It was a tough weekend for the Boys. I was a little worried that Mike would use his knowledge of the club to stiffle the RSL train and he did. You have to give him credit as from what I hear they played a high pressure defense that did not allow RSL much time on the ball in either game. The good news is now Academy finishes off the season with a 7 game homestand. Both teams with a shot at the playoffs if they can defend the hometurf reasonably well.
Also a nice article in a major SLC newspaper on Lucas and the Academy: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...ey-chasing-dreams-at-RSL-Arizona-Academy.html
that was a great read on your kid. seems to really have his head on straight about the situation. It's too bad the U doesn't have a men's soccer program that isn't just a club sport. It would do wonders for RSL, soccer in this state, etc if they were to develop one and/or BYU was willing to upgrade their men's program as well.
Yes I would love to see the U get a Mens soccer team now that they are in the PAC 12 maybe it is more likely. I will tell you it is still hard to find the path to be a Pro here in the USA because you have these great academies like RSL that play soccer just about 11 months of the year. Then if you are not ready for the Pros at 18 which very few would be you are suppose to go off to college and get better. The problem is that although you will get physically stronger and mature and play some good soccer you will be much more limited to how much you can practice based on NCAA rules. Meanwhile the 18 year old kid in Mexico or England is playing on the reserve team or 1st or 2nd division of maybe even third division team where he lives and playing soccer everday . I think the USA still has a gap to fill from 18 to when you are ready for the MLS.
A guy that sits next to me in Section 26 has a son who went to Indiana/Iowa to play for a 2nd division team on a full ride. The school's academic credentials are lacking, but he will at least get to play for 2 more years at a higher level than here while he gets an associates degree. hopefully then he will get picked up by a University.
yeah, the NCAA limitations on things are really ********ing up the development of players. Only playing 20 games a season in such a short amount of time isn't doing anybody any good. Soccer is so much different from other sports in how it develops players. I'm not saying it's a completely different beast, but time on the ball in soccer is so incredibly valuable as opposed to a sport like football where the weight room can make or break a player.
Not sure where to put this, but quasi-RSL homegrown player James Rogers called up to U-20s. http://www.golobos.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/032812aaa.html Of course, he is training with cRapids now.
I had the pleasure of watching the 16s beat sc del sol 17s in a scimmage on thursday night. The 16s played very well against a big strong sc del sol team. Then I watched an intrasquad game on saturday and it was fun so see all the boys playing in a white versus red scrimmage. Highlighted by my son scoring a goal in a 1 to 1 draw. This weekend is huge with the San Diego surf and nomads coming into the Grande. The 18s for sure need all six points and the 16s could use all 6 as well. The sufs games on Saturday should be really good games.
Wow a clean sweep for both age groups this weekend! The 16s with a hardfought 1 to 0 win over San Diego and a 3 to 0 win over Nomads. i think jose navarro had three goals and Lucas cawley has 1. The 16s are just about there as far as qualification for the playoffs. Next up in two weeks the doubleheader weekend with LA Galaxy. going ot be fun!!
Lucas is only a sophomore so although he has thought about some colleges that he would liek to attend he will not commit until next year. I believe that the recruitement process will begin in earnest next August 1. He is ranked 77 on topdrawer. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/play...atch-player-profile/lucas-cawley/pid-10018706
77th! Thats a pretty impressive ranking really. I think before he commits to any school, he needs to commit to long sleeves It's awesome to see kids from my hometown (centerville) do so well.
For selfish reasons I am hoping he stays out west. I think that for Lucas style of play coach and of course education at the school are top priorities. Time will tell but yes Centerville Pride .
Not top 25 but solid. I am not sure that I would push Lucas to play at UNLV ha ha. But could be a good option. UNLV should be recruiting the Academy in Casa Grande hard. Just hard to send your kid off for four years to Sin City
Not top 25 but solid. I am not sure that I would push Lucas to play at UNLV ha ha. But could be a good option. UNLV should be recruiting the Academy in Casa Grande hard. Just hard to send your kid off for four years to Sin City
Just out of curiosity where does BYU men's soccer fit into the grand scheme of things? I know they are club and not NCAA and play in the PDL. I've watched many of their games, and BYU's womens team, on KBYU and always wondered if what they do is effective for player advancement. They also have struggled the last few years. Is playing in the PDL good experience? Are BYU players eligible for the MLS draft? Is a program going anywhere?
BYU's men program is up there with Westminster's in terms of poorly ran (at least from my experiences) What could be a great program is ran as a club with far too much politics and far too many players. Being a PDL team, when all it would take is a little funding to be NCAA, is simply retarded. The U, Westminster, BYU, Utah State, SLCC, etc are all pretty awful destinations for a male soccer player if he aspires to go beyond that level. They are great at helping for tuition and the level of play is above your typical mens league match. However, if you want to go somewhere, get the hell out of Utah
It's not funding that's keeping BYU (and Utah too) from having an NCAA team - it's actually Title IX. Both schools would have to add a women's team sport if they want to upgrade their men's soccer programs. I actually think BYU did the best thing they could while not running afoul of Title IX regs, and I wish Utah would do the same. I can't believe I just defended BYU, but I digress. Your point still stands, though - every collegiate men's soccer program in this state is essentially a joke.
School's hide behind Title XI, but after you go down that path, you discover it comes back to money. We can't have a mens program because then we would have to add a women's program Why don't you add the women's program then? Lack of funds So really you can't do a men's program for money reasons? No, title IX... <begin argument again>
If you have a lot of time and want to watch some of the U-16 RSL Academy players I have attached a link of their Intrasquad game from two weeks ago. There are enough 16s to field two teams so they put out two fairly evenly matched squads and the reds and whites ended up tying 1 to 1. You can look on the Academy website to put the numbers with a name if you like . I have attached the first link and I belive there are nine links for the whole game. Enjoy: Footnote Lucas scores at the end of the first segment for the reds but it is cut off mid shot . [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bc6ND-6U1g&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]RSL u16s April Intrasquad (Part 1/10) - YouTube[/ame]
I would agree that the local colleges for Boys soccer are just for those players that want a little help with tuition and want to play another four years at a high level. It is not for those with dreams of playing in the MLS. I believe there is enough local talent and with a few out of state recruits Utah could have a very good Division 1 mens soccer team. I am hopeful that with their inclusion in the PAC 12 Utah might look in that direction. The Utah ODP team,s compete pretty well with the hot beds of soccer states. Having said all of that there have been some players drafted by the MLS that come out of no where as far as colleges are go. The heavy hitters in the college soccer world are west coast, acc, akron, and some colleges on the east coast. I might have missed a few big ones but most of the best are in those locations. On the girls side we have some great college programs in Utah.
Great weekend to come as the Casa Grande a rare double header of RSLArizona versus LA Galaxy with both age groups playing twice . In the u-16 it is 1 against 2 and in the 18s 2 and 3. It feels like a mini playoff series with 4 great games in two days. I wont be able to go down but if anyone does please give a report. Should be some great futbol. I think the 18s need a sweep to really push for the playoffs and the 16s would be fine with a split. My guess is there will be a lot of college scouts making this trip.
http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Develo...demy-Team-Faces-Big-Test-Before-Playoffs.aspx Happy to say I will be down to see this game. Some great soccer down at the grande the next two weeks. Also the Galaxy is ranked 1 in the country on the 18s and 3 on the 16s by ESPN. Good chance for our boys to show their stuff. I know Lucas is excited and the team has been practicing hard this week getting ready for the Galaxy 4 3 3 .
