I watched a few games. The officiating was awful. We had a kid get popped in the face with an elbow right in front of the ref....it was definitely a foul that probably deserved a yellow attached to it. NEOFC had one player swiping ankles on purpose if he got dispossessed. He got called for 2 fouls BUT he should have been issued a yellow (IMO) the 2nd time it happened because there was no attempt to play the ball, it happened multiple times, and you could tell it was intentional. The kid was too good a player for it to be an accident multiple times. The PK awarded the Sheffield team was an atrocious call as our player got his shoulder in front of the kid, nudged him aside while taking the ball away. Kid didn't even go to ground. Our coach gave the ref an earful on that one.
Youth soccer club
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Great weekend of soccer. Poorly run tournament. Our games were running almost an hour behind from the start. Grass needed to be cut on the West fields. We only had assistant referees for our game against Energy and in the finals. Got to meet TU 98 and watched his daughter's Cosmos play a fantastic game against us which ended in a draw. We beat Energy in the Finals 2-1 to win the Gold U11 bracket. Really big win for the club as it was billed as a showdown between the two top 2010 girls' teams in the state. Great up and down game played at a high level.
It was great to meet you! I bet that final was a fun one to watch and the tournament was very poorly run lol. The fields for our divisions were different sizes, I think field 6 was a 7v7 field really and our first game there we had 11v11 goals. Our game against OEFC we had no linesmen. We were 0-0 at half and they got 2 corners in the 2nd half they finished on and one where the girl was offsides. The ref was in over his head too. It was super physical and he was making calls based off of complaints. I don't blame him I blame whoever put him in that position. It was good though. Learned we're out of shape and need to get better haha. It was a good weekend though overall.
They didn't have enough officials period. And I've never been to a tournament where the manager had to run the scorecards to the scoring center. Usually taken care of by volunteers in golf carts or the referees. Also, and I know this is a technicality, but as one of our parents mentioned, none of the officials in our semi-final were wearing their credential. One of the parents is a referee and said they are supposed to wear their credential for any game they are doing. Not doing so means the game can be contested. (like the FC Tulsa game where San Antonio used 4 substitute windows and by USL rules should be subject to a fine and forfeit of the game).
If you're going to make a road one way in the complex, then do something to make it actually one way. We almost go hit head on by a jackass trying to exit through the entrance. And he didn't care. The grass was too long on most of the fields IMO and needed to be shaved down another 1/2 inch if you wanted to see properly weighted passes, etc. I didn't even see the fields on the west end as we played all of ours across the street from the landfill. Thankfully the wind was from the south. I will say that there have been a lot of improvements to the complex (like the exit) since we last played there 6 years ago.
And yesterday I saw my son somewhat transition from youth soccer to high school soccer as he went through tryouts with Union. Yesterday was just freshmen, but he was pulled aside with the top 11 of that group as the keeper. When this group went out to scrimmage the other half, they really put the hammer down. My son said Coach Wilson told them to not hold back...that won't make the players on the other side get any better. He got a call back for the JV and varsity tryouts on Wednesday so we'll see if he gets some JV time during the season as well. I'm excited for him...and I'm also excited that he will get to benefit from the S&C program. The speed and endurance training his club coaches have had him doing really showed yesterday as Coach Wilson had the boys do a mile after an hour of practice in 95 degrees. My son paced himself and then the last half lap really finished with a strong kick to the encouragement of some of the varsity players that came out. He was about to catch a MF when someone said "Don't get caught by the keeper". For a kid who hates to run my son finished his mile in 7:03 and finished in the top 1/4 of the players out there. Not bad. He's not ever going to be mistaken for a track athlete, but not bad for a kid who looks wholly unathletic when he runs 
I was proud of the way he worked and focused during the tryouts yesterday...the boys still had to wear masks on the field during drills as well.
I was proud of the way he worked and focused during the tryouts yesterday...the boys still had to wear masks on the field during drills as well.Congrats to your son a good try out. Sounds like his drive to compete is getting revved up. Knowing he can climb as far as his work rate and skills will carry him will just bring out his best. Good luck to him, doesn't sound like he will need much.
