North Texas Shines in CASL Chelsea College Showcase

There are 3 North Texas Classic League DI teams in the U-17 bracket of the CASL Chelsea College Showcase in North Carolina this week-end and these 3 teams finished in the top 3 spots of classic I league for fall season (12 games). They are the TFC 94, Texans Red, and AYSES Gold 94 teams. All three are very good teams that will do well in terms of attracting college coach interest. These three teams are not in the US Development Academy program. The Classic League provides them with good competition and they receive amble visibility in College Showcase events.

AYSES Gold 94 coached by Sammy Olali plays very attractive style possession soccer game like FC Barcelona in North Texas Classic League DI. Most of these players on this team have trained to be technical possession style soccer players since academy pre-select days with AYSES program. AYSES 94 used to have a AYSES Black team that played in Plano league through U-14 that was 2nd team to AYSES 94 Gold. The AYSES 94 Gold team currently has 5 players from the AYSES Black team that played possession soccer in Plano league (same style soccer). Now all of these players are experiencing the fruit of this focus on long-term player development. Out of 20 players on our roster, 14 have been with the AYSES program since their early days of soccer.

This morning the AYSES 94 Gold team beat the nationally ranked Michigan Jaguars (77th nationally) and 3rd in state of Michigan 3 to 0 with a large number of college scouts looking on including the Wake Forest coach. The AYSES 94 Gold team along with TFC and Texans Red are showing teams around the country that North Texas still has very solid top level teams in the Classic League with the advent of the US Development Academy program. The Classic League still provides an attractive alternative option to players like the AYSES 94 players who desire to stay with their coach and style of soccer and team versus jumping to the US Development Academy program.

Congratulations to AYSES 94 Gold players and AYSES player development program.

All times listed are CST. Game vs. MICHIGAN JAGUARS 94 GREEN (MI) (40 minute halves)
1. 7:50 am. Game started
2. 7:59 am. Team is playing very well.
3. 8:01 am. Scouts starting to show up. Right when it is warming up.
4. 8:11 am. Long talk with Wake Forest coach. Loves our team and is very impressed. Got Sammy’s info.
5. 8:13 am. XXX is playing and YYY going back in.
6. 8:28 am. Wow. Game over. Best game I have ever seen us play. 3-0 final.

Ok I'll pull the chain Congratulations your team and club are awesome!

Congratulations TFC 94 who won their bracket winning all three games with goal differential 9 to 4.

Congratulations AYSES 94 Gold who won their bracket winning all three games with goal differential 12 to 2.

North Texas showed well for the college coaches.

Congrats indeed! With about 80 brackets on the boy's side, I'm thinking all the full-ride college scholarships are now all gone! Good job North Texas!

Actually TFC and AYSES played in the Elite bracket with 10 brackets total. Greater than 1/2 in the Elite bracket are ranked in top 100 teams nationally and ~ 1/4 in top 50. TFC beat Chicago Fire Development Academy team.

Soccernovice wrote:Actually TFC and AYSES played in the Elite bracket with 10 brackets total. Greater than 1/2 in the Elite bracket are ranked in top 100 teams nationally and ~ 1/4 in top 50. TFC beat Chicago Fire Development Academy team.

Novice,

Just for clarification. The "Chicago Fire Development Academy" team TFC played is NOT THE USSF Development Academy team that plays in the USSF Academy League. Seems like a little misdirection on your part. They played a team called Chicago Fire JUNIORS Development Academy. Both of the true Chicago Fire USSF Academy teams, U15/16 and the U17/18 teams, were in Missouri playing Scott Gallagher. Good try though.

http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/27484436/27484644-27484529/TEAM.html

soccergrinder wrote:

Soccernovice wrote:Actually TFC and AYSES played in the Elite bracket with 10 brackets total. Greater than 1/2 in the Elite bracket are ranked in top 100 teams nationally and ~ 1/4 in top 50. TFC beat Chicago Fire Development Academy team.

