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Post by stevieg on May 7, 2014 8:48:00 GMT -5
Does anyone know how they select the U13 Athena divisions? I assume they use the SIC rankings plus look at who joined each team at tryouts, but who makes the final call? Is there a meeting where all the DOCs get together and negotiate this?
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Post by fan on May 7, 2014 10:00:34 GMT -5
I'm curious how that works too. I took at look at this year's U13 girls to see which clubs had teams that were moved up or down from fall to spring. I wondered if there were any clubs whose placements were way off or if most were correct.
Here's who was promoted/relegated from Fall to Spring in U13 from A through C/D:
Chiefs - One team relegated from A
DSC - One team relegated from A
AFC - One team promoted from B
GSA - One team promoted from B
Norcross - One team relegated from B
Concorde - Four teams relegated (2 from B and 2 from C/D)
NASA - One team promoted from C/D
Roswell - One team promoted from C/D (probably will be promoted again to A)
CGSA - One team promoted from C/D (this team was originally listed in E/F before final fall divisions came out)
Looking at those, I think the divisions were largely correct in the fall. One noticeable exception is Concorde. Either they have a DOC who's really good at promoting their teams to the age group coordinator or they ended up with several teams that were weaker than they expected. Their two top teams stayed in A from fall to spring (although CF Black's status in A is looking a little iffy for next fall).
Many clubs had teams that remained in the same division from fall to spring: Tophat, UFA, AFU, Macon, Inter Atlanta, RYSA, Rush and several other clubs. Two smaller clubs were placed lower than they should have been (Roswell and CGSA). Maybe there's a preference for larger clubs when making the divisions.
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Post by Deleted on May 7, 2014 11:18:43 GMT -5
yea, concorde's central and north black u13 girls teams are not very good. just not enough talent left after they centralized their players for the elite teams. i know players that didn't make the elite team (future ecnl team) left for greener pastures. i know 2-3 quality players that didn't make the concorde elite u13 girls teams whom were clearly better than other players selected, but i'll refrain from spreading rumors on why they weren't picked up.
that being said the difference between being good and great in girls soccer is such a minimal difference both from a team and player perspective.
one impact forward in girls soccer can be the difference between bottom B team and top A team. lots of close competitive games.
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Post by rifle on May 7, 2014 11:58:49 GMT -5
The Age Group Coordinator places teams. They may use voodoo or they may use rankings, direct personal observation, etc. Established clubs and directors have influence, sure.
Think about it this way though: What director would send lambs to a slaughter? That won't reflect well on the director nor the club. Wouldn't you think it's better to dominate a division and move up on merit than be relegated because you were in way over your head?
The word around the sidelines at Roswell is that nobody showed up for the U13G placement meeting, so those girls were placed in C/D for the Fall. They scored more than 80 goals and only gave up a handful, were promoted right out of C or D and placed in B for the spring.. where they appear headed for second place and likely promotion to A next Fall.
So in a nutshell, it may take a year to make things right.. but good teams will not stay misplaced for long.
Don't worry about it.
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Post by spectator on May 7, 2014 13:19:43 GMT -5
Fall of U13 is a crapshoot. Too many variables in placements and those placing the teams are not psychic. For the most part, teams will be properly placed but there are always a few who are way over or way undersold. You'll see that clearly with the final results in Fall. Come Spring, it starts to even out a little but there are still misplaced teams scattered among the brackets.
Rifle is right - at U14 and beyond - unless teams completely implode with new or leaving players of different levels - you are where you are. Go look at the scores in Classic and Athena U14-U15 brackets - most games are 1-2 goal differentials not blowouts like you see at U13.
But yeah - don't worry about it and don't get caught up in whatever number or letter is on the bracket. They're still kids at U13 - they're not vying for scholarships at U13 and I guarantee you at least 1/4 of the players you see at U13 will not still be playing by U16. Kids develop different interests, start to concentrate more on schoolwork or activities or just burn out.
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Post by stevieg on May 8, 2014 10:16:54 GMT -5
Thanks for the responses. What happens in Spring 2015 with the new R3PL U13 division? Do TH and UFA leave Athena A? Then in Fall 2015, CF, AFU and GSA go to ECNL so how do they replace those teams?
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Post by spectator on May 9, 2014 13:54:23 GMT -5
Answering your RPL/ECNL questions
Fall 2014 - all ECNL clubs will take those teams and only play ECNL - no regular season games via Georgia Soccer however, they are able to move ECNL rostered girls to any other team on their club regardless of level. Concorde and AFU will do this to get their teams promoted. It sucks but it's 'legal' by GA soccer rules. For now.
RPL is determined any of three ways
First - winner of state cup - automatic berth in RPL (pending some disaster in Fall play)
Second - the 1-4 finishers in fall play at U13 determine the rest of RPL. Nine time out of ten the top four has the state cup winner already in there so you're just filling in the gaps.
Third - your club DOC can lobby for placement based on national play - this happened on the boys side with Concorde leapfrogging over the #4 team to scoot into RPL
ECNL and RPL are two totally separate entities and never the twain shall meet (except in State Cup or National matches) - meaning the GSA Pre-ECNL team right now at U13 will not be the same GSA team you would meet in Athena A this fall. In some cases, that may mean the club won't have an "A" level team - AFU's Elite team at U14 started at Athena C and moved up to B - whereas last year the AFU Elite team (name) was in Athena A.
And if this isn't enough for you - let's play out a mind blowing scenario regarding current U13 girls.
We've stated here several times that the Roswell U13 girls were obviously misplaced by being put in CD in Fall. They stormed through there and were promoted to Athena B for spring. Showing strong again and most likely will move to Athena A for Fall 2014.
BUT - Remember, the winner of State Cup gets an automatic berth in RPL. Should Roswell win State Cup (and I believe they can make a good run at it) they will be in RPL without ever playing an Athena A game! Stay tuned, folks - this is gonna get interesting in Columbus!!!
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 12, 2014 9:27:46 GMT -5
i'll tell ya right now that gsa team in roswell's bracket is a beast. gonna be a tough out. the ssa team is a quality team as well, play very good soccer.
i'm amazed at the u13 top bracket, very very close games. a lot of 1 goal and tie games. very very very little seperates 1-10 in athena A
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