He used to hate to practice. HATED IT. Donovan Ricketts called him out on it too and asked him why he always looked like he didn't want to be there. He took that to heart and ever since then he goes full out at practice. There are still days he struggles at practice for whatever reason but I think everyone goes through that. He finally figured out that he will only play as well as he practices. If there are things he won't do or try to do in practice, he won't ever do them in a game. GK coaches always tell GKs...when you're practicing, try to catch everything, even the hardest shots. This will let you know what the limit is to the hardest of the shots you can handle cleanly vs those you should parry. My only demand from him is to play hard, play focused. I've seen so many mistakes made by GKs at the world's highest level, it's not fair for any coach or parent to demand that a kid plays mistake free.
He is but with the NPL team as the 2nd keeper. He was promised some playing time so it will be a proving ground for him in a way...although he trains with that team every week.
Bla, was there a red-headed goalkeeper out there at the Union tryouts? I think he's a sophomore. I can't remember his name, but I worked with his mom. Last name might be McCullough or something like that.
Yes. My son knows him through some mutual training sessions and camps they've been to in the past. He might be a junior now since last season was lost. I remember watching him train and play a couple years ago but this COVID stuff has me confused as to when I saw him play/train with Union. I know he's on '04 at TSC.
He and another kid appear to be the varsity keepers for Union. My son is about the same height as the red head and he's about 2 inches taller than the other kid. Ridiculous thing is I'm pretty sure my son grew about an inch this summer. He's pushing 5'10" now and he was 5'8.5" in mid May. My son could be the poster boy for the new "Got Milk" campaign. I don't like that I have to look up to see him now
So for those of you with kids getting ready to be in HS (or have been in HS), why does the OSSAA have stupid a$$ rules regarding how schools/districts need to offer their extra curricular sports and activities that fall under its jurisdiction? Maybe someone better in the know can help me with this. So my son has essentially been told he needs to drop one of his electives in order to play soccer at Union. His electives this year are Fundamentals of Engineering that he is taking through Tulsa Tech and band (he likes to play in the band but he opted not to be part of Union's marching band program). He has decided he is going to play soccer since he has earned that spot on the team but he is really struggling with what to drop...because the OSSAA has a rule that it has to be offered as a class. Didn't realize that all sports in OK are like this...almost all are offered as a last period class. This rule really hurts kids who are well rounded and have a lot of interests. I'm going to brag on my son a bit...he's about to get his Eagle award in Scouting, he was the captain of the Academic team in 8th grade at Union and will likely have to forego being part of that team this year because of his commitment to playing soccer. He is NHS. Why is OSSAA pigeon-holing kids at such a young age? When did "extra-curriculars" stop being extra-curriculars and part of a kids academic schedule?
And I knew he was going to have to start making decisions about what he wanted to do and what he didn't want to do or didn't have time for anymore. I actually thought he was going to drop playing soccer so he could do band, which I was actually prepared for (I made the same choice in HS, forgoing HS baseball so I could be in a highly competitive marching band). Sorry for the rant...just hurt for my son who has to make a decision about which thing he loves to do he has to sacrifice.
And I knew he was going to have to start making decisions about what he wanted to do and what he didn't want to do or didn't have time for anymore. I actually thought he was going to drop playing soccer so he could do band, which I was actually prepared for (I made the same choice in HS, forgoing HS baseball so I could be in a highly competitive marching band). Sorry for the rant...just hurt for my son who has to make a decision about which thing he loves to do he has to sacrifice.
Wow on the engineering being considered an elective. That should just be considered an advanced course. That sucks he has to narrow down this early. Sounds as if they are expecting him to make decisions too early, and on things he shouldn't have to make decisions on in high school. At that level they should have a semester grade requirement that allows you to add 1 or 2 more electives if maintained.
This would not be a problem for my son. The engineering is a 4 yr thing through Tulsa Tech. He wants to do electrical engineering later on. Why aren't extra curriculars actually EXTRA curricular. Everything we did back in the day was considered after school (or you did some early morning before school weight lifting). When I played golf in HS, we left right after school to go practice. And you know what, I still had time to be in the band or pit orchestra for musicals...and have a part time job.
Actually, it's not OSSAA doing that, they just give the option. Its Union taking that option. A decade, maybe longer, they put into effect a rule that your sport practice could be used as a p.e. credit. The idea was that it would slow down overloading of kids. Rather than taking their classes, getting off school, then practicing, and getting home, eating, homework, they tried to wrap it more into the schools by making it a class. They use to also offer it as first hour or zero hour option as well. Wrestling and basketball coaches seemed to like the morning option.