Novice,

Just for clarification. The "Chicago Fire Development Academy" team TFC played is NOT THE USSF Development Academy team that plays in the USSF Academy League. Seems like a little misdirection on your part. They played a team called Chicago Fire JUNIORS Development Academy. Both of the true Chicago Fire USSF Academy teams, U15/16 and the U17/18 teams, were in Missouri playing Scott Gallagher. Good try though.

You guys need to let him alone for crying out loud. He's not hurting anyone and there's only Spring and Fall seasons left as it is. Yes, parents can go overboard, but it's not a crime to be proud.

TFC beat the following teams:

Southwest Youth - now ranked 174 nationally
Chicago Fire - now ranked 63 nationally
Fuquay Varina - now ranked 78 nationally

Real tests upcoming in Santa Barbara and Disney....

BillyU wrote:TFC beat the following teams:

Southwest Youth - now ranked 174 nationally
Chicago Fire - now ranked 63 nationally
Fuquay Varina - now ranked 78 nationally

Real tests upcoming in Santa Barbara and Disney....

Well...if you believe the "National Rankings"...TFC is ranked 42 and should have won all 3 of their games.

Also...Texans are ranked 21 and AYSES 127.

TFC parents are crazy for putting up with all those travel costs...should have just put their kids on an Academy team.

Say what you want about D1...but the reality is that 94 TFC, 94 Texans and 94 AYSES are the 5th, 6th and 7th best U17 teams in North Texas.

I don't know whether to believe the national rankings or not, but they give you a guage as to who you are playing - TFC was ranked higher, so you are right - the boys should have won and they did....

I am not so sure that the local Academy teams are better than TFC and/or Texans U-17 - many of the boys on these teams chose not to go to Academy tryouts - I wonder if the local Academy teams are better than the Texans and TFC - not so sure and I guess the only way to find out is if they were to ever play....

Maybe in the Dallas Cup Classic League best will play an Development Academy team. I know Solar and FC Dallas are playing at very high level and very sound in Academy league. FC Dallas U18 looked outstanding to me in the Super Group last year. Do not see at U16 Texans or Andromeda in standings for Academy playoff. My assumption is our TFC, Texans, and AYSES teams would do just fine against those DA teams (Texans or Andromeda). By the way alot of the best players on TFC and AYSES choose to play for their team and coach and will get same or better college soccer opportunities then many on Academy teams. We all know Academy has some very special talent but there is also some very special talent still on TFC, AYSES, and probually others. I am sure some Texans players may not choose to be in academy program. In summary, players choose to stay because they are happy with their team, coach, soccer philosophy, development, and college opportunities and do not see academy move as beneficial to the future playing prospects in college or how ever far they go.

AYSES national rankings reflect that they have not started travelling to showcase events till Junior Year. Our coach feels there is no need to be travelling to these showcase events ringing up the bills Freshmen/Sophmore years. College coaches really start looking hard next Spring (Junior)/Fall of senior year. We did decide to go instead to Gothia World Youth Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden which was not a nationally ranked event.

We are noticing that many of these higher ranked teams in Top 100 are not as good as our North Texas teams they are just located closer to the highest point awarding tournaments or travel alot.

Not wanting to cause a huge discussion between what's better. Academy vs classic league But my boy likes to compete. With TFC we have already played over 25 games since august 1st. How many games have the academy teams played? If it's over 10 I'd be surprised. given a choice between games vs practice. I'd choose games.

December will be a busy month. Add another 9-12 games for the TFC boys. Several of the games will be against the top teams in at least three states.

94fan wrote:Not wanting to cause a huge discussion between what's better. Academy vs classic league But my boy likes to compete. With TFC we have already played over 25 games since august 1st. How many games have the academy teams played? If it's over 10 I'd be surprised. given a choice between games vs practice. I'd choose games.

December will be a busy month. Add another 9-12 games for the TFC boys. Several of the games will be against the top teams in at least three states.

