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Post by Keeper on Dec 26, 2020 15:04:37 GMT -5
I don't know...not my kid. I was saying "if." Understood. The whole thing reads like the parent is miserable. Yeah definitely sounds more like the parent is wanting the move over the kid. It’s Academy it’s not that big of deal. Go to the closest respected club to your home and kids school. That age is meant to play with yours friends and neighborhood.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 22, 2020 12:57:55 GMT -5
Well the NC event in January is canceled which isn’t shocking considering the Covid issues. Here’s hoping the vaccine works!
Here’s some info we got from our ODP coach today.
NC Sub-regional event: January 9-10 is CANCELLED This is a real blessing in disguise as it opens up opportunities for more and also prepare better for the next event Recommend using this weekend for training of age groups – TBD TN Sub-regional event: January 16-18; MLK, Jr. Holiday weekend 2004 to 2010 All age groups should be planning for least 2 teams each (likely 3 or 4 teams at certain ages and even ALL players possible if available to attend…finalizing this info to ensure proper competition levels are aligned of course) Expect to have teams “stacked” (not balanced); in similar format as the SC friendlies UPDATES and DEVELOPMENTS below: Feb 20-21 Florida Regional Invitational: 2007 – 09 age groups in Auburndale, FL (located between Orlando and Tampa) Both boys and girls Participating: Florida ODP, Georgia ODP, Orlando City FC Academy, Atlanta United Academy (and likely Inter Miami FC Academy) Top two teams likely in tiered groups Expect high level competition Feb 20-21 South Carolina return friendlies event: PENDING, backup to the above for teams that do not travel to FL 2004 – 10 age groups Georgia hosting in Atlanta metro area June 11-13 South Region Sub-Regional invitational (Dallas, TX): 2004 – 10 age groups Regional and MLS scouting opportunity 2 games on Saturday, 1 game on Sunday Limiting invites to the top performing ODP programs in South Region: Georgia ODP, Florida ODP, NC ODP, NTX ODP, STX ODP Expect very good competition July 2021; US Youth Soccer South Region Identification & Invitation Camp: UNC Charlotte is currently the leading host candidate location As many of you know, there is a shift from sending teams to sending individuals from states Players will continue to be identified through the state ODP events and invited to attend in Spring 2021
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ODP
Dec 21, 2020 19:20:24 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 21, 2020 19:20:24 GMT -5
Considering the drive, would have liked for the game to be the full time communicated... we were cut short 5 minutes each half. Coach(es) either didn’t notice, care, or we were misinformed. What age group or time?? Must have been an oversight by the Ref as all the games were scheduled on the two hours mark so there was plenty of time for each even with a couple being delayed earlier.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 21, 2020 15:36:02 GMT -5
2010 Boys Gold coach is Craig Gage. New coach to AFU from Nc Fusion this year. Decent coach from what I’ve seen with his 08 ECNL team but he’s adjusting to the AFU ways as Tavani wants all the academy teams playing possession and 4/3/3 style while Gage doenst coach that style yet. For a spring season at AFU id go there if it was closer as they’ll be plenty of extra practice and club passing opportunities. Thank you. What style does Gage coach then? What is a club passing? With the 08s he’s gone from the 4/3/3 that Tavani taught them to a mix of 5/3/2 and 3/4/3 with more of influence of direct over the top play. Club Passing is playing up with the level or age group above you in season. So like a player on the Premier 1 team playing up on the SCCL Club team. Or playing up in age so a U13 Premier 1 player playing up with the U14 Premier 1 team.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 21, 2020 14:33:51 GMT -5
2010 Boys Gold coach is Craig Gage. New coach to AFU from Nc Fusion this year. Decent coach from what I’ve seen with his 08 ECNL team but he’s adjusting to the AFU ways as Tavani wants all the academy teams playing possession and 4/3/3 style while Gage doenst coach that style yet.
For a spring season at AFU id go there if it was closer as they’ll be plenty of extra practice and club passing opportunities.
