Surf Cup

First, Congrats to Coach Juan, the Kicks Selecao girls, and parents!  Well deserved!! Way to represent your Coach, Club, & NTX!!  Also, Thank you for supporting Sting Black during our game against Surf....very, very special moment to see our girls celebrating together on the field.

Second, Hat's off to the So Cal soccer community!  They have some very special teams ( Surf (great brand of soccer), La Galaxy ( #4 & #10 are top shelf), Legends (Keeper is 5 Star), and others.  We in NTX are trying to dethrone So Cal as soccer capital...all I know is we can't rest!!

Third, Thanks NTX for the support!  Really cool to see our community come together.  We are on the right track developing our girls, but we can't rest.  Small side, skills and Soccer iQ are imperatives.

Last, Congrats Sting Nation!  Sorry the girls could not bring home the trophy! But, they represented themelves, you all, and NTX very well.  Coach Audrey did a great job preparing the girls and already knows what the next level of development is needed.  We are a very young team with half of our roster being 06' born.  The best is yet to come....

The weather is so nice out here, JM may not bring the Cup back to NTX.  SoCal Kicks may be in the works.
Congrats to Sting on an impressive tournament run. The free kick to send the qtr final game into PK's was about as big time as it gets.
And of course Congratulations to Coach Juan and the Kicks girls. The game between Surf and Kicks was one of the best u10 matchups I have witnessed.
From a competition standpoint,  this year's SuperCopa was just as competitive as Surf. Minus the Surf team. The biggest difference I see between SoCal and NTX, 1 is depth. Socal has more top tier teams than NTX does. Which is understandable considering the difference in population. The 2nd and perhaps biggest difference is that SoCal's top teams are constantly playing and developing against one another.  Whereas in NTX, that doesn't happen. And it happens even less once LH starts, because you have team #1 beating team #20 12-0, where as SoCal top teams continue to play against one another week in and week out.

Don't count your chickens before their hatched....

1. Your squad will be 05 soon.
2. As they all get older the gap across the board has closed.

Not enough top teams in NTX.... let's talk after fall season is over.

Not sure what the purpose of your post is LaLiga.
1. So will many other teams that are currently 06 teams. What's your point. Teams that are 05's will become 04's, 04's to 03's and so on. Top players will not want or need to move down to their true birth year, unless it's to satisfy mom and dad's egos of having the top player in the age group.
2. Some physical gaps close.  Not all. Athleticism, soccer iq, desire. Those gaps don't always close.
Where there some new teams and most importantly new coaches that moved into the area that are going to start actually developing players and teams, that we are all unaware of? Why wait until the end of the fall season? Tell us now. And for the record, I hope you are right.
The limited list of top teams is not specific to the 06 age group. Look across all age groups and the average is about 4-5 top teams. Whereas SoCal consistently produces at least 7-8 per age group.

Are we already done with the rainbows and butterflies?

Wow! You guys don't bask in the glory for long!

Chiming in on birth year, for SoCal it will be a huge deal. While many 06s could play up, they have to beat out a lot of 05 talent that has been playing U11. I know that a vast number of the teams have 05s at U10. There are going to be some awesome 05 teams playing 9v9! 06 is TBD. Many of the 06 girls playing U10 are starters and impact players. Real question is to see what happens as the 06s playing U9 develop this year. Is that similar in Texas?

SWINGIT!! wrote: The biggest difference I see between SoCal and NTX, 1 is depth. Socal has more top tier teams than NTX does. Which is understandable considering the difference in population. The 2nd and perhaps biggest difference is that SoCal's top teams are constantly playing and developing against one another.  Whereas in NTX, that doesn't happen. And it happens even less once LH starts, because you have team #1 beating team #20 12-0, where as SoCal top teams continue to play against one another week in and week out.

Couldn't agree more with both of those points about the difference between socal and ntx. I think #2 is far and away the biggest factor that contributes to lack of more #1 (depth of top teams) in NTX.  NTX top teams beat each other up early in academy and then start avoiding eachother once they get a solid roster. Then they get even fewer games of top competition when they hit select. When I say top, I'm talking teams that are legitimately top 20 in the country....not topdrawer or gotsoccer nonsense...but the teams you know are top quality when you see them play and they have the results to match.

NTX top teams do lots travel and do very well against most other regions, or they play up against weaker comp, or play boys, rather than play the same top dogs in their own age group.

