Do the level of the teams in a district set the district up for failure?

[TinMan87]

District 3 (Oak Ridge, Powell, Karns, etc.) seem to all be good teams but never really top tier.
District 4  (Hardin Valley, Farragut, Bearden, Maryville, West, etc.)

It seems that the quality of District 4 and the pressure of the teams being such a high level keeps them at the top in the area.

Do you think, since the schools are relatively close, that it would benefit a team like Oak Ridge to join District 4?
Or possibly "even out" the Districts to make region more competitive?

What do you all think?
Any other examples in other parts of TN?
 

[NotNoahHouck]

In District 13 A-AA (7) there are 5 or 6 teams that can win it while in D-14 A-AA (9) there is a clear separation between 3 (maybe 4) teams as the remaining 5-6. I'm not sure why they're split as 7 and 9 and not 8 and 8 with the district line splitting in Gibson County. Heard it was to even out with class A and class AA teams. Has South Fulton and McNairy in the same district. If you aren't familiar with a map that is the top of Obion Co all the way to McNairy. That's 2 hour drive for a district game when inter county school (Obion Cen) plays in district 13. Looks wierd on a map don't follow why

Edited December 7, 2013 by NoahHouck

[TinMan87]

Are District 13 and 14 in the same region? with one district in the region dominant?

[NotNoahHouck]

Are District 13 and 14 in the same region? with one district in the region dominant?

They make up Region 7. I think District 13 will be close but the top 3 teams in D14 are equal to the top 5 teams in D13. The best of each district are matched evenly, I just think District 13 has more teams that can compete competitively then D14. But that's just based off past season results success etc.

[SoccerInTennessee]

I don't think it sets them up for failure by any means. Good teams from poor districts go to state and often do well. More important is the quality of team. Oak Ridge still schedules games against those teams, it's not like they don't play them. Then if they advance they play one them again before state. Still plenty of games that you can schedule to test your team.

[TinMan87]

I would say that the best "test" for a team is a competitive district game.
If two teams in a district are competitive, but are competitive at a lower level it can only allow them to grow so much.
I think Maryville is a product of a mixture of the growth of club soccer and being in a highly competitive district. I believe that because of the district, club soccer has grown. 
Oak Ridge club soccer is far and in between and really is not growing.

My point being that winning district might be enough. I know for teams like Powell and Karns winning District will most likely be there biggest goal (especially with HV out of the way).

Playing teams that are good does not make for hard schedule if you are playing all the weaker teams in your district.

I remember in college, our conference had two of the top 5 teams in the nation (yearly).
Other than us and those two teams our conference was weak.
Our coach did everything in his power to schedule ranked teams to ensure we had a top notch schedule. We traveled all over eastern U.S. to play. I do not really see that as an option when top level tournaments do not accept/want "lower tier" teams
 

[SoccerInTennessee]

Tin, I understand your point but still think differently. The competitiveness of the district does not keep the team good, the level of players on the team do. I agree completely, nothing beats competitive district or conference games, but plenty of teams have success with this problem.

 

As I said earlier, plenty of successful

examples show that to be untrue. I was on a team years ago that came from a weaker district and lost in a state final. Our out of district games were all very challenging though, and it worked for us. In reality, you still play half a schedule of games out of district if not more. You can play all the teams in Knoxville that are traditionally good. You are a short drive from the tournament in SC and some good teams in GA. The same with middle TN. There are ways around this. Look at NCAA soccer: Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, UMBC, Creighton to an extent, etc. Several teams I played against and watched in college that find success from historically single, sometimes two bid conferences. Yes, a high school team can't travel around the US like NCAA teams can, but there are plenty of good high school level games close by as I stated earlier. Look at Butler and VCU in basketball. The list could continue. Is it the road less traveled? Absolutely. But it is a road that is overcome with talent. In my opinion, you can toss around all kinds of variables but the two most important things to a teams success and consistency is the talent level of the players and the coaching staff. Those put a ceiling on a team's success, not the district they play in.

[SoccerInTennessee]

A move to a different district could cause growth of soccer in that area which would be great! Over the long run the talent level in that area could improve, I could see that as a benefit. But it is going to be very hard to turn lower to mid level teams to a good team in a 3 month season, no matter who you play.