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ODP
Dec 21, 2020 14:27:07 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 21, 2020 14:27:07 GMT -5
Boys side was decent competition, Refs were good, SC ODP coaches Great but with the rain the fields got the fields were a disaster. One field had a puddle that took up the entire goal box, as well as tons a of muddy spots that the ball just stopped dead in. SC team should have scored and megged our GA Gk but the ball was low and slow and ended up stopping in the puddle before crossing the goal line. Wasnt exactly thrilled to drive 3 hours one way for a game with 18 players but luckily the kiddo got to play 3/4 of the game while others only got one full half. While SC teams typically had 3-4 subs. Not sure why they couldn’t do a two day event (Girls Saturday / Boys Sunday ) to give us two games to justify the 6-7 hour drive. Talking with a couple of the SC odp coaches seems they have a better handle on odp then GA. They have over 10 college coaches on staff so they’re able to essentially do recruiting during this dead period with all these kids because they’re coaching them. Not sure SC United FC was too thrilled with ODP destroying their fields for a one day event either. I agree the fields were horrible, but we can't fault GA for the fields the SC ODP management chooses to use. What age group were you watching? GA looked a lot better than SC in the 9v9 games. SC must have had fewer players because some played more than one game while several from GA did not even make the trip. Don’t fault SC Odp at all about the fields. They delayed a couple of the earlier games to squeegee and sand and do what they can to make them better. It’s just what it is. South Carolina doesn’t have a central location (like Georgia) that is all turf so just glad they got in. If it hadn’t rained Sunday morning the fields would have been great as they had plenty of grass in most. It remainder a lot of adults of our old playing days as we use to play like that a lot. We were there for the 08 Boys and 06 Girls. Talking to Thad Miller who heads SC Odp he did say their girls program has been suffering and they lost a lot of players the last few years. Seems a lot of the Ecnl S Carolina players are not coming back to odp due to various reasons (club not promoting it, too much travel already, not competitive enough). Didnt realize we had any 09s make the trip and play 9v9. That seems like a lot of extra for U12s depending on club commitments already.
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ODP
Dec 21, 2020 11:39:22 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 21, 2020 11:39:22 GMT -5
Boys side was decent competition, Refs were good, SC ODP coaches Great but with the rain the fields got the fields were a disaster. One field had a puddle that took up the entire goal box, as well as tons a of muddy spots that the ball just stopped dead in. SC team should have scored and megged our GA Gk but the ball was low and slow and ended up stopping in the puddle before crossing the goal line.
Wasnt exactly thrilled to drive 3 hours one way for a game with 18 players but luckily the kiddo got to play 3/4 of the game while others only got one full half. While SC teams typically had 3-4 subs. Not sure why they couldn’t do a two day event (Girls Saturday / Boys Sunday ) to give us two games to justify the 6-7 hour drive.
Talking with a couple of the SC odp coaches seems they have a better handle on odp then GA. They have over 10 college coaches on staff so they’re able to essentially do recruiting during this dead period with all these kids because they’re coaching them.
Not sure SC United FC was too thrilled with ODP destroying their fields for a one day event either.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 15, 2020 22:06:27 GMT -5
Wenwood Fields were bad, no where near as good as MeSA. Probably shouldn’t have been on some of them due to the rain they had. One field had a 10x10 area at the corner that was nothing but sand.
Refs were some of the worst we’ve had, though the younger ones as ARs did good. Issue was the older Centers who shouldn’t be Ref’ing Rec games.
Competition was very good though, three very good back and forth games against clubs we typically don’t play.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 14, 2020 16:52:24 GMT -5
Nike should replace them if they are less than a year old. My kid always kept the box and receipt. Any issues, Nike always sent him a voucher to use on a new pair. Adidas did not fit my kids foot so do not know if they have the same return policy. Are the vouchers good through just the Nike stores or anywhere? And this works for cleats bought like at Dîcks and Lloyds, not just at Nike right? So wish the kiddos would just wear Copa’s but they’re “too heavy”.
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SCCL Cup
Dec 11, 2020 12:12:31 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 11, 2020 12:12:31 GMT -5
There are plenty of SCCL club teams with 7 and 8 games completed (not named FC Alliance). The past 2 years most were able to get 12-13 games played in the same timeframe. So many trying teams are left trying to crunch in 20% of their season on the last possible weekend. A good share of it is due to FC Alliance and that makes sense. Throughout the season we had a couple 2-3 week stretches without games. We will likely cancel (and possibly not play) our 10th game due to the other team canceling this weekend due to a COVID case on the team. SCCL Cup takes away a possible makeup weekend. Of course, the way COVID is skyrocketing, who knows what will take place in the next month. Good luck trying to cancel a Club to Club game, we were told straight from Nancy it’s a $500 fine on the team. They don’t care when you reschedule it but it has to get played per the rules.