Socal top teams play each other over and over every year, and they typically show up for each other's local tourneys.  So we end up with a few top teams in ntx thinking they are better than they really are because they can win with personnel and style of play that may work great against 95% of teams, but doesn't fly when you get up against a real top quality side. I think if NTX top teams spent less time running from each other,  and could ratchet down the rivalry level to something a little more healthy, the frequent local competition would enable better consolidation of talent into the top teams, and the best coaches would get their hands on the best talent at earlier ages. I'm not talking about building 1 super team per age group...as i dont think that works either. I think the market supports 5 or 6 top quality nationally competitive teams, but our talent is spread out across too many teams that all win 95% of their games because they so rarely face off against the best comp amongst their peers.

congragulations to kicks. Very good points. The one that concerns me is the depth in the tournaments.  We can easily pick the semi finalists in 06.  And the clubs with multiple good teams don't register in the same tourney for several reasons.   I can break it down to you but will cause major web war here that I am not ready.  
 

SWINGIT!! wrote:Not sure what the purpose of your post is LaLiga.
1. So will many other teams that are currently 06 teams. What's your point. Teams that are 05's will become 04's, 04's to 03's and so on. Top players will not want or need to move down to their true birth year, unless it's to satisfy mom and dad's egos of having the top player in the age group.
2. Some physical gaps close.  Not all. Athleticism, soccer iq, desire. Those gaps don't always close.
Where there some new teams and most importantly new coaches that moved into the area that are going to start actually developing players and teams, that we are all unaware of? Why wait until the end of the fall season? Tell us now. And for the record, I hope you are right.
The limited list of top teams is not specific to the 06 age group. Look across all age groups and the average is about 4-5 top teams. Whereas SoCal consistently produces at least 7-8 per age group.

SWINGIT!! wrote:Not sure what the purpose of your post is LaLiga.
1. So will many other teams that are currently 06 teams. What's your point. Teams that are 05's will become 04's, 04's to 03's and so on. Top players will not want or need to move down to their true birth year, unless it's to satisfy mom and dad's egos of having the top player in the age group.
2. Some physical gaps close.  Not all. Athleticism, soccer iq, desire. Those gaps don't always close.
Where there some new teams and most importantly new coaches that moved into the area that are going to start actually developing players and teams, that we are all unaware of? Why wait until the end of the fall season? Tell us now. And for the record, I hope you are right.
The limited list of top teams is not specific to the 06 age group. Look across all age groups and the average is about 4-5 top teams. Whereas SoCal consistently produces at least 7-8 per age group.

The point is there is other talent out there besides the vaunted Kicks team or Sting Black. Or do you truly believe that all others are second class soccer players. If so then that explains the entire issue with NTX.

All others just back off and let em collect it all... That's not how it works, they will take a few kicks to the teeth figuratively over the coming years. It will happen, always done with every age group.

And completely agree with 4-3-3... the running and ducking is chicken $@!#. Line em up and let em play. SoCal does it every weekend yet NTX sits and wonders why we don't x recognition or y selection... the reasons why are long. One is we are the kings and Queens of of "my squad is too good so we need to just play boys for a while" .

We want to raise the bar as a NTX community then stop with the smoke and mirrors.

LaLiga06 wrote:

SWINGIT!! wrote:Not sure what the purpose of your post is LaLiga.
1. So will many other teams that are currently 06 teams. What's your point. Teams that are 05's will become 04's, 04's to 03's and so on. Top players will not want or need to move down to their true birth year, unless it's to satisfy mom and dad's egos of having the top player in the age group.
2. Some physical gaps close.  Not all. Athleticism, soccer iq, desire. Those gaps don't always close.
Where there some new teams and most importantly new coaches that moved into the area that are going to start actually developing players and teams, that we are all unaware of? Why wait until the end of the fall season? Tell us now. And for the record, I hope you are right.
The limited list of top teams is not specific to the 06 age group. Look across all age groups and the average is about 4-5 top teams. Whereas SoCal consistently produces at least 7-8 per age group.

The point is there is other talent out there besides the vaunted Kicks team or Sting Black. Or do you truly believe that all others are second class soccer players.  If so then that explains the entire issue with NTX.  

All others just back off and let em collect it all...  That's not how it works, they will take a few kicks to the teeth figuratively over the coming years.  It will happen, always done with every age group.  

And completely agree with 4-3-3... the running and ducking is chicken $@!#.  Line em up and let em play.  SoCal does it every weekend yet NTX sits and wonders why we don't x recognition or y selection... the reasons why are long.  One is we are the kings and Queens of of "my squad is too good so we need to just play boys for a while" .  

We want to raise the bar as a NTX community then stop with the smoke and mirrors.

Soooo...basically what you're saying is that you agree with what I said, you just felt the need to take a shot at Kicks in the meantime? And one parting shot for Sting as well.

No, you are reading into that. I can't help that.

Just my opinion but there is enough talent in the top 12 or so of NTX to compete with socal and their top 12 or so.

