Playoff Games finish in time?

[PutMeInCoach2]

With the shortage of referee's and all games having to be played by Saturday, do you even think it is possible for the games to be played in this time. This year, 16 more teams were added to both divisions two and three, which makes it even harder.

Lets not forget that recreation for the younger kids start, and some referees will have to take care of them games saturday morning. To add to this, Thursday, it is suppose to rain all day.

Do you think that all games will be completed in the allotted time given to them for the first round?

[ShreveDad]

They have to be finished.

[wmrebsoccer]

Add to this problem that the Alexandria Officials cannot ref any playoff matches due to a mixup with testing and forms sent to Baton Rouge.

[PutMeInCoach2]

shrevedad said:

They have to be finished.

It may be possible that they can schedule a games, but the shortage of officials will stop the game from happening...

[coachray40]

They HAVE TO BE FINISHED by Saturday. Any games not finished will be counted as a double forfeit, with neither team moving on. happened in Girls hoop about 3 years ago--got backed up due to Mardi Gras, played after the deadline and both teams were disqualified. Could happen this year to soccer. I think the teams will get officials, but everyone should expect that this situation will lead to a demand for higher ref pay and more time between last district games and playoffs---I.E. a shorter season(which I am personally in favor of)

[keeper88]

y would u be in favor of a shorter season... I believe it may actually be to short or atleast every team should be allowed to begin practice earlier... football and volleyball can.. why not soccer?

[coachray40]

Today is day #98 of the HS season, and most teams wont play their first playoff game til day #101. State finalists will play thier last game on day #123. Thats 123 out of 365 day in the year we are playing HS soccer (1 out of every 3). In most cases that is just about every day except Sundays and rainouts, and I feel like the season has gotten too long. We dont play that much in club, and training and play for club is usually 2 days a week with 1 game a weekend. Players, coaches, and referees are getting burnt out, and facilities are worn. We see increasing numbers of injuries as the season wears on, players/coaches/referees getting sick, and players are now beginning to lose weight and muscle mass. I believe shortening the year to where the average team plays 10 district games,5-6 friendlies and no more than 2 tournaments would be a lot better. Begin the allowance for training and play on the week before Thanksgiving, and finish all district play at the end of January. Then using district record, have each district seed teams into a single elimination district tournament, with all the tournament champs advancing to a bracketed playoff like we have now which would be seeded by the LHSSCA. You could then finish with pre 1/4s, 1/4s, semis and finals in 2 weeks. If we applied this model to this year, we would have started Nov 13, and finished February 17--96 days. Almost a month less. We would see fewer conflicts with Football and premier in the fall, give players a chance to recuperate for 2-3 weeks prior to the start of the spring club season, and also reduce the overwork that is on referees right now. District Tournaments could be nice money makers for host schools or venues, and every team could actually make the "playoffs" This is a system played in Tennesee, and they seem to like it. Certainly would reduce travel, and would eliminate the need for any kind of powerpoints or rating system. You could always open up the process to allow wildcards if you wanted to, which would alleviate the "well what if the 2 best teams are in the same bracket" arguement.

[keeper88]

sounds fun but entirely to complicated... but maybe it this works... we can show the BCS

[happyjack]

Ray, you could do like Slidell used to do, play district matches only and nothing outside of that but practice. Worked in the mid-90s for them with a couple of state championships. No one forces you to play the extra games, that is strictly up to the school and the coaches. Decrease teh amount of games you play. Of course, you got to play to get better. Some districts play everyone once, while others play all twice. Some spilt the district and play in brackets only. Numerous teams are on track for a 30+ games season with a deep playoff run. No one makes them play this many, except the coach...

[PutMeInCoach2]

Any teams had problems getting officials yet? Let's not forget that there are 4 officials at the games for playoffs, this cuts down on the number of officiating units. I have already heard of teams requesting that officials travel 350 miles one way in order to get officials.... I will not state the teams involved in that request though.

[happyjack]

first round only requires 3 officials, 2nd round on requires 4

[brhsoccer14]

All games must have four referees. There is indeed a shortage of referees that are able to do these games. I know of one association that has had to turn back games from coaches and one from Gizardo! There were just too many games all at one time. I'm getting two games a day during playoff season which is not good for referees especially since we are already run down from the last three months. I ended up doing 92 games in just the regular season. I was practically working every night of the week. And yes, there is one game asking for referees to travel five hours. *Remember, referees have jobs and go to college too, we don't just pop out of the ground when you ask for us.

Oh, and yes, all games must be finished by a specific time. So teams will either have to be adjustable to times to find referees, or there is always the option of flipping a coin... that sounds desirable.

[boomboomgoal]

what time do the games have to be finished by?

[PutMeInCoach2]

boomboomgoal said:

what time do the games have to be finished by?

Midnight Saturday Night....

[cardsinhand]

Teams hosting in the same city could work together to use the same referee crew, by scheduling a 1 and 6 or 10 and 3 matches. Communication helps!