BC Coastal Soccer League

[easoccer]

E11even Management is not involved in any aspect of fall league scheduling or organizing. We were not approached to take on a role as others from the merged leagues had a plan to move forward (I believe).

From experience this is not a small or easy task. Many of the issues we faced were related to changes at the club level (late registrations, etc.). Nobody's fault but you can't organize/plan if things constantly change.

We're looking to take a different approach in the spring, ideally with the support of the clubs to move their processes forward and give us more time to get things in order.

I feel for those who are trying to pull things together this fall. It's a lot of work no matter who does it. Patience is key.

Thanks for the info. I appreciate your presence and willingness to respond to us here.

 

[TKBC]

What is going on?
I am a DIV 2 boys team. They have me in GOLD 2! Thats just for starters.
We are Surrey United. My grouping consists of :
W. Vancouver
Vancouver
2 - Burnaby teams
Squamish
Who the heck am I supposed to contact? Someone in Florida or California? This is insane!

They put div 2 (silver) teams in a region-wide league? Didn't the announcement say only gold would be region-wide? (which is also a mistake IMO).

 

[TKBC]

It seems like many of the teams from last year are missing as well. Maybe its just that my son is getting older (u17) and the teams naturally drop off. Kind of sad :-(

Likely - the last u16 and u17 teams I coached had something like 16 teams in their division. I didn't coach them u18 but I think their u18 div had about 8 teams.

 

[TKBC]

Every year there are issues with tiering, grouping etc... This year is amplified for Gold teams as the travel has increase significantly for some. I think the Gold 1 Gold 2 etc creates some confusion for some clubs as well. Those from district may not know where to place a team... Really should just get rid of that. Go with Tiers starting with Tier 3 ( that is what U13+ Gold is) and go as far as needed, if you end up with tier 8 so be it.
I think there needs to be a limit put on early start times. Imagine being a team from Chilliwack having to play in North Van for 8 or 9am? or vice versa.

I've been saying this since day 1. Get rid of this Gold 1-2 nonsense. Just number them in order highest to lowest and stop fooling teams. All that matters is what is on the registration forms for coastal cup.

Chwk girls teams have been forced to drive to North Van for those kickoffs for years (I assume NV teams have had a similar trip in reverse). It's insanity, and always has been.

 

[Soccer_dude]

Tri cities is part of the "west" bracket for silver & below so that's considered "regionalized"

This gold 1a & 1b is just that. No gold 2 just separate g1 groups. Why have a gold div of 20 teams when you can have 10 & 10?

 

[SKH12]

I'm not so sure that's the case. IN U17 the teams in 1A are certainly stronger than the ones in 1B, at least in terms of old 4-D teams, I can't speak for 5-D. It doesn't make sense why they wouldn't make gold divisions by geography yet make 2 divisions of "even" strength.

 

[Soccer_dude]

Maybe realignment happens after 3 weeks? I mean they had to get something out for the short term even if it's not perfect. Can't have two weeks straight without games scheduled. But there's probably a reason why there's only 3 weeks scheduled.

 

[Soccer_dude]

I'm not so sure that's the case. IN U17 the teams in 1A are certainly stronger than the ones in 1B, at least in terms of old 4-D teams, I can't speak for 5-D. It doesn't make sense why they wouldn't make gold divisions by geography yet make 2 divisions of "even" strength.

So the last years U16 league cup winners are in 1B & the silver team that got brought up after realignment that finished last is in 1A?

 

[TKBC]

I'm not so sure that's the case. IN U17 the teams in 1A are certainly stronger than the ones in 1B, at least in terms of old 4-D teams, I can't speak for 5-D. It doesn't make sense why they wouldn't make gold divisions by geography yet make 2 divisions of "even" strength.

agreed.

plus the guy above said his team was silver yet travelling from Surrey to Squamish - makes no sense at all.

 

[easoccer]

I think we need to be patient about the fields on the schedule. It looks to me like there are only a limited amount of fields entered into the system so far and they most likey needed to use whats available to facilitate the schedule.

As for misplaced teams and unbalanced divisions we need to understand that the people building the schedule may not be aware of the teams levels and locations just yet. This is why it's a good idea to direct all feedback you have to your district rep if possible.

 

[TKBC]

I think we need to be patient about the fields on the schedule. It looks to me like there are only a limited amount of fields entered into the system so far and they most likey needed to use whats available to facilitate the schedule.

As for misplaced teams and unbalanced divisions we need to understand that the people building the schedule may not be aware of the teams levels and locations just yet. This is why it's a good idea to direct all feedback you have to your district rep if possible.

wouldn't the club have forwarded the expected tier along with their team submissions? surely the schedulers aren't left to guess.

 

[LosBlancos]

This is what baffles my mind...... From the BCCSL Website.
IMPORTANT: Ignore the fields and times that are listed on the gotsoccer site and only go by the schedule that you received in and Excel sheet. It is up to the home team to contact their opposition asap to let them know the game details. Contacts can be found by clicking on the word "Contacts" near the upper right hand corner.
Event Contact Sheet
Half of those teams have no names listed, so how are you supposed to contact the opposing coaches?

 

[easoccer]

wouldn't the club have forwarded the expected tier along with their team submissions? surely the schedulers aren't left to guess.

Certainly, but in the case of balanced divisions the scheduler would not know which to put in group a and/or b.

