U16 Boys - 2015/16 top teams and new contenders

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They may have signed it but they do have a legit shot

yea they do, as well as the other 15 teams...lol

[Unregistered]

CLW blasts from the past, or how best to prepare to eat crow

Team is stacked with 00's from DA teams! Just call them the Pre-Academy!

I agree the CLW DA 00's were not impressive that is why TBU players are taking their spots on DA and the premier team.

That should be a large roster and the TBU players were promised DP slots and practice with the DA team.

The 44 best boys in 99/00 age group in Tampa on the DA and U16 sounds stacked and very competitive for playing time.

Don't skip practice or complain or you can ride the pine!

Most of the new boys coming the CLW are coming from outside the club, primarily from TBU's DA which was much stronger than CLW DA. Also some boys from the TBU U14 Premier team. The balance will be the strongest from CLW DA and last year's team. They will be a much stronger team this year. They will be better than WFF for sure.

You better add Clearwater to the top 5 it is loaded with DA players waiting for the U16 00/01 season.

Nice job, way to dominate the age group. That DA dead wood is so much more talented than the other club players.

[I put my name on it]

Round 2 Wrap-Up

Round 2 is over and now on to the Round of 16. But first, a recap of the weekend!

SATURDAY
Wff-Brandon over Miami Beach CORRECT

Coral Estates over GPS INCORRECT Not a big surprise, I knew it would be a tough match.

CG over JFC CORRECT

Weston over Kendall DRAW This was my game of the day and it was a battle!

FCF over WFF_Pinellas INCORRECT The FCF meltdown continued.

ACYS over Lake Worth CORRECT

NFM over CSU CORRECT

Rush over Key Biscayne INCORRECT The warning signs were there, but I gave Rush more credit than it deserved.

OC over S. Orlando CORRECT (but a squeaker)

FCDEC over Davie INCORRECT FCDEC failed to show up and put a nail in their own coffin. For Davie, the Cinderella story stays alive!

Clay over Boca CORRECT

WPU over Strictly INCORRECT While this was group play, this game was more like single elimination. The way the group looked after game 2 WPU was eliminated out of a weak group.

PBG over BSA CORRECT

RM over NFM-Red CORRECT

Ives over Leg-AZ CORRECT

CLW over FESA CORRECT This turned out to be the Chargers last hurrah.

SUNDAY
In a bizarre scenario day where #1 seed WFF-Brandon could have been eliminated with two wins and FCF could have advanced with ONE win, the final outcomes were determined.

WFF-Brandon over Coral Estates CORRECT WFF closes out group play with a sweep of their group with tough wins over GPS and CES.

GPS over Miami Beach CORRECT An already eliminated Miami Beach team gets blown out on their last game of State Cup.

Coral Gables over Weston CORRECT It is an unfortunate byproduct of the seeding and draw that two solid teams each from Bracket A and B (CES & Weston) are sent home while some marginal teams advance. But, to be the best you gotta beat the best. As well, CG is the team that has consistently been a contender for State Cup for this age group-they find a way to advance.

Kendall over JFC CORRECT

FCF over Lake Worth INCORRECT There were rumors that the team sugar daddy had brought in guest players for their own college showcase in March and that there was so much infighting amongst the families that the team was on the verge of collapse. The post about the team focusing on college showcase tournaments and were not interested in this "local tournament" because they were signed up for a tournament the same week as Southern Regionals was patent horse crap. FCF was a contender last year and if they could have they would have fought their hearts out for the title this year.

ACYS over WFF-Pinellas CORRECT

NFM-Black over Rush CORRECT

CSU over Key Biscayne CORRECT Key Biscayne's Cinderella story ends in Auburndale.

OC over FCDEC CORRECT

Davie over S. Orlando CORRECT

Clay over Strictly CORRECT

WPU over Boca CORRECT

RM over PBG CORRECT

NFM-Red over BSA CORRECT

Ives over FESA CORRECT

Leg-AZ over Clearwater CORRECT When the Charger's State Cup life was on the line, this team of off-year academy players laid a giant egg, losing a 5-1 blowout. I called the winner, but would have NEVER thought it would be this easy for Leg-Az. Unlike FCF, CLW cannot blame the wind as conditions were exquisite for playing soccer. So, for the second year in a row this age group of Chargers falls short of the Round of 16 will not qualify for FSPL. How that happens when the club has 3 teams in this age group screams of problems with either identifying talent or developing talent.


WRAP-UP
Unlike last year's first day rainout, this year's weather was fine. Congratulations are in order for NFM for placing two teams in the Round of 16. NFM is the antithesis of Clearwater.

