Post by rlb2024 on Jun 3, 2016 8:34:28 GMT -6
Just a few observations and suggestions after attending my eighth and final Louisiana State Cup event (the U18 boys final in Baton Rouge) this past weekend . . .
1) If a facility can't (or won't) provide benches for the players, they should not be hosting State Cup. It just looks kinda cheesy for your showcase event to not have benches.
2) Please do a better job of communicating to teams about red-card suspensions. There was a situation this weekend where a player was given a red card (deservedly so) during a Saturday game. The player sat out the Sunday morning game, then came back for the championship game -- only to find out from the referee before the game that he had been given a two-game suspension. This was never communicated to the team manager or the coach. For league games each team manager is given a copy of the game report at the conclusion of the game, but this is apparently not done for State Cup -- perhaps it would be helpful.
3) LSA, I understand you have fancy formulas for whether or not to have water breaks during games. The formulas must be based on temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, elevation, time of day, whether or not the moon is in the seventh house, whether Jupiter is aligned with Mars, and who knows what else. But they are missing one crucial factor -- common sense. The games on Sunday morning at 9:00am were not to have water breaks, apparently on orders from the on-site staff (as one referee put it when parents questioned the lack of a water break, "go ask the people under the black canopy who don't have to run up and down the field"). It wasn't until team managers raised the concern at halftime that water breaks were allowed during the second half. With the last games scheduled at 2:00pm that same day, continued hydration is crucial. Which leads me to my next point . . .
4) Three 90-minute games in 23 hours is too much, especially in late May in south Louisiana with semi-finals at 9:00am and finals at 2:00pm on the same day. There were so many players cramping up during the championship game that the center had to add 12 -- twelve! -- minutes of stoppage time to the second half. That's just dangerous, especially with the limited-substitution rules in effect. This is youth soccer, not the Bataan death march. Since all teams play LCSL now, in order to have the league be more meaningful one idea would be to have only the top four teams advance out of league play. That way semis could be on one day and finals on the next.
Congratulations to Mandeville Lakers Elite and Louisiana Fire Juniors for advancing to the championship game. There is a lot of mutual respect between these two squads, the coaches, and the parents -- the games were always hard-fought and very competitive. And congratulations to the Lakers for winning their fourth consecutive State Cup championship. It's been a heck of a ride.
1) If a facility can't (or won't) provide benches for the players, they should not be hosting State Cup. It just looks kinda cheesy for your showcase event to not have benches.
2) Please do a better job of communicating to teams about red-card suspensions. There was a situation this weekend where a player was given a red card (deservedly so) during a Saturday game. The player sat out the Sunday morning game, then came back for the championship game -- only to find out from the referee before the game that he had been given a two-game suspension. This was never communicated to the team manager or the coach. For league games each team manager is given a copy of the game report at the conclusion of the game, but this is apparently not done for State Cup -- perhaps it would be helpful.
3) LSA, I understand you have fancy formulas for whether or not to have water breaks during games. The formulas must be based on temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, elevation, time of day, whether or not the moon is in the seventh house, whether Jupiter is aligned with Mars, and who knows what else. But they are missing one crucial factor -- common sense. The games on Sunday morning at 9:00am were not to have water breaks, apparently on orders from the on-site staff (as one referee put it when parents questioned the lack of a water break, "go ask the people under the black canopy who don't have to run up and down the field"). It wasn't until team managers raised the concern at halftime that water breaks were allowed during the second half. With the last games scheduled at 2:00pm that same day, continued hydration is crucial. Which leads me to my next point . . .
4) Three 90-minute games in 23 hours is too much, especially in late May in south Louisiana with semi-finals at 9:00am and finals at 2:00pm on the same day. There were so many players cramping up during the championship game that the center had to add 12 -- twelve! -- minutes of stoppage time to the second half. That's just dangerous, especially with the limited-substitution rules in effect. This is youth soccer, not the Bataan death march. Since all teams play LCSL now, in order to have the league be more meaningful one idea would be to have only the top four teams advance out of league play. That way semis could be on one day and finals on the next.
Congratulations to Mandeville Lakers Elite and Louisiana Fire Juniors for advancing to the championship game. There is a lot of mutual respect between these two squads, the coaches, and the parents -- the games were always hard-fought and very competitive. And congratulations to the Lakers for winning their fourth consecutive State Cup championship. It's been a heck of a ride.