CASCADIA SOCCER LEAGE - SPRING 2017 U8 - U18
- Thread starter LFC
- Start date
easoccer
Established Member
- Aug 27, 2015
- 862
I know lots of people talking about it. Cards being the most promising discussion. This has always been an issue in the ussa.
My only concern is, are there teams at the older ages? U16, Div2 to be specific.
My guess is some divisions may have greater interest than others but last year the u16 grouping was not large in the 8v8 spring league hosted by Langley. Worse case play up a division, you'll get a chance to play us if you do!
rich
Active Member
- Aug 20, 2015
- 291
We're still gauging interest with our U16's. If we do put a team in, it will be a real hodge podge of Div 1, Div 2 and Div 4 players
Which is likely going to be the case throughout in year 1 - probably some div 4 level teams, and some div 1/MSL level teams. But if the league can standardize, and hopefully offer two tiers in the coming year or two ahead....could be a very good spring option for all lower mainland clubs!
easoccer
Established Member
- Aug 27, 2015
- 862
To be honest i had my son in coastal 8v8 last year and it ended up garbage. More like plain kick around.
I think bringing in all the random leagues into one should allow more team selection.
I am looking for something that replaces the USSA for us as it has never been fair with ringers etc, but if we are playing mixed div 1-4 teams then im not sure how it will be any different. Other than playing the same 3 teams like the USSA.
E11even
Member
- Jan 21, 2017
- 28
Good discussion and points.
We're not crazy enough to think that year 1 will be perfect. The idea is to create an organized and dependable structure that clubs can use as a game platform for their teams. We know that clubs develop players and the league is simply there to provide a structure to play. There are a number of things that need to occur in order for a division, within the league to be successful. In order of process, to us in the simplest form, it looks like this:
As for the reference to the Coastal 8v8, that is a completely different product. It is an in house, recreational league, for those players who want play a game once per week and have a casual training session. It's not designed around anything more than being an organized and fun opportunity for kids to play each week. There are a mix of different levels placed on balance teams. It seems to work for the 2500 or so players who participate each year ;-)
Cascadia is a bit different. It services those clubs and teams who don't have an in house infrastructure and/or those who want a more conventionally structured league. It also, at the higher levels, pulls together teams who require inter club play to get the appropriate levels of competition.
Given our knowledge of Coastal and Cascadia (we run them both LOL) one is not better than the other. They service different teams and players. In fact I will say that the Coastal program, which was established long before I arrived on the scene (so I can't take all the credit), has taught me a lot about simplifying the expectations and structure for kids and just letting them play for the sake of playing. Again, it's not for everyone, but if you stop for a minute and watch the games, you just see kids having fun, being active, and enjoying kicking a ball around with their friends. It is after all a game for the enjoyment of the players.
We're not crazy enough to think that year 1 will be perfect. The idea is to create an organized and dependable structure that clubs can use as a game platform for their teams. We know that clubs develop players and the league is simply there to provide a structure to play. There are a number of things that need to occur in order for a division, within the league to be successful. In order of process, to us in the simplest form, it looks like this:
- Clubs generate interest from players and assemble teams
- Clubs register teams with the league
- We try (in consultation with clubs) to best group teams together based on competitiveness and geography
- We communicate, organize and manage the league professionally
- We (clubs and league) get feedback, look for areas to improve, and evolve
- Repeat
As for the reference to the Coastal 8v8, that is a completely different product. It is an in house, recreational league, for those players who want play a game once per week and have a casual training session. It's not designed around anything more than being an organized and fun opportunity for kids to play each week. There are a mix of different levels placed on balance teams. It seems to work for the 2500 or so players who participate each year ;-)
Cascadia is a bit different. It services those clubs and teams who don't have an in house infrastructure and/or those who want a more conventionally structured league. It also, at the higher levels, pulls together teams who require inter club play to get the appropriate levels of competition.
Given our knowledge of Coastal and Cascadia (we run them both LOL) one is not better than the other. They service different teams and players. In fact I will say that the Coastal program, which was established long before I arrived on the scene (so I can't take all the credit), has taught me a lot about simplifying the expectations and structure for kids and just letting them play for the sake of playing. Again, it's not for everyone, but if you stop for a minute and watch the games, you just see kids having fun, being active, and enjoying kicking a ball around with their friends. It is after all a game for the enjoyment of the players.
easoccer
Established Member
- Aug 27, 2015
- 862
Since you run the coastal program.
- last year there were 2 groups at u15/16. But rather than playing all the teams we played the same teams 2x. This made no sense at all.
- on the teams there were obvious mixes of metro down to house.
- the teams were not balanced at all so you had a team that would get blown out each week.
- the metro players would play most of the time scoring multiple goals with minimal touches for the house players.
- there were teams that had 15-16 players and teams that always had to borrow.
- yes it was ok for fitness sake, but lacked structure and proper training.
Putting my boys team into an 11v11 league with properly formed teams is much more desirable.
- last year there were 2 groups at u15/16. But rather than playing all the teams we played the same teams 2x. This made no sense at all.
- on the teams there were obvious mixes of metro down to house.
- the teams were not balanced at all so you had a team that would get blown out each week.