The surprises in the tournament were the disintegration of FC Florida (it appears the disarray rumors are more valid than the cock-and-bull story of a lack of interest by the team in such a mundane "local tournament") and the collapse of Rush, who had a respectable season in FSPl and finished 10th. Even with a GIFT from the Providence in getting CSU AND Key Biscayne in their group, they failed to progress. I'll bet Coral Estates and Weston would have loved to switch places. FCDEC, which finished 9th in FSPL,(just above Rush) was also eliminated but at least they showed up and gave it a fight and WON a game.

My tally over two weekends of play were:
9-3-4
10-5-1
15-1
Sunday was my best result all year, but painstakingly shy of perfection!

Overall: 34-9-5.

Here were my predictions for progression and the results in Blue:

WFF-Brandon
GPS
CORRECT

Coral Gables
Weston
Kendall
CG

FCF
ACYS
ACYS
Lake Worth

NFM
Rush
NFM
CSU

OCYS
FCDEC (also lucky in the draw)
OC
Davie

Clay
WPU
Clay
Strictly

NFM
RM
Reverse order

Ives
CLW vs Leg-AZ game determines who progresses.
No change, it is a tossup between CLW and Leg-AZ to nab the second spot
I called Leg-Az to beat Clearwater, so I was correct.

I only picked Bracket A correctly, but I picked 11 of 16 advancing teams.

The Round of 16 has some tough matches, look for my preview later next week. I am also going to take a look at the seeding and the Round 2 outcomes, maybe we can find a better solution than seeding 22 teams with byes into Round 2.

[Unregistered]

Nice job, way to dominate the age group. That DA dead wood is so much more talented than the other club players.

Clearwater NPL/CDL team was really the 3rd best team in Tampa area. They are a decent team, but not a surprise they didn't make it on. Most of those kids came from TBU which did ok at U14 DA last year. They are like Weston pre academy in most of the team are 2000's. There is a reason they didn't make the U16 DA this year and don't see much of them making that team next year.

[Unregistered]

Clearwater NPL/CDL team was really the 3rd best team in Tampa area. They are a decent team, but not a surprise they didn't make it on. Most of those kids came from TBU which did ok at U14 DA last year. They are like Weston pre academy in most of the team are 2000's. There is a reason they didn't make the U16 DA this year and don't see much of them making that team next year.

That is not what we were told, we were told they would dominate this year. Not a ring on the players, it is on the coaches.

[Unregistered]

That is not what we were told, we were told they would dominate this year. Not a ring on the players, it is on the coaches.

This team or teams as they started with 2 full teams definitely under performed. A number of kids quit the team during the season after their head coach abandoned the team to coach DA. Team was coached by dad of one of the players for most of the season. I know several of the boys on this team who used to play with my son at TBU and they definitely got the hard sell to move and then were left hanging.... sad but common story. I agree few of these boys will get a shot to play DA next season even though a couple of them are certainly good enough. My guess is that they will all be back at TBU next season.

[I put my name on it]

State Cup Seeding Post-Mortem

I think everyone can agree that seeding 22 teams and giving them a bye into Round 2 is excessive. Let's look at how the seeded teams fared in Round 2:

Out of 22 seeded teams, 12 advanced to the Round of 16.

Of the top 8 seeds, 6 of 8 advanced with 4 of them winning their Round 2 Group

Of the second 8 seeds, 4 of 8 advanced with 2 of them winning their Round 2 Group

Of the bottom 6, 2 advanced with none winning their group.

The four non-seeded teams advancing from Round 1 were Kendall, Davie, ACYS & NFM-Red.

As a percentage, 75% of the top 8, 50% of the second 8 and 33% of the bottom 6 were able to advance and provide a plausible argument for getting a bye in first round. Trying to seed 22 teams into 8 brackets leads to putting 3 seeded teams into six of the eight brackets. We saw the results of this as some of the brackets were less challenging than others.

The results above point to one of two alternatives:
1. Seed the top 8 only.
2. Seed the top 16 only

Most of the top 8 seeds advanced with half of them winning their group. 3 out of 4 that won their group won all three games in group play. I can think of no better validation for a first round bye than winning all three games in Round 2.

That option might be a little harsh, though. The second option of only seeding the top 16 would result in 2 seeded teams per bracket. The other 4 teams would have to play in from Round 1. This year that would mean WFF-Pinellas, CSU, S. Orlando and Boca would not have gotten a bye and would have had to have played in from Round 1. S. Orlando is probably the only one that would not have made it (deservedly so-they are not good), depending on the draw.

I would recommend that seeding points for FSPL should be limited to the top half of the table. If FYSA wants to continue to give seeding points to ALL FSPL participants to encourage the travel commitment-fine. FYSA can give out as many points here and there as it wants, just limit the seeded slots to 16 at the very most, those teams with just one point as a participation trophy don't deserve a first round bye.

[Unregistered]

i think everyone can agree that seeding 22 teams and giving them a bye into round 2 is excessive. Let's look at how the seeded teams fared in round 2:

Out of 22 seeded teams, 12 advanced to the round of 16.

