Spring Tournaments

Since we made the transition to the Bangu Tsunami FC banner late in the 2004/2005 soccer year (Aug 1 2004 - July 31 2005), we could not apply for new MYSA affiliate status (form and new club) until the start of the 2005/2006 season.  Thus, our teams (previously with the Woodbury Soccer Club) were technically Bangu Tsunami FC (BTFC) teams until the following year when Bangu Tsunami Soccer Academy East (BTE) attained official MYSA affiliate (club) status.  BTFC's president lived in Bloomington, and through his connections in that community he was able to secure training and game fields for many of the BTFC teams.  The district in which a club has fields is the district in which the club plays out of in most cases, so we played the summer of 2005 in MYSA's South District.  The top U11 league name had changed from Maroon to Classic 2 (C2) and there were two C2 divisions in the South District.  We played in the National Division (the other was the American Division).

Based on the preceding fall league season, I had seriously contemplated petitioning MYSA to allow this team to play up a year to the U12 age group.  The state had recently made a move towards small-sided games (6v6 at the U9 and U10 age groups and 8v8 at the U11 and U12 age groups) and I was told by a number of state soccer officials that it was no longer allowable for a small-sided team to play up an age group and thus bypass a year of the new small-sided game play.  Regardless, I was going to attempt a petition as I knew that these girls would not have many, if any at all, challenging games at the U11 age group.  Moreover, we would likely completely manhandle a number of opponents, contributing to a negative soccer experience for many young girls.  Read more about my thoughts on this subject here: Of Wolves and Sheep

In the end, enough people dissuaded me from petitioning so the team remained playing at their true age group for another season.  The results from that summer season are listed below:

Suffice it to say that we did not find many challenging games for this team in the MYSA league play.  The State Tournament was no different, with us winning the State Final 7-0.

2005 MYSA Summer State Tournament - U11 Girls (PDF)

The team also did very well in some of the "major" Minnesota events, championing at teh NSC Cup, All American Girls, and at the USA Cup that summer.

However, even with hindsight being 20/20 and if I could do this all over again in any way I saw fit, I would likely choose NOT to have had this team play up.  Why?  Because us walking through the league play helped establish a presence in the area as the state's most dominant team.  At a time when much of the Minnesota soccer community was enthralled by the Woodbury Soccer Academy fiasco and now closely monitoring the new Bangu Tsunami FC Academy concept, the Magic, along with the Renegades (our U12 girls team who won the U12 State Tournament) and the Attack (our second U11 girls team who after being a sub .500 team in the fall of 2004 came back to advance to the State Tournament and nearly to the final game in the U11 C2 American division) stepped up and made a crystal clear statement to all the observers that our Academy programs dealt with high level teams.

This also helped kickstart our South Academy program the following fall as since our teams did well in the South District, a number of players and their families were interested in getting involved.  "Superficial" interest, some might say, based on results and strength of teams, but needed interest for any fledgling program.

Up until recent history, BTFC was known for raiding clubs of their top players in order to form "superteams" at the older age groups.  With the new Academy programs, we had the opportunity to raid clubs at the younger age groups as well...  just kidding.  Now, with a proven development system in place for younger players, our club could now look to build from within more than it ever could in past history.  We could identify athletic and instinctual soccer talent at the 9, 10, 11, and 12 year old age groups and look to put these players in arguably the best training environment our state had to offer; a training environment in which top players, all interested and able to train year-round in a team context, were surrounded by other top players and under the guidance of knowledgeable coaches and trainers.  All this because of the superficial on the field success of teams like the Magic in 2005. 

In addition, the success of the Magic this first season got the notice of players like Scratch, Jilly, Hans, and Sting, all of whom would eventually make the move to this team for our current U13 year.