Youth soccer club

[lawpoke87]

There are several factors that played into our team's decision. I can say a HUGE factor was Nathan Doll. There will be at least 3 really strong teams in the conference. Lou Fusz (ranked 2nd in MO), HTX (Ranked 3rd inTX) and BVB (Which beat both us and Energy to win Pre Ecnl top division). A lot of our parents have an issue with ECNL. For instance why does the Blitz 2013's who are better than WSA's now have to play WSA's 3rd team next season because ECNL decides who plays where? ECNL is a money grab which is why they have so many RL's. If you look more at the mission of GA it aligns more with my daughter's values as she wants to coach. It's a single sex league ran by women. We will also be placed against the other top GA teams at showcases and not against other bad teams at an ECNL showcase. We have some players who will be "Discovery" players for other ECNL clubs. If anyone believes ECNL cares about the kids we will just have to disagree. I will continue to support all the local teams as we have may friends on them. I just don't believe which club wears the patch solves the problems. We had a wonderful experience at WSA and TSC has been great also. Many issues teams have are with parents and not the kids.

I would really caution using rankings until girls hit competitive soccer. I have seen this play out year after year at TSC with their pre ECNL teams. Now the TSC 13s may very well be the exception. Those BVB girls will go to the Dallas ECNL clubs this year if history repeats itself as will the HTX girls to Albion. Less from HTX but the migration will occur. I do agree with your thoughts on Nathan btw. My issue would be when the time comes and you don’t have Nathan. Assuming they rotate coaches.

All that said, best of luck as your daughter enters competitive soccer. It’s an exciting time. Hopefully everyone continues to cheer for our Tulsa based teams regardless of club affiliation. Keep us informed on your GA season.

 

[ScheelSC]

I would really caution using rankings until girls hit competitive soccer. I have seen this play out year after year at TSC with their pre ECNL teams. Now the TSC 13s may very well be the exception. I do agree with your thoughts on Nathan btw. My issue would be when the time comes and you don’t have Nathan. Assuming they rotate coaches.

All that said, best of luck as your daughter enters competitive soccer. It’s an exciting time. Hopefully everyone continues to cheer for our Tulsa based teams regardless of club affiliation. Keep us informed on your GA season.

Thanks, We will be paying real close attention to what goes on at all the clubs and what happens going forward as it pertains to girls ECNL locally.

 

[lawpoke87]

Thanks, We will be paying real close attention to what goes on at all the clubs and what happens going forward as it pertains to girls ECNL locally.

WSA NL is going to really struggle this year I’m afraid. Other than the 09s, I don’t see any of the other teams above .500. The 08 age group in the state simply has very little talent. The 09s have a chance to be decent. The 10s have three Tulsa players in the US National Team pool but none of them play in Tulsa. The 11s have a shot at being .500 depending on who if anyone they got back from Energy. I still think the 12s have a talent problem (sorry Honkv). The best 13s are still at TSC. WSA will need several years to develop and keep the top girls playing in the city before they have any hope of being competitive. The 14s have a chance to be pretty good depending on development and low attrition.

 

[Honkv]

WSA NL is going to really struggle this year I’m afraid. Other than the 09s, I don’t see any of the other teams above .500. The 08 age group in the state simply has very little talent. The 09s have a chance to be decent. The 10s have three Tulsa players in the US National Team pool but none of them play in Tulsa. The 11s have a shot at being .500 depending on who if anyone they got back from Energy. I still think the 12s have a talent problem (sorry Honkv). The best 13s are still at TSC. WSA will need several years to develop and keep the top girls playing in the city before they have any hope of being competitive. The 14s have a chance to be pretty good depending on development and low attrition.

It’s all good! I’m not expecting a miracle. But I do think they’ll be better (the 12s) that is.

I don’t think we will have the same issues we had last year with our midfield, tbh.

