17's win 2-0 over Novi Jaguars from MI. Sounded like Novi missed a point blank opportunity in the first half, and MTA hit a crossbar late in the first half, then picked up two in the second.
SCV has a 4 something game today against Herndon FC from VA, so 3 something our time. Good luck guys!
So being honest is now pompous? Wow, just train the kids well when they are young and keep teaching, they will learn no matter what club if you teach...
9:29am. Get over tanking a shootout! What that MTA coach did does not reflect the other 99% of MTA. It was wrong and he paid for it. Although in my opinion, he should have been banned for longer (I'm an MTA parent). So let's move on!
You need to add a strong defense to your list. With a strong defense, the goalkeeper won't have to touch the ball much and that defense shuts down the fast forward. Yes, lucky bounce plays a part. Let's just hope a ref doesn't play the part. I've seen some awful ref's lately! Learn the game for God's sake!
Refs are awful in the World Cup. It's part of the game. Get over it, move on. Learn the game.
"Although in my opinion, he should have been banned for longer (I'm an MTA parent)." Have you gotten over it?
Putting a U13G game on the coaches before the game is even played is preposterous. U13G aren't good enough to have the game determined by the coaches...unless they're tanking a shootout, of course.
here we go its the annual who is better at u15 (now) rev or mta? never mind EP won state cup 2 years in a row over those super teams. lets vote for which is more likely to lose and not make it from pool play.
"They may be the best players at their community club, but it is often too late technically for these players to compete at the Regional and National levels where our teams compete. We give our U9-U12 players their best chance by properly teaching the fundamentals at this critical stage of a player’s soccer development."
Will be interesting to see at U15G if MTA was able to develop their players in the last year to dethrone community club EP.
GU15: Will EP win a third time? Will MTA live up to the hype and make it to Regions? Will REV make it out of pool play? Will MRL play help Edina or SCV in group B?
U13 - sorry, no knowledge of the teams U14 - MTA Blue vs. White. The Blues had a tough draw last year at Regions but still did well. U15 - EP vs. MTA Blue. MTA has suffered from a lot of injuries, but have gained some talent from last year. MTA to win. U16 - MTA vs. Burnsville. Predict another hard fought, close match with coach a factor. Should be fun to watch. U17 - SCV vs. MTA Blue. MTA should win, but they need to want it. Many of these girls already have their college futures secured. They need to show up with a passion to win. U18 - MTA vs. Eden Prairie. MTA takes it.
U13- MTA or Rev u14- MTA U15- MTA & Rev Championship. Rev takes it 1-0. u16- MTA vs Burnsville U17- MTA Blue will win without a doubt. SCV runner up. U18- MTA or Shattuck
756 and 805 both reasonable projections except for U16G. TCF wins that age group. It will be MTA and TCF in the final and the Fire will win by 2 or 3 goals.
12:16pm. Wings was going belly up and in fact were doing quite well. A good majority of non-elite money at MTA is coming in from the west metro (old Wings people).
I was at the Puma tourney in Rockford and I am not a parent of either TCF 16's or MTA 15's. TCF did beat MTA 2-0. It was a closer game than the 2-0 score. And remember it was the MTA 15 whites. So I do believe that MTA 16's will beat TCF 16's.
4/12/10 10:20, if you think you really know the game, please put your legs where your post is and get out there and show those awful refs how to do it. Once you take over and are show you are better, they will not get assigned games.
Make sure you are watching the Week In Review at USSoccer.com, to make sure you truly do understand what the refs are being told. At a minimum I'll bet you'll be surprised what is required to whistle intentional handling (hand baahhhllll).
3:58...they won 4 of 7 last year on the girls side...3 of 7 in 2009. Over two years thats 50%.
Based on the fact they only recruit top players (they technically don't have a community base)...and printed on the MTA website "Each year at the U13-U19 levels, players come from clubs across the Twin Cities in hopes of making our elite teams. Many of these players come without the proper technical foundation and therefore are not good enough to make our Elite teams".
One would assume from this arrogance they should be champs at EVERY AGE, every year! If you promote your club as elite but only win 50%...is that success? While we know other C1 and Premier teams recruit, I don't beleive any other club would put this on thier website. KEEP DRINKING THE KOOLAID PEOPLE!!!
I LOVE THE KOOLAID at MTA. It tastes so much better than the "we strive to be average" koolaid the other clubs feed you. Although, I would take EP, Wayzata and TCF out of that mix, they have pretty good clubs.
New MTA slogan: "Pay 50% more, win 50% of the time*"
*in-state...no guarantees outside Minnesota - - - - - - - - Someone help me here, because we need to work that "intentional handling" comment from old ref into the slogan.
I have one child at MTA elite and one child at Wayzata. The difference in $ is only about $250.00. My child at MTA has one extra training day a week versus my Wayzata child. I would say that's not a huge difference considering my MTA child is getting an extra training day over the course of the last 6 months.
To Anonymous above complaining about MN refs, would you rather have our country's top refs, who did last night's MLS Game of the Week, doing our State Cup games?
Referee errors are part of the game. Always have been.
Refs are 100% part of the game and you have to live with them. The good refs outnumber the bad refs. My beef is that at least know the game. A ball hitting someone's back is not a handball. You can't be offsides on a throw-in or a corner kick! Also, any 9 year old knows the difference between a goal kick and a corner kick, maybe the ref should know that too? Simple rules for the bad refs to re-learn. Last year's State Cup games were excellently reffed, but my understanding is that they are the best refs in the state.
i was at that game and agree the crew working that game wasn't qualified to take out my garbage. before you bash me for bashing the refs without being one, i did it for 20 years.
4/16/11 11:48 AM and you never had a bad game or one spectators disliked? And none of the laws have changed since then, let alone the interpretations??
Give us all a break anonymous, saying you were a ref for 20 years and then stating other refs are not qualified to take out your garbage? Man up and show us how great you are Mr. 20 year experience, then the poor crew won't get games.
geez, old ref. if you had nothing to be defensive about, maybe you wouldn't have to alway react so defensively whenever anyone rags on refs. i hope you don't have a brit accent or were anywhere near lucy winton bell on that fateful day last may. tragic.
TCF at 16? That has to be the most unlikely statement EVER made on this blog!
Once again, it will be MTA vs BVL and the winner will be whoever wants it most. BVL took a great game two years ago and MTA came out with a chip on their shoulder last year.
I would have to give the nod to BVL because MTA may not bring the same level of play, thinking they have it in the bag. If (no when) those two teams meet this year, I will definitely watch that game. It will be one of the better games of the tournament.
Other girls predictions 13 - who knows? 14 - MTA 15 - EP 16 - see above 17 - MTA 18 - MTA might break through
old ref....considering how defensive you are, I'm guessing that you're not the greatest ref. Because if you were one of the good refs (there are lots of them out there), you would be more agreeable. If you were a good ref you must have seen some bad games, but if you're a bad ref you obviously don't know what a bad call was! I'll end by saying that there is still many more good refs than bad refs!
4:25 PM and 5:18 PM, not being defensive,just saying the same thing over and over. If you think you can be better get off your Arse and show everyone.
Lots of complaints every season, every tournament, every league but most complaints are due to spectator, coach, and players not understanding the directives given to the officials.
I was at Lucy last year, received my assessment and passed without any issues. Unfortunately I don't have an English accent, (I might get even better games than I do), and yes I do know who you are talking about. If your assessment is accurate, which I seriously doubt, he had a bad game. He is a good referee. By the way, I will defend even the worst to all of you who don't put the time, energy and money into understanding the laws and paying back the game.
By the way 5:18, nice logic. You lost your credibility first sentence.
Refs will always make errors. It's part of the game.
It's the players' duty to score enough goals so the errors don't matter. It's the parents' duty to spectate quietly. It's the hooligans' right to berate the referees. It's the referees' job to ignore the hooligans. And the world goes round and round.
The point is, do you really expect referees doing a U16 MN State Cup game are going to be perfect?
Referees doing Men's World Cup games make game altering errors. Again, soccer in MN is the bottom of the barrel. "Good" refs aren't going to be doing youth games around here. It's not worth their time, travel or money.
Can someone start a new blog about refs? This is getting old! Refs typically don't determine the outcome...they players do (occasionally the coach can take the blame).
Anything new leading up to state cup? Tournament or scrimmage outcome?
I was at the ssm-psa game and the ref was not to blame for the loss. ssm had a very good team and seemed poised to advance to the semis but someone forgot to tell them that soccer is an unpredictable game of tactics. 2 players on the team seemed to be more concerned about standing out in a negative way and cost the team a chance to advance. ssm u-17 will win the state cup if they concentrate on the game and let the coach be in charge and not vice-versa.
