nkysoccerparent

Beating teams in the 100s doesn't really help rankings, regardless of score. Win against teams in the 50s-70s and Calvary will move to the top of that range. They are probably about 20 spots too low right now. Is Calvary better than schools like Conner, Cooper and Scott? No idea and neither does a computer yet. Scott beat Campbell by the same score as Calvary and beat Villa by more than Calvary. Scott lost to Conner and Cooper. Single games are not always apples to apples but you start to see how the Maher rankings become more reliable after 10-12 games vs 6-7 games when you can have all kinds of outlier results. At the end of the day none of it matters right now and will be sorted out over time on the field.

Computer rankings are still heavily weighted based on last year, give it two more weeks and they will be fairly accurate. Keep in mind Campbell Co is 1-6, so that win may not be a big help. Schedule strength is 645, that is really hurting current ranking. Calvary is having a great year. Not sure if they play any top 50 teams, one of those wins will move them up quickly.

Not sure of the reason for the conferences any longer. I think they used to be a bigger deal a couple decades ago. Emphasis tends to be on region for bigger schools and All A tournament for smaller schools. They do give post season awards, all conference, etc. Don't think NKAC even has a website. It might help certain schools with scheduling as mentioned above.

Just saw the video. Raising your hand above your head as a field player to stop a shot standing a yard in front of the goal is an automatic red. Not even a discussion, SK should have been forced to play with 10.

Agree with everything you said STPB. Very observant on subs. Unless you are watching the substitution patterns closely and know the teams very well, hard to determine how coaches played the games. You can easily see talent, speed, spacing and pace of play

Dixie 2-0 over NCC, roughly 50 min game Anderson 3-0 over NDA Turpin 2-0 Ryle Cooper was beating Villa soundly in the afternoon, don't know final score

Highlands and Ursuline looked very good, each team scored a goal in the last 30 seconds. Weather did not cooperate in the early games. St H 1-0 over Boone, they had to play two 20 min halves. Neither team had a chance to get in a flow because of breaks in action. Think Scott was ahead 2-1 over Beechwood when game called, they only were able to play a half.

Not many schools have the desire to host or are capable for reasons that extend beyond facilities. Why Dixie specifically this year not sure, I do know the feedback from last year was very positive. New turf is being installed at DH, which is reason for late move to Tower Park. 1) you must have an army of volunteers 2) you need lights 3) 10 games in two days, many schools with a grass field do not want their field destroyed before the season starts. If there is rain, this will be the case 4) Coach turnover-a lot to ask of a brand new staff 5) Disruption to other sports (FB, boys soccer) The list of candidates gets very small very quickly.

3 border battles, Dixie-NCC and St. H vs Boone. Anderson should be very good. We'll learn about the talent level in KY quickly. Dixie who is the host again, did a great job with match-ups last year, including a state final preview.

Thanks for taking the time to post. St. H crushed E. Jess, that score is reversed. So NCC really strong or did OC fall off a cliff? Looks like they were beaten soundly twice. Boone playing in C?

Soccerama is an event that will fund the budget for the soccer team for the next 3-4 years. I understand the revenue sport getting priority for choosing practice times, but this is an example of an AD who is not good at their job. Tell the FB coach you can deal with moving one practice, show an ounce of creativity and change your routine for a day. FB coach should have no say in the matter, as stated above its a once in a decade (or longer) opportunity for the school.

Given how differently coaches approach playing time and subbing in these games, the actual scores may not be very informative. Typically you can tell what teams and players look strong when watching. Share what you see this weekend.

I heard 2nd hand the basketball players are not playing for Ryle and Boone's numbers are way down. Consider it msg board internet rumor, sure someone supporting those schools could confirm. Highlands should be the favorite in NKY. Summary by Big Red is pretty good and I would agree with most of it.

Power 5 Div 1, agree. Tons of kids have played mid to lower D1,and D2, and D3 without having to play every other game 5 hours away and going to CA and Vegas. Not saying it should be this way, but many families can pay $2-3k to get their kids noticed. Having to pay 4-5 times that, and miss many days of school is an entirely different level of commitment of both time and money. KY kids would be forced to do that or not play H.S. if the state went to spring high school soccer.

