Congratulations to FC Dallas Blue or was it Premier? Couldn't tell.

This was not a North Texas Sanctioned tournament. So all you had to do was prove that they were on a north Texas Roster, Not the same roster!

GoWide wrote:This was not a North Texas Sanctioned tournament. So all you had to do was prove that they were on a north Texas Roster, Not the same roster!

Actually all you had to do was have enough names written down that were on a North Texas Roster. The kids that played did not actually have to be the same kids that were on the roster, so it was unlimited in the number of guests you could have.

Congrats Jessie,

I spoke more than a few times with the Tournament Director prior to the tournament. During the tournament, I was told they allowed the rule to be circumvented by a few clubs as this would allow them to field a team (rather than pull out of the tournament).

If it's any easier, just say it was Premier and their guests were Blue - that would alleviate any soreness.

I can state, with certainty, that our roster would have changed significantly if we weren't told we could only have 4 guest players (in my three conversations with the director). Honestly, I don't know or think it would have changed the overall result - as everyone's aware FCDP is a great team and, once again, they showed it.

By virtue of the 'guest' player statement - the only way for them to be a guest player is to be on a different roster than the majority of your team. You have the roster, then, you have the 4 allowed guest players.

You couldn't show up with five North Texas rosters to build a team (although, I'm sure there were ways around that and possibly teams did so). I specifically asked this multiple times, so, it was pretty disappointing to find out others were given different rules to play with. Given we had players planning to be with different clubs, I did ask about the roster and was told something entirely different than what I am reading here. Interesting.

It was a pretty cool tournament regardless that will likely get bigger/better. Our team laid a royal egg, but, other than that, the boys had fun.

My guess is Copa ESPN 2011, played in Carrollton, TX

http://events.gotsport.com/events/resultsgrid.aspx?EventID=16136&GroupID=175601

It's invitation only - pretty neat setup really. Rec teams and select teams. Winner of U14 bracket got an expenses-paid trip to a tournament at WDW.

I'd never seen the referees before, but they were very good. They called a lot of touches and shirt tugs that wouldn't get an eye at Richland, but in our games they were very consistent (until the end, of course - but, one rarely sees much called at the end of games, right?).

I'd recommend signing up early if you can - they get a ton of applications and are pretty selective. The time of the year is tough, especially for U14 this year - as players move around, but, apparently, that wasn't an issue for all the teams

clueless wrote:It's invitation only - pretty neat setup really. Rec teams and select teams. Winner of U14 bracket got an expenses-paid trip to a tournament at WDW.

I'd never seen the referees before, but they were very good. They called a lot of touches and shirt tugs that wouldn't get an eye at Richland, but in our games they were very consistent (until the end, of course - but, one rarely sees much called at the end of games, right?).

I'd recommend signing up early if you can - they get a ton of applications and are pretty selective. The time of the year is tough, especially for U14 this year - as players move around, but, apparently, that wasn't an issue for all the teams

Yes, we got drilled by the Inocentes, which was supposedly a combination of a couple of teams from Arlington. They were too big and fast for our boys to handle.

Big Picture wise, it's pretty neat to see teams that aren't traditional killers winning these games/tournaments. I would expect, with all the movement in '97s, that Irving Elite would be the favorite for D1 this year - that would be something.

Given all the D1 powers doing the 1 to 3 split with D1/97 PA/ 96 PA - I'd think anyone who kept their base will be pretty good.

We played okay for not practicing together, but couldn't score. Probably won on the field in each game, but not in the scorebook (ever hear that one, before)?

soccermom97b wrote:

eagle wrote:

clueless wrote:It's invitation only - pretty neat setup really. Rec teams and select teams. Winner of U14 bracket got an expenses-paid trip to a tournament at WDW.

I'd never seen the referees before, but they were very good. They called a lot of touches and shirt tugs that wouldn't get an eye at Richland, but in our games they were very consistent (until the end, of course - but, one rarely sees much called at the end of games, right?).

I'd recommend signing up early if you can - they get a ton of applications and are pretty selective. The time of the year is tough, especially for U14 this year - as players move around, but, apparently, that wasn't an issue for all the teams

Yes, we got drilled by the Inocentes, which was supposedly a combination of a couple of teams from Arlington. They were too big and fast for our boys to handle.

I heard they were mostly the Millenium team out of Arlington, who just made it into D3

And they filled in with their big brothers.