They said schedules would be up by Aug. 9 and they are.



http://www.eyouthsportsusa.com/cgi-win/esked.exe?lB100440

NHB & Blues Cup are both Platinum Tournaments (per GotSoccer).
Judging from the teams attending, it looks as though NHB may live up to this label.
It will be interesting to see the Blues Cup list of accepted teams.
This ain't gonna be no leisurely walk in the park to the finals.

Are any of the teams going to have a possible conflict with school and the semi finals on Monday if they make it that far? I know some schools in south OC start school on August 25. Our team has a couple of girls that would be affected.

Our team has 3 players that will be starting school that day. It means we will have to borrow some players.
Hopefully, we won't get bashed on any forums if we win.

This is the response I received from NHB rep while I suggested they consider playing girl's on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, vice a Monday final. My comment:
Hi,
Schools in the San Diego area are starting up either week of 23 Aug or 30 Aug . Having the finals on Monday, 30 Aug will prove a hardship for teams from San Diego, and I imagine may also conflict with other teams outside of San Diego.

Question:
Has (or is) the tournament committee looking at holding finals for the girls' teams on Sunday afternoon or evening? I know for my team I would be hard pressed to get enough players to any games played on Monday, 30 Aug.

Thanks in advance for your consideration and response to my question.

His reply:
It takes 6 games to win the tournament. I would know way ask any team to play 6 games in two days. I am sorry if this may cause some problems for some teams. It is a tough decision to make, remember this is the first day of school for the entire year. For most it is a half day. It has never stopped the Surf from participating.
This exchange took place on 21 June.

:)

No complaints about possible games on Monday.
This is why I save all my vacation days.
Took Monday off this week for Sun & Surf, taking this Friday Off for North South tournament in San Luis Obispo (It's 200+ miles away & got an 8am game Sat.)
Note: this is not unique to soccer. Softball tournaments usually start Friday mornings.

It is not about wether you have vacation days it is about your childs education. It is a conflict with children in school not your work schedule.

I know our team has about 8 that will already be in school. Most schools first day are not 1/2 day a mere few are run that way.

I agree - it's not about me the parent but about my child. I think I'm trying to relay to her that school is more important than anything, including soccer.

Couldn't the tourney have started on Friday and ended on Sunday?

Parents with kids in school on Monday, are any of you going to let your kid take off? My kid starts the week before... and I'm kind of undecided. I'd like to hear what others are going to do.

We're not in the tournament, but I can tell you that if I was faced with that choice, my child would go to school.. Soccer is important, but in no way would I condone it being more important then school.

Originally posted by wondering?@Aug 11 2004, 11:02 AM
Parents with kids in school on Monday, are any of you going to let your kid take off? My kid starts the week before... and I'm kind of undecided. I'd like to hear what others are going to do.
I am a soccer parent and a teacher and our family has struggled with this question many times and has come up with different solutions for each of our children.

What about talking to the teacher? Is your child doing well? Will a missed Monday mean (s)he is behind the whole week? Can the teacher send work to do so your student will be caught up when (s)he gets back? Is this an academically motivated kid, or is this someone who needs a kick in the pants? Do you let your child stay home for other reasons?

School is important but so is balance in our lives--working hard to have success on an athletic field teaches many lessons that you cannot learn in school. Missing a day here and there sometimes renews students and makes them more productive when they return; then on the other hand, missing the wrong day can put a student way behind.

Tough call--and not a black and white issue.

Last year, we made the Monday rounds.

However, since it was the first day of school for some of the girls, 4 of our starters couldn't show. Needless to say, the team was beaten in the semi's. This year, we choose to stay away, and do other more "school friendly" tournaments.

School first. ;) :ph34r:

Originally posted by Guest@Aug 11 2004, 11:22 AM
I am a soccer parent and a teacher and our family has struggled with this question many times and has come up with different solutions for each of our children.

What about talking to the teacher? Is your child doing well? Will a missed Monday mean (s)he is behind the whole week? Can the teacher send work to do so your student will be caught up when (s)he gets back? Is this an academically motivated kid, or is this someone who needs a kick in the pants? Do you let your child stay home for other reasons?