- the metro players would play most of the time scoring multiple goals with minimal touches for the house players.
- there were teams that had 15-16 players and teams that always had to borrow.
- yes it was ok for fitness sake, but lacked structure and proper training.
Putting my boys team into an 11v11 league with properly formed teams is much more desirable.
E11even
Member
- Jan 21, 2017
- 28
Pleased to report Cascadia Soccer League is NOW SANCTIONED by BC Soccer!
Quick facts:
Quick facts:
- 10 districts signed on (all in lower mainland)
- 27 clubs registered and counting
- We expect 8,000,000,000 teams plus or minus a few ;-)
Admin
Administrator
- Feb 23, 2015
- 392
Someone has been celebrating... 
Congrats. Looking forward to a stabilizing spring season!
easoccer
Established Member
- Aug 27, 2015
- 862
Do you have any rough numbers for the different age groups yet? Or do you expect the numbers to slowly rise until the mid march deadline?
E11even
Member
- Jan 21, 2017
- 28
It's still too early to tell. I think spring registrations are slow with most/all clubs at the moment due to the weather and dissatisfaction from the fall season. I know clubs are working hard to try and pull their teams together and get registered. I think it will be steady now.
Keep in mind our process does not require payment until the groups are formed to ensure that it makes sense (i.e. enough teams and reasonable travel). We are asking teams to register now, let's us create the groups, and then we can collectively review.
- Thread starter
- #56
LFC
Active Member
- Aug 23, 2015
- 314
Congratulations E11even management & Cascadia leage
Very disappointed and not impressed.
This is NOT a good start..........
"Some of the Surrey teams can’t play this weekend because there is a big Vaisakhi festival that closes down a lot of roads and fields for the day and most Sikh players are involved in it. We were aware of this so we have said from the beginning we are fine with the teams rescheduling games to Sunday or another day if they can’t get a full team together that day.
Manjit, the CCB coach, noticed there was a bye in the age group so he asked me to check with the Surrey United team to see if they wanted to play Richmond this week and he would take the bye. The Surrey United coach has been trying to get enough players together to play but he finally last night said he just couldn’t do it, when they thought they had a bye parents rescheduled their days."
This notice given to Richmond FC the afternoon before the game. Too little too late!
This is NOT a good start..........
"Some of the Surrey teams can’t play this weekend because there is a big Vaisakhi festival that closes down a lot of roads and fields for the day and most Sikh players are involved in it. We were aware of this so we have said from the beginning we are fine with the teams rescheduling games to Sunday or another day if they can’t get a full team together that day.
Manjit, the CCB coach, noticed there was a bye in the age group so he asked me to check with the Surrey United team to see if they wanted to play Richmond this week and he would take the bye. The Surrey United coach has been trying to get enough players together to play but he finally last night said he just couldn’t do it, when they thought they had a bye parents rescheduled their days."
This notice given to Richmond FC the afternoon before the game. Too little too late!
E11even
Member
- Jan 21, 2017
- 28
Perhaps reach out to us and we can better understand the issue. Communication about week #1 conflicts with Vaisakhi have been happening for months with the clubs. I'm not sure what the exact break down is, but more than willing to find out and help. Email is going to be better than posts on a chat I'd suggest.
Pre-planning by the league could have helped as this is one of the biggest events around on the mainland period. Don't let hate spew all over a religious event that encompasses a massive number of players in the league.
The league is not running during the Umbro Cup weekend or SX Spring Cup weekend are they? ;-)
The league is not running during the Umbro Cup weekend or SX Spring Cup weekend are they? ;-)
E11even
Member
- Jan 21, 2017
- 28
In fact plenty of pre-planning done around the league with respect to this event. I don't think it "encompasses a massive amount" of the 6,000+ players in the league, but nonetheless it was an important factor in our planning.
Planning was really simple. Find 8 weeks, between April and June, not including long weekends. Early April was too soon to organize, last weekend was Easter and the other weekends you reference; one is a long weekend and the other is after school gets out. I get your hint about other events that we organize, but tournaments are quite different. Teams can choose to attend a weekend event based on availability. If you run a league through a long weekend you end up with complete chaos with some teams having players and others not.
Back to our planning around Vaisakhi, clearly you are not a member of the league, or you would have seen the email that addressed it. Here is an excerpt...
"We had put in our rules that boys play Saturday and Girls play Sunday but we would ask that teams work together if there are issues or the need for flexibility. A few reminders about the weekly schedule:
Planning was really simple. Find 8 weeks, between April and June, not including long weekends. Early April was too soon to organize, last weekend was Easter and the other weekends you reference; one is a long weekend and the other is after school gets out. I get your hint about other events that we organize, but tournaments are quite different. Teams can choose to attend a weekend event based on availability. If you run a league through a long weekend you end up with complete chaos with some teams having players and others not.
Back to our planning around Vaisakhi, clearly you are not a member of the league, or you would have seen the email that addressed it. Here is an excerpt...
"We had put in our rules that boys play Saturday and Girls play Sunday but we would ask that teams work together if there are issues or the need for flexibility. A few reminders about the weekly schedule:
- Acceptable rescheduling reasons
- Coastal Cup game (always take priority)
- Vaisakhi (April 22 only)"