3;23...I would hope parents recognize when a coach makes an adjustment or substitution to put the players in a better position to win. So yes...they can, but do they is another question.
Speaking of refs, MYSA announced at the mandatory team meetings on Saturday that teams will have the ability to comment on refs when they report scores. I'm a ref and see this as long overdue. While there will undoubtedly be complaints by teams trying to blaim the refs for losing games, I hope it will give MYSA and clubs insight as to who should be reffing at different ages and levels.
I was at that meeting and I think it's a good idea if we do it right. I'm going to make sure that I give positive feedback when there's a good ref. 98% of the time it is a good ref. But if we get one of those 2% bad refs, they'll hear from me too. MYSA must have had lots of feedback on some bad calls last year!
No way Prior Lake at 14's. MTA white will be runners-up again. MTA white's upgraded with some players from; Prior Lake, Twin Cities Fire, Dakota Rev, Lakeville and the goalie from Wayzata. Prior Lake is a good team and they will win their bracket and make it to the semi-finals.
I love it when all people can see is the regions. Let's just see what's happening in MN first. Maybe MN teams will go far in regions, maybe not. But let's just focus on the next month. I'm thinking that the people that keep attacking MN teams (any club) about not winning regions are just jealous! I'm guessing that you must be part of a club that can't even make it out of State Cup?
I agree, we should focus on winning at regions. Who cares about winning state cup. The state should come together and focus on winning something bigger.
So MYSA is saying it wants feedback on the performance of a group of people who have to take a test, and pay money to get certified every year, and they want that feedback from people who do not get certified or even understand the requirements of performing the job correctly?
Would it be appropriate to assess other drivers, if you yourself could not pass the drivers test?How do you assess someone if you do not have the qualifications to assess them?
You are a bad ref because I disagree with your calls against my DD or son's team. That is a great way to weed out the bad refs?? Another brilliant MYSA idea!
Who reports the score anyway? The coach who is familiar with the rules? Or is it the manager of little johnny or DD...who is holding a grudge cause they just got whooped by MTA.
The only teams getting whooped by MTA are the lowly Community Clubs from where MTA takes its players. Apparently MTA doesn't do much with them on the bigger stage outside of Minnesota. If I read their website correctly, that's the stage upon which they want to compete.
"the lowly Community Clubs from where MTA takes its players"
The so-called lowly Community Club has no right to my child. Never has never will. Get over it people, just because you live in a city doesn't mean you are locked into playing sports there.
And by the way, those same lowly community clubs are "taking" players away from other lowly community clubs just as quickly as MTA or SSM or Blackhawks or TCF or ...
go for it, dude. good luck competing on that bigger stage. oh wait, mta's STILL not competitive on that bigger stage. oh well, might as well go back and beat up on the MN teams some more.
At least MTA keeps trying, I don't see alot of other clubs even bothering to try to compete on the higher stage. It's going to take time and it can't happen overnight. We'll see a difference in MN soccer in a few years, if that's MTA, SPU, SSM or some new club, but MN soccer will improve.
MN Soccer has improved, parallel to US Soccer improving. MTA is on a good path. Too bad they can't be more humble about it. A little humility would get the lowly community clubs off their case.
8:15am What is competitive on the bigger stage?? There our thousands of clubs in this country and most cannot compete on the bigger stage. It seems to me that you equate competitive with winning, not sure they are the same thing. MTA is the only club in MN that has teams competing in USDA and ECNL and if I am not mistaken they had 3 teams advance to the region semi's last year. How many region 2 clubs had 3 or more teams get that far?? MTA is fielding teams that do compete at the regional level and for the most part they are competitive. I guess for most if you are not winning everything you are not competitive.
As for MTA stealing kids from the lowly community clubs, the large majority of kids playing in MTA today have come through the Juniors programs and have been with MTA for most of their soccer careers. A great example of this is the 94 Blue girls, they have not added a player from outside of MTA in 3 years, yet they advanced to the USYSA nationals last year and are one of the top teams in the ECNL A Flight for the second year in a row. TC Fire, St Croix and Dakota REV hava all added numerous kids from outside of their club over this same time period, yet the MTA team has only added players who have been developed on the white team in the past 3 years.
Go ahead bash away, but there is way more development going on within MTA than most of you care to realize, especially on the girls side.
Not a bash, and I am a MTA parent, but shouldn't all the MTA girls teams be having the same kind of success as the 94 team? That group of girls were really lucky as they had MA start out with them at U11 and keep them until U14. They then got switched over to MC and have also had success. But what about the other girls teams who have not been as fortunate to have these coaches? And I know coaching has been a huge issue with certain players/parents over the last couple of years. It's nice to single out the 94's and they truly are the only team on the girls side with measureable success but it's easy to use them as the example.
There are more than 2 good coaches at MTA especially on the girls side.
11:13 you are right. Many of the girls teams have come up through the ranks; Wings and Bangu. Our coach does not recruit players from other clubs. Try-outs are open to anyone that wants to come out.
OK. Lets talk about state cup. 17 girls. Group A is the group of death with blue and ssm battle to get out of group play. ssm can beat blue but it is a toss up. the rest of the group is a push over. Group B is the second group of death with very good teams. st croix looks strong in tournaments at disney, casl, and bluechip. but can they come out of group play against a good dakota rev team and northern light and tcf. Group C is pretty weak with white team playing against weak teams. if they can't come out of group play then there are serious problems with this team. they won las vegas convincingly. Group D is wide open with the edge to edp but the weather could be a factor for any team to take this group. 17 is the age that every play will play their hardest for college coaches. So what ever we have convinced ourselves of what these teams did in the past, we should throw that out of the window. What do you think? You've seen what happened to a talented SSM 17 boys last year losing to MTA 17 white,a second team, in a shoot out in the semifinal game. This is just an example of the 17 age group on the boys side.
Here's a tip: E-mail coaches at schools your child is interested in. They will make the trip to watch your child if you show interest. That said, having the event in Isanti is a dumb idea. My kids emailed coaches in Wisconsin and Illinois on their MRL trips and frequently had coaches come watch them. They want to know you're interested.
P.S. The real bracket of death is Boys U17 Group B.
EP has to be heavy fav...went to Iowa and won at age 16 (played C1 teams). They should advance out of Bracket A.
B is a toss up, but the edge goes to SCV team. Played well last year, this year doing well in MRL with improved players will put them atop this bracket. How doees MTA white look? Edina is struggling in MRL?
C is a toss up. Both MTA and REV on paper should advance, but my guess is only one will. I predict Lkv or PSA will provide an early upset (you heard it hear first). The wild card will prob come from B (even competition means ties vs losses).
17 boys. agreed that group b is the group of death. but 2 teams will come out of this group. mta blue and ssm are favorites. unless mus consolidated top players to one team, they will struggle in both brackets. a good game to watch is scv vs mta white game 3 in group a. its a rematch of last year's final.
MUS01 is last year's Wildcats, and tehy are also in Group B. Not sure if they consolidated Jedi and Wildcats on to this team, but Wildcats has much more talent that MUS02.
Just because two strong teams are in one bracket don't assume both will advance (especially with MUS01 there). If there is a 3-0 team, the next best team will have at least 1 loss, meaning it will come down to goal differential between all the teams with 1 loss in the age group. Assuming VLY has some skill, I don't see any goal-differential blowouts in group B. Rather, I see two teams coming from Group A, where you have the winner and runner up from last year playing two very weak teams.
The winner of Group C will basically be someone's Washington Generals in the semis.
I think a lot of last year's blue is still with the top (group B) team, so one would assume a core of white players are still on the group Am in A. In other words, they'll both be good. Plus, SCV has been weak in MRL, losing to Wildcats and tying (tying!) a team from South Dakota. SOUTH DAKOTA!
Re: seeding, how in the world can you do that unless you have recent head-to-head play to judge? As we saw this past year at U17, personnel changes to much from year to year on these top teams. That's one committee I would not want to be part of.
Not committee. Coaches from each team. They know each other, and they all know what is happening with personel, many have scrimmaged, it really could work.
With the high school seeding, they do look at head to head, but many teams don't play the same teams in their sections. The coaches also listen to each other and weight games differently if certain players who were injured or are injured now. Rational respectful discussion can and does work with coaches, if two disagree the rest of the group breaks the tie.
