Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Summer Playing options

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Summer Playing options

    Thought it might be interesting to get some perspective on the various summer options available to players. I can think of four staedy opportunities, Super Y, District Select, Bay State Games and High School summer leagues. Each has their pros and cons but I would love to hear others experiences... but please don't let it degenerate into MPS bashing/defense in regard to Super Y.

    #2
    It's not really an apples-to-apples set of opportunities. Super Y does play a lot of games in the summer but it's not just a summer program. The High School leagues are more for exercise than soccer and the Bay State games are pretty limited. The District Select program is a great summer program, the coaching in good and the kids and families are there because they enjoy soccer. The final tournament is always done well and a lot of fun.

    Comment


      #3
      My HS age daughter has done HS Summer, Baystate games and Districts. Summer league really depends on where you play and who shows up. It certainly isn't usually great quality but if you have two good programs with their varsity returnees playing it can be OK. Obviously the bigger issue is if you are a player on the bubble of making a varsity team performances in those games can help set the stage for try-outs. I wasn't a huge fan of districts. I thought the quality was spotty and the coaching only marginally better than most town programs - if that. I think the quality has improved some, but I can't give it the glowing evaluations that others have. Baystate games are limited maybe 3 or 4 try-out sessions, four or five practices a scrimmage and then 5 games over three days. Rosters are large but the quality of player is very good. Coaches are current or former HS coaches so you can get varying quality. I think generally the afternoon games mean some players who work in the summer opt out and the fact that the ODP ID camps run in during the same time frame so you do get a lot of the very best HS players. Still I think the play was equivilent to a good to very good HS game.

      Comment


        #4
        Being a HS teacher on vacation is great. I get to spend all day reading and responding to posts.

        The big wild card in summer play is the expectations. The expectations in Super Y are much higher than any of the other venues. For the Super Y teams it's their league play for the year. Compare it to a Maple season, not a summer league. In District Selects they don't even keep track of the results. If you think of the District Select program like a very good pick up game you will not be disappointed in the experience. It's just about playing for the sake of playing. Go out do your thing, bring a picnic and have a good time. If you assign any more importance to the games you are setting yourself up for frustration. HS summer leagues have all sorts of strings attached. A lot of times participation in these games is "mandatory" and it is not uncommon for a lot of pressure to be applied to athletes who are not exhibiting the proper attendance or effort. I know several coaches that attend these games and actually use them as part of their tryout for the fall.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by beentheredonethat
          Being a HS teacher on vacation is great. I get to spend all day reading and responding to posts.

          The big wild card in summer play is the expectations. The expectations in Super Y are much higher than any of the other venues. For the Super Y teams it's their league play for the year. Compare it to a Maple season, not a summer league. In District Selects they don't even keep track of the results. If you think of the District Select program like a very good pick up game you will not be disappointed in the experience. It's just about playing for the sake of playing. Go out do your thing, bring a picnic and have a good time. If you assign any more importance to the games you are setting yourself up for frustration. HS summer leagues have all sorts of strings attached. A lot of times participation in these games is "mandatory" and it is not uncommon for a lot of pressure to be applied to athletes who are not exhibiting the proper attendance or effort. I know several coaches that attend these games and actually use them as part of their tryout for the fall.
          Any word on the MPS turf fields in Watertown? How many? When are they breaking ground?

          Comment


            #6
            Don't forget the option of summer camps. There come in all shapes and sizes and for every age and player ability (and run at all different times during the summer). I think there are a lot of benefits to well run summer camps (even for high schoolers) that you wouldn't necessarily get from some of the other options mentioned.

            Comment


              #7
              Another great summer opportunity for those in HS who will be 17 years old prior to the first game or the end of registration (sometime in July?) is the Eastern Mass Women's Soccer League (www.emwsl.org). In Division 1, which is an open women's division, the competition is pretty fierce with many Division 2 and 3 current players and graduated Division 1 players. If your daughter is interested in college play, this is a great league to get a taste of how the women play the game. My daughter played in their All Star game last summer and, aside from butting heads with a much more experience defender on a corner kick, had a great time. They play Monday and Wednesday nights (12-13 games). Check it out!

              Comment


                #8
                Aztec Women Add Two More Boston College Stars

                March 17, 2008 - The Boston Aztec WPSL team signed two more Boston College stars to the roster for this summer, adding to an already impressive early season roster.

                F Amy Caldwell (Boston College - Braintree, MA) was a two-time All-American at Braintree High. She was also the 2005 NSCAA Player of the Year in MAssachusets and played with the U16 US Women's National Team.

                F/M Jill McNeil (Boston College - Marshfield, MA) played at Archbishop Williams, where she was an All-Star in soccer and track & field. She will be tough for defenders to contain, as she was the 100 meter conference champion is high school.

                The Aztecs will play their first season at the state of the art Amesbury Sports Park this summer. The Boston Aztec men's and women's teams are the pinnacle of the New England Aztec organization, the premier soccer program north of Boston and affiliates of Everton FC of the Barclays Premier League in England.
                Portion of Older article-

                Meanwhile, the women brought in five new additions, F Sydney Stoll (UMass-Amherst - Dedham, MA), a two-time All-New England and 2005 Boston Globe DII Player of the Year, and M Amy Avitable (UNH - Pembroke, MA), two-time All-League and team MVP at Pembroke High. Stoll has seven goals and four assists in her career at UMass, while Avitable started 19 games as a freshman and previously played in the WPSL with the Mass. Stingers.

                The women also added F/M Natalie Crutchfield (Boston College - Acton, MA) an All-New England and three time Dual County All-Star, D Alyssa Visconti (UMass-Amherst - North Reading, MA), a two-time Eastern Mass. All-Star, and D Kelsey Anderson (UMass-Amherst - Saugus, MA), an All-State and Boston Herald All-Scholastic player.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Interesting info, but I'm not sure that is a "summer playing opportunity" that is the subject of this thread!

                  Comment

                  Previously entered content was automatically saved. Restore or Discard.
                  Auto-Saved
                  x
                  Insert: Thumbnail Small Medium Large Fullsize Remove  
                  x
                  Working...
                  X