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SCCL Cup
Dec 10, 2020 22:51:05 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 10, 2020 22:51:05 GMT -5
Speaking of SCCL Club, it's disappointing how many teams couldn't complete 10 games, yet many/most of the SCCL Premier teams were able to complete their scheduled games. What do you mean couldn’t complete? What age group or club didn’t play their 10 games?
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SCCL Cup
Dec 10, 2020 11:28:43 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 10, 2020 11:28:43 GMT -5
I don't know but my son's SCCL-P team in not participating for various reasons. Originally his team and parents were told it was mandatory, but lack of parental and kid interest for it since we were a lower bracket team and chances are we would be put in a bracket where they get beat 5+ goals in all the games forced the club and director's hand (parents always win if they stick together). Second of all this was a horrible weekend to plan it. Regional Futsal tournament is that weekend as well, and a lot of kids sign up for futsal in the winter and that tournament is the high point of them doing futsal, so they were going to do that over outdoor since they didn't know about SCCL Cup being moved until after they had already signed up for futsal. I'm good with them doing an SCCL Cup for the older ages but they need to look at doing it the beginning of December when normal tournaments happen or doing it in late May when High School Soccer is over. The MLK weekend will never be a good weekend for various reasons. Sccl Cup can’t be in December as it has to be at the end of the Fall/Winter season. It also has to be MLK Weekend as Fc Alliance’s girls teams won’t finish their season until the second weekend of January. (Girls Hs soccer is a Fall sport in Tenn). So until ECRL comes in and makes the top level SCCL obsolete in 2 years this is just how it’s going to be.
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SCCL Cup
Dec 9, 2020 13:23:36 GMT -5
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Post by Keeper on Dec 9, 2020 13:23:36 GMT -5
Yes hearing Fowler, East Roswell, Brook Run, Franklin Gateway, & Mudcreek being considered as multiple locations. It’ll be like that last true State Cup up here before SCCL, spread across the Northern Suburbs.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 9, 2020 13:15:22 GMT -5
Never seen the shuttlecock thing before but we just got a couple of 2x6s on top of each other and made a kickback wall that we also use for soccer tennis.
That and a couple of tennis balls are a lot cheaper and easier to replace after the dogs have their turn.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 8, 2020 22:48:20 GMT -5
Not just mine but nearly my entire Hs aged club team. I think out of the 7 HS my players go to maybe one have a quality Coach that does more then 442 boom ball over the top coaching. Though with more and more money being poured into Hs soccer it’s bringing in true professional licensed coaches. I’m not sure where you coach or which HS your players go to, but I’d have to assume they aren’t Gwinnett Co HS players. Just some of the teams I’m familiar with playing, North Gwinnett, Peachtree Ridge, Parkview, Brookwood, Collins Hill, Mill Creek, Buford... I’d have to check some others websites to see coaches and bios, but just those alone all have coaches on at least the girls side, if not, girls and boys side that coach club or have coached club. What you may not be taking into account, at public schools, coaches get what they get, they can’t really recruit. Some coaches are lucky and have a consistent stream of players and a healthy pool to pull from. Most schools are fortunate if they have a strong 11 and don’t drop off too much after 2-3 subs. Depth is always a problem in high school sports. My point is, if I have a weak midfield, I might look to miss them out, especially if I’m up against a strong midfield... like say when Grayson was stacked a few years back with multiple future ACC, SEC midfielders/forwards. Unfortunately, some coaches like long ball, but let’s not pretend it only occurs in high school soccer... ever watch the EPL, it’s kinda their thing. My last point, most high school coaches are concerned with 1 thing... winning. Club coaches tend to focus more on “development” or at least that’s what they tell parents. If it’s raining or I’m out matched, you better believe I’m telling my players, we don’t look to possess out of the back, we possess on THEIR side. Just a few thoughts from someone that has played and coached both club and high school soccer. Actually i am in Gwinnett just not the rich side like you. Though my friends in Cobb have the same issues too with teachers coaching soccer instead of coaches coaching soccer. But a majority of my players are inside the perimeter so they don’t have the luxury of being at those rich schools that are definitely athletics first, academics second.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 8, 2020 14:38:28 GMT -5
I would note though that it is getting easier for documents to be altered/ forged. A buddy of mine works for the DHS and has been intercepting hundreds of Chinese made Georgia drivers licenses-they are perfect forgeries made with the same equipment and materials that the state of Georgia uses. (Students are ordering them to get into bars). Just think how much easier and cheaper it would be if we just lowered the drinking age back to 18. Oh the good old days....
