In Prep for Richmond

In an effort to get some 11v11 games in prior to our trip to Virginia later this month, I registered the team to play in the Shattuck-St Mary's (SSM) U13 Tournament the weekend of March 10 and 11.  I had found out about this event from our U12G coach and thought it might be a good opportunity to get some last minute ideas about where the girls were at in preparation for the tough Jefferson Cup.  I knew there would be no chance of coming up against the level of teams we were going to face out east, but the ability to just play some 11v11 would help tune us up.  At this point in the winter it is nearly impossible to find unreserved dome space for 11v11 matches, so I will take what I can get.

SSM started a residential soccer program for elite players two years ago.  The school has built a nationally renown hockey program, and the idea is to use this hockey program model to produce top level soccer teams.  I think they've done a pretty good job of getting things going, and we'll see where things are at in a few years time.

In a completely selfish gesture, I had offered to help try and pull some higher level regional teams in to this event for SSM.  I made contact (some direct, some messages) with Ankeny Soccer Club (IA), West Des Moines SC (IA), Dakota Gold (SD), and Toro (NE).  Most teams could not commit due to basketball conflicts, some were pretty adamant in the fact that they wanted absolutely nothing to do with the SSM program.  Apparently, SSM had sought out a lot of help from some clubs initially a few years back and now that the SSM program was on its feet, the school had basically shunned these same clubs, causing some resentment on the part of some key decision makers out there. 

So I received the schedule last week to discover that there were only four teams registered to compete.  Us, our U12 team, Wayzata's U13 team, and a U13 team from Winnipeg, CA, Bonivital.  Now our U12 team is no slouch, but I didn't think our parent group would be too pleased with the fact that they were giving up a weekend paying to play against our U12s.  I talked with SSM and suggested that they take their Academy team (a team comprised of players from the school's winter training Academy) and play our U12s, and the organizers thought that would work.  Instead of 3 games over two days, we'll play two games on Saturday.  This should work out well.

Wayzata will likely be one of our main competitors in this year's State Cup.  I watched them play our White team this winter already and the team is decent.  Some good athletes, a few dangerous attacking players, and a solid coach.  I've know their coach for some years now and I know that he will have his team well prepped this summer.  Next weekend will be a good opportunity for me to really gauge where the Wayzata team is at, unless he's a sneaky devil like me and doesn't plan to show his entire hand :)