WellRead

    For those players (boys and girls) who are interested in playing soccer beyond high school I want to encourage you to attend a college sponsored soccer camp this summer. Many of the Texas colleges who field soccer teams host soccer camps during the summer.     For the boys (and girls) UT Tyler, UT Dallas, East Texas Baptist University, and University of Mary Hardin Baylor are just a few examples of schools who will host camps this year. Consider visiting the schools' athletic websites to find out more about about dates and costs. Attending these camps can get you seen by coaches who would not see you any other time unless you play upper level club soccer.     Girls have the added choices of Division 1 colleges in Texas such as Texas A&M, (one of the premier soccer camps in the U.S.) UT, Sam Houston, Baylor, Lamar, and many others around the state.     While some of the above schools are division 3 schools, many are growing schools with strong academic as well as athletic programs. Don't discount these colleges as many have excellent financial aid programs that help pay for college (even though division 3 schools do not offer "athletic" scholarships) while you represent the school on the soccer pitch.     One last thing - consider going with a friend or two. It may make your camp experience more enjoyable. Who knows? You all may find yourselves playing at the next level after high school graduation.

    Looking at the official Texas UIL Soccer website it would appear 2013-2014 soccer alignments will remain the same as this year. The 3A division alignment will begin during the 2014-2015 school year. [Hidden Content]     I would suspect the 4A alignment for 2014-2015 would be similar to the district alignment of 2006-07 when Lumberton was with PN-G, Nederland, etc. Sometimes, however, UIL has other ideas.  ;D

    Rayito, congratulations on doing so well in your first year playing soccer. (although I thought I read about Spendora boys soccer playing in another district last year) Since you are in your first year in district 37 4A please understand your district determines district champs by the point system, not by games won, lost or tied. Since Splendora and Livingston ended the season with 26 points you were co-champs. Playoff seeding was determined by head-to-head records. (Splendora vs. Livingston 2 district games) Although you officially tied both games, (and if my information is correct) Livingston earned 2 points for the shootout wins verses 1 point for the shootout losses for Splendora. 4 head-to-head points beats 2 head-to-head points. Livingston is seeded 1st but both are still co-champs.     Co-champs is the correct title for this year. Good luck next year.

If Splendora and Livingston win, their final district records and points would be; Splendora 8-2-2 with 26 points Livingston 7-2-3 with 26 points     By points they would be co-champs. I'm not sure, however, about head to head breakdown. That may determine 1st place, or the number of wins may determine it. I'm not sure which way 37 4A is handling point ties this year.     If all home teams win Friday night (Silsbee, Liberty and Lumberton) there would be a three way tie for first, at least by way of points. (Splendora, Livingston, and Lumberton would have 23) I don't even want to get into the ties/shootout scenarios other than to say things could get really interesting.     Best of luck to all and may the weather hold out until after the games!

According to the Boys' UIL Brackets as I read them, the following will be the playoff pairings for the Boys; Winner of District 38 (Nederland) will play Fourth place of District 37 (currently Liberty) Runner-up of 38 (PN-G) will play Third place of 37 (currently Lumberton) Third Place 38 (Vidor) will play Runner-up of 37 (Depends on Friday's games) Fourth place 38 (Central) will play Winner of 37 (Depends on Friday's games) Livingston and Splendora are currently tied with 23 points. Lumberton has 20 Liberty has 16 Silsbee has 15 374A games Friday night Splendora at Silsbee Jasper at Lumberton Livingston at Liberty HJ is idle I'll let you run the scenarios!  ;D  Good Luck to all!! Hey, CoachL, congrats on the new addition!

    After observing the first half of the season, here are some thoughts about the second half, based on 37-4A boys games I have been able to attend. The district seems to have parity. No one team stands out as in the past. Most teams are still in the playoff hunt.     Players, continue to play strong, solid soccer using the skills and abilities you have, avoiding the "dirty-nasties" that diminish your play and tarnishes your school's reputation.     Parents, remember to support your child positively even when things aren't going their way. Be respectful of everyone that is on the field, even when you disagree with them. Listen to the UIL sportsmanship statement read before the beginning of every game. (?)     I am disappointed to see only 2 referees calling the games this year. This makes for a difficult assignment and things will be missed. However, I encourage the referees (in case any are reading this, which I doubt) to call the game fairly and consistently, and focus on the action on the field, not in the stands. A divided focus means a job half done. To the "stand" referees, tone it down. Unfortunately, two thousand screaming fans are not there to cover your voices.     I have enjoyed watching the young men play so far! Good luck to all in the second half!

