Surf Cup

Generik said:
I think this may be the new normal for a while...with players playing up or back down to their true age-group in these marquee events until the age-changes recalibrate our teams' player pools - which may take a few years to cycle through the teams.

More than ever, this Surf Cup is a huge unknown and very hard to predict...many prior posts have eluded to it - where is Liverpool? Why is CZ Elite in Flight 3? Will out-of-states compete? Will SoCal ECNL squads have numbers (Arsenal and Blues)?

Typically we go into this event with a general idea of the teams favored to advance...this year truly seems like a toss-up for the entire field of teams participating.

It's kind of nice...with everyone looking to put their mark on the age-group by advancing to Monday-play...but making predictions very difficult.

So thanks to everyone above who were willing to make their predictions...and to Booey for keeping his predictions to himself so we all still have a chance to advance this weekend.

Good luck everyone...and as long as my dd clears referee check-in...she should see some play-time with a brace and sleeve on her arm to protect her injury.
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Great to hear she can play (assuming referees are cool). See you out there this weekend.
 
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bababooey said:
Great to hear she can play (assuming referees are cool). See you out there this weekend.
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Yep...the referees and her coach need to be OK with her playing...we will see - she wants to play and my guess is she will pass the referee safety check...but thinking her coach may just use her sparingly/selectively to try avoid any further injury.

We will see...but she is excited to at least suit-up and give it a go!

Good luck to you guys too...see you out on the fields!
 
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bababooey said:
Does anyone know what happened to the Liverpool team from Texas that was supposed to win Surf Cup last year in the GU12 bracket, but ended up not advancing out of pool play. I remember so much hype surrounding that team and it seems like they have been very quiet lately.

It seems like the Surf Cup Committee caught a lot of flak about opening the tournament up to so many teams, but it appears to me that every team regardless of flight will have tough matchups all three pool play games. And for the teams that do advance to the elimination rounds, they will have to play extremely well to advance to the semis and finals.

I think it is very possible that we will see some big surprises along the way.

I am excited for this weekend and looking forward not just to my dd's games, but all games in her age group.
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That team was decimated by ECNL, Sting, Texans and Solar. They are a shadow of their former self, I think only 4 or 5 original members.
 
Had a chance to see all groups play today except for Group F - thought that both Beach teams looked the sharpest...even though both are not sitting on top of their groups after day #1.

Looks like all groups are still open to decide....which should make for great day #2 battles!

Great catching up today with a lots friends and families...and good luck to everyone tomorrow!
 
12th_man_fan said:
id like to see the full regulation time. for us it would be 35 minutes. teams travel far, pay a lot, and should get full games.

'The Best of the Best should be treated as such with full game time
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Agree. But sometimes teams love 25 minutes. Especially when the underdog is up by one with one to go!!! Sometimes Best of the Best means the best teams play hard, score fast.
 
Rev234 said:
What he said!
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But most tournaments don't go to 35 minutes until semis or finals at this age group. He's asking for another 10 minutes per bracket game, totaling 30 minutes that a team might want to keep in the gas tank for quarters/semis/finals. I'd petition for 30 min pre-lim halves like Surf Cup Sport's other tournament Manchester City Cup and the Blue's Blues Cup
 
I was out watching the 2003's today. I was impressed by the talent in these young ladies.

That is all :)
 
Kicker4Life said:
A solid 30 min Halves for group and quarters isn't too much to ask!
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I don't think 30 min Halves for group and quarters is too much to ask. Surf Cup Sports other tournament, ManCity Cup, is already at 30 minute halves. Of course Man City doesn't play quarter finals either so you'll have to decide if it's worth your teams time to accept either invite next year given the convenience of a one location tournament. I guess you could haggle over 5 to 10 minutes more play time. But I suspect that most teams will consciously accept the invitation to Surf Cup regardless of the 25 min halves.
 
Congratulations to all the teams that advanced to the semi-finals tomorrow!

The Arsenal team took care of business against us tonight...what an amazing team and exciting game to watch!

Very proud of the effort our girls gave tonight...but in the end, not enough to get the win.

Finally...it was nice to meet our out-of-state regular SoCal Forum poster Pooka out on the fields this weekend - great family for sure!
 
It was so nice to meet you and your family as well Generik!
What a great weekend of play from all of our young girls! I'm excited to see how much they all learn and improve this year
 
Bruddah IZ said:
But most tournaments don't go to 35 minutes until semis or finals at this age group. He's asking for another 10 minutes per bracket game, totaling 30 minutes that a team might want to keep in the gas tank for quarters/semis/finals. I'd petition for 30 min pre-lim halves like Surf Cup Sport's other tournament Manchester City Cup and the Blue's Blues Cup
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I had this very same conversation with someone this week. On one hand, I've seen kids pretty gassed by the Finals when all the games are full length (ie. United Cup), so from that perspective I understand shortening the halves a bit.

However, for example in a tournament of 12 teams, only two of those teams will make it to the Final. The vast majority of teams will only play 3 games. So the shortened halves don't really benefit the vast majority of teams in terms of getting their money's worth of game time. Also, I've noticed that with shortened halves, most teams just ride their starters for the majority of the tournament. But with longer halves or full length halves, the depth of a team matters, especially in the later rounds. The cool thing about United Cup was that in the Final games, you could tell which coaches rode their starters to the championship games and which coaches utilized their whole rosters. From what I saw the coaches who utilized their whole roster, those teams had much better performances in the semis and Finals. They properly rested players and moved players into secondary positions even in competitive matches. This makes the tournament a much better development tool, IMO, and a more enjoyable experience for the entire team.
 
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