What organizations sandbagged the AHF parity tournament?

[Guest]

Teens want to be competitive until they are told otherwise. I played multiple sports as a youth and when you are told to hold back you do so. If we didn't do as we were told it would result in a full 2hr practice of suicides in soccer and basketball and laps in baseball. The only sport I played that a coach never said to hold back was football, because we were bad enough as it was. Did we like holding back, heck no, we wanted to beat the bejesus out of everyone but the coaches had their reason and we listened. It's just like in a hockey tournament where game 3 don't matter because the championship game is a lock against the same team, do you start the better goalie? No, you start the weaker goalie and mix up the lines a little, you don't show your best hand and surprise them in the championship game. My sons bantam team did just that twice and it worked perfectly, lost game 3 7-2 then won the championship game 3-1 in the one tournament and lost 5-2 and won the championship game 2-0 in the other. The parity pretty much meant nothing so why show your best hand, wait until it matters.

[Guest]

WOW everyone we have a superstar on our boards. With all those sports, how far did you make it in the pros? Just because you had a-hole coaches doesn't mean TP does.

[Guest]

WOW everyone we have a superstar on our boards. With all those sports, how far did you make it in the pros? Just because you had a-hole coaches doesn't mean TP does.

Never said I was a superstar. I was an average TE in football and average to below average in soccer and basketball, I played to have fun with friends. Baseball was my sport though but after catching for 3 teams for 5 yrs (club, school and a tournament team) my knees gave out at age 15 and ended just about everything in sports. I never  mentioned any team or said any coach was an a-hole, just pointing out that it's not the kids that makes those decisions. From your response I'd say you are a parent at TP and have a bit of quilt inside, like you know something.

[Guest]

So TP is sandbagging? That's hilarious. For what purpose exactly?  The 16UAA team that went to Nationals last year has no reason or incentive to try to play down. The second 16UAA team did badly to the degree that parents are pissed off and some are looking for releases because the team isn't what they were told and they are now concerned they will be moved down. Playing down wasn't anyone's goal there and their horrid performance may actually blow that team up.  The 3rd AA team is a pure 15U team.  Anything below that into the A levels I have no idea but again, the players and parents o fthe A teams at TP have their eye on making a AA next year so playing down a level doesn't help them achieve that.  There is so much INTERNAL competiton at a giant club like that trying to get yourself moved down to banner hunt is self-defeating and stupid.  Now, if you're a smaller club that struggles to retain players and you have a borderline AA club I see why you could want to play down and try to win rather than risk getting smacked around a lot.  I don't agree with it, but I understand it. 

Bottom line is I don't think a lot of intentional sandbagging happened.  The parity tounament was a weird time of year and would conflict with spring sports that TONS of kids play so who knows which kids were just at baseball or lacrosse or at a track meet that weekend because those sports are in-season right now and take priority.  When those kids show up in August it doesn't mean their team lost on purpose in May or they told those kids to stay away.

[Guest]

The 16UAA TP team that went to nationals last year are all playing 18U now.  Most stayed at TP 18AA and others went to DV clubs.  The 16UA national teams from last year that are now 18 are no longer at TP which is why they don't have an 18 gold team.  There was a lot of '05 talent at Ice Line, not enough teams to keep them, same will happen with the '06's which is why they have 2 AA's and the '07 Pure AA.  Their 16 Gold and Silver rosters are kids that should be gold and silver, hard working kids who will get better as a team, but no star AA kids playing down, that's for sure.

[Guest]

The 16UAA TP team that went to nationals last year are all playing 18U now.  Most stayed at TP 18AA and others went to DV clubs.  The 16UA national teams from last year that are now 18 are no longer at TP which is why they don't have an 18 gold team.  There was a lot of '05 talent at Ice Line, not enough teams to keep them, same will happen with the '06's which is why they have 2 AA's and the '07 Pure AA.  Their 16 Gold and Silver rosters are kids that should be gold and silver, hard working kids who will get better as a team, but no star AA kids playing down, that's for sure.

Thank you very much. The last two posts have been very enlightening.  Good luck this year, Team Philly.

And remember, just because a team is not winning at a certain level, doesn't mean they don't belong at that level.

 

[Guest]

So TP is sandbagging? That's hilarious. For what purpose exactly?  The 16UAA team that went to Nationals last year has no reason or incentive to try to play down. The second 16UAA team did badly to the degree that parents are pissed off and some are looking for releases because the team isn't what they were told and they are now concerned they will be moved down. Playing down wasn't anyone's goal there and their horrid performance may actually blow that team up.  The 3rd AA team is a pure 15U team.  Anything below that into the A levels I have no idea but again, the players and parents o fthe A teams at TP have their eye on making a AA next year so playing down a level doesn't help them achieve that.  There is so much INTERNAL competiton at a giant club like that trying to get yourself moved down to banner hunt is self-defeating and stupid.  Now, if you're a smaller club that struggles to retain players and you have a borderline AA club I see why you could want to play down and try to win rather than risk getting smacked around a lot.  I don't agree with it, but I understand it. 

Bottom line is I don't think a lot of intentional sandbagging happened.  The parity tounament was a weird time of year and would conflict with spring sports that TONS of kids play so who knows which kids were just at baseball or lacrosse or at a track meet that weekend because those sports are in-season right now and take priority.  When those kids show up in August it doesn't mean their team lost on purpose in May or they told those kids to stay away.

I'd love to hear about the politics amongst those three AA teams.

[Guest]

It's pretty simple, one is a pure 15 ('07s), one is the 15AA ('06s) team from last year plus a few kids to fill in for club leavers, the third is a team that if they were playing Gold would be called sandbaggers.  I think that third roster top to bottom are not as strong as the '06 AA team from last year but still really talented.
 Crazy that TP has enough talent to field 3 AA rosters and still have a gold and silver which other clubs think are sandbagging to play at that level. 

[Guest]

The 16UAA TP team that went to nationals last year are all playing 18U now.  Most stayed at TP 18AA and others went to DV clubs.  The 16UA national teams from last year that are now 18 are no longer at TP which is why they don't have an 18 gold team.  There was a lot of '05 talent at Ice Line, not enough teams to keep them, same will happen with the '06's which is why they have 2 AA's and the '07 Pure AA.  Their 16 Gold and Silver rosters are kids that should be gold and silver, hard working kids who will get better as a team, but no star AA kids playing down, that's for sure.

Yes, that was my error. I was referring to the current top 16UAA team which was the 15UAA last year.  They are fully intact from last year and will be extremely good.  The second current 16UAA team is the patchwork team that didn't do well at the parity and has unhappy people.  The 3rd 16UAA is the pure 15U team and I would assume they would play in the 15U division of the AHF like the 15U team did last year.

[Guest]

With all of the discussion on this topic, I went back and watched (skimmed) TP's 3 parity games.

Here are my conclusions:

--They are definitely not sandbagging. 

--They are a legitimate AA team.  They probably will finish in the bottom half of the league.  But the team will benefit from a AA schedule and develop.

--Any parents talking about releases or quitting have mental issues. They are a fine team.

--Team Philly as an organization is doing something right.