12:19 USSDA does affect the u17 age group. A huge chunk of last year's MTA blue 16's are now on the MTA DA 16's team. DA teams are birth year, not August to July like the rest of the leagues.
A couple other players from that team are on the 92's DA team, others are develpomental players.
SSM and MTA will field weaker teams at State Cup at ages U15 through U18 because the best players are on the Academy rosters. This in my opinion makes State Cup wide open in those 4 age groups.
7:48, pretty safe assessment, since these age groups are traditionally wide open. Parents and players both move around looking for something that feels right and fits.
It really does come down to who is healthy, and playing well at the right time. At 17's, if SCV is hurt, then they won't do well, if MTA blue is missing key players-ditto. If MU is melding the players well, if SSM stays out of caution trouble ...
On the girls side, many games come down to scheduling vs prom. Sucks, but reality.
14g St Croix vs TCF. Any guesses? TCF didn't do too well at MRL over the weekend and are are now in last place vs some less than average teams. TCF also has the most goals scored against them. I still have to go with TCF cuz SCV hasn't done anything.
Not bad, Frank. U18B made another case for seeding more than one team into the brackets. Not sure what MTA White/Blue has due to their seeding directly into the semis, but SCV v. BHK was your championship. Too bad they had to meet in the first round, and BHK proved once again that luck always wins over beauty. The other four teams were garbage.
I thought the grass was too long last night, so it may be slooooooow tonight. Too bad the games tonight are mostly play-ins, as the best team doesn't often win in conditions like we'll see tonight. Beats flipping a coin or going straight to shoot-outs though.
The college coaches in attendance for state cup will only be for U17 and U18 players. This will include every MIAC coach, a few WIAC, and some Iowa schools. Division 1 coaches will not come unless they hear about some all-star that wants to go to there school.
If any C1 team reaches the final against a Premier team, the C1 team will forfeit, allowing the Premier team to go to regions because they "should" show better at regions.
CC = Classless Cowards (only about 5%, the rest of the people are fine)
All you can do is find ways to attack MTA or SSM. And when that gets old, you go after refs and than on to kids that might be too old to play with your little Mia or David. Why don't you spend your energy looking at ways to maybe lure some of these players away from MTA or SSM. You can't do it can you! Stop whining and take some action!
4:02pm You're right, there are some conceded folks at MTA. I'm not one of them. I have the utmost respect for all clubs. Unfortunately, the 5% of bad folks stand out at both MTA and CC's. Everyone should play soccer where they feel comfortable and we don't need to knock why they play there.
5:15pm Did I say "they're not good enough to make our teams?" I don't think so! Where did you get that from? Most of MTA is not like but I will admit that there are some parents/players like that! That's the 5% of bad that we were talking about. Your remarks tell me that you're the 5% from the cc that is inconsiderate! Grow up!
Hello haters. Been awhile. What'd I miss? I love that I'll never be forgotten by some of you.
My girls practiced PKs at our last training session. Before we started, someone asked if I wanted them to practice rolling the ball at the GK. We all had a good laugh.
It was 2 years ago people so move on! Hate MTA or love them, everyone has a right to their own opinion! Until another club steps up and does what MTA is doing than shut-up! But beware "other club" everyone will hate you for doing it.
Let the fun begin tomorrow. There may be a few upsets no one predicted by the ever so confident Thunder crowd. Hope the fields are better than predicted on this site, parking may be a nightmare!
I think the boys U15-U16-U17-U18 age groups will be wide open with no real favorites. Both MTA and SSM have their top players at these age groups on the USSF Academy teams and those players are not eligible for State Cup. Good luck to all the teams and players.
I'm MTA! But, in the back of mind it would be fun to see CC win in every bracket. Than they can go to regionals. Than we can sit back and attack them for their training or lack of training methods. We can attack them because "well they might have done better if they had recruited some better players." I could go on and on. Good luck to EVERY team playing at State Cup. I hope the best team wins in every bracket regardless of what club that might be and I hope that every player stays healthy.
MTA U14 Boys have had 2 of their players called up to the U14 National team and will miss State Cup games. This could be a chance for some strong team to beat them.
MA said..."My girls practiced PKs at our last training session. Before we started, someone asked if I wanted them to practice rolling the ball at the GK. We all had a good laugh."
Players who have been with the same coach for too long tend to act like their coach. So, the above player's remark would be no surprise. But, of course, the real Mark (aka the cheater) probably did not make the above post.
Here is my beef with MTA...they have no problem kicking teams butt by 15 (nice job running up the score)...it's a fact, they are a better team than all the 14's in MN combined!
But on the other hand when they go to regions and can't compete...they don't like the bad ink.
Well, others wouldnt be so negative if they gracefully beat the local teams. What non MTA players/parents can honestly cheer for them at Regions.
I'm from MTA and I will cheer for them when they go to regions. Although, I'm ashamed that they would run up a score that way. That's uncalled for and bad sportsmanship. Come on work on combos, etc! My MTA coach goes up by 5 goals and were not allowed to shoot! Most MTA teams would not run up a score like that! Although, MA might have been proving a point. Remember he wasn't allowed to coach at State Cup last year. Still bad though!
If anyone needs directions up to Isanti, here you go:
1. Proceed through the heart of the metro area. You will pass many large open park areas with soccer fields, several with lights. Continue on past these facilities. 2. Drive to the northernmost suburbs. You will pass one of the largest soccer complexes in the country with over 50 vacant soccer fields, including a large stadium that many youth players are excited to play in. Continue driving past this major soccer complex. 3. Continue through the village of Ham Lake. As the scenery becomes more rural and you encounter many trailer parks, you may become concerned that you have driven past the facility. Do not be alarmed, you are not even half way there -- continue driving. 4. Continue through the town of East Bethel. If you have driven up from the south suburbs, you may need to stretch your legs and have a pee by this point on the journey. The only public restroom is available at the Twin Pines Bait Shop. If the bait shop happens to be closed, feel free to pee behind the building, this is acceptable behavior in these parts; just don’t wander off too far into the woods (you remember what happened in Deliverance, right?) 5. Continue through the town of Bethel. By this point, your boredom may become delusional, and you may start to wonder why Bethel is located “North” of “East” Bethel -- don’t overthink it, stay focused and just keep driving. 6. Continue on until you see the sign marking Isanti County. You are getting closer, but don’t get excited -- Isanti County is apparently a fairly large county. Keep driving. 7. Arrive at the town of Isanti. STAY ALERT -- MYSA apparently had some cut backs in the sign department and could no longer afford the little “State Cup Here” sign, so you are on your own at this point. 8. Meander through “downtown” Isanti. It is not a bad little town, but if you’ve had the unfortunate luck of forgetting any piece of gear, proceed immediately back to Blaine; apparently the town’s coop store is not familiar with an activity called “soccer” and as such does not carry any gear. 9. If the train of minivans isn’t obvious enough for you, follow the seagulls toward the large garbage dump. 10. Proceed to the mud pits adjacent to the dump titled “Parking”. CAUTION -- If you do not own a 4WD vehicle, do not proceed to this point, you will not make it out of there. 11. Enjoy your child’s game, reverse the above to return home. Go immediately to http://mnfutbol.blogspot.com. If you are an MTA parent, brag about your team and complain about the poor officiating; non-MTA parents, complain about the poor officiating and how everyone from MTA are total a-holes.
If your child is lucky enough to advance to the finals, repeat the above each day for the next 4 weekends.
You forgot something...when you go to leave the mud ridden, absent parking availability fields, you will be taking a left turn on the only traffic heavy road in the area. Be prepared to sit for 45 minutes, as the home town empty chamber one bullet in the shirt pocket deputy has not been notified to assist with the MYSA traffic nightmare. Enjoy the games! St. Croix Rocks!!!
The MTA teams that lost were outplayed. We will not blame the refs, weather, parking, etc. Quite simply outplayed. MTA is still the top club in the state until another club steps up. So come on CC stop whinning and let's see what you've got!
7:43pm - your an a$$. You are insulting and rude, and instead of complaining should step up to the plate and get one of those many club fields you drove by to be willing to host State Cup Games. MYSA with all their power CAN NOT force a club or city to host!
I agree with 9:20am. MYSA doesn't force anyone to host State Cup. Many clubs don't want to host it, so Isanti stepped to the plate. They're doing the best job they can. Also you don't have to be a blind sheep and follow all the cars out of the lot to make your left turn on Cty 5. There are other routes!