 

[Soccer7583]

WSA NL is going to really struggle this year I’m afraid. Other than the 09s, I don’t see any of the other teams above .500. The 08 age group in the state simply has very little talent. The 09s have a chance to be decent. The 10s have three Tulsa players in the US National Team pool but none of them play in Tulsa. The 11s have a shot at being .500 depending on who if anyone they got back from Energy. I still think the 12s have a talent problem (sorry Honkv). The best 13s are still at TSC. WSA will need several years to develop and keep the top girls playing in the city before they have any hope of being competitive. The 14s have a chance to be pretty good depending on development and low attrition.

The 11’s didn’t get any girls back from Energy and even lost one of their top defenders to Energy. WSA’s new roster will consist of roughly 2 RL girls from TSC and 4/5 from WSA. They still have some talent from TSC’s NL team but will struggle with depth.

 

[Soccer7583]

It’s all good! I’m not expecting a miracle. But I do think they’ll be better (the 12s) that is.

I don’t think we will have the same issues we had last year with our midfield, tbh.

Im hoping WSA provides more support and resources for the girls side, unlike TSC, who just used the girls to finance the boys.

 

[lawpoke87]

Im hoping WSA provides more support and resources for the girls side, unlike TSC, who just used the girls to finance the boys.

WSA definitely has better leadership at the top and will be able to retain coaches much better than we saw at TSC. It’s very hard to build any type of continuity in a club when you’re replacing not only the coaching staff every year but your directors. I have no clue about what resources WSA will or will not provide. Hopefully they encourage outside training and not attempt to limit it to WSA coaches. All that said, this year is going to be a struggle in large part due to what has occurred at TSC over the past several years. It appears those elite girls who left TSC aren’t in any hurry to come back to town. WSA will struggle to compete in ECNL without those girls.

 

[Soccer7583]

WSA definitely has better leadership at the top and will be able to retain coaches much better than we saw at TSC. It’s very hard to build any type of continuity in a club when you’re replacing not only the coaching staff every year but your directors. I have no clue about what resources WSA will or will not provide. Hopefully they encourage outside training and not attempt to limit it to WSA coaches. All that said, this year is going to be a struggle in large part due to what has occurred at TSC over the past several years. It appears those elite girls who left TSC aren’t in any hurry to come back to town. WSA will struggle to compete in ECNL without those girls.

You guys are in Edmond this weekend correct? I haven’t looked at the 10’s standing, are you guys locked into the playoffs already?

 

[Honkv]

Im hoping WSA provides more support and resources for the girls side, unlike TSC, who just used the girls to finance the boys.

It already seems as if they are giving that support that TSC was lacking.

 

[lawpoke87]

You guys are in Edmond this weekend correct? I haven’t looked at the 10’s standing, are you guys locked into the playoffs already?

We play Sunday at 11am. We need a win or tie to guarantee a champions league spot at nationals. We played really poorly to start the season. Lost several games we had no business losing. Injuries to several of our better players had a lot to do with that as did trying to mesh 7 new players into the team. Girls have played well over the last several months but it all comes down to Sunday. Lose and we’re playing in the stupid consolation tourney in San Diego. Win or tie and I think we’re a dangerous team at nationals. Hoping for the best.

 

[Soccer7583]

We play Sunday at 11am. We need a win or tie to guarantee a champions league spot at nationals. We played really poorly to start the season. Lost several games we had no business losing. Injuries to several of our better players had a lot to do with that as did trying to mesh 7 new players into the team. Girls have played well over the last several months but it all comes down to Sunday. Lose and we’re playing in the stupid consolation tourney in San Diego. Win or tie and I think we’re a dangerous team at nationals. Hoping for the best.

Well good luck….

 

[lawpoke87]

Well good luck…

Pulled out a win and finished 4th in the league. Hoping to get a decent draw in San Diego. Nationals in San Diego is by far my favorite youth soccer event I’ve attended. Glad to get to go again

 

[Soccer7583]

Pulled out a win and finished 4th in the league. Hoping to get a decent draw in San Diego. Nationals in San Diego is by far my favorite youth soccer event I’ve attended. Glad to get to go again

We got a draw today and finished 4th as well. Looking forward to San Diego, maybe more excited about our Airbnb!!!!!

