#22 Gentry Girls

pitchperfect · May 18, 2015, 01:01:03 pm

Wow, what a player! The best player I saw this weekend. Highly skilled, smart and tenacious. I really like the way Gentry plays. Suspect that even the best of the larger classification schools would have their hands full with them. CAC is solid defensively, but I don't think they can stop #22.

MDXPHD · May 18, 2015, 01:35:14 pm

Quote from: pitchperfect on May 18, 2015, 01:01:03 pm
Wow, what a player! The best player I saw this weekend. Highly skilled, smart and tenacious. I really like the way Gentry plays. Suspect that even the best of the larger classification schools would have their hands full with them. CAC is solid defensively, but I don't think they can stop #22.

I haven't seen them play, but their scores are impressive. Did they lose to Shiloh twice during the regular season? Just trying to figure out how they got 2nd in their conference.

pitchperfect · May 18, 2015, 02:56:38 pm

I would be shocked if they lost to Shiloh based on what I saw Saturday, but Arkansas high school soccer results appear to be closely guarded, highly classified material.

MDXPHD · May 18, 2015, 03:06:23 pm

Quote from: pitchperfect on May 18, 2015, 02:56:38 pm
I would be shocked if they lost to Shiloh based on what I saw Saturday, but Arkansas high school soccer results appear to be closely guarded, highly classified material.

Shiloh was the one seed, and apparently the other 3 seeds in their conference were tied 2-4. Gentry got into the 2 seed because of a tiebreaker? There isn't much information about 4A soccer on this board ha.

Scots10 · May 18, 2015, 05:22:13 pm

so... who is this 22 thats the next A Morgan

NWAL 95 COACH · May 18, 2015, 07:50:29 pm

Amber Ellis. She is a sophomore. She was the ARPreps player of the year last year as a freshman. Broke the single season scoring record last year

always88 · May 18, 2015, 08:13:48 pm

Gentry has had 6 different girls score during a game in 4 conference games this season.

MDXPHD · May 19, 2015, 07:48:04 am

Quote from: NWAL 95 COACH on May 18, 2015, 07:50:29 pm
Amber Ellis. She is a sophomore. She was the ARPreps player of the year last year as a freshman. Broke the single season scoring record last year

Single season scoring record for her school or did she break Hatcher's state record (63 goals, I think)?

MDXPHD · May 19, 2015, 08:21:07 am

Quote from: always88 on May 19, 2015, 08:00:53 am
Quote from: MDXPHD on May 19, 2015, 07:48:04 am
Quote from: NWAL 95 COACH on May 18, 2015, 07:50:29 pm
Amber Ellis. She is a sophomore. She was the ARPreps player of the year last year as a freshman. Broke the single season scoring record last year

Single season scoring record for her school or did she break Hatcher's state record (63 goals, I think)?
Amber set the mark for all classifications statewide with 68 goals scored last season.

Very impressive! Congratulations to her. Hopefully, she can get a state championship this season.

DHS#1 · May 19, 2015, 01:41:07 pm

Is she going to beat her record this year?

Sir Alex · May 23, 2015, 08:40:55 am

What was their score against Bentonville and Bryant? How many goals did she? I have not seen many of their results this year. 68 is impressive.

Girls SHoccer · May 25, 2015, 07:05:41 am

Quote from: MDXPHD on May 19, 2015, 08:21:07 am
Quote from: always88 on May 19, 2015, 08:00:53 am
Quote from: MDXPHD on May 19, 2015, 07:48:04 am
Quote from: NWAL 95 COACH on May 18, 2015, 07:50:29 pm
Amber Ellis. She is a sophomore. She was the ARPreps player of the year last year as a freshman. Broke the single season scoring record last year

Single season scoring record for her school or did she break Hatcher's state record (63 goals, I think)?
Amber set the mark for all classifications statewide with 68 goals scored last season.

Very impressive! Congratulations to her. Hopefully, she can get a state championship this season.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I want to give another perspective which may spark some healthy debate on this forum. I have never seen Amber Ellis play, but everything I have heard about her makes me excited for her and her future. My axe to grind has nothing to do with her, but with her coaches, whom I have also never met.

I do not/did not support the idea of allowing Ellis/Hatcher score as many goals as they could in every game. This is/was a clear case of self aggrandizement which has to be detrimental to their teams' morale, and certainly disrespect to their opponents.