Playing State Cup in the monsoon is a good idea, but it's too chilly now? The lack of commitment in this state to running a quality event is a hideous spectacle for anyone serious about youth soccer. No other Region II state runs their State Cup in April (and other than ND, we are the northern-most state in the region). They laugh at us - and rightly so. What's equally telling is that no email went out to announce the cancellation of State Cup today (people had to call the hotline - and many, after playing yesterday in the horrible conditions assumed today would be on), drove up there to find out there were no games. However, MYSA's event line says an EMAIL will be sent out tomorrow with schedule changes. HOW DUMB IS THAT??!!
Making Youth Soccer Awful (MYSA).
This is why MTA and other clubs are looking at options other than the state organization for their top teams...
I could see that maybe the games this morning would have been canceled, but this afternoon it's going to be in low 50's. Perfect soccer weather! But really MYSA could you maybe post it on the website in addition to the hotline.
I was at the 10:00 am games. The rain was heavy, on and off, and the cross winds were heavy. It was cold, but the players didn't seem to mind (watched U14 boys). I didn't understand what was worse today, and also noticed many games at NSC this morning. One of the parking lots was brutal at Isanti. In the area, there was only one port-a-potty, with 5 or 6 people standing in line in the pouring rain. The fields were fine, but I think it is a combination of the facilities, parking, drive, and lack of support. MYSA needs to reach out and ask people to assist. I did not see field marshals. One individual from MYSA came past to move spectators from behind the goal, and two minutes later, they moved back. I suspect the Isanti Soccer Club (if there is one) doesn't have the depth of CR or LWB to assist with the volunteer duties that can take the tournament to the next level.
state cup teams historically have had to provide two volunteers, or lose a $100 deposit. for some reason we weren't asked to provide volunteers this year.
this is such a major event for the kids, teams and clubs; what a shame they mess it up year after year.
12:24 - Games cannot be rescheduled for the 15th. Some Teams already have their 3rd group play games scheduled for that day and per National Championship series rules, no More than 1 game per day.
The one thing I dislike about MTA is that nobody will ever admit they made a mistake (other than MA). I have been held hostage by a coach and club that I know is in the best interest of my child but if you ask the hard question, you get excuses, or, even worse, "go find another team." MTA is the best route if your child wants to play at the highest level. I am so frustrated with the elitism, and lack of customer service. If I pay $300 a month, I expect a voice. If you piss someone off, even if you are right, you don't get calls returned, excuses,etc. I wish that the director would step in and remind coaches that in the real world, people make mistakes and they need to acknowledge it. Sorry for the rant. Long Sunday.
Hopefully very soon 3:43. But unfortunately as it stands right now, the State Cup is looked at as the most important competition of the season for many teams and I think we can all agree that rarely ever do the conditions allow for quality soccer (fields, weather, etc.).
Key part of the phrase was conditions allow for quality soccer.
With that said I can promise you that if Barcelona and Arsenal played on those fields it would look much different than what it looks like on their beautifully maintained fields.
Additionally, coaches modify tactics based on conditions, I can promise you that.
1,493 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 400 of 1493 Newer› Newest»Is that published somewhere?
on the website. i have no problem with it. howd the 17B's do at blue chip today?
17's win 2-0 over Novi Jaguars from MI. Sounded like Novi missed a point blank opportunity in the first half, and MTA hit a crossbar late in the first half, then picked up two in the second.
SCV has a 4 something game today against Herndon FC from VA, so 3 something our time. Good luck guys!
So being honest is now pompous? Wow, just train the kids well when they are young and keep teaching, they will learn no matter what club if you teach...
wow. jaguars are ranked #62 nationally. well done mta.
wait. "novi" jags (white) are ranked 899, but blue chip online schedule links to michigan jags (green), who are 62. which one was it?
Green. They Beat the Better team.
Why did it say that they played the "novi" team then?
Not sure. It is apart of the MRL Premier league though so it was the better one
Sorry, I thought they were Novi. The boys had played them in prior season, so mixed them up.
Who is the best U13G team in Minnesota?
IMO: Dakota Rev, MTA & MU
Easy answer - MTA. But, I guess we'll have to wait until State Cup to get the final answer.
Rev. no question.
How is MTA the easy answer? When was the last time that REV & MTA played each other?
No way Rev! MTA for sure
U13 is a open age group with no real good team.
13's and 15's will be mta vs rev...14 is mta runaway!
938, I agree that 13's and 15's will be mta vs rev. Coaching will make the difference. Who coaches these teams?
Coaching at U13G and U15G makes a difference? Sure, if they're instructed to tank a shootout.
It comes down to a fast forward, a goalkeeper, and a lucky bounce.
9:29am. Get over tanking a shootout! What that MTA coach did does not reflect the other 99% of MTA. It was wrong and he paid for it. Although in my opinion, he should have been banned for longer (I'm an MTA parent). So let's move on!
You need to add a strong defense to your list. With a strong defense, the goalkeeper won't have to touch the ball much and that defense shuts down the fast forward. Yes, lucky bounce plays a part. Let's just hope a ref doesn't play the part. I've seen some awful ref's lately! Learn the game for God's sake!
Refs are awful in the World Cup. It's part of the game. Get over it, move on. Learn the game.
"Although in my opinion, he should have been banned for longer (I'm an MTA parent)." Have you gotten over it?
Putting a U13G game on the coaches before the game is even played is preposterous. U13G aren't good enough to have the game determined by the coaches...unless they're tanking a shootout, of course.
here we go its the annual who is better at u15 (now) rev or mta? never mind EP won state cup 2 years in a row over those super teams. lets vote for which is more likely to lose and not make it from pool play.
MTA better win at U13 according to this:
"They may be the best players at their community club, but it is often too late technically for these players to compete at the Regional and National levels where our teams compete. We give our U9-U12 players their best chance by properly teaching the fundamentals at this critical stage of a player’s soccer development."
Will be interesting to see at U15G if MTA was able to develop their players in the last year to dethrone community club EP.
GU15: Will EP win a third time? Will MTA live up to the hype and make it to Regions? Will REV make it out of pool play? Will MRL play help Edina or SCV in group B?
12:03 PM No, Yes, as the wildcard, No.
12:03: Yes, No, Yes, Yes.
My predictions on the girls side:
U13 - sorry, no knowledge of the teams
U14 - MTA Blue vs. White. The Blues had a tough draw last year at Regions but still did well.
U15 - EP vs. MTA Blue. MTA has suffered from a lot of injuries, but have gained some talent from last year. MTA to win.
U16 - MTA vs. Burnsville. Predict another hard fought, close match with coach a factor. Should be fun to watch.
U17 - SCV vs. MTA Blue. MTA should win, but they need to want it. Many of these girls already have their college futures secured. They need to show up with a passion to win.
U18 - MTA vs. Eden Prairie. MTA takes it.
Look forward to comments...
756,
Of course you will have comments.
Here are my predictions:
U13- MTA or Rev
u14- MTA
U15- MTA & Rev Championship. Rev takes it 1-0.
u16- MTA vs Burnsville
U17- MTA Blue will win without a doubt. SCV runner up.
U18- MTA or Shattuck
At 15 - are MTA and the Rev in the same bracket? I might have the wrong teams.
yup
756 and 805 both reasonable projections except for U16G. TCF wins that age group. It will be MTA and TCF in the final and the Fire will win by 2 or 3 goals.
Fire? what?
7:56 PM who cares????
Has anyone started a state cup pool?
Spitonu
9:26am. I care! After all this is about the State Cup, so why can't someone make predictions. They're only predictions.
But Fire? I mean, really. Do they even have a club anymore? I thought they went belly up like Oryx and merged with someone.
Belly up like Wings and merged with someone.
Is this the same Fire team that barely beat MTA's 15 Whites in Rockford? The Fire 16s would be very lucky to beat MTA, yet alone by 2 or 3 goals.
How do you know they barely beat them were you there??
12:16pm. Wings was going belly up and in fact were doing quite well. A good majority of non-elite money at MTA is coming in from the west metro (old Wings people).
I was at the Puma tourney in Rockford and I am not a parent of either TCF 16's or MTA 15's. TCF did beat MTA 2-0. It was a closer game than the 2-0 score. And remember it was the MTA 15 whites.
So I do believe that MTA 16's will beat TCF 16's.
"It was a closer game than the score."
One of my favorite lines / cliches from this blog. Very commonly used by MTA Believers.
That's kind of catchy. Should MTA's nickname be, 'The Believers?'
4/12/10 10:20, if you think you really know the game, please put your legs where your post is and get out there and show those awful refs how to do it. Once you take over and are show you are better, they will not get assigned games.
