NTX Seeding Showdown

Money grab, pure and simple. There hasn't really been that many seeding issues and if there had, since when would LHGCL respond to "complaints"?

jsullivan81 wrote:I am sure FCDallas just heard tons of money walk out the door since King Tut was usually "the tournament" for seeding.

And thats just it, why would classic and Plano just sit by and watch King Tut and Puma Cup draw all the money to seed its tourney. Dont play in the other two and pay for this one. Seems easy enough since this one actually now holds more value.

So what happens if the teams get together and don't show up for this tournament? Does Rase get seeded 10th or will it even matter if teams show up?

Since the tournament says it's for U11 - U19, how does this affect '04 girls?

Unicorns wrote:So what happens  if the teams get together and don't show up for this tournament?  Does Rase get seeded 10th or will it even matter if teams show up?  

But why wouldn't they show up? Because FCD and TXLightning tourneys are so much better?

tpitty wrote:

Unicorns wrote:So what happens  if the teams get together and don't show up for this tournament?  Does Rase get seeded 10th or will it even matter if teams show up?  

But why wouldn't they show up? Because FCD and TXLightning tourneys are so much better?

Don't know. maybe girls out of town, don't feel the need to spend another $600 when everyone knows they are the #1 seed.

Any yes, playing at FCD fields is much better than UTD.

BetweenThePipes wrote:Since the tournament says it's for U11 - U19, how does this affect '04 girls?

Because it occurs in July when the 04 girls will be U11.

Unicorns wrote:

tpitty wrote:

Unicorns wrote:So what happens  if the teams get together and don't show up for this tournament?  Does Rase get seeded 10th or will it even matter if teams show up?  

But why wouldn't they show up? Because FCD and TXLightning tourneys are so much better?

Don't know. maybe girls out of town, don't feel the need to spend another $600 when everyone knows they are the #1 seed.  

Any yes, playing at FCD fields is much better than UTD.  

Look everyone gets seeded. If Rase is beyond that, then fine. They will get what they get. I can't speak for the tourney, how it runs, or how they seed. All I am saying, if this seeding tourney is directly related to the league teams want to play in, why wouldn't they play in it rather than a tourney which would now have less importance placed on it? --doesn't compute. If you are worried about your summer schedule now, then back away from soccer cause it only gets worse.

Also, UTD fields...if you make classic prepare to play on them nonstop. I'll take a bad UTD field over the FCD shoe melter in July anyday....that field was like 175 degree's last year or hotter and the kids were pouring water on their cleats cause they were so hot.   

tpitty wrote:

Unicorns wrote:

tpitty wrote:

Unicorns wrote:So what happens  if the teams get together and don't show up for this tournament?  Does Rase get seeded 10th or will it even matter if teams show up?  

But why wouldn't they show up? Because FCD and TXLightning tourneys are so much better?

Don't know. maybe girls out of town, don't feel the need to spend another $600 when everyone knows they are the #1 seed.  

Any yes, playing at FCD fields is much better than UTD.  

Look everyone gets seeded. If Rase is beyond that, then fine. They will get what they get. I can't speak for the tourney, how it runs, or how they seed. All I am saying, if this seeding tourney is directly related to the league teams want to play in, why wouldn't they play in it rather than a tourney which would now have less importance placed on it? --doesn't compute. If you are worried about your summer schedule now, then back away from soccer cause it only gets worse.

Also, UTD fields...if you make classic prepare to play on them nonstop. I'll take a bad UTD field over the FCD shoe melter in July anyday....that field was like 175 degree's last year or hotter and the kids were pouring water on their cleats cause they were so hot.   

Actually I found that after your DD is of age to play club ball the summers are less hectic.

Seven wrote:
Actually I found that after your DD is of age to play club ball the summers are less hectic.

Obviously I need to get on your team. Our summer is packed with travel tourneys and soccer related camps, trainings, etc. I think we are just in a more peaceful place to handle it than youth academy.

debit wrote:

BetweenThePipes wrote:Since the tournament says it's for U11 - U19, how does this affect '04 girls?

Because it occurs in July when the 04 girls will be U11.

Fun Fact: 04 Girls don't officially become U11 until August 1 according to the "official" birthdate cut-offs...