You might judge this to be simply sour grapes if you knew that about 6 years ago when Hatcher was a freshman, she scored 9 goals in the first half against Sylvan Hills in the opening round at state (I was not the coach of Sylvan Hills then, nor did I have a daughter on the team). I also know that some would say, "At state, all bets are off and all pretenders should be put in their place." But 9 goals? Really? Sylvan Hills, just like many of CAC's opponents, just wasn't that good comparatively, and were literally doing the best that they could.

This sort of thing happens when coaches/parents succumb to an unbridled lust for recognition which clouds their better judgment. This spawns a selfish and arrogant attitude which cares little for the well being of teammates and degrades opponents in their estimation. No fault of the young player, she's just doing what she's told.

The blame also rests on the flawed system. The ability to score at will against virtually helpless opponents in the 4A and 5A has very little to do with being qualified for player of the year, and keeping record of total individual goals in the 5A and below is just plain silly and the honor is meaningless. Yet this stat was prominent in the press releases relative to both Hatcher and Ellis. I happen to believe that Hatcher, having both coached her and against her, easily deserved the POY honor, but not for that senseless record.

There is a better way. I know a coach who had a player who had the ability to score 10 goals in at least 11 or 12 of their season's games for 2 successive years. But he told me he was not willing to allow this because the collateral damage was not worth it: damage to teammates, to struggling opponents, his own reputation, and the character of this star player. Some things are just bigger than selfish ambition. His limit against weaker opponents was 3 goals, sometimes 2, sometimes 1 for the player. Most of the time she was working her tail off to set up goals for teammates who would otherwise have little chance to score.

There was some cost to this decision. Maybe she missed the chance at Gatorade POY.

But she got an awful lot in return. She did receive AAA's highest soccer honor and MVP of her side in the all star game, having scored the winning goal. She's going to school free at the nation's largest private university, and has a great place on the soccer team that were champions and finalists the last two years in the Big South Conference (and ranked over the majority of SEC teams). Most importantly, she has developed the character of humility shown in sympathy for those less fortunate and putting teammates interest above her own.

pitchperfect · May 26, 2015, 02:27:33 pm

I always take prolific scoring with a large grain of salt. My lying eyes told me that #22 for Gentry was a fine player. I didn't know her name, her background or how many goals she scored the previous year. I just returned to Arkansas after many years in the Atlanta and St.louis areas. I have seen a lot of club and high school soccer over the years. Enough to know that there is much more to being a great player than an inflated goal scoring total. Miss Ellis is a fine player. She does a lot more than just score goals. My early impression of Arkansas high school soccer since returning, is that the sport has improved by leaps and bounds since I left 30+ years ago. Well duh, of course it has, it barely existed in this state 30 years ago. From my limited observations, my humble opinion is that boy's soccer is a little ahead of girl's soccer in the state due mainly to the large influx of hispanic players. I was very impressed by most of the 4a boys sides I watched. Gentry was the only team on the girl's side that really impressed me.

MDXPHD · May 26, 2015, 04:26:41 pm

Quote from: pitchperfect on May 26, 2015, 02:27:33 pm
I always take prolific scoring with a large grain of salt. My lying eyes told me that #22 for Gentry was a fine player. I didn't know her name, her background or how many goals she scored the previous year. I just returned to Arkansas after many years in the Atlanta and St.louis areas. I have seen a lot of club and high school soccer over the years. Enough to know that there is much more to being a great player than an inflated goal scoring total. Miss Ellis is a fine player. She does a lot more than just score goals. My early impression of Arkansas high school soccer since returning, is that the sport has improved by leaps and bounds since I left 30+ years ago. Well duh, of course it has, it barely existed in this state 30 years ago. From my limited observations, my humble opinion is that boy's soccer is a little ahead of girl's soccer in the state due mainly to the large influx of hispanic players. I was very impressed by most of the 4a boys sides I watched. Gentry was the only team on the girl's side that really impressed me.

That's good you were impressed with the 4A boys soccer, considering it's the weakest classification in the state (not saying it just because it is the smallest, it's definitely the weakest). The 4A girls have a couple of good teams, but higher quality girls soccer will be in the upper classifications. About 4 5A girls teams, 2/3 6A teams, and a few 7A teams. The other girls soccer programs are behind.