 

[lawpoke87]

We got a draw today and finished 4th as well. Looking forward to San Diego, maybe more excited about our Airbnb!!!!!

TU coaching staff was at the game. Nice to see them actively recruiting

 

[Soccer7583]

TU coaching staff was at the game. Nice to see them actively recruiting

I think ORU had coaches there as well.

 

[lawpoke87]

Tulsa, SMU, Houston, Missouri, Okla State and ORU were all in attendance for the 09 game. I know we have a 09 parent in the board

 

[TU_BLA]

WSA definitely has better leadership at the top and will be able to retain coaches much better than we saw at TSC. It’s very hard to build any type of continuity in a club when you’re replacing not only the coaching staff every year but your directors. I have no clue about what resources WSA will or will not provide. Hopefully they encourage outside training and not attempt to limit it to WSA coaches. All that said, this year is going to be a struggle in large part due to what has occurred at TSC over the past several years. It appears those elite girls who left TSC aren’t in any hurry to come back to town. WSA will struggle to compete in ECNL without those girls.

WSA is already behind the 8-ball because their facilities are among the worst in the area for the big clubs. River Parks for games is dreadful. Even in the summer the grass is spotty at best with the exception of 1 field (10). Unless they've worked something out with Scheels to use the turf for ECNL game weekends OR Mohawk with some investment to manage the grass surfaces at the top 4 fields with the city, they will have a game field situation other clubs will come to and find unacceptable.

I'm assuming TSC is holding onto primary rights at Scheels and Blitz is going to have the FC Tulsa connection and access to Ascension St. John's turf and grass fields. They've already moved a good amount of training over there from Alsuma/All Star (I don't think anyone is training at All Star anymore, all the goals have been removed and it looks like the lawn maintenance has ceased). I'd be interested to know what the new owners are going to do with it.

 

[lawpoke87]

WSA is already behind the 8-ball because their facilities are among the worst in the area for the big clubs. River Parks for games is dreadful. Even in the summer the grass is spotty at best with the exception of 1 field (10). Unless they've worked something out with Scheels to use the turf for ECNL game weekends OR Mohawk with some investment to manage the grass surfaces at the top 4 fields with the city, they will have a game field situation other clubs will come to and find unacceptable.

I'm assuming TSC is holding onto primary rights at Scheels and Blitz is going to have the FC Tulsa connection and access to Ascension St. John's turf and grass fields. They've already moved a good amount of training over there from Alsuma/All Star (I don't think anyone is training at All Star anymore, all the goals have been removed and it looks like the lawn maintenance has ceased). I'd be interested to know what the new owners are going to do with it.

WSA won’t have ECNL for long if their playing field situation doesn’t improve.

 

[Honkv]

WSA is already behind the 8-ball because their facilities are among the worst in the area for the big clubs. River Parks for games is dreadful. Even in the summer the grass is spotty at best with the exception of 1 field (10). Unless they've worked something out with Scheels to use the turf for ECNL game weekends OR Mohawk with some investment to manage the grass surfaces at the top 4 fields with the city, they will have a game field situation other clubs will come to and find unacceptable.

I'm assuming TSC is holding onto primary rights at Scheels and Blitz is going to have the FC Tulsa connection and access to Ascension St. John's turf and grass fields. They've already moved a good amount of training over there from Alsuma/All Star (I don't think anyone is training at All Star anymore, all the goals have been removed and it looks like the lawn maintenance has ceased). I'd be interested to know what the new owners are going to do with it.

I’m fairly sure that we will be playing at local schools, like many of the Texas clubs do.

We have been training at ascension. Open trainings at Jenks Public Schools soccer facility, etc.

 

[lawpoke87]

I’m fairly sure that we will be playing at local schools, like many of the Texas clubs do.

We have been training at ascension. Open trainings at Jenks Public Schools soccer facility, etc.

