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Post by Scott Crawford on Feb 22, 2015 8:52:58 GMT -6
Earlier in the season, after a series of losses to Mississippi teams I had written off this year's Jesuit team. But once again, for the 21st time in the program's 40 year soccer history, is back in the championship game. Coaching and talent are obviously significant in this equation, but other programs have equally great coaching and players in a given year. It seems to me something more -- those intangible things. Jesuit represents to me the best about high school soccer. They seem to compete with great honor, discipline, and a real notion of team. No one tries to stand out with an exotic haircut. I've never seen a Jesuit player taunt the other team. They quietly go about their way to extend their own program's tradition. Winning with class seems to be a duty of joy for the program and they find a way to win against all odds. Although this year's St Paul's team is arguably one of the most talented in Louisiana high school history, the ingrained attitude at Jesuit makes it hard for me to predict a St. Paul's victory.
Why do do you think Jesuit has succeeded for so long?
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Post by deobserver on Feb 22, 2015 10:06:10 GMT -6
Not just Jesuit but also St Louis. Their players see success and have a winning mentality. Their energy levels is second to none. All the younger players see what it takes to win from the older and they just pass it down. Some teams might even be more talented than these teams but do not have the history.
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Post by playwide on Feb 22, 2015 10:25:36 GMT -6
Endless supply of club players,supportive Administration, and an experienced coach. And when I say Club Players, I'm not talking about your average LSCL state level players. I'm talking about year round players at the PLC and R3 level.
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Post by Scott Crawford on Feb 22, 2015 10:32:19 GMT -6
Don't schools like Brother Martin, Catholic BR, Lafayette, and Acadiana have those same things?
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Post by chelsea007 on Feb 22, 2015 10:34:32 GMT -6
Endless supply of elite club players, quality coaching. All of the powerhouse's have these in common. It is nice to have administrative support, but that comes no matter what when you have success and happy alumni as a result of that success.
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Post by chelsea007 on Feb 22, 2015 10:36:05 GMT -6
Scott, those schools have quality club players, elite club players are the difference makers when these schools meet (everything else being equal).
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Post by playwide on Feb 22, 2015 10:40:23 GMT -6
Other schools do have that now, only a few like Jesuit had that supply of players prior to the explosion of soccer across a wider audience/player group.
Jesuit/Brother Martin/St Pauls/Acadiana all have the same qualities currently, Jesuit's history is the difference.
Post Katrina in New Orleans...the players are more spread out at Grace King, Lusher, Newman, Haynes, plus all of the schools on the North Shore that are having success.
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Post by methuselah on Feb 22, 2015 10:48:00 GMT -6
As others have said, the talent (and the long term year round training that the talent undergoes) should not be underestimated.
Plus, I think Jesuit is a pretty huge school, especially in the number of male students. So they have the numbers where kids can specialize in one sport.
Another thing I think may come into play is a kind of psychological edge. Jesuit is kind of the closest thing to a kind of old world "nobility" or elite in New Orleans. Many of the high level business, political, etc. posts in NO are Jesuit grads. I think it gives them a type of aura of "winners" that leads to confidence in different things, including soccer, baseball, etc. I think that can make the difference in close games.
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Post by mswatd on Feb 22, 2015 12:40:53 GMT -6
Don't schools like Brother Martin, Catholic BR, Lafayette, and Acadiana have those same things? This is where the public vs private schools factor comes in. Public schools are assigned zones and club players get scattered over a 5 or 6 high school area. Private schools have the luxury of accepting students from any area - heck, if I wanted to send my boy to Catholic in Baton Rouge (from Lafayette) I could probably make it happen. Big metropolis areas have bigger player pools to draw from. Brother Martin and Catholic do have the same luxury but it's a matter of choice. As our administrator said the other day, "we play with what we have at public schools"
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Post by snoopy1 on Feb 22, 2015 12:42:29 GMT -6
Very good players & coaching that brings them together to play as team. Tradition is added bonus. As far as sportsmanship & playing with dignity- well - kinda BS. Want to have them, but don't need them.
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Post by Scott Crawford on Feb 22, 2015 12:55:34 GMT -6
Don't schools like Brother Martin, Catholic BR, Lafayette, and Acadiana have those same things? This is where the public vs private schools factor comes in. Public schools are assigned zones and club players get scattered over a 5 or 6 high school area. Private schools have the luxury of accepting students from any area - heck, if I wanted to send my boy to Catholic in Baton Rouge (from Lafayette) I could probably make it happen. Big metropolis areas have bigger player pools to draw from. Brother Martin and Catholic do have the same luxury but it's a matter of choice. As our administrator said the other day, "we play with what we have at public schools" Based on rankings and results throughout this year (before last night) acadiana seems like a more talented team than Jesuit. Most people picked Acadiana to win. Most had Acadiana ranked higher than Jesuit all season. What makes Jesuit such a great team come playoff time?