Make sure you are watching the Week In Review at USSoccer.com, to make sure you truly do understand what the refs are being told. At a minimum I'll bet you'll be surprised what is required to whistle intentional handling (hand baahhhllll).
How many State Cup titles has MTA won the past 3-4 years?
I beeeeliiieeevvvveee!
3:58...they won 4 of 7 last year on the girls side...3 of 7 in 2009. Over two years thats 50%.
Based on the fact they only recruit top players (they technically don't have a community base)...and printed on the MTA website "Each year at the U13-U19 levels, players come from clubs across the Twin Cities in hopes of making our elite teams. Many of these players come without the proper technical foundation and therefore are not good enough to make our Elite teams".
One would assume from this arrogance they should be champs at EVERY AGE, every year! If you promote your club as elite but only win 50%...is that success? While we know other C1 and Premier teams recruit, I don't beleive any other club would put this on thier website.
KEEP DRINKING THE KOOLAID PEOPLE!!!
I LOVE THE KOOLAID at MTA. It tastes so much better than the "we strive to be average" koolaid the other clubs feed you. Although, I would take EP, Wayzata and TCF out of that mix, they have pretty good clubs.
New MTA slogan: "Pay 50% more, win 50% of the time*"
*in-state...no guarantees outside Minnesota
- - - - - - - -
Someone help me here, because we need to work that "intentional handling" comment from old ref into the slogan.
TCF has two teams. Two teams does not make a "pretty good club."
I have one child at MTA elite and one child at Wayzata. The difference in $ is only about $250.00. My child at MTA has one extra training day a week versus my Wayzata child. I would say that's not a huge difference considering my MTA child is getting an extra training day over the course of the last 6 months.
If you pay fees based upon the size of the coach's ego, I think MTA is the best deal in town!
Every great coach through the course of history no matter what sport has to have an ego!
Yeah. Look at Bud Grant.
11:06 AM - get a life!
TCF has about 6 teams. Half of them are Premier, the others C1. Not a lot of teams, but generally pretty good.
5:55 PM -- at what level?
To Anonymous above complaining about MN refs, would you rather have our country's top refs, who did last night's MLS Game of the Week, doing our State Cup games?
Referee errors are part of the game. Always have been.
Refs are 100% part of the game and you have to live with them. The good refs outnumber the bad refs. My beef is that at least know the game. A ball hitting someone's back is not a handball. You can't be offsides on a throw-in or a corner kick! Also, any 9 year old knows the difference between a goal kick and a corner kick, maybe the ref should know that too?
Simple rules for the bad refs to re-learn.
Last year's State Cup games were excellently reffed, but my understanding is that they are the best refs in the state.
There was a brit at last year's Cup who reffed a SSM/PSA U16 game who was the worst ref I've ever seen.
i was at that game and agree the crew working that game wasn't qualified to take out my garbage. before you bash me for bashing the refs without being one, i did it for 20 years.
4/16/11 11:48 AM and you never had a bad game or one spectators disliked? And none of the laws have changed since then, let alone the interpretations??
Give us all a break anonymous, saying you were a ref for 20 years and then stating other refs are not qualified to take out your garbage? Man up and show us how great you are Mr. 20 year experience, then the poor crew won't get games.
geez, old ref. if you had nothing to be defensive about, maybe you wouldn't have to alway react so defensively whenever anyone rags on refs. i hope you don't have a brit accent or were anywhere near lucy winton bell on that fateful day last may. tragic.
TCF at 16? That has to be the most unlikely statement EVER made on this blog!
Once again, it will be MTA vs BVL and the winner will be whoever wants it most. BVL took a great game two years ago and MTA came out with a chip on their shoulder last year.
I would have to give the nod to BVL because MTA may not bring the same level of play, thinking they have it in the bag. If (no when) those two teams meet this year, I will definitely watch that game. It will be one of the better games of the tournament.
Other girls predictions
13 - who knows?
14 - MTA
15 - EP
16 - see above
17 - MTA
18 - MTA might break through
old ref....considering how defensive you are, I'm guessing that you're not the greatest ref. Because if you were one of the good refs (there are lots of them out there), you would be more agreeable. If you were a good ref you must have seen some bad games, but if you're a bad ref you obviously don't know what a bad call was!
I'll end by saying that there is still many more good refs than bad refs!
4:25 PM and 5:18 PM, not being defensive,just saying the same thing over and over. If you think you can be better get off your Arse and show everyone.
Lots of complaints every season, every tournament, every league but most complaints are due to spectator, coach, and players not understanding the directives given to the officials.
I was at Lucy last year, received my assessment and passed without any issues. Unfortunately I don't have an English accent, (I might get even better games than I do), and yes I do know who you are talking about. If your assessment is accurate, which I seriously doubt, he had a bad game. He is a good referee. By the way, I will defend even the worst to all of you who don't put the time, energy and money into understanding the laws and paying back the game.
By the way 5:18, nice logic. You lost your credibility first sentence.
The outcome is always about that damn ref. Ruining the life of my little Mia or Langdon.
No surprise that my daughter doesn't want to ref anymore. Pathetic when kids don't want to ref because of the behavior of U8 parents.
Refs will always make errors. It's part of the game.
It's the players' duty to score enough goals so the errors don't matter. It's the parents' duty to spectate quietly. It's the hooligans' right to berate the referees. It's the referees' job to ignore the hooligans. And the world goes round and round.
Another meaningless comment from Mister Soccer.
Spitonu
Mister Soccer you make and miss the point...hooligans at U8 soccer games.
"It's the parents' duty to spectate quietly. It's the hooligans' right to berate the referees."
Parents are the only people at U18 games. If parents can consider themselves hooligans, they should be embarrassed.
"It's the referees' job to ignore the hooligans."
The point is, do you really expect referees doing a U16 MN State Cup game are going to be perfect?
Referees doing Men's World Cup games make game altering errors. Again, soccer in MN is the bottom of the barrel. "Good" refs aren't going to be doing youth games around here. It's not worth their time, travel or money.
10:24 AM--what the heck are you babbling about???!!!
Can someone start a new blog about refs? This is getting old! Refs typically don't determine the outcome...they players do (occasionally the coach can take the blame).
Anything new leading up to state cup? Tournament or scrimmage outcome?
"occasionally the coach can take the BLAME"
Can the coach occasionally take the praise?
I was at the ssm-psa game and the ref was not to blame for the loss. ssm had a very good team and seemed poised to advance to the semis but someone forgot to tell them that soccer is an unpredictable game of tactics. 2 players on the team seemed to be more concerned about standing out in a negative way and cost the team a chance to advance. ssm u-17 will win the state cup if they concentrate on the game and let the coach be in charge and not vice-versa.
"Reffed a SSM/PSA U16 game who was the worst ref I've ever seen. The crew working that game wasn't qualified to take out my garbage."
"The ref was not to blame for the loss."
So who's lying?
3;23...I would hope parents recognize when a coach makes an adjustment or substitution to put the players in a better position to win. So yes...they can, but do they is another question.
4:03...whats your point? two different opinions from the same game. I say "tomatoe" you say "tamatoe". It's a dead issue...game over move on!
Does someone have to be lying?
Speaking of refs, MYSA announced at the mandatory team meetings on Saturday that teams will have the ability to comment on refs when they report scores. I'm a ref and see this as long overdue. While there will undoubtedly be complaints by teams trying to blaim the refs for losing games, I hope it will give MYSA and clubs insight as to who should be reffing at different ages and levels.
I was at that meeting and I think it's a good idea if we do it right. I'm going to make sure that I give positive feedback when there's a good ref. 98% of the time it is a good ref. But if we get one of those 2% bad refs, they'll hear from me too.
MYSA must have had lots of feedback on some bad calls last year!
What will MYSA do with the feedback?
MYSA is dangling a carrot, they won't do anything with it.
they need scrap paper to test-drive the new shredder in the office.
Since the rest of us aren't worthy and MTA is going to sweep every age group for boys and girls, who will the runner up be at each age group?
Girls side predictions
Girls
13- Dakota Rev
14- Prior Lake
15- Eden Prairie
16- Burnsville
17- St Croix
18- Eden Prairie
No way Prior Lake at 14's. MTA white will be runners-up again. MTA white's upgraded with some players from; Prior Lake, Twin Cities Fire, Dakota Rev, Lakeville and the goalie from Wayzata.
Prior Lake is a good team and they will win their bracket and make it to the semi-finals.