School is important but so is balance in our lives--working hard to have success on an athletic field teaches many lessons that you cannot learn in school. Missing a day here and there sometimes renews students and makes them more productive when they return; then on the other hand, missing the wrong day can put a student way behind.

Tough call--and not a black and white issue.

I absolutely agree. It is an individual decision.

Parents on either side of this issue should not be made to feel guilty. Do what works for your child. Either way it's not the end of the world, or soccer career, or academic career.

We don't start school until after this tournament, but if they did, I think I would let them play unless it was the very first day of school. A school day tournament is a one time event for our team, I don't expect to have to pull them out of school very often. They are good students and understand special circumstances for missing school. I don't think they would be confused later when something else comes up - like a ski trip ditch day offer from friends - that I would have to say no to.

I urge parents to leave this decision to the player. Some might immediately say, "well of course she is going to choose soccer". Not so. If soccer is a fun diversion, an avocation that has a place in her life along side music, academics, and yup even boys :o , chances are she may go to school (if only for social reasons!). On the other hand, if soccer is her passion, she will insist on being there for the semi's and finals. Go with whatever she chooses, even if it is not what YOU would have preferred! Ultimately, she will have to make these kind of decisions in her life, and this is a great place to begin.

Ahhhh therein lies the problem.

Were you told of the tournament dates before applying? Surely you had school schedules by then. Agree that the ultimate decision should be left to each player/parent. However, what about the team? Where does the "team" fit in the equation? Our teams go as a team, and play as a team.

We have experienced this dilemna many times over the years. Each time we have contacted the headmaster and all the various teachers involved. Often they will assign the classwork to be completed during their abscence. We've even had mandatory "study hall" at some tournaments. We once participated in a "world championship" type tournament that required the players be out of the country for two weeks. They were billeted with foreign families for the two week period. As nervous as I was to contact the headmaster about this, he said, "Go and enjoy the tournament. He will learn and experience more about life during that two week period than we could ever teach him in a classroom." Believe it or not, they understand and respect the commitment made by high level players of various sports. Sometimes there is a bigger lesson to be learned!

Originally posted by parent of a Gold player@Aug 11 2004, 11:37 AM
I urge parents to leave this decision to the player. Some might immediately say, "well of course she is going to choose soccer". Not so. If soccer is a fun diversion, an avocation that has a place in her life along side music, academics, and yup even boys :o , chances are she may go to school (if only for social reasons!). On the other hand, if soccer is her passion, she will insist on being there for the semi's and finals. Go with whatever she chooses, even if it is not what YOU would have preferred! Ultimately, she will have to make these kind of decisions in her life, and this is a great place to begin.
Hmmmm, not a bad idea.
Fortunately, my dd does not start school till Sept., but I'm sure this situation will eventually arise for us.

My daughter's team will have 6 girls starting there first day of Junior High and will be unable to make it to the games on Monday. The consensus is that this milestone first day is more important than a soccer tournament even a premier one so I hope they can find subs to fill their cletes! :(

The competition for BU-14 Flight 1 for NHB looks outstanding! The only complaint I would have is where they have us playing - Hopeview? Last time we played there the parking was dismal. The fields were horrible. Some had huge potholes, and one of the mornings the field marshalls could not turn off the sprinkler system. Most of the fields were flooded. And, the grass was 10 feet high! Just kidding!

Has anyone seen these fields lately? And if so, how are the conditions?

Flight 1 has four pools. Pool A seems an easy walk for Barcelona. Pool B I'll give to Samba. Pool C looks like the pool of death! You have So Cal Utd., Del Mar Sharks, and Celtic. That's a coin toss! Pool D also seems difficult. You have Arsenal, ISC, and Surf. Anyone else have predicitions?

I have seen the fields where BU-14 will be playing ....I can tell you this ....they are in good condition .....
Please let the kids play the games.. then will do the talk ....
We should appreciate all this teams in a positive manner and find the way to see a lot of this games

Originally posted by BU-14 Fan@Aug 12 2004, 08:12 AM
The competition for BU-14 Flight 1 for NHB looks outstanding! The only complaint I would have is where they have us playing - Hopeview? Last time we played there the parking was dismal. The fields were horrible. Some had huge potholes, and one of the mornings the field marshalls could not turn off the sprinkler system. Most of the fields were flooded. And, the grass was 10 feet high! Just kidding!

