New Territory, New Issues

I have never before taken a team of girls for their U14 year.  Though I feel that I’m extremely qualified to take any youth age group, my passion has always been in working with the younger players so I’ve recycled myself back to the U10 or U11 age group and looked to pass teams on to other coaches at the U13 age group.

As I mentioned previously, things didn’t work out to pass the group on as there was no one to take them come the end of last season, so I decided to stay on for one more year.  I don’t want people to think that I’m not excited about this prospect as I most definitely am.  It will just make for a busy year as I will also be heading up the new batch of 28 U11s in the East Academy, assisting with our East Academy U12s, managing all 4 (North, South, East, and West) Academy programs, webmastering the increasingly more and more complex Bangu website, working with the Minnesota Thunder in their youth development programs, volunteering at Macalester College (my alma mater) to help Coach Leaney with the Women's program, attempting to keep my eyes on an 11 month old baby girl who can somehow manage to crawl around at nearly the speed of sound, studying to pass my real estate broker's license exam (I'm a licensed realtor, mainly to develop a piece of property my family owns in the Kenwood of Minneapolis, and now looking to get my broker's license and start up a company), bringing to market a handful of soccer training devices, and last but by far not least, trying to see my wife every once in a while.  Too much on my plate?  We’ll see.

Anyway, not being used to the U14 age group, I am definitely running into some unforeseen issues, namely conflicts with high school programs.

I contacts Craig Perry, the head honcho at the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) to verify the exact policy governing club play during the HS season.  Though there are a lot of rumors going around, no one seemed to know the exact restrictions placed on these players.  Last year, people didn’t think HS players could even attend August tryouts once they began their HS training year.  We found out that this was not correct as players just couldn’t participate in 11v11 organized play outside of their HS programs beginning in September.  They could come to tryouts and play 10v10, or even 10v11, but not full 11v11.

I just wanted to be sure I knew the facts, so it made sense to approach the people who knew them. Here's the email chain.

Hi Craig,

I have a U14 girls team with players trying to make varsity programs this fall.  I’m looking for clarification on exactly what these high school players can or can’t do with our club when in HS season.

If you can call me, that would be great.  Cell phone is best and the number is below.  I will also try to track you down next week.

If it is easier to email, here are my questions:

I believe that the only restriction in place prohibits high school varsity soccer players from 11v11 play with their club teams.  Please confirm this is correct, and that 8v8 play would be OK.  Also, please clarify if this restriction is only applicable to varsity athletes or if this includes ANY high school player (JV, 10^th grade team, 9^th grade team).

If we have athletes that fall under these restrictions but we have an event the weekend of Aug 24 in Illinois, is it possible (assuming that it is OK with the parents and the HS coaches) if players are not names to high school programs until after this event?  I realize this will mean missing 1 or 2 early season games, but our team plays at such a high level that my guess is these young players would prefer to travel to Illinois and compete even if this means starting their HS seasons late.  Or, once teams start practicing in mid-August does this constitute a commitment to the HS and thus no 11v11 play with club.

Thanks in advance for your help here.  I know you’re probably busy, but the input would be appreciated as we are holding tryouts this week.

Mark,

The summer season for high school athletes extends through Labor Day.  Even though many of the MSHSL fall sports start in August, students are allowed to participate with non-school/summer programs until Labor Day.  After Labor Day, members of a high school soccer program are not allowed to participate with a non-school soccer program during the high school season.  Participation is defined as but not limited to: practice, scrimmage, competition, training, and tryouts.

Individual schools do have the prerogative to not allow non-school competition during the extension of the summer season through Labor Day.

Craig Perry
Associate Director
MSHSL

Craig,

Thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate the information.  Is this rule written in any policy that you can forward to me or that I can access online somewhere?

Mark,

This information can be found in MSHSL Bylaw 208—Non-School Competition and Training.

Go to the League website then: Resources, Publications then Eligibility.  The bylaws are in the 2007-2008 Official Handbook.

Craig Perry
Associate Director
MSHSL

Perfect, thanks!

Last question, I promise. :)

Do these rules only apply to Varsity athletes? Or do they hold for JV, 10^th Grade, and 9^th Grade?

Mark,

The rules apply to all students grades 7-12 who participate in high school programs—varsity, JV and sophomore.

Craig Perry
Associate Director
MSHSL

So, under this policy, our HS players could in fact join us for any event prior to the Labor Day Weekend without jeopardizing their HS eligibility.  Nice.  The Eclipse event in late August would now be a great opportunity for me to gauge where we are at with the new group relative to some of the strongest teams in the country.  The individual and team strengths and weaknesses highlighted by this level competition would serve as a great resource when looking to design training sessions for this group this coming winter.

Last year we traveled to the same event and had a less than stellar showing, tying the Chicago Magic (IL), beating Ohio Elite (OH), losing to the PDA Charge (NJ), and tying MTSC Blaze (OH).  However, results aside, the knowledge and experiences gained from observing the team in action allowed me to organize specific training sessions in the following months that helped elevate the team to the next level, as I feel was evident by our summer successes at Regionals.  I’m looking for the exact same thing this year and am excited to see the team in action.