The big high schools went to it right away, it also allows them to keep coaches as "teachers" rather than having to move them into administration or limited rolls. I don't think they ever made it mandatory by the state, not sure if there are any of even the smaller schools not doing it though.
Good to know. Everyone I have talked to said their kid is taking "basketball" or "soccer" or "football" 6th hour. A co-worker's son did it for baseball at BK. My son's guidance counselor said it was an OSSAA rule (that's what I'm going by). It makes sense to allow a kid to use a varsity sport as their PE credit. I know I had to take 4 years of PE in HS but if you played a sport it counted as that PE credit.
They may have made it mandatory, I know the primary concern was not sports, but rather students and the amount of out of class study time available. The solution makes a ton of sense when you look at it that way. They take away one class (even though its pe which requires no outside work) and allow the after school activities to start/finish earlier allowing more time to study. Giving credit for the class as pe is kind of a no brainer. When they first started doing it they would offer weightlifting (basically strength and conditioning) as the secondary class. Which allowed the school to absorb some of that coaches salary as a teacher there.
When I was coaching competitive teams BA had a pretty good guy who was in that role. He and another teacher sold some sort of bad ass training machine to OU and eventually other college/pro teams and retired in their early thirties.
It's become a different world in high school sports although we the public tend to still think of it as the way it was in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Some of these elite high school players are more advanced than college seniors were in that time period. Everything is much more specialized so it's much more rare to see multiple sports letter earners. Kids have travelled the country, have 22k Twitter followers, have had practically professional coaching their entire life, etc.
I have a tough time seeing my son as a young adult right now...I guess as a parent they're always your little one (my son is going on 4 inches taller than me now). I watch him in training doing stuff upper level pros are doing in terms of mechanics and footwork and making saves...the difference is they make it look easy, my son still has to work extremely hard to do some of those things..and there are times he looks wholly unathletic doing these things.
Did you do pro type drills at 14? I didn't lol. I have noticed with my nieces and nephews I tend to have a static idea of who they are despite knowing they are dynamic people.
No...when I played baseball, we simply played baseball and it was fun. There were no travel teams or private hitting and pitching coaching on the side. I made a couple of all star teams and those were probably the most fun I've ever had. My son has been playing soccer since he was 6 when it was here's how to kick a ball properly and "don't bunch up, spread out". I knew he enjoyed playing but I don't think he ever took it seriously until he played for Donovan Ricketts because Donovan involved him in the tactical side of things instead of what most coaches do at that age where they tell the keeper to stand in the box and stop shots. Now my son sees a legit path with soccer in it as he continues to train and play at the club and HS level.
As for static people...my daughter turned 9 and has since discovered pop music. I still think of her liking the Kidz Bop stuff...but no...Taylor Swift has come to my house (ugh).
And I'm not a big fan of some of the expectations of kids at their ages. Everyone wants them to solely commit to their activity. As I said, my son is really well-rounded for a 14 year old with lots of different interests. He's pushing to finish his Eagle award now so he doesn't need to make decisions between Scout activities or soccer or band or academics. Once he's done he can do the things he wants to do with Scouts and not feel bad if he has to miss a hike or camping trip for one of the other things.
I played everything and it helped me to be better and understand the games at fundamental levels. My parents made me take accounting, home economics, stay in choir, automotive mechanics, etc. Honestly it probably gave me the best chance to succeed in a world that is constant change now. I think it's unfortunate we close off paths for them so early now.
When I coached we made allowances as much as possible for kids to play multiple sports. By middle school though they were almost exclusively basketball. I don't like that part. Since most of my teams started before they were ten I was hard on emphasizing love of the game/fun as well as teaching the game.
Some parents didn't understand at first, but luckily almost all of them got it, I would rather their kid love the game their whole life, then make them a middle school all star. Most of the kids made their middle school and high school teams so it worked out for everybody.
Sounds like you are doing an awesome job supporting him. It's nice to peek in here and read about parents trying to keep sports in perspective and pushing good values that are learned from playing.
Thanks. I hate the fact that my son won't be forced to take home ec classes like we did back in the day. In middle school, we had to take 8 shop/home ec sections. In addition to woodworking, metal shop, and electrical shop, I had to take cooking and sewing...both things that have served me well. Now, no one will mistake me for a seamstress or tailor, but I can sew a button back on when needed.