Well...if games per dollar is a guideline, then you are well ahead!

I think a large part of the push behind the academies was the concept that fewer, more meaningful games is better than just lots of games. The example drawn upon are the successful programs in Europe...AJAX, etc.

Which is better? I guess that's the $5000/year question...or $0 if you happen to get on to the FCD Academy team.

Sure FCDallas may be free but not playing for your high school is a lot to give up.

Our son got into select soccer for the love of the game. Playing professional is a dream not a possible realty. A college scholarship is a plus but was not the reason to get involved. The games are what he enjoys. Academy was not the right decision for him or us.

Most of our players choose to stay with our team due to coaching, possession style of soccer we play, development,and abundant opportunities for exposure. Some may not choose to play college soccer a number of them will and will land in right spot.

Just looked at the GotSoccer sight for this tournament...each bracket has a different point level, I guess based on the rankings of the teams. TFC is in the top bracket...then Texans and AYSESs a bit lower on the scale.

http://www.gotsport.com/rankings/event.aspx?EventID=11967

Really makes me wonder about the whole GotSoccer deal...and this Tournament in general. Look at the U19 brackets...Texans Red played in the top bracket, and did very well. In Classic league, they were very middle of the pack.

Regardless...you play the games you're scheduled for...and the NTX teams showed very well.

Out of curiosity...you think that CASL and Disney will have basically the same coaches in attendance...maybe the Div 1 coaches that were still playing will also be at Disney that weren't at CASL. Is it worth the time and money to do both?

As someone who has a BB that plays Academy I will chime in. Many issues come to mind while reading these posts. Maybe it would be easiest to write about them in bullet point style.

* On the issue of competing. From where I sit quality far outweighs quantity. Classic League is great but it is a huge step down from Academy as far as the level of competition. I am not trying to put anyone or their BB down. We all do what we feel is best for our kids. Mine likes to compete too, just at a higher level. Academy schedule goes like this; 16 Inter-Divisional games (very similar to Premiere League), 4 Intra Divisional games, 6 USSF Showcase games, 6 to 8 Non USSF Showcase games. This brings it to between 32 to 34 games a year for Academy teams in Dallas. And most of these kids play high school soccer (FC Dallas the lone exception) so that adds 10 to 20 additional games into the mix. 40 to 50 games a year is plenty, at last for me.

* Using a local example. If I remember correctly, last year Solar Red 94 won Classic League and Premiere League before disbanding this year. Last year they scrimmaged the Solar U16 Academy team several times. The average score was about 5 to 0 for the Academy team. The idea the TFC and AYSES would compete against the Academy teams? Well, I guess it's based on what you mean by compete.

* I am sure there could be two or three players on the TFC team and maybe one on AYSES that could make an Academy team. These would be "A" quality players. The issue is that all of the players on the Academy teams are "A" players. At least on Solar, Texans and FC Dallas. And FC Dallas has three professional players playing on their team (new ruling by the Federation allows this). One of the issues to keep in mind is we are talking about professional rules. So once you come off of the field you cannot go back on and everyone is guaranteed a certain percentage of starts. So there are no so called "weak" players on an Academy team like there would be on the bench of a Classic League team.

* On the issue of rankings. Texans Red at 21, TFC at 42 and AYSES at 127. These are inflated rankings. There are 78 Academy teams that are not in these rankings. Toss them in and everyone slides down 78 positions. Texans Red becomes 99, TCF 120 and AYSES 205. A little more accurate.

* On the traditional showcase tournaments. These are quickly becoming, if not already, looked at by many college coaches (I have talked with several about this) as D2 level tournaments. The USSF Academy Showcase tournaments, one in the fall and one in the spring, are where the heavy recruiting occurs. For example at the USSF spring showcase tournament last year our U16 team had 125 top college coaches attending one game alone. Parents could hardly get around the field to watch. In the two showcase tournaments we had just under 400 coaches view our 6 games (3 fall, 3 spring). Compare this to Disney last year, 50 coaches, or Dallas Cup, 15 coaches. And this year I expect it to be larger.