Buck183 · May 27, 2015, 08:48:01 am

Quote from: MDXPHD on May 26, 2015, 04:26:41 pm
Quote from: pitchperfect on May 26, 2015, 02:27:33 pm
I always take prolific scoring with a large grain of salt. My lying eyes told me that #22 for Gentry was a fine player. I didn't know her name, her background or how many goals she scored the previous year. I just returned to Arkansas after many years in the Atlanta and St.louis areas. I have seen a lot of club and high school soccer over the years. Enough to know that there is much more to being a great player than an inflated goal scoring total. Miss Ellis is a fine player. She does a lot more than just score goals. My early impression of Arkansas high school soccer since returning, is that the sport has improved by leaps and bounds since I left 30+ years ago. Well duh, of course it has, it barely existed in this state 30 years ago. From my limited observations, my humble opinion is that boy's soccer is a little ahead of girl's soccer in the state due mainly to the large influx of hispanic players. I was very impressed by most of the 4a boys sides I watched. Gentry was the only team on the girl's side that really impressed me.

That's good you were impressed with the 4A boys soccer, considering it's the weakest classification in the state (not saying it just because it is the smallest, it's definitely the weakest). The 4A girls have a couple of good teams, but higher quality girls soccer will be in the upper classifications. About 4 5A girls teams, 2/3 6A teams, and a few 7A teams. The other girls soccer programs are behind.

Not to get too far off topic on this thread, but you could give your insight as to the teams you mention in each classification? I don't mean this question to be snide. I would actually like to know other's take on different teams. I'm not up to date on all of them myself due to just this year being involved in high school soccer.

Buck

MDXPHD · May 27, 2015, 09:08:12 am

Quote from: Buck183 on May 27, 2015, 08:48:01 am

Not to get too far off topic on this thread, but you could give your insight as to the teams you mention in each classification? I don't mean this question to be snide. I would actually like to know other's take on different teams. I'm not up to date on all of them myself due to just this year being involved in high school soccer.

Buck

About 4 5A girls teams -- Valley View, LRCA, PA, Harrison

2/3 6A teams -- Searcy, Siloam, Mt.Home/Russelville/Gwood (at least one of these three will be in the mix every year)

7A teams -- Bryant, Bentonville, Fay, Conway (sometimes). This classification varies quite a bit, but there is good soccer in it. Bryant is going to be very good as long as their coach stays. It will be interesting to see what the split in Bentonville does to their programs.

Disclaimer -- I'm sure there are some programs I failed to mention. These were just off the top of my head.

Buck183 · May 27, 2015, 12:06:01 pm

Quote from: MDXPHD on May 27, 2015, 09:08:12 am
Quote from: Buck183 on May 27, 2015, 08:48:01 am

Not to get too far off topic on this thread, but you could give your insight as to the teams you mention in each classification? I don't mean this question to be snide. I would actually like to know other's take on different teams. I'm not up to date on all of them myself due to just this year being involved in high school soccer.

Buck

About 4 5A girls teams -- Valley View, LRCA, PA, Harrison

2/3 6A teams -- Searcy, Siloam, Mt.Home/Russelville/Gwood (at least one of these three will be in the mix every year)

7A teams -- Bryant, Bentonville, Fay, Conway (sometimes). This classification varies quite a bit, but there is good soccer in it. Bryant is going to be very good as long as their coach stays. It will be interesting to see what the split in Bentonville does to their programs.

Disclaimer -- I'm sure there are some programs I failed to mention. These were just off the top of my head.

Cool. That was pretty much my assessment of things too. Just wanted to see someone else's take on it.

Buck

always88 · November 22, 2015, 06:42:15 am

Quote from: Buck183 on November 21, 2015, 06:07:47 pm
Hearing a rumor that Amber may have suffered a season ending knee injury in a recent powder puff football game at her school. Haven't been able to confirm it yet. This is coming from the kids and players that play in the same club with us.

Sincerely hope it's not true.

Buck

Amber had surgery several weeks ago to repair a slight tear. Her recovery is coming along nicely and should be fully recovered in time for another great season!

Lionheart88 · November 22, 2015, 09:06:35 am

Good news!

Buck183 · November 25, 2015, 10:16:30 pm

Quote from: always88 on November 22, 2015, 06:42:15 am
Quote from: Buck183 on November 21, 2015, 06:07:47 pm
Hearing a rumor that Amber may have suffered a season ending knee injury in a recent powder puff football game at her school. Haven't been able to confirm it yet. This is coming from the kids and players that play in the same club with us.

Sincerely hope it's not true.

Buck

Good to hear.

Amber had surgery several weeks ago to repair a slight tear. Her recovery is coming along nicely and should be fully recovered in time for another great season!