Water breaks

Laimport wrote:

my2cents wrote:Years back I asked for exactly that, a 3rd hot weather light colored home jersey to use instead of our navy blue home jerseys. I can never understand the thought process of those who chose dark blue and black jerseys for a Texas team.
 Laimport, two 5 minutes breaks takes 15 to 20 off the game. I don't understand the math there.
 The  tournament  organizers can't know for sure if the breaks will be needed when they schedule games. To stop the clock adds 10 minutes per game times 8 to 10 games per field = 80 to 100 minutes. One less game played on that field.

Besides the game time lost is not worth the possible consequences. A few years ago I had a very athletic, conditioned son fall out during a game. He did not want to be the guy the game was stopped for and helped off the field. He got up to try to get off the field and went down again and went out. He almost stopped breathing. An EMT there could not tell if he was breathing or not. His pulse was very weak.
He ended up spending a night at Baylor and was fine after a few weeks. The bottom line is that he was the last one on that team you would have expected this to happen to. It does happen. If you had ever stood there and thought you were going to see a player, your child, die in his mothers arms on a soccer then you would know how petty, short-sighted and ill conceived these complaints on the use and duration of water breaks are.

Life can be too short to sweat the small stuff.

First, I'm sorry you had to go through that as a parent.

The point I was making about the time factor is that:

Tournament games are usually shortened by 5 minutes. (Ex: u17/18 halves become 40 minutes instead of the standard 45 minutes.)

So, if you add in another 5 minute water break you are essentially cutting the half down 10 minutes. 20 minutes for game.

90 minute games becomes 70 minute games.

Now, that said, again, I definitely think water breaks are warranted and ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

All I'm saying is that the players are actually something resembling a full game.

Another thing, why would a division consisting of 2 brackets of 4 teams need to play semifinals?

Must be a NTX thing. Four team groups usually play 3 group games and the points winner plays in the final.

So, we are talking about player safety, yet 5 games in a 36-40 hr time frame is somehow good for them? Especially in the heat?

Where's the f'ing logic in that?

Oh...the $$$$

Could not agree more. I really enjoyed my 96's last 2 years as his clubs stopped doing the mega game tournaments. Two years ago we did Premier League West . Two games on a weekend , one Saturday, one Sunday and go home. Nice. Did mostly major showcase tournaments that were mostly one a day for three days.
I also like the 3 team bracket system used in other states. Play the other two teams and the winner goes through. 4 bracket max divisions, 4 game max over 3 days. Losers get a consolatoion game against like place team from another bracket. The 6 games in 3 days format to make the PLD final is insanely stupid !

I think there's some racial prejudice going on in NTX against Nomads!!! Next you'll be making fun of how they talk and accuse them of cussing out the other players without the refs understanding what they are saying.

Just sayin.... 

Soccerinsanity wrote:I think there's some racial prejudice going on in NTX against Nomads!!!  Next you'll be making fun of how they talk and accuse them of cussing out the other players without the refs understanding what they are saying.  

Just sayin.... 

me thinks you may be in the wrong thread...

My experience has been that when water breaks you need to hurry up and get your wife to the hospital, even IF she is a Nomad.

my2cents wrote:
 Laimport, two 5 minutes breaks takes 15 to 20 off the game. I don't understand the math there.

I was just a visitor, so I wasn't paying too much attention, but I could tell some teams were deliberately stalling. It seemed like it shaved at least a few more minutes off the clock, unless the ref added the time back on. The games were blowouts, but it does give the team that's winning an advantage to stall time and the refs didn't seem to care too much.

This information was prepared for one of my kid's teams by a professional fitness program in the area. It supports the idea of a water break. Players can do this by subbing out... refs don't have that luxury.


What to Expect with High Heat Index:

Heat Index example: 105 degrees, 47% humidity

Drink water often - and drink more than you think you need.

The old idea that water should be withheld from athletes during workouts has NO SCIENTIFIC
FOUNDATION. The most important safeguard to the health of the athlete is the replacement of
water. Water must be on the field and readily available to the athletes at all times. It is recommended
that a minimum 10-minute water break be scheduled for every twenty minutes of heavy exercise in
the heat. Athletes should rest in a shaded area during the break. WATER SHOULD BE AVAILABLE IN
UNLIMITED QUANTITIES.
5. Check and be sure athletes are drinking the water. Replacement by thirst alone is inadequate.