* By the way if you want to see some great Academy games, the USSF Spring showcase will be at Pizza Hut Park this year and all 156 teams (about 4000 players) will be there.

Soccergrinder I have read your postings for a long time since pre-select days in the 94's and have upmost respect for the great 94 players that have progressed to Development Academy teams. With that being said you have gone a little overboard in your statements around quality of all academy league teams and that nationally ranked teams are not as good or better than the academy teams.

Just review last year's Dallas Cup matches and you will see multiple USSF U-18 teams defeated by non-Development Academy teams that are nationally US ranked club teams.

Andromeda Academy lost to Louisiana Fire 2 to 1
Houston Dynamo South Academy lost to LAFC Black 0 to 2
Solar Academy lost to Santa Clara Sporting Club 2 to 1

The #156 nationally ranked De Anza Force Blue 93 team beat Houston Dynamo USSF Development Academy team.

This is one tournament. I am sure if I picked others like Surf Cup I would find very close games or losses for USSF Development Academy teams against nationally gotsoccer.com ranked club teams. What the heck, I decided to look and found one USSF academy team finished last in bracket this summer with club teams.

Crossfire Premier Development Academy USSF Complete Game History - lost all three games two gainst nationally ranked club teams. This is a top 3 USSF Academy team in Northwest Division in West Region 2010/2011 standings thus far. Notice they lost to two club teams by similar margin to Concorde Fire Academy (GA) so looks like those club teams would do fine playing USSF academy teams every week-end. One USSF Development Academy team lost 5 to 0 to a nationally ranked club team.
Date Opponent Score
San Diego Surf Cup XXX - 2010
8/1/2010 ISC STRIKERS (CAS) 1-2
7/31/2010 ALBION SC WHITE (CAS) 0-1
7/31/2010 CONCORDE FIRE ACADEMY (GA) 1-2

Concord Fire Academy did much better but again lost to club team in playoffs.
Date Opponent Score
San Diego Surf Cup XXX - 2010
8/2/2010 FRAM CQ VIPERS (CAS) 2-3
8/1/2010 EASTSIDE FC 94 RED (WA) 1-0
8/1/2010 ALBION SC WHITE (CAS) 3-0
7/31/2010 ISC STRIKERS (CAS) 1-0
7/31/2010 CROSSFIRE PREMIER ACADEMY (WA) 2-1

Albertson Academy Red did well still lost to same club team and other club team from Maryland was a close game seems like even competition to me.
Complete Game History
Date Opponent Score
San Diego Surf Cup XXX - 2010
8/2/2010 FRAM CQ VIPERS (CAS) 1-0
8/2/2010 CALIFORNIA DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY 94 (CAN) 1-0
8/1/2010 SOUNDERS FC ACADEMY (WA) 2-0
8/1/2010 CALVERTON SC REVOLUTION (MD) 3-2
7/31/2010 FRAM CQ VIPERS (CAS) 1-3
7/31/2010 SAN DIEGO SURF ACADEMY (CAS) 0-0

Lets look at another USSF Development Academy team playing club teams in several tournaments. Two losses and a tie against regular club teams. San Diego Surf SC Academy USSF results:
Complete Game History
Date Opponent Score
San Diego Surf Cup XXX - 2010
8/1/2010 FRAM CQ VIPERS (CAS) 0-5
7/31/2010 CALVERTON SC REVOLUTION (MD) 1-0
7/31/2010 ALBERTSON ACADEMY 94 RED (NYE) 0-0
ALBION CUP NATIONAL SOCCER SHOWCASE
7/18/2010 IRVINE TITANS (CAS) 0-1
7/18/2010 LAFC CHELSEA (CAS) 1-0
7/17/2010 REBELS (CAS) 3-2
7/17/2010 FORZA FC PREMIER 94 (UT) 1-1

You could say that was a fluke they had guest players etc etc. The USSF academy teams also have fluid rosters like you point out.