And my son missed out on playing "all the sports" like we did. He played a little church league basketball, but nothing else. We tried baseball but if you're not connected with a team by age 4 then you can pretty much forget about it. And my wife wouldn't let him play football
Holy crap! First, someone needs to step up and make a nice soccer complex in Tulsa. Indian Springs and Mohawk are trash compared to what the boys played on in Plano. 3rd game was at the Toyota Soccer Complex where FC Dallas plays. World class. As for the competition, 0-0 draw in the 1st game. My son played the last 10-12 minutes. Made 2 really good saves and also made a quick side volley punt distribution which led directly to a chance at the other end. 2nd game was against a side that was dirty and cheap. 8 yellow cards in that game. Won 2-1 with a late PK. Prob should have scored 5-6 in that one. My son got to play the last quarter of the game. Didn’t have to make any saves but had another nice punt distribution which led to another chance. This game was freaking insanely poorly officiated. Lots of little stuff the ref let go which led to worse things. One yellow went to a defender on the other team who reached out and horse collared the striker from TSC. Should have been a straight red both for the severity of the play as well as DOGSO. At the end when TSC was trying to waste time by keeping the ball in the corner, big kid just comes barreling in and shoulders a kid down directly in the back out of frustration. Got a yellow but probably a straight red for intent. Another kid got 2 yellows but never shown the red???
Sunday AM game- 3 red cards. One was a "fight" where the opponent starting swinging at our CB because he couldn't shake him. CB grabbed him and the ref showed both the red. 2nd red came with about a minute left...TSC player is fouled in the MF, goes down to sell it. Ref blows the whistle. Kid from the other team is frustrated knowing they're not going through on a draw and turns and fires the ball at the TSC player on the ground. Ref shows red and the kid had the audacity to shrug his shoulders like "what did I do?"
TSC got hammered in the 1/4s by a team from AYSES. They were good. Moved the ball, big, fast. Funny thing is, in a 4-0 game, only one of their goals was a good play on their part. The other 3 came off of missed clearances and chaos in the box. Don't get me wrong, they were the better team by far and created a lot more chances but they hit a lot of shots high and/or wide. The 2-3 they had on goal the keepers made some nice saves. My son gave up 1 goal in the 4 games on limited chances....it was in the 1/4 final (already down 3-0) ball bounced around the box and hit around 7 players before finally going in. I think my son probably will get a call to play some more with this team (Hope he does, seems to fit in well with them and he does some things in distribution that this team can take advantage of; the other keeper is a little more deliberate in his distribution, which is not a bad thing, it just allows the other team to set their shape and get numbers back).
I asked one of the NPL parents about the intensity and physicality and she said EVERY game they played was like this. My son said he had fun this weekend...and when he was on the sideline he was more engaged with what was going on in the action than I think I have ever seen before. It was just a different atmosphere for him.
Sunday AM game- 3 red cards. One was a "fight" where the opponent starting swinging at our CB because he couldn't shake him. CB grabbed him and the ref showed both the red. 2nd red came with about a minute left...TSC player is fouled in the MF, goes down to sell it. Ref blows the whistle. Kid from the other team is frustrated knowing they're not going through on a draw and turns and fires the ball at the TSC player on the ground. Ref shows red and the kid had the audacity to shrug his shoulders like "what did I do?"
TSC got hammered in the 1/4s by a team from AYSES. They were good. Moved the ball, big, fast. Funny thing is, in a 4-0 game, only one of their goals was a good play on their part. The other 3 came off of missed clearances and chaos in the box. Don't get me wrong, they were the better team by far and created a lot more chances but they hit a lot of shots high and/or wide. The 2-3 they had on goal the keepers made some nice saves. My son gave up 1 goal in the 4 games on limited chances....it was in the 1/4 final (already down 3-0) ball bounced around the box and hit around 7 players before finally going in. I think my son probably will get a call to play some more with this team (Hope he does, seems to fit in well with them and he does some things in distribution that this team can take advantage of; the other keeper is a little more deliberate in his distribution, which is not a bad thing, it just allows the other team to set their shape and get numbers back).
I asked one of the NPL parents about the intensity and physicality and she said EVERY game they played was like this. My son said he had fun this weekend...and when he was on the sideline he was more engaged with what was going on in the action than I think I have ever seen before. It was just a different atmosphere for him.