2. Encourage your athletes to prepare for activity by drinking early, preferably 2 hours before. Tell them to
avoid beverages containing caffeine, alcohol, and/or carbonation. They are not effective in hydrating the
body adequately.
3. Remind athletes to continue drinking during activity. That amounts to about 1 cup every 15 minutes.
4. Once activity has concluded, teach athletes to recover within the first 2 hours by hydrating. One way is to
refer back to their after practice weight difference and drink about 2 cups per pound loss.

If they added water breaks to professional soccer games, they may see an increase of interest from the TV industry. Just think of basketball, football and baseball; the interruptions are continuous and so they can run a lot of ad spots. While in soccer it's 45 minutes with no interruptions, so it's not good for advertising!

Let's not forget to bring water for the parents as well. I think we concentrate a lot on getting our players water, but refs and parents/friends/family need to keep hydrated also. Many tournaments I have been concentrating so much on my son getting enough water that I end up dehydrated just being out in the Texas heat.

they could easily add advertising to soccer matches, especially in the last 10 minutes of the game.

This fake injury timeout is sponsored by Metamucil.

This 2 minutes of riling in pain is brought to you by Depends.

They could go dual screen with the ad so you can still watch the "injured" player roll around on the ground, stop for a second to ask the ref for a yellow card and then roll around on the ground some more.

they could even add sponsors to when players get carried off, hop off the stretcher and ask to reenter the field.

This re-entry from the fake injury is sponsored by Icy Hot.

^ brilliant!

Player is laying on the ground with no sign of life and then springs into action - this sudden recovery brought to you by Viagra.

 

epicgoodsport wrote:Let's not forget to bring water for the parents as well.  I think we concentrate a lot on getting our players water, but refs and parents/friends/family need to keep hydrated also.  Many tournaments I have been concentrating so much on my son getting enough water that I end up dehydrated just being out in the Texas heat.

No, the gigantic Route 44 Coke quenches the thirst much better.....

all for the water breaks. safety over expediency folks.

Here's a change of topic: where do you guys find those funny looking charecter people in your replies?!

epicgoodsport wrote:Let's not forget to bring water for the parents as well.  I think we concentrate a lot on getting our players water, but refs and parents/friends/family need to keep hydrated also.  Many tournaments I have been concentrating so much on my son getting enough water that I end up dehydrated just being out in the Texas heat.

That reminds me of a funny (actually sad) event concerning a U11 tournament a few years ago. it was 100+ degrees out and the tournament mandated water breaks for all games. The games were 2x20 minute halves.
The coach for the club on my touchline (a new team in a first year Footbal Club in Dallas) went ballistic and demanded the referee not do a water break, and when the ref said there would be a water break, this coach ran across the field and got the tournament director. The director said yes there would be water breaks.
Well, you never heard such howling about it from the parents whom never got up one singel time from their tent over the parent's bench. They complained about it for the whole first half. They also did not complain when the coachf orbade the kids from getting a drink, or getting into the shade.
A real work and a bad example of paprenting (in this instance, I am sure they are really good parents).
Maybe not.

Make sure referee assistants(linesmen) get water as well. I saw this kid maybe 16 years old swaying from side to side last year during the qualifier and we offered him water and a seat during the water breaks. Kid had been out there all day and hadn't been adequately prepared. I would have sworn he was going down. Secretly it was just our way of swaying the linesman to our side. Couldn't hurt, right? If he were my kid I would hope someone would offer him some water. Funny thing was our parents were all under no fewer than 4 canopies on the sideline. And, yes, our boys had one as well.

epicgoodsport wrote:Make sure referee assistants(linesmen) get water as well.  I saw this kid maybe 16 years old swaying from side to side last year during the qualifier and we offered him water and a seat during the water breaks.  Kid had been out there all day and hadn't been adequately prepared.  I would have sworn he was going down.  Secretly it was just our way of swaying the linesman to our side.  Couldn't hurt, right?  If he were my kid I would hope someone would offer him some water.  Funny thing was our parents were all under no fewer than 4 canopies on the sideline.  And, yes, our boys had one as well.

We had a CR go down and out at one of our games last year. It was an awful thing to witness and our boys were stunned. This occurred some time after the second half. The game was cancelled and the boys just stayed out there and scrimmaged without refs, but it sure did bring some perspective to what is really important.

Be safe first. I doubt there are any soccer players out there in the lower level professional leagues claiming that they would be playing for Man U if only they didn't have water breaks in their youth games.

Then again, that guys parents might be saying that.