OK - What tournaments are teams doing?

InaB wrote:Dad is right. We are getting very lazy on our board. Peeps, lets start a conversation here.  What tournaments are teams playing in during the long break until spring games start?  Anyone in the Texas Cup? Turkey Shoot? Give it up - which tourneys are you doing?

Also, which tournaments do you consider good ones?

Which tournaments are to be avoided at all costs?

Which showcase tournaments are you looking at?

KnKsDad wrote:Did you have to watch a bunch of flopping? I'm really only asking that to amuse myself..haha.  Oh, way to represent in Tulsa.

dadof3 wrote:Not that most (if any) care, but I am bored, so I will give a report from Oklahoma on the Sam Shannon...completely unbiased of course...

Nice report Dad, wondered how y'all did.  We (TXL) played the same times so never got a chance to hear or see how your grils did. To expand and add my .02.... Overall, I would say it was a well run tournament/showcase. To say there was some home cooking would be on par. It was a challenge at times but like you said, no different when we are at home. For us, we went in just wanting to see how we'd stack up against the OK teams.  Glad we played them but our team really shouldnt have been in the top bracket. I think they used GotSoccer rankings only which is misleading. Not trying to take away from our team, our girls have really improved and have been extremely competitive in API but think it would have been more appropriate for them to be in the second bracket instead. Plus we were down a few due to flu and another commitment but with that all said, they pushed through well. Proud of them for that.

All the teams we played were TUSC teams-ranked 2, 5, and 6 in Oklahoma according to GotSoccer rankings, so I will call them by their moniker for designation...

TUSC Willis was their third team, now ranked #6...We played them first on Saturday and it was wet and cold.  The wind was blowing and maybe 40-45 degrees.  They would be an equivalent team to mid D2-D3 in LH.  They were relatively physical.  We beat them 2-0.  It was pretty clear we were the better team, and it seems like both teams were waiting for them to make a mistake so that we could capitalize.  They didn't have many attempts on goal, and with about 15 minutes left, it seemed like both teams were waiting for the whistle so that we could go get warm and dry out of the umbrella destroying gusts of cold rain.

TUSC Richardson was their #2 team, ranked #5 (they play PL with the top LH teams-(they are #10 of 11 teams-lost to all 4 NTX teams in PL this year)...the entire middle of the field from box to box and wider than the center circle was either slick mud or sticky puddles (it alternated whether the ball stuck or skipped-always the one you didn't want...).  It deteriorated as the game progressed and the rain and cold became more prominent.  They had one really good chance at our goal, and we had a several on theirs.  Had we played in decent conditions, on a larger field (it was probably 110 x 60-very small compared to what we see), I feel like we would have been a goal or two better than them.  Again, quite physical, but pretty well officiated-nothing egregious.  It ended 0-0.
We played them first. We were very slow out of the gate and they took advantage of it being up 2-0 at the half. We came out much stronger in the second half and we had twice as many SOG but only one connected where the couple they had connected. Despite the score, it was a much tighter game. I do recall the wind and rain being a big factor in this one. Miserable!! Almost forgot, the CR for this game and I will quote from many of our players, "that ref was high on something!" lol  He called one of the girls on the opposing team "stupid". And when someone would complain about a call/non-call, he'd tell them he'd get back to them after he saw the replay! He was an odd one!

TUSC Umelo was their top team in the tourney.  They are ranked #2 in OK, and #6 in PL (lost 1-0 to Pulp and Andro and beat Brown 1-0 and Flanagan 6-0) and clearly the best team we played.  The field was surprisingly very good.  The middle was a little torn up, but not a difference maker.  They are fast to the ball and physical, and IMO, they were a little better than us early.  We had to adjust to their speed, but it was a pretty even match overall.  They had some nice chances, but we also had some.  The difference in the match was one play...They took a shot from the middle-left of the top of the box.  It hit the crossbar and bounced straight down.  Our GK nonchalantly grabbed it...players from both teams started prepping for the punt...the linesman stood in line with the ball making NO motion with her flag.  As the ball hit the ground off the punt, the ref blew the whistle and awarded a goal.  He made the call from about 40 yards out, approximately halfway between the center circle and the arc at the top of the box...it shocked BOTH teams, and he actually had to blow the whistle several times to stop the girls from playing.  The game ended 1-0.  I am not sure how the score reflects a 2-1 game...I didn't start drinking until much later and I only saw the one disputed goal...of course, I did amuse myself by shouting "GOAL" every time the ball went out of play after that, so perhaps I confused the ref...Of course if that starts to work, I will employ it regularly...

We played this team second.  They came to play and we did not. They were definitely the faster and more physical of the three TSC teams from what we saw.  Same CR as the first game and we never understood what he was seeing in some of his calls but it was what it was. And same here...the final score was not correct, and I wasn't drinking either. Though I was I had!  We played on field 5 for this game too and it was downpouring! They called the game a few minutes early.
In the grand scheme it doesn't matter.  We got to play 3 new teams.  We weren't trophy hunting (it was a showcase).  It was just a frustrating end to a game that shouldn't have been decided by the ref.  Overall, we got our games in, and though we played the hosts in three games (and there might have been a little home cooking), it was no more than what you see in a local tourney (other than the disputed goal).  It sounds like it went a little better than the tourneys here with cancellations etc.  I apologize for reporting that to those of you who don't really care, but just like yelling "GOAL" on any change of possession, I am mainly doing this to amuse myself...

We were glad to have played all three games but as bad as the weather and field conditions were it was debatable. Agree with your comment about it didnt matter in grand scheme of things.  It was a experience for our girls to gain from (whether it was bad or good) and will help them going forward.  I did find it interesting the hear from a TSC Willis parent that they had been practicing rain or shine 3x a week just for that showcase. The TSC goal was to take the top 3.  They said when they come to Plano (PLD) and others NTX tourneys they never win so they really wanted to make sure they won on home turf.  As they should have wanted to.

textigerfan wrote:Understand that Dad, luckily we play all South Texas teams next week in Texas Cup Showcase.  We may get torched, but at least it is different scenery.  Good luck in OK.