End of February 2010
Last Saturday (Feb 20th) was a very busy, but productive day for Texas A&M soccer players and coaches. We hosted our annual 7v7 Tournament during daylight hours, then got cleaned up and hosted our annual Awards Banquet that night at the Zone Club in Kyle Field. In this week’s blog I’ll review both of those events, plus give you some updates on future Big 12 soccer schedules, recruiting events, and an update on our great summer camp program.
Recognizing our Players’ Greatness
Last Saturday we hosted our 17th Annual 7v7 Tournament at the Zone Club in Kyle Field. New Texas A&M President R Bowen Loftin and his wife (Karin) were our guests, and he served as our keynote speaker for the assembled audience of about 150 folks (fans, players, family members, etc…). Dr. Loftin spoke of his long history with soccer – his wife was born and lived in Germany for much of her early years and his daughter in a high school soccer coach in Michigan. He made some nice comments and observations about our players and challenged us to be the next A&M athletic team to win the National Championship.
In addition to having Dr Loftin speak, we also handed out (in Hollywood “Oscar Night” Style) our annual team awards – many of which were voted upon by the players. Additionally we reviewed all of the National, regional, and Big 12 awards and recognitions (academic and soccer) which our players earned during the 2009 season (a very long list!).
Personally, I love the fact that our players decide which of their peers receive our special awards (Offensive MVP, Midfield MVP, Defensive MVP, The Perseverance Award, newcomer of the Year, The Spirit of Aggieland Award, and the 12th Man Award) because they know who’s doing the work on and off the field and who’s making the truly positive impacts on the team’s success. The only awards which are decided upon by the coaches are the “Most Improved” and “Iron Aggie” awards.
To get a full recap of the award winners click HERE.
Starting the Spring with 4 Ws
The spring season is all about developing our players into even better soccer players and athletes. One important component of that developmental sequence is providing maximum touches and experiences for our players in game like and game speed situations. That’s one of the reasons we’ve always kicked off our spring season with a 7v7 Tournament; 7v7 provides lots of touches in attacking and defending portions of the field in a fun/competitive setting against other college teams.
So, last Saturday we hosted our 17th Annual 7v7 Tournament here at Texas A&M. I scheduled 4 games for the Aggies (against Houston Baptist, UTSA, Rice, and Sam Houston State) and then split our roster into 2 teams so that everyone would get lots of playing time in 2 games, each.
We started the day at 11am against Houston Baptist University, and although we were not terribly sharp (missing lots of goal scoring chances while “gifting” them 4 goals) the girls got it together and pulled out the 5-4 win behind a solid performance by Alyssa Mautz.
For the rest of the day, we seemed to get stronger and stronger as our players became more comfortable with the format and committed themselves to making positive impacts on the game through smart/hard work on and off the ball. A&M beat UTSA 8-0, Rice 8-0, and Sam Houston State 6-2.
This was the first playing opportunities for 2 of our 2010 freshmen – Kat Bartley (who red-shirted 2009 due to injury) and Rachel Lenz (who graduated HS a semester early to join us in Aggieland). Both of them played well for us in defense, and you could see them work through their early “nerves” to put in a great days work. I know that they both had a great time!
To get a full re-cap on the 7v7 Tournament, click HERE
Future Big 12 Schedules Discussed
About a week ago, we had a coaches conference call with members of our Big 12 administrative staff regarding Big 12 Soccer Scheduling in 2011 and beyond. The coming 2010 season will be the final year in the current 11 year cycle of “Lone Ranger” schedules, and we wanted to visit regarding any future changes to the current system.
Earlier in the February we had another conference call regarding our non-conference scheduling practices and how it effects the RPI of every team in the Big 12. If you remember, in 2009 only Texas A&M and Kansas came through the non-conference portion of the season with a good national RPI – the Aggies were #12 and the Jayhawks were #18. But, KU struggled in the Big 12 part of their season and didn’t make the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, none of the other teams (except the Aggies) were able to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Championship Tournament due to their poor RPI created from losses (both in and out of conference). So, an expert was brought in to educate the coaches on the best way to create your schedule – FYI the Aggies were highlighted as ‘the right way” to do it.
Anyway, back to the in-conference schedules of 2011 and beyond…
It was decided that we will retain the current “Lone Ranger” system for 1 more year (2011) and then we will try out a new method. As a quick reminder, the “Lone Ranger” system uses travel partners for 10 of the 11 teams, but leaves 1 team to go it alone. In 2011 the Lone Ranger will be Iowa State. The Aggies and Longhorns will be paired up as travel partners (other are BU-TT, Mizzou-KU, CU-Neb, and OU-OSU).
In 2012 we will try a system which stretches the Big 12 portion of the season out to 9 weekends (including the Big 12 Tourney). There will be no travel partners in this format, and the emphasis will be placed upon Friday night games. In the scenario for the Aggies, we’d play 8 games on Friday nights and 2 on Sundays. A few other teams will play 7 Fridays and 3 Sundays…
In general, there are a lot of positives to this format – mostly that we’re looking after the health of our players by not playing quite as many Fri-Sun weekends all season long. And, one conference team isn’t penalized into a hellacious Big 12 schedule just because “it’s their turn to take a hit” and be the Lone Ranger. We will still take on a high profile non-conference schedule at Texas A&M (that’s what I believe in), and I will provide more info on the 2012 schedule as it become a little more relevant (in about 18 months).
Camp Update
On-line Registration is currently underway for our 2010 summer sessions of the Texas A&M Soccer Camp. As you probably already know, our camp is widely regarded as the best in the nation by coaches and players all around the USA – the people who’ve attended and/or worked at other camps and see the extraordinary coaches, facilities, curriculum, organization, and extras which we provide in Aggieland.
This summer we’re providing lots of different options for kids to come and learn in a fun/competitive setting. Go to www.AggieSoccerCamp.com and you’ll see a great preview (below) of the entire summer’s layout right on the front page of that website. Plus you can learn more about everything included in our camps.
I hope that we get the opportunity to work with your player and team this summer!
Gig ‘em! –Coach G