Has anyone seen these fields lately? And if so, how are the conditions?

Flight 1 has four pools. Pool A seems an easy walk for Barcelona. Pool B I'll give to Samba. Pool C looks like the pool of death! You have So Cal Utd., Del Mar Sharks, and Celtic. That's a coin toss! Pool D also seems difficult. You have Arsenal, ISC, and Surf. Anyone else have predicitions?
My predictions:

QTRS.
Arsenal - So Cal United
Barcelona - Nomads
Del Mar - ISC
Samba - NHB


Semi's
So Cal United - Barcelona
Del Mar - Samba


From these four it is anyones game. Good luck to all teams participating.

Pool A
Surf wins this pool easily :o with United taking the runner up spot.

Pool B
This is a tough call :unsure: ... no stand outs. I'll give SBSC Blue the win and WCFC White runner up.

Pool C
Maybe the most evenly matched bracket <_< with Vista storm coming out on top and a coin toss between Slammers and NHB :huh: .

Pool D
Samba wins easily :o with SERENO White taking the runner up.

I'm guessing the winner will come out of either bracket C or D. Meaning no disrespect to any of the teams in the tourny.

Third prediction. More blow out coming from pools A,B closer games in pools C,D. Even in the second/simi round.

Originally posted by GU9 Predictions ... for fun no s@Aug 12 2004, 10:39 AM
Pool A
Surf wins this pool easily :o with United taking the runner up spot.

Pool B
This is a tough call :unsure: ... no stand outs. I'll give SBSC Blue the win and WCFC White runner up.

Pool C
Maybe the most evenly matched bracket <_< with Vista storm coming out on top and a coin toss between Slammers and NHB :huh: .

Pool D
Samba wins easily :o with SERENO White taking the runner up.

I'm guessing the winner will come out of either bracket C or D. Meaning no disrespect to any of the teams in the tourny.

Third prediction. More blow out coming from pools A,B closer games in pools C,D. Even in the second/simi round.
POOL A
1 SURF
2 JUSA SELECT BLUE
3 UNITED FC
POOL B
1 WCFC PREMIER WHITE
2 CUSC CHAOS
3 SBSC BLUE
POOL C
1 SLAMMERS FC
2 NHB BLACK
3 VISTA STORM
POOL D
1 SERENO WHITE (AZ)
2 SAMBA
3 BLAST SC

Pool A: Surf will win easily.

Pool B: WCFC White, if Blue was entered I would have picked them to be in the final.

Pool C: Close call as Vista has been playing all the top teams already. Slammers havent had quite the same exposure. I will take Vista by one goal over Slammers.

Pooll D: Samba is good , but im betting Sereno is sending over a tougher team. I will take Sereno.

Final will be Vista vs Surf with surf winning 2-0

With the exception of Blast, you could make an argument for any of the teams from pools C or D to make it to the finals.

Originally posted by Guest@Aug 12 2004, 11:01 AM
[QUOTE=


Pool A: Surf will win easily.

Pool B: WCFC White, if Blue was entered I would have picked them to be in the final.

Pool C: Close call as Vista has been playing all the top teams already. Slammers havent had quite the same exposure. I will take Vista by one goal over Slammers.

Pooll D: Samba is good , but im betting Sereno is sending over a tougher team. I will take Sereno.

Final will be Vista vs Surf with surf winning 2-0 [/quote]
Agree about WCFC Blue

Don't count out NHB. They only lost to WCFC Blue 2-1 in the finals of Sun & Surf and I heard they missed a PK?

No very little of Sereno from AZ

Originally posted by ParentofU12Player@Aug 11 2004, 09:43 PM
My daughter's team will have 6 girls starting there first day of Junior High and will be unable to make it to the games on Monday. The consensus is that this milestone first day is more important than a soccer tournament even a premier one so I hope they can find subs to fill their cletes! :(
If you spell the shoes your child wears during a soccer match "clete" I would HIGHLY recommend you send the child to school !!!!!!!! Sorry, it was a fun typo. :o

Touche!
Truly an apropo typo, and no offense intended. For a minute I thought eSoccertalk's "Miss Bee's Spelling Class" would show up.