I can't speak intelligently about the recruiting in AL,GA, VA, and TN. What I do know is like most sports, KY does not have a ton of Division 1 players relative to other states. The kids need to be playing in major cities in neighboring states. You eliminate the opportunity for KY kids to be seen at Crossroads in Indy, Bluechip in Cincy, etc. The events have hundreds of college coaches and are filled with teams from LFC, Javanon, KFJ, NKSA, and Kings Hammer. Those kids will all have to travel to Atlanta, Raleigh, Memphis, Greenville S.C., etc. if high school moves to spring

Would be awful for the H.S. version of the sport if the season moved. The players with interest in playing college soccer would not play H.S. (at least in NKY). College coaches recruit club. If OH, IN, MI, IL all play move H.S. to the spring, then the move makes sense. If KY kids miss all the spring showcases, how does that benefit the players? You are forcing them to travel much further to find states to play in U15-U18 fall showcases for college coaches. Someone will have to show me how this benefits the players. You are still splitting the refs with club, the move would make the shortage worse. Spring would have boys club, girls club, and H.S. Reducing the max # of games from 21 to 18 would make a lot of sense. Reduce the number of refs needed by 10% and you offer players more recovery time. Not perfect, but it helps. Quite a few teams play 20-21 games.

Alex has performed skills training for girls at Wiefit, also trained girls at NKSA at one time. Highlands crowd would probably have more info regarding actual coaching experience.

Exactly. Highlands returns a ton and most of their scoring. NDA loses quite a bit of their top end talent. They will both be good. NDA will surely have more depth than anyone in NKY, which I'm basing on the ridiculous numbers they have at tryouts every year and the success of their younger teams last year. The games will be close, and I'm assuming Highlands will be able to get a good coach. IMO Highlands top 2-3 players are a bit better and that will be the difference. I could be wrong.

Keep us updated regarding an announcement. IMO Highlands is the favorite in the 9th this fall, assuming they don't lose more players to the DA or injury.

In KY the impact was negligible at the varsity level this year. Probably had a bigger impact on JV teams, which lost 8th and 9th graders to the DA. Most of the top upperclassman played H.S. and chose pre DA. Some had committed to a school at the next level and didn't need the DA. IMO the full impact has yet to be felt and becomes slightly larger each of the next couple years. Players are much more likely to give up H.S. soccer if they have never played with their school and made relationships. Take 3-4 of the top players in NKY from each grade, its certainly going to make a difference. Once 12-14 girls are no longer playing high school, it will be difficult for NKY to win a state title (until Lexington or Louisville add a DA).

Looks like our topic received a full article in the Lexington Herald. Easy to complain about current system, not easy to resolve.

Good discussion, which is now evolving into one of competitive advantage. Soccer and volleyball are highly technical. Unlike football, track and to a lesser extent basketball, you can't simply win by having superior athletes. Proper training outside of the high school season for an additional 6-8 months in a club environment becomes more critical to success. These sports have a "pay to play" model. Ultimately success and competitive imbalance becomes a product of school demographics. There aren't many schools outside of the 3 metro areas in KY, loaded with kids who have parents willing or capable of spending the thousands of dollars on training. Private schools and large public schools in more affluent zip codes have a massive advantage. That's not easy to fix, its not a matter of simple enrollment numbers.

OH football playoffs use computer power rankings. The Maher rankings do the same for soccer and by the end of the year are a very good indicator of who is the favorite. I think Maher correctly predicted all but one of the eastern KY games last night. Ryle, Highlands, Dixie, NDA, CC, Boone all play Lexington and/or Louisville schools. Computer seeding would actually encourage more of this with teams in the next tier to ensure you aren't penalized by your immediate region. Russell has understood this and will compete against central and NKY schools. This year didn't go well for them outside of E.KY but they deserve credit for trying. The better WKY schools would be smart to add an Assumption, Manual, Male, SHA. You would see fewer 18-1 records vs weak schedules, it would actually encourage better match-ups in the regular season. It can be done, as long as humans are not involved in the rankings-no politics.

Are you satisfied with the current format? KY will have two teams outside of the top 50 playing in state quarterfinal games. The downside is there is a high probability of two non-competitive games (which is typically the case each year due to the current layout). I think KHSAA would suggest the format helps promote the sport throughout the state, by providing a path to an extended post season run for all teams. Geography is potentially a challenge in the 1st round (Russell can't play at Henderson Co on a week night). If all games were played in central KY, the distance would be reasonable for most schools. The semi-state format limits travel, however it creates serious mismatches in the QFs. Thoughts or suggestions?

Very nice result again a top 5 team. With the exception of the two Dixie games, NDA has been lighting up the scoreboard for about 6 weeks. I will be surprised if Saturday isn't a 10-0 game. Expect a state final of NDA vs. SHA