I think the talent in the 06s is deeper than the way your original post reads.

Being that your DD is on a squad that has for years not played others... you see the issue yet have no issue being part of the problem. Why not let your coach know you want to "help" the rest of the NTX talent and line up and play em. Over the years these girls will play with each other in various formats and teams.

So why not?

After SuperCopa, many from SoCal were most impressed with what we saw from Solar across the board. Do they run and duck?

Played up mostly for the last couple years I believe

I salute the teams playing against boys! I am very interested in seeing those results. I assume Sting black is going to get in there, are they playing platinum or gold boys?

Loosely related, I recently learned that Boys Classic League allows girls, individuals not teams. Does anyone have any experience with this?

LaLiga06 wrote:No, you are reading into that. I can't help that.

Just my opinion  but there is enough talent in the top 12 or so of NTX to compete with socal and their top 12 or so.

I think the talent in the 06s is deeper than the way your original post reads.  

Being that your DD is on a squad that has for years not played others... you see the issue yet have no issue being part of the problem. Why not let your coach know you want to "help" the rest of the NTX talent and line up and play em. Over the years these girls will play with each other in various formats and teams.

So why not?

We'll just agree to disagree about your post, as well as NTX top 12 vs. SoCal top 12.
I'm pretty sure my DD's coach has several teams in leagues all across NTX. So I'd say he's doing his part.

Ok, so where is the drop off in your opinion? Simple question.

Albion white out of San Diego is a team that most wouldn't consider as a top 10 team beat Sting Fuego/black in PKs at Supercopa and tied Kicks 2-2. Maybe their one guest player had a little something to do with it but not much.

One addition/subtraction can definitely swing things.

I dont think ntx top 12 can compete with socal top 12....not in any age group. The demographics dont work...their market is bigger plus better weather. Socal 5 to 12 teams usually give our top 5 all they can handle. Ntx SHOULD be able to have its top 4 teams on par with socal top 4...year on, year out. Dont get it twisted...socal has their share of jungle ball teams too...some of their top teams are as hyper direct and athletic as NTX. The difference is ntx may only have 1 really technical and super athletic team top to bottom per year, whereas socal seems to have several every year (i.e. entire rosters of great athletes with high soccer iq and good skill). NTX has the depth to go 4 teams deep, but talent is dispersed. Great example... [in my opinion] the best, most complete overall '01 player in ntx didnt play ecnl at u14...didnt even play d1...played d2 lake highlands and did odp. Not saying there are tons of players like her scattered around ntx, but i am saying if ntx top teams expect to be consistently on par with socal, there has to be better consolidation at the top, and then those teams and rosters have to be willing to push eachother locally.

The teams that play boys division shouldn't be concerned about results. It's just preparing them to be more physical.  even at this age,   the boys have a lot more athletic ability and skills such as headers , slide kicks , aggression and the girl teams that are used to playing platinum leagues on boys side have advantage at this point. Just my two cents.
evident from kicks selecao winning supercopa, surf, Futsal nationaks, severeral 3v3 Nationals in 2015.
Their is a major drop off between platinum and gold divisions.

Sho'nuff wrote:I salute the teams playing against boys!  I am very interested in seeing those results.  I assume Sting black is going to get in there, are they playing platinum or gold boys?

Loosely related, I recently learned that Boys Classic League allows girls, individuals not teams.  Does anyone have any experience with this?

4-3-3 wrote:I dont think ntx top 12 can compete with socal top 12....not in any age group. The demographics dont work...their market is bigger plus better weather. Socal 5 to 12 teams usually give our top 5 all they can handle. Ntx SHOULD be able to have its top 4 teams on par with socal top 4...year on, year out. Dont get it twisted...socal has their share of jungle ball teams too...some of their top teams are as hyper direct and athletic as NTX. The difference is ntx may only have 1 really technical and super athletic team top to bottom per year, whereas socal seems to have several every year (i.e. entire rosters of great athletes with high soccer iq and good skill). NTX has the depth to go 4 teams deep, but talent is dispersed. Great example... [in my opinion] the best, most complete overall '01 player in ntx didnt play ecnl at u14...didnt even play d1...played d2 lake highlands and did odp. Not saying there are tons of players like her scattered around ntx, but i am saying if ntx top teams expect to be consistently on par with socal, there has to be better consolidation at the top, and then those teams and rosters have to be willing to push eachother locally.

We can agree to disagree. Kicks Nation is out in Dribble today. No point in wasting any more time with this thread.

Congrats on Surf.