Runners up:
13 MTA
14 MTA
15 MTA
16 MTA
17 MTA
18 MTA
19 MTA
Lots of MTA envy in here...wow!
Show me the money!!!
1:12pm. You made me laugh! Being an MTA parent, I would love to see MTA vs MTA in every final. I just don't think we'll see that happen.
"Being an MTA parent, I would love to see MTA vs MTA in every final. I just don't think we'll see that happen."
I think you should care more about winning the region than about 2nd place in MN.
I love it when all people can see is the regions. Let's just see what's happening in MN first. Maybe MN teams will go far in regions, maybe not. But let's just focus on the next month.
I'm thinking that the people that keep attacking MN teams (any club) about not winning regions are just jealous! I'm guessing that you must be part of a club that can't even make it out of State Cup?
I agree, we should focus on winning at regions. Who cares about winning state cup. The state should come together and focus on winning something bigger.
So MYSA is saying it wants feedback on the performance of a group of people who have to take a test, and pay money to get certified every year, and they want that feedback from people who do not get certified or even understand the requirements of performing the job correctly?
Would it be appropriate to assess other drivers, if you yourself could not pass the drivers test?How do you assess someone if you do not have the qualifications to assess them?
You are a bad ref because I disagree with your calls against my DD or son's team. That is a great way to weed out the bad refs?? Another brilliant MYSA idea!
3:53...Spot on!
Who reports the score anyway? The coach who is familiar with the rules? Or is it the manager of little johnny or DD...who is holding a grudge cause they just got whooped by MTA.
The only teams getting whooped by MTA are the lowly Community Clubs from where MTA takes its players. Apparently MTA doesn't do much with them on the bigger stage outside of Minnesota. If I read their website correctly, that's the stage upon which they want to compete.
"the lowly Community Clubs from where MTA takes its players"
The so-called lowly Community Club has no right to my child. Never has never will. Get over it people, just because you live in a city doesn't mean you are locked into playing sports there.
And by the way, those same lowly community clubs are "taking" players away from other lowly community clubs just as quickly as MTA or SSM or Blackhawks or TCF or ...
go for it, dude. good luck competing on that bigger stage. oh wait, mta's STILL not competitive on that bigger stage. oh well, might as well go back and beat up on the MN teams some more.
At least MTA keeps trying, I don't see alot of other clubs even bothering to try to compete on the higher stage. It's going to take time and it can't happen overnight. We'll see a difference in MN soccer in a few years, if that's MTA, SPU, SSM or some new club, but MN soccer will improve.
MN Soccer has improved, parallel to US Soccer improving. MTA is on a good path. Too bad they can't be more humble about it. A little humility would get the lowly community clubs off their case.
Mister Soccer, I disagree on one point. The other clubs will never let go. There is too much money, and jealously in youth sports.
For example, how many times have people brought up the shots from the mark coaching decision to point out how terrible that club is...
8:15am What is competitive on the bigger stage?? There our thousands of clubs in this country and most cannot compete on the bigger stage. It seems to me that you equate competitive with winning, not sure they are the same thing. MTA is the only club in MN that has teams competing in USDA and ECNL and if I am not mistaken they had 3 teams advance to the region semi's last year. How many region 2 clubs had 3 or more teams get that far?? MTA is fielding teams that do compete at the regional level and for the most part they are competitive. I guess for most if you are not winning everything you are not competitive.
As for MTA stealing kids from the lowly community clubs, the large majority of kids playing in MTA today have come through the Juniors programs and have been with MTA for most of their soccer careers. A great example of this is the 94 Blue girls, they have not added a player from outside of MTA in 3 years, yet they advanced to the USYSA nationals last year and are one of the top teams in the ECNL A Flight for the second year in a row. TC Fire, St Croix and Dakota REV hava all added numerous kids from outside of their club over this same time period, yet the MTA team has only added players who have been developed on the white team in the past 3 years.
Go ahead bash away, but there is way more development going on within MTA than most of you care to realize, especially on the girls side.
Not a bash, and I am a MTA parent, but shouldn't all the MTA girls teams be having the same kind of success as the 94 team? That group of girls were really lucky as they had MA start out with them at U11 and keep them until U14. They then got switched over to MC and have also had success. But what about the other girls teams who have not been as fortunate to have these coaches? And I know coaching has been a huge issue with certain players/parents over the last couple of years. It's nice to single out the 94's and they truly are the only team on the girls side with measureable success but it's easy to use them as the example.
Eclipse: 3 region champs
Michigan Hawks: 3 region champs
SL Scott Gallagher: 4 semifinalists
FC Milwaukee, Sockers: 3 semifinalists
Michigan: 9 semifinalists
Illinois, Missouri, Ohio South: 7 semifinalists
Wisconsin: 5 semifinalists
Minnesota, Kansas, Indiana: 4 semifinalists
Ohio North, Kentucky: 3 semifinalists
Iowa: 1 semifinalist
Yay. We're better than Iowa (and Kentucky and 1/2 of Ohio).
MTA: Two good coaches and a bunch of hangers-on.
There are more than 2 good coaches at MTA especially on the girls side.
11:13 you are right. Many of the girls teams have come up through the ranks; Wings and Bangu. Our coach does not recruit players from other clubs. Try-outs are open to anyone that wants to come out.
MA & MC seem to be very active on this site.
Good coaches?! ha. More like GREAT players.
players or playahs?
is this blog about state cup?
It's the State Cup Preview, which means it's about MTA.
Duh.
What would you rather preview?
OK. Lets talk about state cup.
17 girls.
Group A is the group of death with blue and ssm battle to get out of group play. ssm can beat blue but it is a toss up. the rest of the group is a push over.
Group B is the second group of death with very good teams. st croix looks strong in tournaments at disney, casl, and bluechip. but can they come out of group play against a good dakota rev team and northern light and tcf.
Group C is pretty weak with white team playing against weak teams. if they can't come out of group play then there are serious problems with this team. they won las vegas convincingly.
Group D is wide open with the edge to edp but the weather could be a factor for any team to take this group.
17 is the age that every play will play their hardest for college coaches. So what ever we have convinced ourselves of what these teams did in the past, we should throw that out of the window. What do you think?
You've seen what happened to a talented SSM 17 boys last year losing to MTA 17 white,a second team, in a shoot out in the semifinal game. This is just an example of the 17 age group on the boys side.
How many college coaches actually come to State Cup? Does anyone really know?
Here's a tip: E-mail coaches at schools your child is interested in. They will make the trip to watch your child if you show interest. That said, having the event in Isanti is a dumb idea. My kids emailed coaches in Wisconsin and Illinois on their MRL trips and frequently had coaches come watch them. They want to know you're interested.
P.S. The real bracket of death is Boys U17 Group B.
How about the U15?
EP has to be heavy fav...went to Iowa and won at age 16 (played C1 teams). They should advance out of Bracket A.
B is a toss up, but the edge goes to SCV team. Played well last year, this year doing well in MRL with improved players will put them atop this bracket. How doees MTA white look? Edina is struggling in MRL?
C is a toss up. Both MTA and REV on paper should advance, but my guess is only one will. I predict Lkv or PSA will provide an early upset (you heard it hear first). The wild card will prob come from B (even competition means ties vs losses).
17 boys.
agreed that group b is the group of death. but 2 teams will come out of this group. mta blue and ssm are favorites. unless mus consolidated top players to one team, they will struggle in both brackets.
a good game to watch is scv vs mta white game 3 in group a. its a rematch of last year's final.
MUS01 is last year's Wildcats, and tehy are also in Group B. Not sure if they consolidated Jedi and Wildcats on to this team, but Wildcats has much more talent that MUS02.
Just because two strong teams are in one bracket don't assume both will advance (especially with MUS01 there). If there is a 3-0 team, the next best team will have at least 1 loss, meaning it will come down to goal differential between all the teams with 1 loss in the age group. Assuming VLY has some skill, I don't see any goal-differential blowouts in group B. Rather, I see two teams coming from Group A, where you have the winner and runner up from last year playing two very weak teams.
The winner of Group C will basically be someone's Washington Generals in the semis.
The SCV and MTA white game is not a rematch of the final last year. The white team is now the MTA blue due to USSDA.
I agree with 2:05, I would be surprised if group B won the wildcard. Just one more reason the entire group should be seeded.
Everyone involved with the 17boys would agree that the new PSA team is not worthy of the 3rd seed, they lost their high end talent to USSDA 94s.
Getting coaches together to seed the playoffs works in MSHSL, I bet it would here too.
The discussion would be difficult if trying to pick 1st through 4th but use bracketing. It would also make sense to go 4 brackets.