 

[Grateful Red]

Maybe realignment happens after 3 weeks? I mean they had to get something out for the short term even if it's not perfect. Can't have two weeks straight without games scheduled. But there's probably a reason why there's only 3 weeks scheduled.

BCCSL is following 4D's model so expect the groups to be assessed after 4 games and some movement between groups after Thanksgiving break. Usually it was 5 or 6 games.

 

[Grateful Red]

Hope all those worried about drives to the North Shore realize we have teams in this league on the Sunshine Coast!
A lot of griping about travel which is justified to an extent, but at Gold1 if the play is kept too regional, the competition is either too repetitive or not challenging. There was a big difference in Gold one(8 teams) and Gold2 (10?) last year at U17. The girls have been doing these travel times for a long time, though that could use more regional balancing for sure.

 

[southsloper]

Regarding Girls BCCGSL travel -- this past weekend Squamish came to play our Div 1B team in Burnaby and this Sunday we visit Chilliwack - 1 hour drives (one way). Squamish gets to visit Chilliwack team in 2 weeks! e_e.

Even further yet, both my girls have played in Whistler - 2 hrs each way from Burnaby) but as no Whistler teams in their respective groups, no need to go that far this season.

I don't hear much grumbling (well maybe muttering under one's breath) as it's "normal" to have the occasional road trip. But it's not a weekly long haul every weekend for most lower mainland girl's teams, unlike Whistler, Bowen Island, Sunshine Coast, Pemberton, Squamish & Chilliwack -- as their teams have to come into town for the majority of their away games.

Hope all those worried about drives to the North Shore realize we have teams in this league on the Sunshine Coast!
A lot of griping about travel which is justified to an extent, but at Gold1 if the play is kept too regional, the competition is either too repetitive or not challenging. There was a big difference in Gold one(8 teams) and Gold2 (10?) last year at U17. The girls have been doing these travel times for a long time, though that could use more regional balancing for sure.

 

[TKBC]

Hope all those worried about drives to the North Shore realize we have teams in this league on the Sunshine Coast!
A lot of griping about travel which is justified to an extent, but at Gold1 if the play is kept too regional, the competition is either too repetitive or not challenging. There was a big difference in Gold one(8 teams) and Gold2 (10?) last year at U17. The girls have been doing these travel times for a long time, though that could use more regional balancing for sure.

No one is saying drives have to be kept within 30 minutes, but examples such as Surrey or other Valley teams going to Sunshine Coast etc (and vice versa) prove how ridiculous the lack of regionalization is. That girls have been doing it for a long time is no explanation - they were wrong to be making the girls do that the whole time.

 

[TKBC]

Regarding Girls BCCGSL travel -- this past weekend Squamish came to play our Div 1B team in Burnaby and this Sunday we visit Chilliwack - 1 hour drives (one way). Squamish gets to visit Chilliwack team in 2 weeks! e_e.

Even further yet, both my girls have played in Whistler - 2 hrs each way from Burnaby) but as no Whistler teams in their respective groups, no need to go that far this season.

I don't hear much grumbling (well maybe muttering under one's breath) as it's "normal" to have the occasional road trip. But it's not a weekly long haul every weekend for most lower mainland girl's teams, unlike Whistler, Bowen Island, Sunshine Coast, Pemberton, Squamish & Chilliwack -- as their teams have to come into town for the majority of their away games.

Absolutely - every away game for Chilliwack is minimum 45 minutes except the off-chance they get to play Abby or Aldergrove (rare it seems these days lol).

Maybe - just maybe - BCCSL can institute a "middle ground" policy similar to BCSPL that has Victoria and Okanagan meet in the middle for their games. If drive is over 1.5 hours play the game in the middle? I dunno.....we have to start thinking more logically, and realistically - not less as it seems we are. (one umbrella for the leagues makes sense - not ridiculous driving for lower level sports).

 

[Coach Ian]

If you can't find a contact information for a team you can also go to that teams club web site and contact the coordinator for that age group and ask them for the contact info and or to have them contact you.

We play Sechelt September 30th but they don't have any contact info so I just went to Sunshine coast Soccer and emailed them for it. I explained to them I'd like to give my parents as much information ahead of time as I possibly can, so we can arrange ride sharing and costs, so it's not as much of a shock the weekend of.

Some times, we need to be a little proactive and figure it out for our selves! Took me less than 5 minutes of my time.

It is, what it is, folks!
The time to bitch about was before the schedule came out. we all knew ahead of time what the possiblities were, just look at the past posts.

Now is the time to deal with it!

Have a great and Fun Season!

Games On!

Cheers,
Ian

 

[RRS]

Every year there are issues with tiering, grouping etc... This year is amplified for Gold teams as the travel has increase significantly for some. I think the Gold 1 Gold 2 etc creates some confusion for some clubs as well. Those from district may not know where to place a team... Really should just get rid of that. Go with Tiers starting with Tier 3 ( that is what U13+ Gold is) and go as far as needed, if you end up with tier 8 so be it.
I think there needs to be a limit put on early start times. Imagine being a team from Chilliwack having to play in North Van for 8 or 9am? or vice versa.

LOL! Been there already. Richmond to Chilliwack for 9:00 a.m. start. Drove out Fri evening, and over-nighted. The hotel hot tub was worth it - not to mention getting to avoid a 6:45 a.m. departure.