Interesting tidbit. Many of the Texas clubs have contracts with the area school district to use their fields for trainings and games when necessary. FC Dallas has such a contract with Frisco Independent School District for example.

 

[Honkv]

Interesting tidbit. Many of the Texas clubs have contracts with the area school district to use their fields for trainings and games when necessary. FC Dallas has such a contract with Frisco Independent School District for example.

So far, we’ve been at Holland Hall and Jenks. So I wouldn’t be surprised if both / either of those were on play.

The Jenks soccer facility has 2 turf fields in the same complex, but limited seating options.

 

[TU_BLA]

It already seems as if they are giving that support that TSC was lacking.

Wait for it to play out before making that judgement. It's new and they're all gung ho about it and trying to make sure they get to keep it. What happens when things go bad and the teams aren't performing and players start jumping ship...do admins start blaming coaching,? Coaches start blaming the club? Do you see the same pattern of infighting that happened internally at TSC? ECNL certainly seems to be results driven and not outcome driven in terms of who they're awarding the platform to.

 

[TU_BLA]

Interesting tidbit. Many of the Texas clubs have contracts with the area school district to use their fields for trainings and games when necessary. FC Dallas has such a contract with Frisco Independent School District for example.

And that works for the Fall since OK and TX play HS soccer in the Spring. But unless your team's coach is also a HS coach or HS connected, then that opportunity disappears once the HS season begins and understandably so.

BTW, Norman North beat BA (boys) in the championship game. For the 3rd year in a row BA falls in PKs. I checked the score on Friday night on our drive to KC (swim meet) and BA was up 3-2 with about 15 minutes left. Norman North scored at some point and the game ended up in PKs. I don't know what Schmoaker is teaching for PKs at BA but those players need a sports psychologist for sure. 3 years in a row and you can tell the prevailing mindset for the BA boysis "don't miss" as they generally leave one or two chances tee'd up for the GK to make easy saves. Give me the kid who hits the crossbar or post occasionally but blasts the ball hard. That's a commitment to their spot and also a confident take. They will occasionally miss...but the kid who leaves it 2 feet off the ground and 4-5 feet inside the post...they're thinking don't miss the net. Good keepers are going to win that battle a lot.

I also saw where BK won their girls state championship game 10-0. Um, that's ridiculous. Norman North beat Bixby in girls 6A, 3-1. BTW boys also won 5A 1-0 over Lawton Mac

 

[TU_BLA]

So far, we’ve been at Holland Hall and Jenks. So I wouldn’t be surprised if both / either of those were on play.

The Jenks soccer facility has 2 turf fields in the same complex, but limited seating options.

The Jenks practice facility is far superior to the playing surface that their varsity teams play on at Hunter Dwelley which is by far the worst field my son ever played a game on while at Union.

 

[lawpoke87]

And that works for the Fall since OK and TX play HS soccer in the Spring. But unless your team's coach is also a HS coach or HS connected, then that opportunity disappears once the HS season begins and understandably so.

Works better in Dallas as their high school soccer games are over for most teams by mid March.

Since most high school games aren’t player over the weekend, I don’t see a conflict as to game schedules.

 

[Honkv]

Wait for it to play out before making that judgement. It's new and they're all gung ho about it and trying to make sure they get to keep it. What happens when things go bad and the teams aren't performing and players start jumping ship...do admins start blaming coaching,? Coaches start blaming the club? Do you see the same pattern of infighting that happened internally at TSC? ECNL certainly seems to be results driven and not outcome driven in terms of who they're awarding the platform to.

For sure. I know things can change.

But I’m also going to let the good things be good while they’re good lol

 

[ScheelSC]

Interesting things about ECNL and GA. You don't need a club release to leave one and go to the other. Also some GA player's will be "Discovery" players for Energy and Dallas team's and still play GA. I think you could see a record amount of movement during the season. LOL which direction? That's tbd.

 

[lawpoke87]

Interesting things about ECNL and GA. You don't need a club release to leave one and go to the other. Also some GA player's will be "Discovery" players for Energy and Dallas team's and still play GA. I think you could see a record amount of movement during the season. LOL which direction? That's tbd.