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Post by Keeper on Dec 8, 2020 14:36:20 GMT -5
Yea, never understood why GA soccer and then affinity system never required birth certificate certification. I personally not a big fan of birth certificates being tossed around these days, and maybe they were always concerned about the security of these files. US club soccer requires and DA did as well. (DA took it a step further and required international clearance for foreign born players). either way -- if a player doesn't have a birth certificate or proof of age, they should take the steps necessary to get a formal certified document explaining why an formal giving them an age verification? Do schools not require any proof of age or other documents stating a person's age? Hum, intrigued on Jerry, will need to do some searching. There’s definitely a liability issue with birth certificates and Gasoccer. I know we got to the point where TMs were told not even bring them to games anymore, just the Medical release forms in case they were lost or stolen. Also I believe public schools can’t turn any child away even if they don’t have legal documents. That’s one of those things that even if a kid was brought into the country illegally they still have the right to an education. (Which is the way it should be, they’re just kids).
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Post by Keeper on Dec 8, 2020 13:55:00 GMT -5
Yes, or green cards, drivers license and passports work too. But yes it has to be a legal document and uploaded and approved prior to a player being out on the roster/player pass to print. Unlike Ga Soccer which just needs a name, dob and address to be registered. As info, from GA soccer website: Proof of age shall consist of a birth certificate, a Uniformed Services Identification and Privilege Card (DD Form 1173), a birth registration issued by an appropriate government agency, or board of health records, a passport, an alien registration card issued by the United States Government, a certificate issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service attesting to age, a current driver’s license, an unexpired federal, state, or local government identification card or a certification of a United States citizen born abroad issued by the appropriate government agency. Hospital, baptismal, or religious certificates will not be accepted. See Rule 170.2c for details. Any team playing a player who is over-age shall forfeit the game(s) in which that player takes part. A player may play in their proper age group, or in an older age group. A player may NOT play in a younger age group. For regular-season play, once rostered to a team, a player is considered to be the age of that team. Yep but that’s only if it’s ever asked or requested. But when you register and declare players in SportsAffinity for GA Soccer you don’t need any of that unlike USClub which requires it before approving any player. GaSoccer works on a very old honor system as they never wanted to turn players away in case a document wasn’t available but then people took advantage of it.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 8, 2020 13:49:32 GMT -5
I've posted before, and will post again. If clubs want good referees, they need to hire a Director of Referees - equivalent to a DOC - to recruit, develop, and mentor young referees. Until that happens, it's going to continue to be a crapshoot. Assignors are responsible for placing referees on games, basically via spreadsheet. They are not into development, training, mentorship, etc. They are paid to place referees on games, period. Some are more involved than others, but they are not compensated for anything other than booking. There is very little quality control. GSA has arguably the best DOR out there in Ricky. Training, mentoring, observing, always out in the fields. And still GSA had trouble finding refs last weekend. Yet Gsa still has some of the worst Refs in all the major clubs of Atlanta. 🤔
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Post by Keeper on Dec 8, 2020 13:45:51 GMT -5
Doesn't US Club insist on birth certificates? Yes, or green cards, drivers license and passports work too. But yes it has to be a legal document and uploaded and approved prior to a player being out on the roster/player pass to print. Unlike Ga Soccer which just needs a name, dob and address to be registered.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 23:16:02 GMT -5
Our close family friend has a son playing for the U11 Premier team at UFA Metro Atlanta (formerly Brookhaven FC) and apparently have loved their experience this Fall season. From what I understand, they struggled a lot early in the season before eventually playing some decent, successful soccer recently. They also have an older son the same age as my oldest who plays ECNL at a “big 6 club,” so I usually (not always 😉) trust their opinions when it comes to quality youth soccer development. Wife and I have several kids all playing soccer at different ages and levels, likely not looking to take our older two over there as they’re happy with their current teams and love their coaches but we plan to have our Academy age kids at least tryout over there to see what’s what. Yeah Ufa Brookhaven’s boys academy is pretty decent and top notch, as long as you’re a top player. After that it can be tough for “B” and “C” level players to still develop and enjoy it as numbers are low. That and their girls program is still so mismanaged so it’s very boys heavy in numbers.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 23:07:26 GMT -5
I’d rather them cancel all Hs soccer this spring. Means as a club coach I get another season with my players! Haha I’ll take a 7v7 / 9v9 Hs aged club season over the crap rec ball played on the Hs fields. I’m sorry to see that your child’s high school has not taken the time to hire a coach that the student-athletes at his/her school deserve. Not sure which school or region/classification you are having to watch but I can assure you that the level played at many schools, mine included, is higher than rec. Not just mine but nearly my entire Hs aged club team. I think out of the 7 HS my players go to maybe one have a quality Coach that does more then 442 boom ball over the top coaching. Though with more and more money being poured into Hs soccer it’s bringing in true professional licensed coaches.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 19:50:56 GMT -5
If true, based on past infractions, I'd think a permanent sendoff is in order from Georgia Soccer.