NTX and SOCAL get it done, no doubt and may indeed be the "best" nationally. Something else resonates with me, how about this, ..... I think every team predominantly in this conversation is underdeveloped. All of these teams possess tremendous athletes but cannot consistently demonstrate the fundamentals such as connecting on a minimum of 3 to 4 passes routinely. Players fault NO, but when you have one coach with 6 to 9 teams with an average of 12 players, and you train 1-2 times per week for 2-3 hours this is a very reasonable expectation. That is 70 to 100 players to the ratio of one person who is responsible for training. Developing, and coaching. What is the cost? Foregone and Lost opportunity. I think the quality and level can be better and higher. This is what I am interested in seeing from NTX and SOCAL.

Thanks  NTX for the well wishes. Playing in Surf Cup was a tremendous experience for our young players.  They competed well and most importantly had a great time on and off the field.

Congrats Sting for a good showing.  

Thanks SoCal for another great tournament.  We plan on coming back in 2017, hopefully with a few more Kicks teams.  

As for pure age, we are prepared for it. I will be coaching 05 teams with our 06s playing up.  In my opinion if you are talented you should be playing up.

If any of the top 05/06 teams would like to play us more often please let me know. We can rent fields and set up friendlies.  We have some great 06 teams and the more we play each other the better for all.  I know with coaching multiple teams it sometimes makes it tough to play in same league.  I think all the top 06 coaches have multiple teams bc of supply and demand.  If you have a track record parents want you to coach their kid.  I try to only coach my kids teams bc there are a lot of roads to development..I  trust my road for my kids the most.

4-3-3 wrote:I dont think ntx top 12 can compete with socal top 12....not in any age group. The demographics dont work...their market is bigger plus better weather. Socal 5 to 12 teams usually give our top 5 all they can handle. Ntx SHOULD be able to have its top 4 teams on par with socal top 4...year on, year out. Dont get it twisted...socal has their share of jungle ball teams too...some of their top teams are as hyper direct and athletic as NTX. The difference is ntx may only have 1 really technical and super athletic team top to bottom per year, whereas socal seems to have several every year (i.e. entire rosters of great athletes with high soccer iq and good skill). NTX has the depth to go 4 teams deep, but talent is dispersed. Great example... [in my opinion] the best, most complete overall '01 player in ntx didnt play ecnl at u14...didnt even play d1...played d2 lake highlands and did odp. Not saying there are tons of players like her scattered around ntx, but i am saying if ntx top teams expect to be consistently on par with socal, there has to be better consolidation at the top, and then those teams and rosters have to be willing to push eachother locally.

Posted this on the 04 board but applies here as well for this thread.
It's numbers pure and simple. Population of Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, 18.55 million. Population of Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, 6.5 million.

Sorry, just not buying it. There is talent not on the top 2 or 3 teams. Some kids don't want that pressure of those whacked out sidelines at the younger ages. Some parents don't want that whacked out sideline or pressure on their kid.

Many paths to development and these club coaches are not the ones developing them. It's a multitude of things developing the players. At least the ones putting in the EXTRA work.

If NTX was actually more "select" about soccer you might see a more condensed population of the talent.

Sorry, but to say that with a population the size we have there is only 2-4 teams worth of players that are worth a damn to you people is just wrong. My opinion, ain't worth much of course but then neither is anyone elses.

LaLiga06 wrote:Sorry, just not buying it. There is talent not on the top 2 or 3 teams. Some kids don't want that pressure of those whacked out sidelines at the younger ages. Some parents don't want that whacked out sideline or pressure on their kid.

Many paths to development and these club coaches are not the ones developing them.  It's a multitude of things developing the players.  At least the ones putting in the EXTRA work.  

If NTX was actually more "select" about soccer you might see a more condensed population of the talent.  

Sorry, but to say that with a population the size we have there is only 2-4 teams worth of players that are worth a damn to you people is just wrong.  My opinion, ain't worth much of course but then neither is anyone elses.

Of course there are great players not on the top teams. Everyone can see that. I'm not saying there are only 4 teams worth of players worth a damn...NTX is one of the top 5 soccer markets in the country.

But the thread is titled surf cup, and we're comparing NTX to socal. Socal IS the #1 girls soccer market in the country. With NTX's history, sports fanaticism, coaching resources, etc., it's not a stretch to think we can punch above our weight and have our top 4 teams on par with socal top 4, even though our market is nearly 1/3 the size. I don't think there is all that much of a gap at younger ages...it's when you get u12 and up that socal starts to stretch out over NTX.

My point is, it's not going to happen without better consolidation of ntx talent. If you're of the opinion ntx is already on par with socal, you're right and we'll have to agree to disagree. You'll have a hard time justifying that opinion with any facts though...kicks winning u10 surf cup doesn't overcome socal's mountain of results across the age groups that matter the most.