First seeds for the 4 brackets-all play MRL or MRL Premier
SCV
MTA Blue
SSM
MU wildcats
2nd seeds-
MU jedi
EAG
MTA white
EDP
3rd seeds
FLK
VLY
PSA
BHK
Anyone else know the 2nd and 3rd seeds better?
I think a lot of last year's blue is still with the top (group B) team, so one would assume a core of white players are still on the group Am in A. In other words, they'll both be good. Plus, SCV has been weak in MRL, losing to Wildcats and tying (tying!) a team from South Dakota. SOUTH DAKOTA!
Re: seeding, how in the world can you do that unless you have recent head-to-head play to judge? As we saw this past year at U17, personnel changes to much from year to year on these top teams. That's one committee I would not want to be part of.
Not committee. Coaches from each team. They know each other, and they all know what is happening with personel, many have scrimmaged, it really could work.
With the high school seeding, they do look at head to head, but many teams don't play the same teams in their sections. The coaches also listen to each other and weight games differently if certain players who were injured or are injured now. Rational respectful discussion can and does work with coaches, if two disagree the rest of the group breaks the tie.
SCV also tied a very very good team Grand Rapids Crew team from MI at the Blue Chip. You never know. You simply don't know..
with thier short bench, one injury is all it takes.
what are you talking about?
USDA does not affect the MTA Blue 17. Most of that team is the same. USDA only affects 16 & 18. That is why MTA and SSM 17 will be very strong.
12:19 USSDA does affect the u17 age group. A huge chunk of last year's MTA blue 16's are now on the MTA DA 16's team. DA teams are birth year, not August to July like the rest of the leagues.
A couple other players from that team are on the 92's DA team, others are develpomental players.
PSA 17's lost 4 players to the 92 DA team also.
SSM also has 17's rostered on the 18 team etc.
SSM and MTA will field weaker teams at State Cup at ages U15 through U18 because the best players are on the Academy rosters.
This in my opinion makes State Cup wide open in those 4 age groups.
7:48, pretty safe assessment, since these age groups are traditionally wide open. Parents and players both move around looking for something that feels right and fits.
It really does come down to who is healthy, and playing well at the right time. At 17's, if SCV is hurt, then they won't do well, if MTA blue is missing key players-ditto. If MU is melding the players well, if SSM stays out of caution trouble ...
On the girls side, many games come down to scheduling vs prom. Sucks, but reality.
If mta can play as a team, watch out. They tend to get one dimensional when challenged, a la last year.
When MTA 17 blue is healthy and have all their key players I believe they are the favorites for sure
Hey 4/21/11 3:02 PM, you should check out the MRL scores, that SD (yes SD) team also tied SSM and MU.
Must defend well or get really lucky. Or is it that all three teams are evenly matched...
You never know what will happen at State Cup.
What about the U19 Girls? Any guesses?
Any play in games noteworthy as those get started tomorrow?
14g St Croix vs TCF. Any guesses?
TCF didn't do too well at MRL over the weekend and are are now in last place vs some less than average teams. TCF also has the most goals scored against them.
I still have to go with TCF cuz SCV hasn't done anything.
Tonight
13B play in
MTN over EDI
BHK over DKT
15B play in
BHK over DKT
16B play in
WYZ over RSC
18B bracket play
PSA over MTA
SCV over BHK
BLM over NLS
Not bad, Frank. U18B made another case for seeding more than one team into the brackets. Not sure what MTA White/Blue has due to their seeding directly into the semis, but SCV v. BHK was your championship. Too bad they had to meet in the first round, and BHK proved once again that luck always wins over beauty. The other four teams were garbage.
How were the fields last night?? What condition are they in??
Fields were fine. Crews were fine. Parking was fine.
It was dry last night. More importantly how are the fields for the games tonight? Sounds like everything is still on.
I thought the grass was too long last night, so it may be slooooooow tonight. Too bad the games tonight are mostly play-ins, as the best team doesn't often win in conditions like we'll see tonight. Beats flipping a coin or going straight to shoot-outs though.
All State Cup games are canceled tonight and will be reschedule for Thursday night. Sounds like Wednesday is canceled too.
or flipping a coin to determine which team should blow the shoot out.
Wow, another comedian. Get some new material 3:02
The classics never get old.
I don't get it?
Or just predetermining who will blow the shootout.
It really doesn't get old. You can't even make that story up.
"the best team doesn't often win in conditions like we'll see tonight."
Who cares. Get a new excuse.
Agree 4:15. This will forever be a MN classic.
The college coaches in attendance for state cup will only be for U17 and U18 players. This will include every MIAC coach, a few WIAC, and some Iowa schools. Division 1 coaches will not come unless they hear about some all-star that wants to go to there school.
At least on the boys side, D1 coaches follow the Academy teams around the country. They don't really even go to Muscatine anymore. Maybe Blue Chip.
***UPDATE***
New State Cup Rule:
If any C1 team reaches the final against a Premier team, the C1 team will forfeit, allowing the Premier team to go to regions because they "should" show better at regions.
Genius, progressive thinking. MYSA is ahead of their time!
Actually, that's an MTA rule (unwritten, of course. They DID learn from the fiasco).
A few years ago all of the U16B semifinalists were C1 teams, proving premier status is easy to earn and hard to lose.
CC = Classless Cowards (only about 5%, the rest of the people are fine)
All you can do is find ways to attack MTA or SSM. And when that gets old, you go after refs and than on to kids that might be too old to play with your little Mia or David. Why don't you spend your energy looking at ways to maybe lure some of these players away from MTA or SSM. You can't do it can you!
Stop whining and take some action!
As a proud member of a CC in the south, I would guess that number is correct (appx 5%).
However, it would also apply to some conceded folks at MTA (My Team's Awesome) & SMM (See My Money) as well.
4:02pm You're right, there are some conceded folks at MTA. I'm not one of them. I have the utmost respect for all clubs. Unfortunately, the 5% of bad folks stand out at both MTA and CC's.
Everyone should play soccer where they feel comfortable and we don't need to knock why they play there.
MTA will never concede that they are conceited.
"They are not good enough to make our teams." "We don't need to knock."
That is conceited and conceded and Kahnseeded.
5:15pm Did I say "they're not good enough to make our teams?" I don't think so! Where did you get that from?
Most of MTA is not like but I will admit that there are some parents/players like that! That's the 5% of bad that we were talking about. Your remarks tell me that you're the 5% from the cc that is inconsiderate! Grow up!
The 5% are all posting here. Go back to work.
Succeed regionally/nationally and I'll respect you.
Hello haters. Been awhile. What'd I miss? I love that I'll never be forgotten by some of you.
My girls practiced PKs at our last training session. Before we started, someone asked if I wanted them to practice rolling the ball at the GK. We all had a good laugh.
That's all for now... love ya.
You're the best MA!
It was 2 years ago people so move on! Hate MTA or love them, everyone has a right to their own opinion! Until another club steps up and does what MTA is doing than shut-up! But beware "other club" everyone will hate you for doing it.
Good luck to all MTA teams this weekend!
Let the fun begin tomorrow. There may be a few upsets no one predicted by the ever so confident Thunder crowd. Hope the fields are better than predicted on this site, parking may be a nightmare!
I think the boys U15-U16-U17-U18 age groups will be wide open with no real favorites.
Both MTA and SSM have their top players at these age groups on the USSF Academy teams and those players are not eligible for State Cup.
Good luck to all the teams and players.
The U16 DA team did not take any of the top U15 boys - so they are still very strong.
In fairness to all, good luck to all NON-MTA teams!
:)
I hate you because you are a winner, or at least because you might win.
So the top U15 boys team should clean up at regionals, then? Oh wait, that won't happen.
let's hope for playable weather and fields tomorrow and no injuries. also a few upsets to spice things up
I'm MTA! But, in the back of mind it would be fun to see CC win in every bracket. Than they can go to regionals. Than we can sit back and attack them for their training or lack of training methods. We can attack them because "well they might have done better if they had recruited some better players." I could go on and on.
Good luck to EVERY team playing at State Cup. I hope the best team wins in every bracket regardless of what club that might be and I hope that every player stays healthy.
MTA U14 Boys have had 2 of their players called up to the U14 National team and will miss State Cup games.
This could be a chance for some strong team to beat them.
Since MYSA doesn't record the scores too quickly, any game updates would be appreciated.
MA said..."My girls practiced PKs at our last training session. Before we started, someone asked if I wanted them to practice rolling the ball at the GK. We all had a good laugh."