I wonder if the big clubs would welcome KSA into SCCL. Or do they have to have girls teams too? Not. A. Chance. Bruno’s falling out at GSA would be the main reason. I doubt they’d be accepted into the Premier divisions if they applied.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 14:48:20 GMT -5
They just need to mandate masks when playing if that will make the authorities feel better (like they have some semblance of control). I’d rather them cancel all Hs soccer this spring. Means as a club coach I get another season with my players! Haha I’ll take a 7v7 / 9v9 Hs aged club season over the crap rec ball played on the Hs fields.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 14:29:31 GMT -5
We played at Mt Carmel, those fields were just as bad. The grass somehow was high and slow, and there was standing water and mud in front of one of the goals we played on. Asked the refs to do something about it and they said there was no sand, no rake, nothing, and if we didn't think it was safe to play we could opt out...gee thanks. Supposedly AFU was wanting to close North Mt Carmel or at least certain fields but Henry County who rented them to GSA overruled it (didn’t want to lose the money). Typically gsa uses Afc lightnings McCurry fields but sounds like Fayette County didn’t want the large numbers at the parks still due to Covid.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 14:24:24 GMT -5
GSA Ref Assignor on Sunday: ‘2500 fewer refs now than a year ago’. I reffed 6 games this weekend. Many Academy games had one boy or girl crews. If renewals is any indicator, plan on having even fewer refs next year. The takeaway: plan on either having fewer scheduled games, more one man crewed games, more last minute cancellations due to no refs and overall worse officiating. The proverbial chickens have come home to roost. We’ve been hearing stories of criticizing the refs for years. The supply of cheap youth refs has dried up. Fewer playing soccer at all. Those that do still play soccer don’t want to put up with parents and coaches. Those who can put up with it are not being allowed to ref in this Covid environment by nervous parents. I have three refs in my house. My middle stopped playing soccer years ago but still has ref certification. Is not renewing. Direct quote: “I’d rather work at Publix bagging groceries”. Me: “For less money per hour?!” Him: “Yes”. Totally agree. So many have left and the only a small minority are quality Refs. I’m constantly bugging and pressuring my Middle and High school aged players to become Refs. It is getting bad that something needs to change. Friend of mine was up at Rabbit Hill for Gsa Cup and said their 9v9 game had 1 center while the Gsa game behind him had 3 Refs. Now why they can’t go to a 2 Ref system and split things like HS is odd. No Ref should have to try and cover a whole field like that.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 7, 2020 14:19:19 GMT -5
Why did GSA move their tournament to the same weekend as Adidas Norcross Cup? Originally it was supposed to be next weekend. For state cup there really weren't that many games, only 10 right? But I have no doubt many of the best refs were there. It’s always been the first weekend of Dec like Norcross Cup though last year they did try to move the Showcase to the weekend after. That became a cost issue as two weekends = two tournaments and twice as much work so why not go back to one and make more money for Nuno and Campbell.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 5, 2020 23:52:44 GMT -5
We played at Mt Carmel, those fields were just as bad. The grass somehow was high and slow, and there was standing water and mud in front of one of the goals we played on. Asked the refs to do something about it and they said there was no sand, no rake, nothing, and if we didn't think it was safe to play we could opt out...gee thanks. At least you had Refs. We had a 7:25pm kickoff turned into 8:00pm because there were no Refs assigned to the game. Gsa had 20+ teams pull out or not fill up their brackets yet they couldn’t get enough Refs for their games. Obviously the decent Refs went to State Cup and Norcross Cup.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 3, 2020 22:54:00 GMT -5
As of now I’ve heard that Fulton and Dekalb are delaying the start of spring sports at least two weeks. Though this was done for winter sports too so it’s more catch up. Cobb and Gwinnett could follow suit or lose a lot of early non region games.
The season I believe will get played but I wouldn’t expect playoffs to start till closer to Mother’s Day now.
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Post by Keeper on Dec 2, 2020 14:12:24 GMT -5
Just in time for the January transfer window! Bite your tongue!!! Lick your fingers!
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