5A Central

[soccer0925]

5a central added a few new teams, Beebe is one of them and Im honestly pretty impressed. They have 1 really talented girl in the middle, what other teams are exciting to keep up with?

[Girls SHoccer]

I would say that Beebe is a very pleasant surprise, given that this is their first year of soccer.  Who could have predicted that they would be immediately competitive?  But the reasons are obvious.  They have nice talent, a beautiful facility, coaches who really care, and the whole group taking it serious enough to begin practice at the beginning of the fall semester.  They have been a most welcome and much needed shot in the arm for the 5A Central.  And by all indications, they won't be going away, and will have to be reckoned with every year to come.

North Pulaski is another amazing story.  Both boys and girls have the best team they have probably ever had, for sure in my 5 year memory of being Sylvan Hills girls coach.  Despite having sub par facilities and the specter of this being their last year for soccer (if I've heard correctly), their new coaches have done an impressive job.  The #12 Carter kid on the boys team is a one man gang on offense-you better start guarding him when he gets off the bus-but he has plenty of help, including 2 lightning quick and tireless center mids and a beastly defense.  The girls likewise are loaded with talent this year, unfortunately with a whole lot of the talent currently injured.  Hopefully they will get them back soon, and when they do-watch out!

We have been encouraged at Sylvan Hills in what was projected to be a severely down year for both teams, having lost our major talent, several players of which are succeeding at the next level.  The girls team alone graduated 11 seniors.  But we have benefited from some of the blue collar players taking ownership and an influx of nice new talent.  The girls team has added 12 new players, mostly freshmen, eight of which have started for us.  Especially key for the girls has been the involvement of 6 knowledgeable volunteer coaches to compliment the one school provided coach at practices and games.  Neither team is anywhere near where we plan to be, but the future is bright.

The Little Rock public schools in the 5A West have produced teams better than expected as well, particularly J.A. Fair, who have some legit players and a lot of enthusiasm.

The PA teams are their usual talented selves, and will always compete for conference championships because of their access to trained club players, great facilities, and world class coaches.  The boys are probably down a bit this year, but that just means that the rest of us have some hope of competing with them.

The PA girls are a different story.  Honestly, they are on a different level, and I am talking not one, but several levels up from the rest of us.  Not to disrespect the other teams in our conference, but if you were to combine the all stars from all of our other girls teams in our conference to play the PA girls, they would still beat us by better than 5 goals.  I'm not convinced we could beat their second team.  I am of the opinion it would be far better for their program to move up a classification or two, because I doubt they would ever schedule any of the rest of us for a non conference game.  But it is a privilege to play such a team, even though always quite painful.

[sevenof400]

I think it is worth noting that in Beebe's case, you have a team that was preceded by a few years of local club soccer - the putting of the horse before the cart (so to speak) no doubt helped Beebe field a team that could at least be competitive in its first year(s).   

On the girls side, Beebe has been helped by a fortunate draw of the conference schedule this year.  Their first two games (vs Jacksonville and LR Mills) were both at home and both of these teams appear to be struggling this year.  I am not trying to take anything away from Beebe, but let's see how the rest of the first round of conference games plays out.  Beebe has a test Monday (vs Sylvan Hills) before getting what may be the first of a very important set of matches against North Pulaski as these two teams appear (at least for now) to be fighting for the 3rd and 4th spots in the Central. 

The Beebe boys have Sylvan Hills, North Pulaski and JA Fair left in their first half of play.  The Beebe boys have a tougher road to the playoffs than the girls do but I agree with post previous posts in that for a first year program, Beebe has made quite the statement for itself.   

[Go Postal]

Girls SHoccer, that is a great write-up.
PA girls have been a thorn in Harrison girls side over the years in playoffs and vice versa.  PA is a great team.  The PA girls currently hold 6 State Championships (tied with 7A Bentonville girls) and 3 State Runner-ups to Harrison's girls 4 State Championships and 2 State Runner-ups.
The following statement is not to demean Any school and not to get in to a private school vs public school debate:
Looking back to previous girls records in the 5A from 2002 to present, that there was 4 private schools (PA, LRCA, SC and CAC) and 1 public school (Harrison) that had State Championships.
State Runners-up for the same time period were for 3 private schools (PA, LRCA and CAC) and 3 public schools (Harrison, Arkadelphia and Searcy).

Reference link below:

http://www.fearlessfriday.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=135409.0

Even though the records stands, I'm not trying to say that any school cannot beat one of the schools that I mentioned above.  There are some great teams out there and I can't wait to see what other teams not mentioned above can do in girl's conference and playoffs this year from any 5A conference.  Good Luck to all 5A Ladies this season!

[Girls SHoccer]

Speaking of the PA girls:  We do have one private pleasure to hold over them:  Our Sylvan Hills girls made it farther in the state tournament than they did last year, making it to the final four, despite getting creamed by PA throughout the season!  You gotta love the luck of the seeding draw for the state brackets. (Hope nobody from PA reads this or they may make us pay dearly a week from Tuesday!

[Sir Alex]

PA girls were in the final last year.

[MDXPHD]

PA girls were in the final last year.

Maybe he meant two years ago when Greenbrier (I think) upset PA.  Also, Shiloh won that year when they were clearly not the best team in the state.

[Go Postal]

PA girls were in the final last year.

Maybe he meant two years ago when Greenbrier (I think) upset PA.  Also, Shiloh won that year when they were clearly not the best team in the state.

Yes, last year PA lost to Harrison 4-3.
The year before SC beat Harrison 1-0, which was strange because Harrison mercy ruled them twice in the two conference games, but they put 10 on defense with one forward.  Harrison did penetrate that defense, but had around 4+ goals hitting the post.
But I have to acknowledge that Sylvan Hills have been in the last two semis,  A great accomplishment!

[Girls SHoccer]

PA girls were in the final last year.

Maybe he meant two years ago when Greenbrier (I think) upset PA.  Also, Shiloh won that year when they were clearly not the best team in the state.

You are correct, I was confusing these last two years.  Two years ago, PA went out earlier than they should have, and it was last year that LRCA destroyed us in conference play, yet we made the final 4 instead of them!

[sevenof400]

PA girls were in the final last year.

Maybe he meant two years ago when Greenbrier (I think) upset PA.  Also, Shiloh won that year when they were clearly not the best team in the state.

You are correct, I was confusing these last two years.  Two years ago, PA went out earlier than they should have, and it was last year that LRCA destroyed us in conference play, yet we made the final 4 instead of them!

Why can't you keep all those teams and years straight in your head Girls SHoccer?

[Girls SHoccer]

PA girls were in the final last year.

Maybe he meant two years ago when Greenbrier (I think) upset PA.  Also, Shiloh won that year when they were clearly not the best team in the state.

You are correct, I was confusing these last two years.  Two years ago, PA went out earlier than they should have, and it was last year that LRCA destroyed us in conference play, yet we made the final 4 instead of them!

Why can't you keep all those teams and years straight in your head Girls SHoccer?

Hey, there is not a game we've played PA and LRCA in the last 5 years that I didn't want to forget!

[chaoslord]

Hey, there is not a game we've played PA and LRCA in the last 5 years that I didn't want to forget!

The last time I was on the field with either of those teams was 2008 as a player and I still can't get those whoopins out of my head, so you're not alone there!