Players who have been with the same coach for too long tend to act like their coach. So, the above player's remark would be no surprise. But, of course, the real Mark (aka the cheater) probably did not make the above post.
Spitonu
Doubt they will need PK's won by 15today. Wonder why some teams sign up.
Here is my beef with MTA...they have no problem kicking teams butt by 15 (nice job running up the score)...it's a fact, they are a better team than all the 14's in MN combined!
But on the other hand when they go to regions and can't compete...they don't like the bad ink.
Well, others wouldnt be so negative if they gracefully beat the local teams. What non MTA players/parents can honestly cheer for them at Regions.
I'm from MTA and I will cheer for them when they go to regions.
Although, I'm ashamed that they would run up a score that way. That's uncalled for and bad sportsmanship. Come on work on combos, etc! My MTA coach goes up by 5 goals and were not allowed to shoot! Most MTA teams would not run up a score like that! Although, MA might have been proving a point. Remember he wasn't allowed to coach at State Cup last year. Still bad though!
Maybe the other team shouldn't have been in State Cup. I for one have no problem with running up a score.
If anyone needs directions up to Isanti, here you go:
1. Proceed through the heart of the metro area. You will pass many large open park areas with soccer fields, several with lights. Continue on past these facilities.
2. Drive to the northernmost suburbs. You will pass one of the largest soccer complexes in the country with over 50 vacant soccer fields, including a large stadium that many youth players are excited to play in. Continue driving past this major soccer complex.
3. Continue through the village of Ham Lake. As the scenery becomes more rural and you encounter many trailer parks, you may become concerned that you have driven past the facility. Do not be alarmed, you are not even half way there -- continue driving.
4. Continue through the town of East Bethel. If you have driven up from the south suburbs, you may need to stretch your legs and have a pee by this point on the journey. The only public restroom is available at the Twin Pines Bait Shop. If the bait shop happens to be closed, feel free to pee behind the building, this is acceptable behavior in these parts; just don’t wander off too far into the woods (you remember what happened in Deliverance, right?)
5. Continue through the town of Bethel. By this point, your boredom may become delusional, and you may start to wonder why Bethel is located “North” of “East” Bethel -- don’t overthink it, stay focused and just keep driving.
6. Continue on until you see the sign marking Isanti County. You are getting closer, but don’t get excited -- Isanti County is apparently a fairly large county. Keep driving.
7. Arrive at the town of Isanti. STAY ALERT -- MYSA apparently had some cut backs in the sign department and could no longer afford the little “State Cup Here” sign, so you are on your own at this point.
8. Meander through “downtown” Isanti. It is not a bad little town, but if you’ve had the unfortunate luck of forgetting any piece of gear, proceed immediately back to Blaine; apparently the town’s coop store is not familiar with an activity called “soccer” and as such does not carry any gear.
9. If the train of minivans isn’t obvious enough for you, follow the seagulls toward the large garbage dump.
10. Proceed to the mud pits adjacent to the dump titled “Parking”. CAUTION -- If you do not own a 4WD vehicle, do not proceed to this point, you will not make it out of there.
11. Enjoy your child’s game, reverse the above to return home. Go immediately to http://mnfutbol.blogspot.com. If you are an MTA parent, brag about your team and complain about the poor officiating; non-MTA parents, complain about the poor officiating and how everyone from MTA are total a-holes.
If your child is lucky enough to advance to the finals, repeat the above each day for the next 4 weekends.
Drive safe everyone!
You forgot something...when you go to leave the mud ridden, absent parking availability fields, you will be taking a left turn on the only traffic heavy road in the area. Be prepared to sit for 45 minutes, as the home town empty chamber one bullet in the shirt pocket deputy has not been notified to assist with the MYSA traffic nightmare. Enjoy the games! St. Croix Rocks!!!
7:43, that was one of the classic blog posts of all time...anywhere. A priceless capture of virtually everyone's thoughts.
Congrats, non-MTA teams. MTA was below .500 today. Not a good start for the mega-club. Blame the refs/weather/drive.
The MTA teams that lost were outplayed. We will not blame the refs, weather, parking, etc. Quite simply outplayed.
MTA is still the top club in the state until another club steps up. So come on CC stop whinning and let's see what you've got!
What about the shuttles to the other parking lots? Are they timely?
7:43pm - your an a$$. You are insulting and rude, and instead of complaining should step up to the plate and get one of those many club fields you drove by to be willing to host State Cup Games. MYSA with all their power CAN NOT force a club or city to host!
State Cup games cancelled due to cold weather (wind chill) Sunday 5-1.
Why are there no volunteers to help direct traffic in Isanti? Are you kidding me?
I agree with 9:20am. MYSA doesn't force anyone to host State Cup. Many clubs don't want to host it, so Isanti stepped to the plate. They're doing the best job they can. Also you don't have to be a blind sheep and follow all the cars out of the lot to make your left turn on Cty 5. There are other routes!
Yeah 7:43 is what we call creative whining.
Playing State Cup in the monsoon is a good idea, but it's too chilly now? The lack of commitment in this state to running a quality event is a hideous spectacle for anyone serious about youth soccer. No other Region II state runs their State Cup in April (and other than ND, we are the northern-most state in the region). They laugh at us - and rightly so. What's equally telling is that no email went out to announce the cancellation of State Cup today (people had to call the hotline - and many, after playing yesterday in the horrible conditions assumed today would be on), drove up there to find out there were no games. However, MYSA's event line says an EMAIL will be sent out tomorrow with schedule changes. HOW DUMB IS THAT??!!
Making Youth Soccer Awful (MYSA).
This is why MTA and other clubs are looking at options other than the state organization for their top teams...
I could see that maybe the games this morning would have been canceled, but this afternoon it's going to be in low 50's. Perfect soccer weather! But really MYSA could you maybe post it on the website in addition to the hotline.
My guess is the games will be played on weeknights this week. Anyone have any thoughts or insight on the reschedules of todays games?
How bad were the conditions yesterday? was there standing water on the field during the matches?
Games are rescheduled for May 15th.
I was at the 10:00 am games. The rain was heavy, on and off, and the cross winds were heavy. It was cold, but the players didn't seem to mind (watched U14 boys). I didn't understand what was worse today, and also noticed many games at NSC this morning. One of the parking lots was brutal at Isanti. In the area, there was only one port-a-potty, with 5 or 6 people standing in line in the pouring rain. The fields were fine, but I think it is a combination of the facilities, parking, drive, and lack of support. MYSA needs to reach out and ask people to assist. I did not see field marshals. One individual from MYSA came past to move spectators from behind the goal, and two minutes later, they moved back. I suspect the Isanti Soccer Club (if there is one) doesn't have the depth of CR or LWB to assist with the volunteer duties that can take the tournament to the next level.
state cup teams historically have had to provide two volunteers, or lose a $100 deposit. for some reason we weren't asked to provide volunteers this year.
this is such a major event for the kids, teams and clubs; what a shame they mess it up year after year.
when will US Club Soccer make a significant move into Minnesota to provide a different option to MYSA/USYS?
12:24 - Games cannot be rescheduled for the 15th. Some Teams already have their 3rd group play games scheduled for that day and per National Championship series rules, no
More than 1 game per day.
The one thing I dislike about MTA is that nobody will ever admit they made a mistake (other than MA). I have been held hostage by a coach and club that I know is in the best interest of my child but if you ask the hard question, you get excuses, or, even worse, "go find another team." MTA is the best route if your child wants to play at the highest level. I am so frustrated with the elitism, and lack of customer service. If I pay $300 a month, I expect a voice. If you piss someone off, even if you are right, you don't get calls returned, excuses,etc. I wish that the director would step in and remind coaches that in the real world, people make mistakes and they need to acknowledge it. Sorry for the rant. Long Sunday.
so did they play SOME games today?
Hopefully very soon 3:43. But unfortunately as it stands right now, the State Cup is looked at as the most important competition of the season for many teams and I think we can all agree that rarely ever do the conditions allow for quality soccer (fields, weather, etc.).
So if Barcelona were to play Arsenal on these fields, it wouldn't be quality soccer?
I agree that conditions in the upper midwest or terrible, but you have to have good players in order to have good soccer.
Key part of the phrase was conditions allow for quality soccer.
With that said I can promise you that if Barcelona and Arsenal played on those fields it would look much different than what it looks like on their beautifully maintained fields.
Additionally, coaches modify tactics based on conditions, I can promise you that.
And only MTA plays quality soccer.
Duh, Winning
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