A Change in Vegas
Monday, February 25, 2008 at 08:45AM 
I had still had no response from Vegas at the end of last week. However, I was forwarded an email from a team parent detailing a conversation chain that Ripper's mom had had with the tournament coordinator. In that email to the director, Patty had made no bones about it that Vegas putting us in the B bracket was a complete slap in the face to these girls - four regions, four region winners last year - how could they fathom our placement in a lower bracket. Way to go, Patty!
The tournament director's response was that he had already been in contact with the us (the coaches), which he hadn't, and that the schedules would be updated this weekend. I still wasn't holding my breath.
However, in what I think was a well deserved surprise on Sunday afternoon, Hannah, one of our captains, texted me and let me know we had been moved to the top flight. Yes! About time! I don't know if this change was due to the continued pressure from Cook and myself, from Patty's blunt email, or from teams dropping out of the event due to the Far West Regional games scheduled for that weekend, but I didn't care anymore.
I called her and asked her to read me the teams in our bracket - FC Pennsylvania, So Cal Blues, and Utah Avalanche Premier. Awesome!!!!! We would hopefully match up well against the Utah team, and the So Cal team was sure to be a very challenging opponent.
I was most psyched about the FC Penn team. I had seen the team play last spring at the Jefferson Cup in Virginia. They were an amazing group, the best U13 team I had seen last year and the best team at our age group that I had seen to date. They had had a ton of success already on the regional/national stage, winning the Region I Championships last year. They were one of the 4 or 5 teams I was hoping to come up against, and probably the one I honestly feared the most. My thought is that this game alone would make the trip a worthwhile event for us as it would give me an excellent gauge of where we are at and what we need to focus on in the coming months heading to State Cup/Regionals.
We would come up against the So Cal team first, then Utah, ending our group play against FC Penn. My goal is to hopefully finish 1 or 2 in our group, helping ensure us of one more high quality game (against a #1 or #1 seed from Bracket C). Should be a great event!
