National Rankings Released

[ka4]

nscaa.com/hsRes.php?it=1080

[levski6]

Wow 2 LA teams out of the 13 listed

[magnet02]

Yes Zach there are 2

[dogabone]

Talk about a ranking that means absolutely nothing. What could this possibly be based on? Guess its just like every other poll, just something to stimulate conversation.

[The Irish Fro]

haha a hawaii school got votes? how do they determine that?

[ontheRun24]

well considering hawaii is part of the united states, one would guess that they determine it the same way they would any other team from one of the other 49 remaining states.

[q]

Congrats to Jesuit and Teurlings Catholic. After watching the West Coast Classic on Fox Sports this weekend, I think that Louisiana has some very good teams that would matchup well with the best from California. I think the poll is a very good measure of the teams in the U.S. that play High School winter soccer.

[The Irish Fro]

its also thousands of miles away from these other 49 states seperated by a huge body of water called an ocean. The way to determine ranks of teams is to see how they well they did in playing other teams. well i can't see a hawaiin high school soccer team traveling thousands of miles away to play a match. even if they went by how well they did against other hawaii schools, its still an isolated area and itd be a subjective vote if put up in tese rankings.

[ontheRun24]

y cant u see that happening? anything is possible.

and u dont have to treat me like a retard n say "a huge body of water called an ocean"

and yes it would be very subjective but the huge body of water called an ocean doesnt stop stuff from happening.

[The Irish Fro]

haha my bad i didnt mean it that way haha nice remark at the end, but it does. do you see any high school paying for plane tickets to a place thousands of miles away? especially for a non-football sport?

[ontheRun24]

of course not. i was just givin u a hard time and u won. haha

[rbsoccerinsouth]

There are two teams that haven't even played a single game yet, but somehow, they are ranked in the top 10 nationally among schools that compete in soccer during the winter season.

Some teams have played up to 20 games and yet others haven't even played a single game yet. How can you possibly rank anything here?

And for a team to play 20 games and its only mid season. That's crazy. Thats way too many games to be playing in a single season. So, is Jesuit going to play nearly 40 games before the season is over. Louisiana allows way to many games to be played by the teams which really hurts the players in the long run. Tournament games need to be counted as games. This is where the majority of injuries begin and need to be nursed, taken care of... whatever you want to call it.

this is a high school sport. The players need to be trained and developed... not put in the demands of professional athletes. Too many players are getting injuries that they don't need to be exposed to because of over play.

I'm sure they're going to be many that don't agree with me, but be realistic. High school players are just boys. They are learning the game and developing their bodies to be prepared for the higher levels of the game. Once injuries occur, they have to take the appropriate amount of time to recouperate. Many schools and unfortunately, many coaches don't take that into account. Someday, enough coaches and schools will realize the the number of games needs to be minimized.

Back to the national rankings of boys high school soccer for winter teams. I'm sure that someone on here has done the homework and figured out how many states actually compete in soccer in the winter months. I'd love to here what those states are.

High School Soccer is traditionally played nationally in the fall months. It can be played in the winter and spring as well. There is a reason that schools compete in the winter for soccer. Those reasons are evident. Some schools just wouldn't be able to put together a team in the fall months because of football. Football players are not soccer players, and soccer players are not football players. Yes, you get the rare few that can excell at both sports, but to say that a school can't put together a team because it conflicts with another sport is rediculous.

Again, I expect to hear from the nay-sayers.

Also, of the state schools that choose to play soccer in the winter, not the entire state chooses to do so. For example, California, Texas, Florida. Those are powerhouse states for soccer. Has anyone looked at the national or regional rankings in the fall or spring months for these states?

I do give the LA teams that have been given a national ranking my respect. They deserve it among the schools that compete during the winter months. But believe me, group all the high schools that compete in soccer throughout the year and not a single team from LA will be in the National Top 10. Just not going to happen. Will LA have players that can compete at the highest levels... yes. But as for teams... no.

That's just the way it is.

Yes, I expect to get the negative comments that don't agree. I'm open minded and encourage debate.

[cajunman1]

Congratulations to Jesuit and Teurlings! Having two teams receive votes is great. We hear all the time how soccer in Louisiana is not that good, as in when our kids go these ODP camps.
Anyway, don't know how scientific these polls are, but for these 2 teams to be listed is great!

[timaeus]

These polls obviously have some merit to them, since they accurately gauged who the top two teams in Louisiana are. Often, these national polls will take the top two from Division I and leave it at that.

I think Jesuit should be ranked #1 in the nation at this point, though. Jesuit could beat California's best.

[foxtrot]

What i was told last year about this "national poll" is that LA teams get recognition because of the northern teams not starting their highschool season yet?
Fact or Fiction???

[northshore08]

even so i still think jesuit should be where they are

[lakeview]

rb -- good post! what is the rule on number of games that can be played in a season. I know you can play 3 tournaments.

I think La plays a winter season b/c of the availability of the football field. Football coaches say their players get mixed up by the funny lines.

Not many states play in the winter. I believe it is less than 10. Florida has one season (same as La). Texas has a private school season (same as La.) and the public schools start in January.

[Punkaro]

I think the best thing about this poll is that 8 of 10 are Southern Teams

[dogabone]

People, people please.......... get off of the juice, there is no realistic basis beyond looking at top teams from each state and giving a little credit here and there. No one has enough common knowledge to compare these teams and compare their opponents to be able to come up with a ranking between them.
Get off of the funny stuff, there are 8 out of 10 from the south, because the northern states are not playing soccer right now during the winter.
Really need to treat this no more than a talking point, something like reading the tabloids.

Give a dog a bone ............... this ranking and a quarter will leave you $3 short for a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

[someWHEREinBR]

Is it really necessary to include "give a dog a bone" in every post?