However, even with the current MSHSL policy out in the light, I'm still feeling a hesitation by most HS players' parents in confronting the coach to see if their daughter can make this event.  It is obvious that parents are putting a lot of stock on their daughter playing HS soccer at this young age and they do not appear ready in the slightest to ruffle any feathers in the HS scene.  I can understand this to some extent.  We'll see what transpires in the next few days.

I did place a call into Rory Dames, Coaching Director with the Eclipse club and gave him a heads up as to our developing player situation.  Obviously, at this point he's kinda screwed if we drop out, so I'm going to do what I need to do to try and honor our commitment to the event.

0708 Yearly Development Plan

Our development plan for the year is as follows.

Fall Season (Aug - Oct)

We will look to take part in the Eclipse Challenge Cup the weekend of Aug 25 in Libertyville, Illinois.  This will be an extremely competitive event for the girls and will feature some of the best competition the Region II has to offer, as well as will draw in other top talent from across the country.  It will be a challenge for us to participate as we will have a number of players vying for high school varsity positions this fall as underclassmen.

Becs (9^th grader as Centennial HS)

Hannah (9^th grader at Bloomington Jefferson HS)

Scratch (8^th grader at Eagan HS)

Bidi (9^th grader at Woodbury HS)

Tori (9^th grader at Edina HS)

Ripper (8^th grader at Hastings HS)

Millie (7^th grader at St Louis Park HS)

Moreover, Clare (from Texas) won’t be in town until Aug 24^th and will be unable to make the trip to Illinois with us.

I will be checking with the Minnesota State High School League to find our the exact policy regarding players playing with club teams during the high school season and hope that we can make things work out in order to field a team for the event.

Our U13 Blue team will also be participating in the same event, and it will be good for these younger girls to interact at the tournament with the older U14 girls.

Other than this event, we will look to train 2x per week with an optional third session for those interested.  We'll have to see what numbers we have available due to HS conflicts, but with 36 girls in our White/Green pool, we should be able to mix the small number of Blue players in if/when needed.  Else, the girls will receive a bunch of small-group lessons through the fall if we train with 7 or 8.  I could think of worse things for these girls to be involved with, that's for sure.  We will also look to schedule some friendlies with other regional teams who I know are also looking for something for their U14s.

Winter I Season (Nov – Dec)

We will follow the same development scheme we used last year, with Field Training 2x per week, Futsal/Street Soccer, FIT Training, and Video Analysis.  We have some friendlies scheduled for mid November and will head to the The IV '07 in College Station, TX. in early December.  This is a top level girl’s showcase sponsored by adidas and run in conjunction with the NCAA Div I Women’s College Cup being hosted by Texas A&M University.  Teams participating in this event receive tickets to the Women’s matches, so I expect this to be a fantastic experience for the girls.

Winter II Season (Jan – Mar)

Same training as Winter I, with friendlies thrown in in Omaha in January and hosted in Minnesota in Feb.  We’ll head to the Las Vegas College Showcase event in mid-March, another one of the premier soccer tournaments in the US.  We were contemplating heading to Vegas last spring, but many parents were hesitant to drop their kids into the Vegas environment.  So instead, we headed to the Jefferson Cup in Virginia.  This year, I'm looking forward to better weather, better fields, and a look at some very strong west-coast competition. 

Spring/Summer Season (Apr – Jul)

We will hopefully apply and get accepted into the Midwest Regional League (MRL) Premier Division.  I feel we missed the boat a bit by not competing in MRL this fall, but we might have been extremely short-handed missing our HS players.  In looking at the teams who will be taking part in the fall season, either they don’t have the same HS conflicts we do here in Minnesota or they are going to make due with the players they have.  I’m assuming that many of the top Region II teams have a number of players at this age who could compete for spots in their respective HS programs.

For the U14 fall MRL season, there is only one playing division.  Success this fall earns teams the right to play in the spring/summer MRL Premier Division.  I’m banking on the fact that we, as 2007 Region II Champions, will not have an issue in securing a place in the top division of MRL play next spring.  I hope that I’m correct in this.

We will opt out of the U15G MYSA Premier League next summer in favor of MRL play, assuming we are accepted into the Premier Division.  If by some chance we are not accepted into the top MRL division, the local play at an age group older will likely be better competition for us than the MRL First Division, with a lot less time and monetary expenditure.  I don’t know the exact timing of MRL acceptance and foregoing the MYSA Premier spot, and I need to look into this quickly.

Our three weekends of MRL play should carry us through into the Minnesota State Cup where once again as the clear favorites to win the event we will try and secure our place in the 2008 Region II Championships in Rockford, Illinois.

We will then look to add in potentially a US Club Soccer Regional and USA Cup in July.