I do not agree with your assessment of players on top classic league teams. I know some players who have migrated to Academy leagues that were not in the top 4 to 6 players on their classic league teams.

FC Dallas Academy is above reproach in that I do believe those players all meet the criteria you said in your post. It is followed by Texans and Solar academy teams. Andromeda academy is similar to best classic league teams with some very special players.

North Texas has always been stronger than many areas of the country with top classic league teams. Now when you go out in the USSF standings I would conclude the best club teams in North Texas, California, Florida, up east, Michigan etc. would do fine against the lower half USSF academy teams. I think the some of the top USSF academy teams are a notch above all the nationally ranked teams in same age group.

I do not need 250 college coaches looking at a team to find the right opportunity for college. A player needs to decide where he is interested in playing where there might be a good match and let those college coaches know. Club coaches can recommend a player to a college coach. Whether it is USSF or club, a coaches reputation and personal network carries alot of weight.

Watching the USSF teams play at Pizza Hut Park will not be much different than watching a really good Dallas Cup game at same age level with exception of the top 1/3 USSF teams playing each other. I can say that seeing FC Dallas U18 Academy team play in the Super Group last year was an outstanding match to watch.

In summary, I believe that are large number of USSF Development Academy teams across the US in general are similar in quality to the top nationally ranked club teams. The tournament results where the play head to head demonstrate that is the case. I know there are some USSF Development Academy teams that would be #1 ranked nationally but that is a small portion of the 78 USSF teams.

Novice,

I have yet to play in a showcase tournament where the true weekly rostered team played. They almoat all combine several top players from several top teams to form an "All Star" or "Academy" type of teams for the showcase tournament. So those scores are not indicators of what we were talking about in your previous statements. Also, In all of the games you listed the Academy teams were playing up an age group.

As I stated before, I have no doubt that there are dozens of players in North Texas who could possibly make an Academy team that choose to not play Academy.

I agree with you on the recruiting issue. The single most important aspect of getting a scholarship is the relationship between the college coach and the Club and/or Coach of the team. When kids get to be Juniors if they are playing on teams who have a history of placing 95% of their graduates in college then that is a good place to be. And even if they are on a team with a little less of a national recognition the coach can still be an awesome agent/promoter of the player and can be a tremendous asset. Coaches like Ed Puskarich and Sammy Olali do an outstanding job and I admire them both for their dedication to the sport and more importantly the dedication to the youth of North Texas. And I have no doubt playing for them is a huge feather in a players cap when looking to move on to playing in college.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and stays safe. It has been a wonderful ride in select soccer in North Texas and I will miss it as it draws to an end.

Soccergrinder the Surf Cup scores are for the U16 age bracket so the USSF academy teams that I mentioned that got beat by U16 competitive club teams. The USSF academy teams were not playing up an age group in that tournament.

Here the Crossfire Premier Academy a top level USSF Development Academy team in Northwest Division West Region got beat by the #181 Gotsoccer.com nationally ranked Irvine SC Strikers 2 to 1. My thoughts are the Gotsoccer.com national rankings with USSF academy teams included would have some in Top 50, some in Top 100, and others below Top 100 in national rankings if the played in same tournaments as club teams. I am sure that as TFC, Texans Red, and AYSES participate in more showcase tournaments they will move up in national rankings. We only have Dallas Cup and Disney Event to get significant points on Gotsoccer.com. We are now starting to travel more like Development Academy teams so we will get more points as a result since North Texas has always been a stronger region of the country for USSF DA and top club teams.