Suggestion: What if the boy's scores, etc were posted in [color=blue]blue [color=black] and the girl's scores, etc. in [color=red] red[color=black]? Maybe that would help cut out some of the confusion.[/color][/color][/color][/color] By the way, thanks to WOSGrad for posting the individual games this week! And thanks to CoachL for keeping the scores and standings posted for all to see!

ttt

ASC season finished last weekend. Now tournament is being played in Clinton, Mississippi as regualr season champion hosts the tournament.     #4 seed UMHB (Scott Poole, Lumberton) lost to #5 seed Hardin Simmons yesterday.     #6 seed Schriener beat #3 seed UT-Tyler in the second game     Today's games       Hardin Simmons lost in PK's to Mississippi College       UT-Dallas defeated Schriener     Finals Sunday     #1 seed Mississippi College vs. #2 seed UT-Dallas More info at [Hidden Content]

Thanks, coach, for posting this. I messed up and didn't get this reported. Scott's school, UMHB, also made the ASC conference tourney. Unfortunately they lost in the first round to Hardin Simmons.

    Junior and senior boys (sophomores also) desiring to play college soccer should strongly consider attending the St. Edward's Men's Soccer Combine December 15 and 16, 2012. Attending players will have the opportunity to play in front of several college soccer coaches from around the state including perrienial national contender Tyler Junior College, current division III national leader Trinity University, and most American Southwest Conference schools as well as others. For more info including cost and schedule go to: [Hidden Content]     Sign up as soon as possible as the combine sells out every year.

    Mary Hardin Baylor's Scott Poole (Lumberton) had a big day in a big game as the Crusaders defeated the previously unbeaten and ASC leader Mississippi College Choctaws 2-1. Poole scored both goals to secure the win for the Crusaders.     Find more on the game at [Hidden Content]     UMHB also knocked off previously unbeaten UT-Dallas last weekend. Thanks to the two wins the Cru sit in 3rd place behind the the Comets and Choctaws by virtue of their only ASC loss to UT Tyler and an early season 0-0 tie with Texas Lutheran University. The conference season ends the last weekend in October with the top six teams competing in the ASC tournament November 1-4.

    The ETBU vs. UMHB game which featured 4 area boys was a good one. The Crusaders came out on top 2-0. The Tigers look strong this year, bullets13, despite their loss to UMHB.     Zach Barton's speed kept the Crusaders on their toes all night. I think Cody Hopson was in at GK the second half but not sure. Don't know if Hunter Clark made it in or not. Scott Poole played well for the Crusaders with 2 shots and 1 shot on goal.     Hope to see all these guys in the ASC playoffs later this year!

    Two former area high school goalies squared off against each other tonight in Marshall, TX as LeTourneau men's soccer took on ETBU. Anthony Martinez (Jasper/LeTourneau) and Cody Hopson (Livingston/ETBU)  were in goal for their respective teams. ETBU came out on top 2-1 in the second overtime.     Zach Barton (Vidor/ETBU) started for the Tigers and recorded one shot during the game. ETBU is now 2-0 in the ASC and meets Mary Hardin-Baylor and junior midfielder Scott Poole (Lumberton) this Thursday in Belton. Many of these college games can be followed via lie stats and/or live video. See the ASC website or the various school's athletic websites for info on these games.

In addition to the Kelly boys listed by SFA several more boys are currently playing college soccer. The following schools are in the American Southwest Conference (ASC) [u]East Texas Baptist University (ETBU) - Marshall, TX[/u]     *Zachary Barton - Fresh - F - Vidor     Hunter Clark - Soph - D - Nederland     Cody Hopson - Jr - GK - Livingston * - Barton picked up his first collegiate goal in ETBU's game against Austin College last week. Congrats! ETBU also beat defending ASC champion UT Tyler tonight 1-0  :o ;D [u]LeTourneau University - Longview, TX[/u]     Anthony Martinez - Jr - GK - Jasper [u]University of Mary Hardin-Baylor - Belton, TX[/u]     Scott Poole - Jr - Mid - Lumberton [u]Texas Lutheran University - Seguin, TX[/u]     Taylor Reynolds - Fresh - M/F -  Vidor The following teams are in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) [u]Southwestern University - Georgetown, TX[/u]     Garrett Bonneaux - M - Soph - LC-M [u]Centenary College - Shreveport, LA[/u]     Adam Ghaemmaghami - Mid - Sr - Livingston     A couple of names were missing on rosters this year. Sad to see Taylor Granato (Lumberton) is not playing for Concordia University this year. Justin Lyons (Lumberton) is also missing from the ETBU roster after an ankle injury during spring training, I believe.     If anyone was left off or I posted the wrong info, please feel free to add/correct as necessary. It's good to see more boys playing at the next level! Good luck to all!!