What team does your son play on again? I just got the pre-release of the OPC schedule and there is one SLSC team in our division and the initial schedule has us playing in OKC the 1st week of February 🤣
Any recent reports on game action from anyone whose kid(s) are playing. My son hasn't played an actual game that counts since the Plano tourney. He did have a scrimmage against one of the new Sheffield teams... he has gained a new found confidence after playing in Plano and with Union's team. Some of his training with the NPL team, he doesn't miss a beat. He has had some parents from that team ask when he's going to be playing with them again...and many of the players have asked him as well. To me, that can be a problem for the team and coach (sort of like bleacher coaches constantly questioning why the back-up QB isn't in the game). My son's response is "that's up to Coach". We'll see what happens. The NPL side has not won a season game yet. I can't say it's the current GKs fault...they're giving up about 2 goals per game....the team is not scoring (1 goal in last 3 games combined). GK could be giving up 1 GAA which is not bad at this age and the team would still be losing games.
Pair of games in a couple of weeks. We'll see where we end up.
Lawpoke, did you all have to go to the San Antonio and Austin weekend last weekend? How'd the team do?
Pair of games in a couple of weeks. We'll see where we end up.
Lawpoke, did you all have to go to the San Antonio and Austin weekend last weekend? How'd the team do?
We havent played a game since Plano. Start OPC this weekend against Sheffield, then are going to scrimmage 10 Girls Black in the afternoon on Saturday.
Which club/team does your kid play on again? I'm trying to keep everything straight
We haven’t played since Plano where we won. It’s been a nice break. We play the top TSC 2010 boys team on Saturday (That will be interesting) then go to Wichita for a tourney in two weeks. We were originally scheduled to play in St Louis Scott Gallagher tourney but that tourney was canceled due to covid. League play starts next weekend for us.
Looks like Premier Super Copa is back in Dallas for 2021. Everyone is a little disappointed with that.
Looks like Premier Super Copa is back in Dallas for 2021. Everyone is a little disappointed with that.
I've seen that team training. Joao is a great technical teacher of the game. I've also seen him out at Redeemer Church doing training sessions with individuals that would be about that age. Some of them are tiny but can put a wallop on the ball.
League starts Oct. 10th for us. Then we got to Bentonville for the Sporting Arkansas Invitational Oct. 24-25. I lobbied hard for us to go to the Capital City Cup in Little Rock. That tournament is outstanding. Well run, great complex and nice close hotels. We played in the Bentonville tourney 2 years ago...didn't like it and some of the local teams appeared to gig the rosters and have some late comers to games so they wouldn't be checked by the refs. First and only time I've ever seen a U13 rip his jersey off after scoring a goal against us. Also appeared they didn't mow the grass because of rain so the fields looked like US Open length rough. It was tough for the kids to properly weight a pass.
We were planning on going to Capital City, but the competition wasnt there for us. All 4 2011 teams are playing OPC instead of ACS this year. It is a pretty solid group of girls, but has lead to a lack of competition in our age group locally.
1st COVID issue that I am aware of. 06 ECNL and 06 NPL teams are both on the shelf for at least 10 days because of a positive test for one of the 06 ECNL players who guest played with the NPLs last weekend. Canceled their games for this weekend. Was worried because my son practiced with the NPL team on Monday but he would not have been considered directly exposed because he was not in contact with an individual who tested positive. Now if one of the NPLs come back with a positive test, then we'll have to take some action, get a test, quarantine, etc.
We have an 8am scrimmage tomorrow against TSC 2010 Boys Gold. I support the required health checks prior to each game but these early morning games are certainly challenging as we can’t check in until midnight tonight.
OPC is so fouled up. One team in our group is scheduled for 3 games in one day. WTH is that? I've had to reschedule about half of our assigned games. I'm trying to figure out what our OPC league fee is paying for.
All of the upcoming tournaments in Arkansas have been postponed. The Capital City Cup and the Sporting AR Invitational have been pushed to December due to an order from the governor (what we were told) that tournaments and large gatherings like that were not being allowed. They can play league games but they're not doing tournaments right now.
Need to find a replacement tournament...options seem to be the Blitz tournament or tournaments in Tennessee or Louisiana
All of the upcoming tournaments in Arkansas have been postponed. The Capital City Cup and the Sporting AR Invitational have been pushed to December due to an order from the governor (what we were told) that tournaments and large gatherings like that were not being allowed. They can play league games but they're not doing tournaments right now.
Need to find a replacement tournament...options seem to be the Blitz tournament or tournaments in Tennessee or Louisiana
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