You will enjoy the field conditions at Hopeview, they are one of the best in Orange County, count on that.

Samba? It all depends which team is playing. In the tournaments played so far, I have seen some of the same girls play for both the Blue & White teams.

Originally posted by wondering?@Aug 11 2004, 11:02 AM
Parents with kids in school on Monday, are any of you going to let your kid take off? My kid starts the week before... and I'm kind of undecided. I'd like to hear what others are going to do.
My DD first day of school is a half day waste of time. Sine we pick up her books and get her schedule way ahead of time the first day of school is just about socializing and greeting old friends from last year, ain't no readin, ritten, nor rithmetican going on on that day anyway.

So of course she'd be at her game. :D

We are playing in the NHB tournament also and if we make it to the finals on Monday (we play 1 game on Sunday at 9:15am) my child will be at school not soccer.Why don't they squeeze the finals in on Sun. evening ? we will be driving over 1 hour to get to 1 game on Sunday and thats it. Most schools will start that day or already be in. Wake up NHB and see that soccer is second to school....

Originally posted by OC Soccer@Aug 14 2004, 09:20 PM
You will enjoy the field conditions at Hopeview, they are one of the best in Orange County, count on that.
How about the fields at Lakeview? :huh:

Originally posted by OC Soccer@Aug 14 2004, 09:20 PM
You will enjoy the field conditions at Hopeview, they are one of the best in Orange County, count on that.
Oooops! I meant Larkview.

We also have alot of upset parents on our team. If we make it to the semi finals we will have to use a few guest players. I hope we make it, but it won't be the same.

The reason why some of you have only 1 game isthe size of this tournament theres no way all games can be scheduled in on sunday, there are over 510 plus teams and field space is allready an issue. This is one of the biggest tournaments of the year.

Originally posted by ParentofU12Player@Aug 11 2004, 09:43 PM
My daughter's team will have 6 girls starting there first day of Junior High and will be unable to make it to the games on Monday. The consensus is that this milestone first day is more important than a soccer tournament even a premier one so I hope they can find subs to fill their cletes! :(
Both my dauhter's teams should make it through to Monday, but it's the first day of school for both and more than half their teammates. Last year we were the recipient of a forfeit for the same reason. Our team will most likely forfeit the semi finals on Monday because all our parents already told the coaches they wouldn't pull their kids from the first day of school. Oh well. Our club has decided not to enter the tournament next year and we have teams in almost every bracket....hopefully other clubs will follow suit. They could have done a Friday start date at least knowing that schools are starting the week before Labor Day. The tournament director has been completely awful.

Schools in the area of NHB (for the most part) do not start until Sept. 8th. Unfortunately, you can't please all the people all of the time!!!

Originally posted by ocsoccermom@Aug 17 2004, 07:41 AM
Schools in the area of NHB (for the most part) do not start until Sept. 8th. Unfortunately, you can't please all the people all of the time!!!
I understand Mom ... but a Monday final never did make sense to me on a non-holiday weekend. First of all, it is easier for parents to take off work on a Friday versus a Monday. Secondly, a Sunday final could potentially draw more of a crowd to support these young athletes (ie., aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) I understand the "tradition" concept, but times are changing. Year-around schools were not an issue 26 years ago. While the Monday final will not effect the HB school kids, why is it then so many people are bring this up? It seems there are more then just HB teams participating ...... ;)

I don't like the Monday games either, I know that the Sun and Surf was the same way. I know many kids on year round, even in HB, and you are right, a big hassle. I for one do not even have vacation time, so if I had to take a Monday off, I would not be able to be there.

I can only assume that since they get so many requests for the tournament, that they will not change the Monday date, just pick up the next team after someone drops out.

Our team is a local team and we will have as many as nine girls in school that day. For most, it will be their first day. I think NHB needs to look at the schedule in the future. It isn't fair for some teams to work hard to get into the semi and then have to forfeit as has happened.

We are a gold team and we would hope NHB wants us in the tournament. I know, we probably won't come back next year if this continues.

dddad .. that is too bad! Hopefully someone from NHB is reading these post and will listen to what people are saying.

yes people from NHB are listening, i will bring this up as suggestion at the next board meeting, however i can almost tell you to a t what the reply will be.