad guys. Everyone sees it a different way and everyone is told different things.

[ETSU_BucSoccerFan]

I know it's hard to bite your tounge when the truths are not being said for either side, especially when both teams have worked so hard to get to that ultimate goal of going to state and then something like this happens to both teams. Which is the reason the coaches need to bite thier tounge, because none of this should be discussed by the coaches with the players or discuss in this forum, it causes players, parents etc to take revenge out on the soccer field and it doesn't need to be like that.

 

This is an awesome game, if you want an example of two rivals in soccer that really want to beat each other really really badly, but have respect for each other out on the soccer field, you need to come watch a Riverdale/Blackman game, or a Hendersonville/Brentwood game. It's about soccer etiquette, you've seen the Joga commercials, that's what it's suposed to be about. We can root and complain, yell about calls, but keep the game out on the pitch clean and fun.

[sokrfan]

WOW !!!!!

I am glad that Coach Smelser had some time to reflect on the game before posting that one.

sports-man-ship (n.) The qualities and conduct befitting a sportsman.

sports-man (n.) A person who abides by the rules and accepts victory or defeat graciously.

I commend him on his teams efforts and season, but his post was far from being a shinning example of good sportsmanship. References to "the intent" of the opposing team and the integrity of the Farragut coach goes out of the boundries of being a good sportsman. Being a teacher does not automatically qualify someone to lead young people on the field, but I do appreciate his commitment to his players and their families.

Emotions and egos run high on the field of competition, and both teams gave everything yesterday. Being gracious in defeat more so than in victory will develop our young peoples character.

Good luck to Farragut at state and good luck to Science Hill in the 07 season.

[Seldon]

From Coach Smelser,

 

Three years ago the same situation occured and the coach at Farragut lied that the TSSAA can set the time if we do not move it. After getting cussed out by the coach at Farragut Fri. morning I called the AD at Farragut who explained to me that they have had private ceremonies in the past with track athletes that made it to State.

 

Perhaps this explains a lot about the "class" of a particular team, coach, and fans. The first statement is an out and out fabrication. Three years ago Coach Culbreth certainly DID NOT cuss out coach Smelser regarding the start time for the sectional. He requested that Smelser set a time to accomodate FHS graduation and when Smelser refused, Coach C expressed his opinion, but I'll guarentee you he did not use profanity.

 

As for the private ceremonies for track athletes, we are talking about a statewide event that had been scheduled for a year not a single game that was arbitrarily scheduled by a single coach. Too bad he can't tell the difference.

 

As for the rest of coach Smelser's comments, they help explain a lot about what I witnessed first-hand in regard to competing against Science Hill and interacting with their players and fans. Teacher, coach or whatever, his comments revealed a considerable lack of maturity and honesty. The use of excuses, complaints, and unfounded accusations are not qualities I would want from someone who is supposed to be a "leader" and a "molder of young men". Thank goodness my son played at Farragut for a coach with class.

Edited May 21, 2006 by Seldon