Possible PPL Qualifying Tournament

We'll hear for sure next week, but apparently there has been enough interest in the upcoming PPL season that they may host a qualifying tournament.
Rather than playing a "jumbo season" like last year, where we all play each other and then are split into 3 divisions for the Spring season, the QT would split us into divisions at the beginning of the season.
Potential dates are August 22-23 and August 29-30. Teams would play 3 games, and seeding would be based on last year's standings.

I heard that this PPL qualifying tournament is a reality for the '95 age group.

http://www.planoyouthsoccer.org/CompetitivePopUp.htm

Don't know about the '96 age group, but it always has quite a few teams. Probably a good idea. It's better to have the top teams play each other 2-3 times, than to have a deep round robin of teams that are widely varying in ability.

Looks like they're targeting Aug 22-23.

I think it is going to be a reality for more than just the '95 age group. I heard that the '96 age group team count was way up from last year when they already had 21 teams - think that is just as likely for the '97 age group. The PYSA website indicates that the tournament is applicable to all age groups so I should think all age groups should be prepared to play in the QT the weekend of 8/22 - 8/23.

There will be a qualifying tournament for all PPL age groups, boys and girls, where the total number of teams is greater than 10 in that age group. Once a team is assigned a division, they stay in that division all year - similiar to Classic. Some age groups will have 3 divisions, some only 2.

They must be planning on having a good turnout:) guess we will see after this weekend. If the rain ever stops.

The PYSA website has been updated that the QT will definitely happen in U11-U15 boys age groups. We should receive more details from our league directors soon.

Is this QT just for placement in which division the team plays or also to limit the amount of teams?

What I was told in the U13 division is that there are too many teams registered to play a "jumbo" season like we played last year, which is playing every team once and then splitting into divisions in the spring. The tournament will split us into 2-3 divisions now, depending on the number of teams involved, which will likely mean we'll play each team once in the fall and once in the spring.
Competition should be more consistent for everyone too, which will be nice.

Girl's brackets for the QT have been posted since Tues. - Where are the boy's brackets?

Striker_97 wrote:Girl's brackets for the QT have been posted since Tues. - Where are the boy's brackets?

The boys U11 entry deadline was Monday the 10th, the boys brackets should be out no later than Monday.

I talked to PYSA today - was told there were 22 97B teams, only 17 registered for QT. So there should be 11 in D1, 11 in D2. Hopefully they'll post brackets soon!!

Striker_97 wrote:Girl's brackets for the QT have been posted since Tues. - Where are the boy's brackets?

I've looked at the girls brackets to try and get an indication of how they were going to seed the brackets. It's not clear to me (not knowing the girls teams well) that the top teams from last year were given an easy road to D1. That is, I'm not sure that the 'top seeds' brackets are any easier than the 'mid seed' brackets. But that may just be my misinterpretation. So what is the expectation regarding seeding?

Also, for the girls brackets every age group lists a number of teams, and how many would go to division 1, 2, etc. But the number of teams in the brackets does not always equal the number of teams given. Anyone know why? Perhaps there were some 'bottom' teams that decided not to play in the tournament and will automatically be given a spot in the bottom division?

soccermom97b wrote:I talked to PYSA today - was told there were 22 97B teams, only 17 registered for QT. So there should be 11 in D1, 11 in D2. Hopefully they'll post brackets soon!!

Should have 8 in D1, 7 in D2, 7 in D3. Bottom teams from QT will go to D3.

homer999 wrote:

soccermom97b wrote:I talked to PYSA today - was told there were 22 97B teams, only 17 registered for QT. So there should be 11 in D1, 11 in D2. Hopefully they'll post brackets soon!!

Should have 8 in D1, 7 in D2, 7 in D3. Bottom teams from QT will go to D3.

Boys Brackets are posted

afrankw wrote:Boys Brackets are posted

I'll repeat what I said about the girls brackets. The seedings of the teams in the various brackets don't make sense to me. But whatever - it still boils down to win and advance.

swindler wrote:

afrankw wrote:Boys Brackets are posted

I'll repeat what I said about the girls brackets. The seedings of the teams in the various brackets don't make sense to me. But whatever - it still boils down to win and advance.

There is no consistency to the way they do anything. The boys U12 has 22 teams and there will be 10 in Division 1, while the girls U13 has 22 teams and there will be eleven in Division 1 and 11 in Division 2. I also agree there was no seeding for this tournament. Maybe they did a lottery.

I can see how the seeding would be hard for them...I count 7 new teams of those who are qualifying. They didn't put any of the top 6 from last year (who are left anyways) in the same bracket at least...i wish we wouldn't have drawn the bracket with 4 games...just our luck!!

Since they have the rosters, they can see how many are returning players to a team so maybe they looked at if a team returned most of thier players in order to keep a higher seeding.

The seeding looks pretty equitable to me. The top four teams in the field based on last year's PYSA results are in their own bracket. Each bracket has at least one new team.

Bracket A - Just my opinion (and of course, I'm somewhat biased), but this will be the most competitive draw. FWU N Blue is the clear favorite, finishing #2 in the Fall before a string of unfortunate results saw them barely miss out on the Challenge Tourney. If they return most of their players and are motivated, they should take the top spot in the bracket. The other spot is up for grabs. FCD White (#10 last season) replaced a few positions but should be in the running. Solar Silver (former TFC Blue, #9 last season) will stand in the way, but I'm not sure how intact they are from last year. The wildcard is the new Aces team, which has put together a nice combination of players from several teams. The only thing they lack is experience playing together. This may not be their season to make the top division, but if they can come together quickly, they could surprise this weekend.

Bracket B - Solar Gold (#3 last season) should have an easy run through their three games, facing FWU N White (#12 last season) and two new teams.

Bracket C - Should be a win for ASG White West (#5 last season). Their strong Spring run got them into the Challenge Tourney, but they have been paired with the Nationals (#8 last season), who should give them a run. The winner of that game will certainly take the top spot in the bracket.

Bracket D - TLC/Ayses (#6 last season) seems to have a favorable draw despite having to play four games instead of three, with three new teams among the five plus TFC White, who finished just behind them (#7) in the standings. Like Bracket C, the winner of that head-to-head matchup should win the bracket. But I think there is a bigger gap between TLC/Ayses and TFC White that there is between ASG and the Nats.

I'm also interested to see what all of the new teams bring to the mix. Should be a very interesting weekend. Feel free to post your comments if you know anything about any of the new teams.

Since two wild card teams will make D-1 it seems that the bracket that is playing 4 games is almost assured one of those spots. They will have the opportunity to score more points on the 10 point system. Is that fair to the other three brackets? Or should it be most points per game scored (on the 10pt scale) to keep things equal?

Bagman00 wrote:Since two wild card teams will make D-1 it seems that the bracket that is playing 4 games is almost assured one of those spots. They will have the opportunity to score more points on the 10 point system. Is that fair to the other three brackets? Or should it be most points per game scored (on the 10pt scale) to keep things equal?

I have not seen it written how they would decide the wild card teams. They could even take the CL route and use their discretion. But I would guess that it would be based on match average. That's not necessarily fair either, especially if the larger brackets were "filled from the bottom" with the extra teams.

Anyone know when boys schedules are going up? Or am I just missing them? I see brackets but no schedules

Welcome to PYSA. Schedules posted days before games, then changed the night before. Scores posted weeks later, no clear rules and strange selection process.

Schedules are posted