There you have it.  Similar to last year, a year that we saw tremendous improvement in the girls' individual abilities as well as a year that helped continue to challenge and test the players, helping to fuel the passion for the game.  We are not much different from other teams in Minnesota with regard to the quantity of sessions we offer.  We do differ in the variety of programming that we offer our players, in our ability to enter and compete in the highest level events across the country throughout the year, and in the overall level of the training environment we showcase, thanks in large part to the talent level and commitment the girls on this team demonstrate. 

Will all this guarantee us another regional title?   Not by a long shot.  Will all this help best position the team to contend again in Rockford next year.  You bet. 

0708 Bangu Tsunami 93/94 Blue

With nearly 90 girls out at tryouts for this age group, I was interested in seeing if there were any girls who might warrant a look at playing on the Blue team.  I’m not all-knowing, but I’ve seen my fair share of games at our age level over the past few years.  There were only 2 girls outside of our club who I thought could come in and make an impact. 

When I say make an impact, I’m talking about coming in and being considered as a starter.   Why would I really only be interested in players like this?  Well, because kids who have been with me even for just one year have a good idea of our system of play, our team culture, and of my expectations.  I wouldn’t look to replace a “non-starter” with another non-starter.  I’ve seen how hard it is for new girls to come in and be effective in this group.  Egocentric on my part or not, there is a sort of mysticism with this team and many players from outside believe that they are not skilled enough to make the team, right or wrong.  This feeling affects confidence levels and makes it tough for new girls to feel comfortable in our playing environment, thus making it very difficult for new players to play up to their potential.  Not impossible, but very difficult. 

This is a challenge when dealing with a high level team that has found some success.  We’re not really at a point where we can baby players along anymore as the competition and training level that we live with are not very conducive to this hand-holding when compared to the levels that the majority of other teams at this age group may experience.

So, though there may be some players out there who are just as good as some of our current players (players who I think are in the lower half of the ability division on our team), I won’t take someone that will not make an immediate impact in this group.

Moreover, I don’t feel that it is fair to replace these current players who have made the commitment already to us, who have put in the time and effort in to doing what we do throughout the year, with someone who would come in and do the same job.

The issue with my view is current White team players as these players will continually find it difficult to break into the Blue team.  With all respect to every player out there, it doesn’t really bother me that this might not be fair to players outside our club who are coming to the tryouts.  We’ll have two other very solid teams at this age group that will provide solid developmental opportunities to players like this.

As for the 2 other Minnesota girls who I think would be impact players in our group, neither of them are interested in what we have to offer.  Actually, let me rephrase that. I think they are interested in what we have to offer, but not interested enough to make the full move to our club.

“Chilly” plays with the age group older Eden Prairie Premier team.  She is surrounded by some talented players and in a good community development environment and this is what is important to her and her family at this point.  And that is just fine by me.  She will be training with us this fall as most of her team has HS soccer to participate in, and she will likely guest with us if the opportunity presents itself without conflicting with her own team’s events throughout the coming year.

“Waldo” plays with the age group older Coon Rapids Premier team.  Like Chilly, she and her family are very content with their current soccer situation and have no interest in making a change.  Again, that is completely fine by me.  Waldo has guest played with us a bit this fall and may be in the mix to do more as a guest player if needed.

Though I feel our training opportunity provides more positive soccer development options for both these players, it will always be a soft sell on our part.  Here’s our opportunity.  If you’re interested, great.  If not, great.

Anyway, I had not seen anyone else this past year at the U13 age group who I thought would come in and displace any of our current players.  But I have never been with a team that did not change personnel from one year to the next and this year proved no different.

After all was said and done, Sting and Brownie ended up moving to our White team, with Lily heading to Shattuck St Marys boarding school in Faribault for an intensive, year-round school/soccer experience.  We will be re-evaluating Lily next spring as she can still play with our club in the summer, non-Shattuck months. 

We added two players, both new to Minnesota this summer.  Kaelyn "Cali" K from the San Diego Surf club and Clare (yet-to-be-bestowed-with-a-nickname) S from the Houston Eclipse club in south Texas. We are moving forward into the new soccer year with 16 players.

It wasn’t easy to let Sting and Brownie know about the shake out after tryouts. Both are talented players and I feel both are on track to play Division I collegiate soccer. I won’t say much else here about this save for the fact that I was truly impressed by their eventual attitudes and desire to remain in our program with our White team. Both will be in a position to be true impact players with that team, something that will help them both down the road in soccer as well as in life.

Last year, Jazzy and Dot were moved from the Blue team to the White team. Both were “role” players with the Blue team the year before, both emerged from last season with the White team full of confidence and as better players thanks in large part to their ability to help run the show within the White team structure. I see the same happening with Sting and Brownie. Putting myself in their shoes, anything that I say to them about this may come across as hollow. I understand this. Though I might not be their favorite person for a while, I think that long term this move will pay off greatly for each of them.