You can also be a DP for a club on the ECNL platform as long as that club doesn’t have an NL team and a different ECNL team. I know several girls who will be paying at Blitz this upcoming season while being a DP for an out of state ECNL team. The question really becomes which club is your priority. In the fall there are many game conflicts so while it sounds good on its face the playing opportunities can be somewhat limited. The Blitz players priority will be their ECNL club re conflicts.

I did hear a couple of your 13s will DP with Sting. Hadn’t heard about the Energy girl(s). It’s certainly a great opportunity for those kids depending on scheduling.

 

[TU_BLA]

Works better in Dallas as their high school soccer games are over for most teams by mid March.

Since most high school games aren’t player over the weekend, I don’t see a conflict as to game schedules.

Not games but the training at those locations if it's a regular occurrence could be disrupted.

 

[TU_BLA]

Interesting things about ECNL and GA. You don't need a club release to leave one and go to the other. Also some GA player's will be "Discovery" players for Energy and Dallas team's and still play GA. I think you could see a record amount of movement during the season. LOL which direction? That's tbd.

Because they're backed by different platforms right. ECNL is US Club and is GA US Youth? The crazy thing is if you have a team playing both, i.e. when OPC started in Oklahoma, they did US Youth I believe, but then if your kid guest played on an NPL or ECNL-RL team you were US Club so you had to do the registration crap and waivers all over again. Or if you were OPC and decided to play OSA State Cup. And the little factions between US Club and US Youth were so petty, like seriously why did you need separate platforms like that. Why the hell doesn't US Soccer just say we're the definitive platform, here are the rules, registration, eligibility and waivers.

Point being, moving to US Club to US YS in the same calendar season is like registering for 2 separate orgs all together so there is no need to do any sort of release and transfer between clubs because they don't care about the other side. In OPC, clubs were USYS so if a kid wanted to go from WSA to TSC, they had to get a release. But a kid at Blitz (who stuck with OSA for a while and were US Club), that kid could literally play at a Blitz team and a TSC team at the same time and not be in violation of any contractual obligation between the two. (This is an example, I can't remember which orgs did what but I know there was a difference and not all the area clubs were under the same youth umbrella...and some started playing under both which was insane because I know all the extra paperwork I had to get our parents to sign if we played in a USYS tournament and registered under US Club (and vice versa).

 

[lawpoke87]

Not games but the training at those locations if it's a regular occurrence could be disrupted.

True. Dallas clubs typically can’t get on high school fields until 6:30 pm

 

[lawpoke87]

Because they're backed by different platforms right. ECNL is US Club and is GA US Youth? The crazy thing is if you have a team playing both, i.e. when OPC started in Oklahoma, they did US Youth I believe, but then if your kid guest played on an NPL or ECNL-RL team you were US Club so you had to do the registration crap and waivers all over again. Or if you were OPC and decided to play OSA State Cup. And the little factions between US Club and US Youth were so petty, like seriously why did you need separate platforms like that. Why the hell doesn't US Soccer just say we're the definitive platform, here are the rules, registration, eligibility and waivers.

Point being, moving to US Club to US YS in the same calendar season is like registering for 2 separate orgs all together so there is no need to do any sort of release and transfer between clubs because they don't care about the other side. In OPC, clubs were USYS so if a kid wanted to go from WSA to TSC, they had to get a release. But a kid at Blitz (who stuck with OSA for a while and were US Club), that kid could literally play at a Blitz team and a TSC team at the same time and not be in violation of any contractual obligation between the two. (This is an example, I can't remember which orgs did what but I know there was a difference and not all the area clubs were under the same youth umbrella...and some started playing under both which was insane because I know all the extra paperwork I had to get our parents to sign if we played in a USYS tournament and registered under US Club (and vice versa).

ECNL rules. We have a friend whose home club is Arkansas’ Rising and their top level is ECRL. She is allowed to be a discovery player for Albion NL because Rising doesn’t have an NL club despite both clubs playing on the same platform.

