domino

Where to watch in SETX?

Was a great game!! Not sure if if it was Natalie or Kaitlyn Stowe that finished the third goal. Girls would know.  The entire second half they were doing a good job of passing back and forth in front of the box and being there for one another so the goals were a total team effort-whoever can get it in there!  Haley Shipman looked terrific this weekend, and was a great contributor. Natalie is definitely back up to speed, and Nancy Alvarez is getting there....the sun dropping down a little for the second half may have helped a little!  Or Jan gave them all the right advice at halftime... . Congrats to the 96's, they have been working hard and that is a good showing for a Challenge tournament. Challenge does a good job at matching teams up so whoever you play is tough enough but not too tough (usually)....

...maybe so, rip, but don't know much about the Western District competition yet!

Regarding Rebel's thought that 5A players shouldn't be compared with 3A and 4A...Several of the 4A schools in the area are more competitive than the district schools in 21-5A (dist. containing WB and PA).  So performance against these schools really is more of a credit than performance against some of the schools in the district.  I do understand about school size, but some schools are just not focussed on soccer at all.  I would like to vote at least 3 times for GK of the year, because we do have these very good ones in the area.  But SD, being a freshman, did a great job for WB this year, and the team had two key defenders out early in the season.

Girls: Defender: Teilor Long, Kelly         Midfielder: Lisl Ost, West Brook         Defender: Hannah Babin, West Brook

I'm with "shoes"....believe that trainers we have had have been an inspiration for players and families...also the players and families have been an inspiration to one another.  My daughters high school coach has been an inspiration to  her, and helped her with tactics that she needed work on even after years of club ball. I think I see a classic case of looking over the fence at "greener grass".  However, many people on the other side don't say that the grass is greener.  For one thing, you know that the fees for club ball (even for Spindletop) are higher than many people want to pay.  They may be higher than some people can pay.  But Hassan Nazari is all about the money, and the fees paid at these big business clubs are much higher!  Can't really see how the market will hold that up.... I believe LW is a 92...hence, was too old to play on the 93 team.  Actually, I think that many of the outstanding 93 players in all the area high schools did play on the 93 team at one time or another.  There have been few other age group teams that have been able to bring together players from all the area towns, but I think that is what you need in this area.  A Beaumont only team is not going to be able to compete....there is not that much high interest at each age level.  How splintering things by adding another club will help is beyond me!

I'm with Oldtimer and Newbie on the fan behavior.  There could be an incentive for good fan behavior that would affect the hs teams...their activity fund or something.  I have seen that work...the coach or some one affiliated with the school applies pressure to the (mainly)parents to stay within certain boundaries.  Congratulations to Lumberton for their win, and Nederland for their hard work! Some terrific soccer was played on both sides.  I believe that most of our area teams (girls) do not have too many seniors, so we will be seeing a lot more good soccer next year.

Girls predictions: Brenham beat LCM 2-0.  I think PNG has a good chance of winning this, and I hope they do.  Know quite a few players on their team, and feel they should go far. Lumberton vs. Nederland. A hard one to call.  Could hinge a lot on who's "on" that night. I think Nederland will win.  Might go watch this one. Lumberton must be playing better than in the preseason...would like to see their more organized play, and Nederland has some great players, too.  If i go, maybe I'll sit on one side for first half, other for second!

Congrats to Memorial Girls!  They are a tenacious bunch with a great keeper.  Where and when is the game?

WB boys playing Pearland WB girls playing LaPorte

It's kind of too bad it has to be like this...I know districts are arranged by school size and general geographic area, but I bet Vidor, Bridge City, and Channelview were wishing they were playing one another tonight....and the Raiders, Indians, & WB Bruins getting another chance together.  Well, congratulations to all the teams and especially to Lumberton, PNG, and West Brook.  !

Girls PNG.  I think that they are an overall better team, and will have an advantage on their home playing surface also. Agree it would be a great game to watch!

WB girls 3, LaPorte 1.  Goals from Rachel Babin, Summer Brandimarte, Aaron Strawser.  Saves by Stacy Dolan.  Babin, Brandimarte, and Dolan all freshmen. WB last faced LaPorte in bi-district playoffs in March, winning 1-0. A good effort by WB tonight, entire team looked good.  WB JV girls also won their game against LaPorte JV.