[TinMan87]

I agree, to an extent.

The largest factors contributing to a teams success are the players and the coach.

However, many other things contribute. Even facility contributes.

My original point is that weak districts sets the district up for failure. How many times has a District 3 team made it to the finals? I remember Oak Ridge did once (the next year they faired poorly) and Hardin Valley did (now they have moved). I wonder how District 3 will perform now.

There are always exceptions to rules. It is rare to see a team that has been historically bad be good consistently. They might have a year full of seniors and juniors where they do well, but quickly drop off again.

I think that if you mix the teams in a district it creates inherit competition that can only bring teams up. The great teams and programs will not really fall because they can use those tactics you mentioned about scheduling because people want to play them. It is harder for weak teams to schedule games against great teams than it is for great teams to schedule games against great teams.

 

[SoccerInTennessee]

Completely understand that!

[Candybutt]

SINCE 1999/2000 - large school Soccer has Only Been won by Two Districts ( considering Hardin Valley moved and was still in Same Region as Bearden Farragut) Bearden, Farragut, Same District- Brentwood-Franklin Same District have been the ONLY 2 Districts in the State and ONLY 4 Teams except Hardin Valley to win a State Title for 14 years! Sad thing is both Districts have teams that have been the 2nd or 3rd best team in State and Districts ended their Season! Unless someone has True Value to prove me wrong , It will be the Same way this year, And Preseason-I'd say Franklin and Farragut are BOTH IN THE STATE FINALS AGAIN!

I see posted on here a lot of Players from Franklin signed , Plus sow Great Club players as Seniors who skipped playing High School last year as Senior Class was So strong! Farragut has more than Fletcher Eckern Signed I know of 2 Others , can't Remember names Kii something is one of them , I know. Plus Farragut has 3 New National ODP Freshman , and some awesome sopfh and Jrs. Brentwood will be good but never get past Farragut or Franklin. Bearden will be off this year and so Hardin Valley or Maryville have a Chance in Districts. Science Hill is a Sleeper and a Top 5 end of the year team for me , but Same Two Teams Farragut and Franklin final as last year! Edge to Farragut but Tough call! So Any nay Sayers REMEMBER THIS SO EARLY! 15 years State Totle same two Districts!!

Edited February 15, 2014 by Candybutt

[ridges82]

SINCE 1999/2000 - large school Soccer has Only Been won by Two Districts ( considering Hardin Valley moved and was still in Same Region as Bearden Farragut) Bearden, Farragut, Same District- Brentwood-Franklin Same District have been the ONLY 2 Districts in the State and ONLY 4 Teams except Hardin Valley to win a State Title for 14 years! Sad thing is both Districts have teams that have been the 2nd or 3rd best team in State and Districts ended their Season! Unless someone has True Value to prove me wrong , It will be the Same way this year, And Preseason-I'd say Franklin and Farragut are BOTH IN THE STATE FINALS AGAIN!

I see posted on here a lot of Players from Franklin signed , Plus sow Great Club players as Seniors who skipped playing High School last year as Senior Class was So strong! Farragut has more than Fletcher Eckern Signed I know of 2 Others , can't Remember names Kii something is one of them , I know. Plus Farragut has 3 New National ODP Freshman , and some awesome sopfh and Jrs. Brentwood will be good but never get past Farragut or Franklin. Bearden will be off this year and so Hardin Valley or Maryville have a Chance in Districts. Science Hill is a Sleeper and a Top 5 end of the year team for me , but Same Two Teams Farragut and Franklin final as last year! Edge to Farragut but Tough call! So Any nay Sayers REMEMBER THIS SO EARLY! 15 years State Totle same two Districts!!

 

This isn't really a big deal, and doesn't necessarily argue against the point you're making (a point which happens to be pretty unrelated to the actual topic of this thread), but I just wanted to let you know that your facts are incorrect.  I'm not really sure what happened here - my guess is that you were throwing out a guess about the recent history of AAA state champions (not a bad guess however, if it was indeed just a guess).  Houston won the state championship in 1999 and 2000.  And Hendersonville won in 2010.

 

Other than suggesting that districts 4 and 11 are the best AAA districts in the state, is there another point your making here?

 

I do agree that 2014 should be between Farragut and Franklin.