San Diego Surf Cup XXX - 2010

Team Information:

Boys U16
IRVINE SC STRIKERS IRVINE STRIKERS California South
Current Rank Change Championship
Total Points 1889
National Rank 181 (-5)
Region 4 Rank 69 (-2)
California South Rank 13


Team ID# 0225539 Coach: Erik Kirsch Manager: Robert Thierjung View Full Team Rankings Page

7/31/2010

Boys U16 Super

Game Time Home Team Away Team Location
Bracket D
#735
12:00 PM ALBION SC WHITE (CAS) 2 ISC STRIKERS (CAS) 0 Field #17
#738
5:20 PM CONCORDE FIRE ACADEMY (GA) 1 ISC STRIKERS (CAS) 0 Field #17
8/1/2010

Boys U16 Super

Game Time Home Team Away Team Location
Bracket D
#740
8:00 AM CROSSFIRE PREMIER ACADEMY (WA) 1 ISC STRIKERS (CAS) 2 Field #17


We do not combine teams or create super teams for college showcase events although some may do.

I like your wrap up statement and agree except I still think you way oversold the strength of the 78 USSF teams. Many are just regular club teams that got accepted into USSF league. They may have picked up some better players for USSF but the top nationally ranked club teams have no problems competing against these USSF teams.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Soccernovice wrote:Soccergrinder the Surf Cup scores are for the U16 age bracket so the USSF academy teams that I mentioned that got beat by U16 competitive club teams. The USSF academy teams were not playing up an age group in that tournament.

Yes, I have seen this happen before. When an Academy team is made up of mostly younger players then the club can sit their older players so they can play in the younger bracket. Fielding a weaker team once this is done. And of course these are brand new teams playing in these Showcase Tournaments as warm-up tournaments to get them ready for their first Academy games that start in September. So these teams have very few if any games under their belt as a new team. And they are playing against teams that have been together for years peppered with top notch guest players.

Do I think there are some teams somewhere that are not Academy teams that could beat a lower level Academy team under the right conditions. Yes, that is probably true.

Soccergrinder, I would agree with some of your bullets in your original post. However, I agree with Novice that you are overstating the strength of all of the academy teams. Over the last couple of years I have watched academy teams get beaten at Disney by non-academy teams, and watched enough academy games, to know that the very top club teams would be fine. Granted, the top academy teams are better, they should be, that is the way the system is currently designed. However, calling a team an academy team and only playing, "meaningful games" does not make them a quality team. I see that the academy teams are playing in their own "Open" division in Disney this year. I guess we will have to wait for Dallas Cup.

lowandhard wrote:Over the last couple of years I have watched academy teams get beaten at Disney by non-academy teams,

lowandhard,

You could be right. However, in the past, Academy teams had to play up at Disney and Dallas Cup. So those losses you speak of are skewed because of that fact. So I am not disputing your thoughts. Just that using Disney as a gauge is faulty. At least this year at Disney the Academy teams will have their own brackets and not have to play up.

For the sake of argument I will agree with both you and Novice. Lets keep it round numbers. So of the 78 Academy teams, 18, or 23%, are sub par. So we will only slide the AYSES down 60 teams instead to leave them at 187.

Also, the inspiration for my original post was the statement that Novice made that his AYSES 94 team would have no problem competing with the Texans Academy team. I am not really positive, but I am pretty sure the AYSES 94 team never beat either the Texans 94 nor the Texans Red West 94 teams. So the idea that now that the top players off of those two teams are merged together with some other top players added seems a tad boastful. At least to me. So he is saying his AYSES 94 team, current ranking of 187 will do fine against the Texans Academy team which sits in first place in the Central Conference Texas Division. Hmmmmmmm!

Soccer Grinder,

I was actually thinking of Disney two years ago when Dallas Texans U16 Academy team played in the U16 division. It is an interesting debate as to where the very top club teams fall in the pecking order. We won't likely find out as it looks like the academy teams will play less and less against top club teams. Maybe we need an equivelent to the US Open Cup where the USL teams tend to do ok against the MLS teams. However, I know that would involve to many non-meaningful games... I do get it, and I love when the local academy teams do well, as that reflects well on the level of soccer in North Texas. Good luck in your academy season. I'll be at Disney taking in some of the academy games as well and will make a mental note of the teams I think my son's club team might beat.