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Post by retired_thibodaux_coach on Feb 22, 2015 13:10:43 GMT -6
This is where the public vs private schools factor comes in. Public schools are assigned zones and club players get scattered over a 5 or 6 high school area. Private schools have the luxury of accepting students from any area - heck, if I wanted to send my boy to Catholic in Baton Rouge (from Lafayette) I could probably make it happen. Big metropolis areas have bigger player pools to draw from. Brother Martin and Catholic do have the same luxury but it's a matter of choice. As our administrator said the other day, "we play with what we have at public schools" Based on rankings and results throughout this year (before last night) acadiana seems like a more talented team than Jesuit. Most people picked Acadiana to win. Most had Acadiana ranked higher than Jesuit all season. What makes Jesuit such a great team come playoff time? For playoff time it is their experience and even "swagger" about it. They don't panic. It's that "been their done that, know what to expect" mentality. It's nothing new to them- it's just what's suppose to happen. Confidence and belief. Might sound crazy but I believe that years of hard work, dedication, and building up a program can cause this effect within the program from players, coaches, to even supporters/parents. It falls back on good coaching and prestigious program tradition. Which is obviously what they have.
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Post by chelsea007 on Feb 22, 2015 13:19:22 GMT -6
I believe Acadiana had two of the top three players on the pitch. I also believe Jesuit was slightly better just about everywhere else. All in all, two pretty evenly matched squads. The people picking Acadiana probably were influenced by Acadiana being at home. Once Jesuit settled in, their slightly better overall quality kicked in. The comeback, while quite impressive, was also a matter of good old fashioned mojo imo. Acadiana, with the game seemingly in hand, probably lost their composure as the match progressed and Jesuit cut into the lead (remember we are talking about teenagers here!). In short, eventually, Jesuit found an area to attack and had the quality to do so, even against a very talented Acadiana. I don't see them having that luxury against St. Paul.
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Post by mswatd on Feb 22, 2015 13:31:00 GMT -6
This is where the public vs private schools factor comes in. Public schools are assigned zones and club players get scattered over a 5 or 6 high school area. Private schools have the luxury of accepting students from any area - heck, if I wanted to send my boy to Catholic in Baton Rouge (from Lafayette) I could probably make it happen. Big metropolis areas have bigger player pools to draw from. Brother Martin and Catholic do have the same luxury but it's a matter of choice. As our administrator said the other day, "we play with what we have at public schools" Based on rankings and results throughout this year (before last night) acadiana seems like a more talented team than Jesuit. Most people picked Acadiana to win. Most had Acadiana ranked higher than Jesuit all season. What makes Jesuit such a great team come playoff time? First and most importantly, I think the ability to bring in quality players year after year who most play club together, helps with chemistry really quickly. A big factor (which some may disagree) is money. Jesuit educates some of the brightest young minds in the area who's parents are mostly living well above the average means (NOT a knock on them at all - please don't misunderstand my point !) Whereas I might have to work extra jobs to send my kid to a few camps a year, they might have the ability to attend unlimited camps at really no added expense to the family unit. Secondly, they have one of the best coaches in the state in my opinion. He's directly responsible for the play on the field as are all coaches. But he has proven to be consistent with each and every team. Lastly, tradition! Jesuit is always fielding a talented and proven team year in and year out. In my opinion, for what it's worth, Jesuit is the cream of the crop as far as private schools are concerned - from coaching staff, to play in the field, to parents in the stands. This year, the fell on the fortunate side of the soccer gods and took advantage of poor play and total collapse. 17 consecutive years in the semis is no accident !
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Post by mswatd on Feb 22, 2015 13:33:21 GMT -6
I believe Acadiana had two of the top three players on the pitch. I also believe Jesuit was slightly better just about everywhere else. All in all, two pretty evenly matched squads. The people picking Acadiana probably were influenced by Acadiana being at home. Once Jesuit settled in, their slightly better overall quality kicked in. The comeback, while quite impressive, was also a matter of good old fashioned mojo imo. Acadiana, with the game seemingly in hand, probably lost their composure as the match progressed and Jesuit cut into the lead (remember we are talking about teenagers here!). In short, eventually, Jesuit found an area to attack and had the quality to do so, even against a very talented Acadiana. I don't see them having that luxury against St. Paul. One of our parents said it best - it was a classic case of Acadiana admiring their work before it was done! And I agree, St Pauls will be a formidable test which I don't think they can overcome.
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Post by loJic on Feb 22, 2015 13:35:06 GMT -6
Pay to play (club) will always feed those schools that are surrounded by a public system that is weak (Nola). Also, schools like that also have a very large supporting cast. Parents, assistant coaches, school funding, etc...
Be interested to see the number of comp 1 players on Jesuit, bro Martin and Newman compared to JP and Orleans public schools.
Franklin is an exception.