    A former area soccer player received American Southwest Conference player of the week honors this week. Brittany Best, junior goalkeeper for UT-Dallas women's soccer team earned shutouts in two games last weekend. Brittany is from Kountze, TX but got her soccer experience in area club play as Kountze (2A) did not have a high school soccer team!     Congratulations to Brittany on a great honor! For more info go to www.ascsports.org

    I want to say a special "thank you" to WOSgrad for all the work he did this year putting up the schedules, posting scores and making this section of the forum highly informative. I appreciate his desire to see the people who play and follow high school soccer receive the same treatment as the other sports.     Thanks, WOSgrad! Please keep up the great work! (One of these years I'll have enough posts to give you props myself! LOL)

I think I saw a new alignment listing on the UIL website. The only change to area soccer districts that I saw was the addition of Splendora to 37-4A. 38-4A and the Westbrook/Memorial districts appear to remain the same. Any comments or corrections?

I caught some of each game as they were broadcast online. All were excellent games. Three of the four finals were won in shootouts. This speaks to the level of talent and skill you witness on this level.     With all the good things happening in our area in soccer (developing clubs, players, etc.) we may one day see one of "our" (meaning from the area) teams in the final four.     Congrats to all area players and coaches! Dream big, Work hard. Achieve the impossible.

Great to see you doing this, Coach!  Our kids need to be building their skills and this competition is a great way to do it, By the way, did you know you have a NATIONAL Dribble, Pass, and Score champion in your on back yard? Scott Poole was that champion in 2005. Hope you invited him out to inspire the kids.

    The ASC men's soccer tournament is set for November 4-6. UT-Tyler hosts the tourney after winning the regular season conference championship. Other teams playing in the tournament are 2nd seed Hardin-Simmons, 3rd seed UT-Dallas, 4th seed Mary Hardin-Baylor (Lumberton's Scott Poole), 5th seed Mississippi College and 6th seed LeTourneau. A greatly improved Concordia University (Lumberton's Taylor Granato) was edged out of their first trip to the conference tournament by LeTourneau.     UMHB and Mississippi College meet Friday, November, 4 at 11:00 a.m followed by UT-Dallas/LeTourneau. Winners will play Saturday against UT-Tyler (11 am) and Hardin-Simmons (2 am) respectively. The ASC final will be played Sunday at 1 pm. Live video, audio and stats will be available for all games. See the UT-Tyler athletic website for more information.     Women's ASC tourney is again hosted by last year's Division III national champions, Hardin-Simmons. Good luck to all!

    This is great to see so many players from this area entering and playing at the college level! College soccer is hard work no matter what level one plays. Off season training (the spring) is even more gruelling. And yes, the speed of the game is tremendously faster than the local high school or division 3 or super 2 game. Let me encourage players and parents alike to get the schedules of some of the schools listed above and go see one or two games. I think you will be surprised at what it takes to play in college. Congratulations and best of luck to all those playing at the college level! Hang in there. Your time will come.     I must say, I always wondered why Mike's team didn't play at a higher level. Did they ever attempt to qualify? They truly had the talent to play there (high division 1) and be successful. Still, congrats on the great runs from the club team.

In the summer of 2009 Scott Poole and his U17 club team, Dallas Texans Houston, made it all the way to the U.S. Youth Soccer Division 1 National Championship Series in Boston, Mass. They lost to the eventual national champions in group play, won one and tied one, I believe. The level of play on that stage is incredible. Many players (DTH and other national teams), including Scott have gone on to play college soccer. In 2010 they won state and nearly took regionals which were played in Baton Rouge, LA. They lost in the semis to an old nemisis, Triangle United out of North Carolina.

Congrats to Stacy and her team for making it to President's Cup nationals! Very few players (especially from this area) get to experience play at the national club level. Is she the only girl, past or present, from the Golden Triangle area to have accomplished this honor? How about boys? We look forward to hearing how Albion comes out in Des Moines. Go Stacy!    

    A big thanks to all the players who played tonight! It was a joy to see you play one more time. Wish a few more were going on to play in college but Southeast Texas will eventually add to those numbers. Underclassmen, be sure to play club ball this fall, even consider playing this summer. (6v6, 3v3, pick-up games) Improve your skills for next year!     Juniors (soon to be seniors) we look forward to seeing you at the showcase next year.     Finally, I want to echo words of thanks to Coach L and all the coaches (and Lamar University soccer) who made tonight possible. Thanks for making it happen and honoring these players as other sports do. I hope this annual event becomes bigger and better evey year. By the way, excellent crowd tonight!! Thanks for coming out and supporting high school soccer. Let me encourage the fans to do one thing - clap when substitutes are made. It helps the players feel their work is appreciated.     Oh yes, one more thing. Thanks to the broadcast media who came out and filmed tonight. We appreciate your coverage. Hope to see you out more next year!! (Hint, hint) Hopefully the print media also made it out.