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Sting (rez) vs DT South in the finals

hardtruthsoldier123 wrote:http://events.gotsport.com/events/Default.aspx?EventID=25515

Sting (rez) vs DT South in the finals

A couple of surprises in the 02 groups. Challenge Red (I think they were from Austin), were an excellent team, gave DT South a real game both times they played. Beat out Sting Rez in semis. Sting Rez always plays tough, girls are smart and skilled, keeper is terrific. Lonestars Red (another team from Austin I believe) was another great team. Skilled, played a lot of possession ball, HUGE girls! Sting Parker did well also, tied Sting Rez, lost to DT South in Semis. 0-0 until mid 2nd half, up until that point, Sting played them well, even had a few scoring opportunities that didn't pan out. DT South is a fabulous team no doubt. Unfortunate neither Sting team made finals considering it was a Sting tourney.

It was also too bad the Austin Texans forfeited and the remaining A bracket teams only got two bracket play games.

Weather turned a bit chilly, especially after the sun went down but overall fun weekend. Some games ran significantly behind, some referees were playing 30 min halves, some 25. I think by the end of the first day and 2nd day they were all playing 25 min halves so it seemed to get better.

Challenge team is from Houston. Big, tough fit girls. They play what some call skilled soccer. Parker plays the ugly kind, but they get good results from it.

Referee wrote: Challenge team is from Houston. Big, tough fit girls. They play what some call skilled soccer. Parker plays the ugly kind, but they get good results from it.

I agree Parker plays kick ball some, when the girls panic. I've seen good passing too. I think as the team matures, what they are being taught in practice will manifest more on the field. My understanding is that many of the girls joined just prior to signing and they only have one season together.

Personally, I agree it is much more fun to watch skilled, possession soccer! My daughter's own team usually plays that way...sometimes kick ball can be contagious and they have to be reminded! lol

There have been lenghty discussions about this topic. Most people like the pretty kind. But, one has to understand that the end result is goals. In my playing days we played the pretty way when we knew we were better than the opponent. We'd take the luxury of getting fancy. When I felt like the forward I covered was fast and well skilled I'd turn to sweeps and anything I could think of to stop him. Keep away, whatever it took to get a favorable result. My goal was to stop him from scoring, period. At any cost. If I was the coach for the bottom team and were to play The big 2 next week, I would throw anything I could think of to try to get a tie. Ugly kickball. Doesn't matter. In my opinion no one has been able to at least get a tie from them. Throw them a curve and see what happens. Most coaches now days are to conservative and worry about skill to much. I know these are 11 year old girls. But it's never to early to teach them a new approach. You don't play those 2 teams to beat them. To talented and to strong. One has to play them for a tie and wait for a mistake.

Maybe I am misunderstanding you, but I can't imagine purposely teaching "ugly soccer" as you call it, I do agree that teaching strategies for facing faster, stronger or more skilled opponents could be beneficial. I know some of the folks in Parker's group, quality coaches, quality players and quality parents. I also believe what they are being taught is quality. It takes time to teach a team to play as a unit and to adopt a singular style of play. The girls are athletic and they will continue to compete better and better as time goes by. Many hadn't played at this level until last season and they had a very rough schedule. You are correct, sometimes you just have to get the job done and worry about your style of play when the stakes aren't so high. Dynamo and Solar Gio are two teams that rarely sacrifice style for winning, they don't have to. They focus on skill and possession until it almost has become "art" with them. Sting has a curriculum for all their teams across the board, they have a long term plan of development for their girls. Long term quality players over current dominating teams. That can be hard for some folks to buy into. Patience is a virtue right?

Agree. Don't mean to make Parker look bad. He's got a good system and teaches good fut-bol. "Ugly" Not to be used as a teaching system. Just as an option when all else fails. Most good teams force you to play their way and you always either lose or can't keep up. I saw Sting Dunstan play Texans South for a tie during the season 1-1. They frustrated them and forced them to play their style. Texans tried and tried but Dunstan played them tough. South is clearly the better team here, but the end result was a tie.

Dunstan is definitely another solid group, always had very positive experiences with this team, coach and parents.