Girls WB varsity 6, Nederland 1.  Freshman Rachel Babin and Junior Lizzie Florece making the goals...! 

...and maybe watash is the Beaumont Enterprise reporter!  Or the Enterprise got their scores from here!!  Oh, well, the teams know who beat who and what the scores were.

I heard Kelly beat PNG, 3-1, with scores from Yasmine Afshar (2) and Zuri Prince (1).   Didn't hear who made the PNG goal. WB won Lumberton 1-0, with the goal from Lizzy Florece. The tundra wasnt quite frozen...a lot of slipping on mud.  But I think Kelly, the wondrous hosts, have arranged to have it completely frozen for tomorrows games! Any more scores from this tournament?

WB girls 2 alumni 1 Saturday, January 2.  Of course, the alumni are dependent on who shows up for these games!

Sharkstooth, they do kind of enjoy playing against each other in high school soccer, and the spectators enjoy it, too.  Since Kelly is a pvt school, and the various public school teams they play for are different sizes, the best time to see this is in the preseason....The Kelly winter classic and the PNG tournament in January will be good opportunities.  I dont think West Brook's varsity is playing the PNG this year, but some of the other schools will be.

They will win district.  They have an energetic new coach, Josh Tanner, who has high goals for them.  Their pre-season games are going to be brutal...we'll see how that goes!  They did not lose too many to graduation, but strikers will be learning to work together and make it happen without the prolific scorer, Michelle Sladaritz.  They have a lot of experienced players that should be able to do that...and four promising freshmen on varsity this year.  Check them out at the Kelly Winter Classic tournament in January. 

Try out for a club team. Most clubs are having try-outs right now. I know some high school boys want to play, but might not have enough turnout at Spindletop...try-outs for boys Wednesday, 6/3. Come at 6:30 or 8, you would be considered any time you came. Girls try-outs Thursday at 6:30 for younger girls, 8:00 for U-15 and up. Several teams forming. Different levels of play. It's been discussed on the board before...players that play more soccer than just the high school season do better in their high school play. Training also makes a difference!

Spindletop 93 girls win STX state Presidents Cup Championship and headed to South Carolina June 11-14 for Region lll competition. No goals were allowed in the state final competition of three games....thanks to excellent defense and keeper Bianca Garza! Regarding the first post and reference to the Challenge Blitz game (that they won 1-0): that eastern district final game was not played since both #1 and #2 teams advanced to state. Blitz won the coin flip. Although Spindletop had the state tournament wrapped up on Saturday, note that they won Challenge Blitz Sunday 2-0. Check usysregion3pc.com for coverage of the games in June....

Regarding aries' comment about a highschool team having more chemistry because of playing on the same club team....I think that that could happen and might be great, but a club team with players from many different schools has another attraction. When they play high school they may get to play a little different position, learn flexibility when they have to work with different people, and have a great time when they are facing off against their clubmates!! The Spindletop girls team that won Pres. Cup last spring is an example ...have represented 7-10 high schools from around the area at different times.

Regarding college coaches and where they look for prospective players....when a team plays in the club system, the team is ranked and placed with similar competition based on their past results. So you usually have pretty good competition for your team's level of play,sometimes too hard, sometimes a little too easy, but rarely the kind of mismatches that are seen in high school UIL districts. It would be hard for a college coach to tell if an outstanding player is that outstanding if they are defending or attacking against a much weaker team. Also, since soccer is such a team sport, a high school team with a few outstanding players may not showcase those players as well. An outstanding midfielder may cross over and over to a forward that fumbles...or other scenarios, you understand what I mean.

Won Baytown Sterling tonight 4-1. Great teamwork. Score from a corner kick by Emily Forster. West Brook now district champs, district 21-5a.

West Brook is undefeated in district play. This Friday against Baytown Sterling will be the deciding game for them to be named district champions. Come out and see this game- sure to be an exciting one! Michelle Sladaritz has been a great asset to the team this year...as someone noted, a prolific scorer. West Brook also has many other players who score on a regular basis: Lizzie Florece, Bailey Goins, and Aaron Strawser are a few of them. West Brook has five seniors this year, so many of their players will be returning and playing better together the next two or three years. They graduated fourteen seniors last year, so the team playing varsity this year had not been together much. They will get some real competition when they go to playoffs beginning March 24...