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Post by loJic on Feb 22, 2015 13:36:52 GMT -6
If another lusher pops up you may see a dip in quality in those schools
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Post by mswatd on Feb 22, 2015 15:21:08 GMT -6
Pay to play (club) will always feed those schools that are surrounded by a public system that is weak (Nola). Also, schools like that also have a very large supporting cast. Parents, assistant coaches, school funding, etc. Be interested to see the number of comp 1 players on Jesuit, bro Martin and Newman compared to JP and Orleans public schools. Franklin is an exception. I work at Teurlings (second year) and was amazed at the overall support by students, staff, and parents as opposed to public (which my kid attends). I never did understand why a school with 1,800 kids only manages to get 20 of them in the stands even with offering FREE admission !
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warrior16
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Post by warrior16 on Feb 22, 2015 15:31:52 GMT -6
Pay to play (club) will always feed those schools that are surrounded by a public system that is weak (Nola). Also, schools like that also have a very large supporting cast. Parents, assistant coaches, school funding, etc. Be interested to see the number of comp 1 players on Jesuit, bro Martin and Newman compared to JP and Orleans public schools. Franklin is an exception. I work at Teurlings (second year) and was amazed at the overall support by students, staff, and parents as opposed to public (which my kid attends). I never did understand why a school with 1,800 kids only manages to get 20 of them in the stands even with offering FREE admission ! It often takes a while to build a true soccer culture at any school.
St. Louis is a program everyone should try to emulate in this regard. They have a bit less than 600 students enrolled, but they easily draw more than that for big playoff games. Everyone shows up to support the program, and I'm sure it also helps that Coach Oertling is also the SLC athletic director. The games are a big deal for that community.
When we played them in the playoffs two years ago, there must have been at least 400 students there, but there were also tons of young children (future Saints, perhaps), alumni, parents, and grandparents. The stands couldn't even fit all the people there. It was very impressive.
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Post by kevin on Feb 22, 2015 16:52:12 GMT -6
A few different factors, some of which have been mentioned already: Size. Including 8th grade, Jesuit has been pretty consistently in the 1200-1400 range. Only the other big all-boys schools, and a few of the huge public schools, have a similar number of boys. Reach. Jesuit has students from the West Bank, the North Shore, and the River Parishes. Even the occasional kid from Baton Rouge or Mississippi. St. Paul's has a great soccer program, but I don't think many Metairie kids are crossing the bridge to go there. Academics. The dumb jock stereotype doesn't usually apply to soccer players. If you're a parent and you want excellent academics for your son, you can't do better than Jesuit. No one is going to scratch Jesuit off their list of schools to consider because the academics aren't good enough. Demographics. If you look at most of the best high school soccer players, I'm guessing that they fall into three categories: immigrants, Hispanics, and upper-middle-class whites. Jesuit might have a few of the first few groups, but it's chock-full of the third. Lack of quality public schools. I went to public school in Metairie up through fifth grade. When it came time to go to high school, there was no way my parents were going to send me to EJ or Riverdale or whatever district school I was in. If you're in Orleans or Jefferson, the only decent public schools are the magnet schools. I'm guessing you don't find a lot of upper-middle-class white kids at Bonnabel or King or Landry-Walker. This article from The Advocate says that Bonnabel has no "American" players. I'm assuming that some of the Hispanic kids on the team are American citizens, but I guess the author's point is that there are no American-born non-Hispanic "white" kids on the team. I'd be willing to bet, however, that there are a few current Jesuit soccer players who live in Bonnabel's district. But there was no chance their parents were ever going to send them to Bonnabel. Religion. There are a lot of Catholics in the New Orleans area. If they can afford it, they're going to send their kids to private school. And why wouldn't they send their kids to Catholic school? I'm guessing there aren't many Catholics paying $20k a year to send their sons to Newman when they could send them to Jesuit for less than half the price. Money and support from the administration. Jesuit has a huge base of well-off alumni and parents who support the school. And the school is willing to support its extracurriculars (and not just sports--no school around here has a higher budget for their school plays, I can guarantee that). This isn't a school that's going to skip a tournament because they can't afford the bus ride. Tradition. Jesuit has been great at most sports for decades. Just this year: cross country champs, swimming runner-up, football champions, wrestling runner-up. More to the point, they've been a soccer powerhouse for years and years and years. That sort of success brings more success. If you know your son is a great soccer player, why not send him to a great school with a great soccer team? Discipline. Remember the 1400 kids I talked about earlier? Goof off or cut up and one of those 1400 will be taking your spot on the soccer team. Many teams don't have that luxury, and may have to put up with a talented but temperamental player. Coaching. I think there are a lot of schools with excellent coaches. But most people say that Jesuit's coach is a very good one, and the school has had tremendous continuity. A lot of the work is already done by the time a player gets to high school, and a lot of the work is done during the club seasons during the high school years. But you need someone to keep the ship on the right course.
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