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September 09, 2010, 03:38:16 AM

[CatsBack]

Congratulations to the Arkansas Rush '94 Girls team for winning the Region III President's Cup championship, and finishing second in the National Championships (Murfreesboro, TN).  This is the first team from Arkansas (both boys or girls) to win a Regional Championship and compete at a National level competition. 

Rush tied the Region IV champion (CA-S, 1-1), tied Region II champion (MO, 1-1), and beat the Region I champion (NY, 3-0) in pool play and lost to CA-S in the Championship Finals in PK's (4-2).  An amazing run for this group of young ladies as they represented the state of Arkansas.

[GoldenEagle]

Good job, but why did they not play in state championships?

[Taxman]

Good job, but why did they not play in state championships?

You cannot play in the Arkansas State Championship and President's Cup.  You have to pick one or the other.

[GoldenEagle]

So why did they play in the President's Cup instead of the State Championships?

[NWARKsports]

What does it matter.  Can we not celebrate their accomplishments regardless of which tournament they played in.

[arksoc]

There are numerous reasons a team might choose to play in the President's Cup rather than the Arkansas State Championships...more restrictive roster requirements for the ASC, scheduling of either the state or regional competitions, level of play, injuries, roster size, entry fees, location of regionals and related travel expense, differing expectations placed on winners at state level competition, players' or coach preference, and I'm sure there are others.

[CatsBack]

Sorry for the late response, but I haven't been on the boards in quite some time.  Here is the rationale of why the team played in President's Cup and not State Cup:

1.  This team has already won two State Cup's and attended Regionals both times.
2.  Since there is very limted time between HS and State Cup Regionals, most Arkansas teams are not as prepared as teams from Florida, Georgia, and Texas who play Club soccer during the Spring.
3.  Rather than end up in the middle to lower half of the State Cup Regionals (which can be validated based upon the prior 5 years of Arkansas' performance), the team decided to play and compete in President's Cup.
4.  Granted, the teams who play President's Cup Regionals and Nationals are not at the elite level of some of the State Cup Regional teams.  Arkansas is better positioned to play at this level.
5.  In my opinion even a "super team", comprised of the best players across Arkansas, would struggle to compete at this level due to the impact of the High School season.

I look forward to your feedback.

[NWARKsports]

I agree with most of what you're saying with the exception that Arkansas can't compete at Regional level due to HS season.  The main reason we can't compete is due to the small talent pool.  Dallas/Ft Worth area has 3 times as many people as the entire state of Arkansas.

Take the top player from any team in Arkansas and they're lucky to make a starting spot on any one of the top contending teams from Regionals.  Most of the players we send to Regionals would struggle to make some Club's 'B' team.

[CatsBack]

At first, I thought that the talent pool would be a big issue too.  Whlle there are teams (i.e. Florida had three National players) that have are far and away better than Arkansas due to the talent pools of their respective states.  However, after attending three straight Regional competitions, I don't see a great disparity between most of the teams. 

While FL, TX and GA have great teams (and most of this can be attributed to their player pools), most of the other teams in the Region are not that much better than Arkansas.  The big difference that I see is that the Arkansas teams do not have the time to prepare for this level of competition after the High School season.

Both are valid points, but I think we are closing the gap on competitive players.  I don't see that any changes are being made (other than the State President's Cup tournament moving to the Fall season) to close the "preparation" gap.

[arksoc]

It's probably due to total disregard more than any malicious intent, but the Arkansas Activities Association and its rules regarding participation in club soccer during the high school season and, now, its decision to move the end of the high school season back two weeks is one of the biggest obstacles to closing that preparation gap.

[sevenof400]

In the end, this change by AAA will likely drive more of the most talented players away from the HS game - which is a considerable step backwards for the growth and development of the game.  AAA needs to allow concurrent participation in both HS and club soccer. 

[Sir Alex]

In the end, this change by AAA will likely drive more of the most talented players away from the HS game - which is a considerable step backwards for the growth and development of the game.  AAA needs to allow concurrent participation in both HS and club soccer.

I really doubt anything will change in the near future but over the next ten years  I think you are correct with your prediction of the best players not participating in hs soccer. If the player pool continues to grow and it should, it may not be that big of a deal if there is a team or two of club players that choose not to play high school ball.  Although, it will be tough to tell your high school friends that you are not going to play with them.  Peer pressure will dictate what happens more than anything that the AAA does.  With the season moving back a couple weeks may be more people will come out and watch games in the warmer weather.