Of the top 8 seeds, 6 of 8 advanced with 4 of them winning their round 2 group

of the second 8 seeds, 4 of 8 advanced with 2 of them winning their round 2 group

of the bottom 6, 2 advanced with none winning their group.

The four non-seeded teams advancing from round 1 were kendall, davie, acys & nfm-red.

As a percentage, 75% of the top 8, 50% of the second 8 and 33% of the bottom 6 were able to advance and provide a plausible argument for getting a bye in first round. Trying to seed 22 teams into 8 brackets leads to putting 3 seeded teams into six of the eight brackets. We saw the results of this as some of the brackets were less challenging than others.

The results above point to one of two alternatives:
1. Seed the top 8 only.
2. Seed the top 16 only

most of the top 8 seeds advanced with half of them winning their group. 3 out of 4 that won their group won all three games in group play. I can think of no better validation for a first round bye than winning all three games in round 2.

That option might be a little harsh, though. The second option of only seeding the top 16 would result in 2 seeded teams per bracket. The other 4 teams would have to play in from round 1. This year that would mean wff-pinellas, csu, s. Orlando and boca would not have gotten a bye and would have had to have played in from round 1. S. Orlando is probably the only one that would not have made it (deservedly so-they are not good), depending on the draw.

I would recommend that seeding points for fspl should be limited to the top half of the table. If fysa wants to continue to give seeding points to all fspl participants to encourage the travel commitment-fine. Fysa can give out as many points here and there as it wants, just limit the seeded slots to 16 at the very most, those teams with just one point as a participation trophy don't deserve a first round bye.

you have way too much time on your hands! Do you work?

[Unregistered]

you have way too much time on your hands! Do you work?

hahaha, ridiculous isn't it

[Unregistered]

Kendall will walk through to state cup finals

[Unregistered]

Kendall will walk through to state cup finals

They certainly have an easy path to semis as does clay. Kendal vs clay in one of the semi matches for sure.

[ARSEFAN4]

Don't be a troll

Kendall will walk through to state cup finals

Walk through? Far from it! Your obviously not a Kendall parent. I'm from Kendall and I can tell you, that they will have to play every game, from here on out, like its the world cup final in order to advance. They gotta put in some serious work.

[Unregistered]

Walk through? Far from it! Your obviously not a Kendall parent. I'm from Kendall and I can tell you, that they will have to play every game, from here on out, like its the world cup final in order to advance. They gotta put in some serious work.

Arse, my man!! It will be great to see all the old famous names in the next round of state cup. Wish the "brother" would make a appearance.

[Unregistered]

I think everyone can agree that seeding 22 teams and giving them a bye into Round 2 is excessive. Let's look at how the seeded teams fared in Round 2:

Out of 22 seeded teams, 12 advanced to the Round of 16.

Of the top 8 seeds, 6 of 8 advanced with 4 of them winning their Round 2 Group

Of the second 8 seeds, 4 of 8 advanced with 2 of them winning their Round 2 Group

Of the bottom 6, 2 advanced with none winning their group.

The four non-seeded teams advancing from Round 1 were Kendall, Davie, ACYS & NFM-Red.

As a percentage, 75% of the top 8, 50% of the second 8 and 33% of the bottom 6 were able to advance and provide a plausible argument for getting a bye in first round. Trying to seed 22 teams into 8 brackets leads to putting 3 seeded teams into six of the eight brackets. We saw the results of this as some of the brackets were less challenging than others.

The results above point to one of two alternatives:
1. Seed the top 8 only.
2. Seed the top 16 only

Most of the top 8 seeds advanced with half of them winning their group. 3 out of 4 that won their group won all three games in group play. I can think of no better validation for a first round bye than winning all three games in Round 2.

That option might be a little harsh, though. The second option of only seeding the top 16 would result in 2 seeded teams per bracket. The other 4 teams would have to play in from Round 1. This year that would mean WFF-Pinellas, CSU, S. Orlando and Boca would not have gotten a bye and would have had to have played in from Round 1. S. Orlando is probably the only one that would not have made it (deservedly so-they are not good), depending on the draw.

I would recommend that seeding points for FSPL should be limited to the top half of the table. If FYSA wants to continue to give seeding points to ALL FSPL participants to encourage the travel commitment-fine. FYSA can give out as many points here and there as it wants, just limit the seeded slots to 16 at the very most, those teams with just one point as a participation trophy don't deserve a first round bye.

Well done. I agree that the better option would be to limit it to the top half of FSPL. Gives the competing teams something to work for.

[Unregistered]

They certainly have an easy path to semis as does clay. Kendal vs clay in one of the semi matches for sure.

Easy path? I wouldn't call GPS an easy path. GPS beat them once this season already.