Oh, and don't argue this cause I was just being "THAT GUY"

As my granddad would say "pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered"

Besides I'm not sure how one seeds the seeding tournament and how that seeding process would be any less criticized than what is currently done at the league level.

tpitty wrote:

Seven wrote:
Actually I found that after your DD is of age to play club ball the summers are less hectic.

Obviously I need to get on your team. Our summer is packed with travel tourneys and soccer related camps, trainings, etc. I think we are just in a more peaceful place to handle it than youth academy.

Usally off all of July, two-a-days early August and maybe a couple of tourneys in late August early September to get ready for the season. Not a bad deal , but we are a lowly D1 team so if your DD plays ECNL or Premier League team I could see your schedule being more packed than ours.  

So teams would be paying $600 for 4 scrimmages with refs. No way they have enough Classic League reps to watch every game. May be they will watch 10 minutes of one game per team. They will rely mostly on scores for seeding, which they can do from OTHER tournaments. This is a $$$$$$$$$$$ grab!!!

Comming next year, pre-pre-qualifying seeding tournament to seed the pre-qualifying tournament.

The point of the seeding tournament is really nothing more than a way for the LH tournament officials to get a real look at what should most closely resemble the team that you are carrying forward to next year. There are a number of leagues that play at different levels. Some of have 1-2 great teams, some have more. Some great teams play up and some "hide" to some degree and you rarely see them against "known" competition. Many use guest players for tournaments or share players between teams in different leagues. Is Susie going to play for Team A or Team B??

These "seeding" tournaments are where that gets sorted out. The rosters are set. No guest players and no sharing. No more arguments about this league vs that league.

The LH officials will watch and take notes on each game. The Win or Loss is not as important as whether you were competitive vs whom you are playing. They can fill in 70%+ of the bracket based upon what everyone knows. These are for the remaining 30%. Did team A pick up the next Mia Hamm and is Team B as good without her? Is Team C really good without those guest players. I assure you, when you play what one would generally think is a competitive team, you will see a couple LH officials there with clipboards taking notes.

In the years I've been around Youth soccer, I have rarely seen major seeding mistakes by LH. You can argue seed 5 or see 7 or 18 vs 20 but rarely have I seen someone seeded as 20 that should have been 10. It actually is quite impressive how close they come. Out of 15 or so brackets on the first weekend. Top seeds will win 11 or 12 of them. There may be one upset and the others are groups where the top two seeds are VERY close. When the 00 went through, I would have argued that seeds 8-12 were essentially the same. Very equal teams. Thus, seed 9 and 10 were in the same bracket. No surprisingly, it was a 1 goal game. Seed 10 qualified the next weekend. The goal of LH is to find the best 30 teams. Period. I bet after the 2nd weekend, there may be 2 or 3 with arguments but ultimately, they got two shots at it and didn't get it in the back of the net often enough.

Does everyone have to compete in these? Nope. You risk out of sight, out of mind a bit and I would assume any "questions" about your team get answered to the negative but if you are a 1,2,3 type team and want the rest, I'd look at it as a well earned bye. You will find, however, that most of them will play as they are fine tuning and because that is what they do. Other than an injury, there is not much harm that can come to them. Move from a 3 seed to a 6 seed. Same basic thing.

Based on the "quotes" from the classic and premier league people on the web site, it sounds as if the other tournaments aren't quite as much of a 'must' now for seeding...just good opportunities to get additional playing time and more team gelling before qualifying.

One would assume that officials from all leagues have / will be invited to attend the other tournaments going on; and if they want / need to see a team play again, they will show up.

Either tournament would work for me. The real issue for me and other parents on my 02 team is vacations. All plans were made around Tut being the seeding tournament. There's a real possibility that too many players will be on vacation that week. So where does that leave us? Where was the advance notice? Very poor planning.

12monkeys wrote:Based on the "quotes" from the classic and premier league people on the web site, it sounds as if the other tournaments aren't quite as much of a 'must' now for seeding...just good opportunities to get additional playing time and more team gelling before qualifying.  

One would assume that officials from all leagues have / will be invited to attend the other tournaments going on; and if they want / need to see a team play again, they will show up.

I contacted them (LHGCL) directly and Duncan Hoffman said they would have a presence at both the NTX Seeding and the King Tut tournaments...  they did not weigh any of them heavier than the next...  they just said they would have a presence at all tournaments... I assume this year it is hard to weigh one harder than the next given the late notice of this tournament - I would assume next year may be a lot different.