 

[TU_BLA]

ECNL rules. We have a friend whose home club is Arkansas’ Rising and their top level is ECRL. She is allowed to be a discovery player for Albion NL because Rising doesn’t have an NL club despite both clubs playing on the same platform.

That makes sense but the other possibility is girls at WSA playing ECNL and still playing GA at TSC without having to get a release because the two platforms are under 2 different sanctioning groups (I'm assuming).

 

[TulsaRulzOSUdrools]

The Jenks practice facility is far superior to the playing surface that their varsity teams play on at Hunter Dwelley which is by far the worst field my son ever played a game on while at Union.

Someone must have talked with someone. I heard the Jenks practice facility was quite pricey to rent from someone that would know.

That practice facility is the nicest in the city

 

[lawpoke87]

That makes sense but the other possibility is girls at WSA playing ECNL and still playing GA at TSC without having to get a release because the two platforms are under 2 different sanctioning groups (I'm assuming).

The primary address of the player must be at least 200 miles from the club which she is designated as a Discovery Player. Thus WSA and TSC will not work

 

[Honkv]

Interesting things about ECNL and GA. You don't need a club release to leave one and go to the other. Also some GA player's will be "Discovery" players for Energy and Dallas team's and still play GA. I think you could see a record amount of movement during the season. LOL which direction? That's tbd.

But why would GA girls need to go to an NL team if GA is giving them what they need???

 

[ScheelSC]

But why would GA girls need to go to an NL team if GA is giving them what they need???

Maybe you haven't had good experiences with your teammates but some teams are really close. Maybe there is 1 or 2 kids a little ahead of the rest. maybe they want to see what it's like at a FC Dallas, Sting, etc. Maybe the parents want to know if possibly moving or putting in the travel would be worth it. That's why it's a "Discovery Player". I don't think anyone here knows what exactly GA will look like. For our team having Nathan Doll coaching it is HUGE. We are also going to train twice a week in the summer morning's extra with LEO.

 

[Honkv]

Maybe you haven't had good experiences with your teammates but some teams are really close. Maybe there is 1 or 2 kids a little ahead of the rest. maybe they want to see what it's like at a FC Dallas, Sting, etc. Maybe the parents want to know if possibly moving or putting in the travel would be worth it. That's why it's a "Discovery Player". I don't think anyone here knows what exactly GA will look like. For our team having Nathan Doll coaching it is HUGE. We are also going to train twice a week in the summer morning's extra with LEO.

Yeah, maybe.

 

[lawpoke87]

Maybe you haven't had good experiences with your teammates but some teams are really close. Maybe there is 1 or 2 kids a little ahead of the rest. maybe they want to see what it's like at a FC Dallas, Sting, etc. Maybe the parents want to know if possibly moving or putting in the travel would be worth it. That's why it's a "Discovery Player". I don't think anyone here knows what exactly GA will look like. For our team having Nathan Doll coaching it is HUGE. We are also going to train twice a week in the summer morning's extra with LEO.

We know exactly what the regional GA league is going to look like for 2008 thru 2012 girls. You are correct in that we don’t know what it will look like for the 2013 group as the girls move from academy to competitive. Will those GA clubs be able to hold on to a majority of their best players or will they migrate to ECNL as they have in the past?

 

[ScheelSC]

We know exactly what the regional GA league is going to look like for 2008 thru 2012 girls. You are correct in that we don’t know what it will look like for the 2013 group as the girls move from academy to competitive. Will those GA clubs be able to hold on to a majority of their best players or will they migrate to ECNL as they have in the past?

It’s not going to be ECNL. I don’t think anyone is selling that. It might be where kids belong to be challenged but not dominated based on a multitude of reasons. I personally believe in the mission of GA. I think it’s awesome that it’s a single sex league and that it’s ran by women. Plenty of GA kids get recruited. (I don’t need soccer for my kid to go to college). ECNL is always an option.