2010-2011 Success

13:22 May 12, 2011

We had hoped that we could find a new way to prepare kids for the transition to the competitive league. We are still not sure if we have found a good way of doing that, but the performance of the U11 Boys Tournament team went a long way to making this a perminent program at LAYSL.

Every year, we send a number of teams up to Durango to participate in what is the end of year tournament for many of these teams. We have success every year, which is a testiment to the commitment and heart that the players and coaches have.

This year is no different. The only Los Alamos team to get first place at the Durango Shootout was the U11 Boys, coached by Ron Blue. Every one of the tournament teams did not score a goal in their first tournament. All the tournament teams showed mark improvements from their first matches.

General Information

17:43 Aug 22, 2010

LAYSL created the Tournament Teams as a bridge between the recreational league and the competitive clubs. This program is new as of 2010-2011. Competitive teams start participating in the Duke City Soccer League (Albuquerque) at the age of U11. For the past few years, our youngest teams experience quiet a learning curve with this transition from U10 recreational to U11 competitive. These teams rarely are competitive and often lose their games by the mercy rule (game called after losing by 8 goals). I don't want to leave you with the impression that Los Alamos' kids are not as skilled as their Albuquerque counterparts. It is just that the pace, aggression, and speed of play take about a year to get used to. By the time our teams are U14, we are competitive with most of the teams in that league.

This season, we are attempting to determine if there is a different way to get these kids accustomed to the speed and physical nature of competitive soccer, without having to pay the expensive league fees of Duke City and transportation 16 weeks out of the year to Albuquerque. These tournament teams are made up of U10 and U11 boys and girls, and play in the U12 Los Alamos Recreational League. These teams also play in a number of scrimmages with Northern, Rio Vista, and NM Rush teams. The league also sponsors these teams to attend 4 tournaments through out the year, as U11 teams.

There is some overhead involved with all these services. These teams are unique in that they are registered and play in our recreational league, as well as requiring all the paperwork, insurance, and uniforms of our competitive program. All players are required to fill out the Recreational League Registration Packet as well as the Tournament Registration Packet. The total fees for this program is $195. These fees go to the recreational league overhead (a $100 value), a competitive uniform kit ($120 value), travel team insurance, and the registration costs for 4 tournaments (2 in the fall, 2 in the spring). Each tournaments often cost $400 per team. Yes, the league does lose money on this program, but our goal is to see kids get interested in competitive soccer at a younger age. We hope all of these kids return next season for the competitive program.

We also attempt to get the coaches every advantage in instructing these players the higher level of play. To coach one of these teams, the coach needs to have instructed in Duke City, either as a head coach or assistant. They will also need to be licensed at the state E level or higher.

Time will only tell if this program is successful in instructing these kids a higher level of play without the higher costs. The 2010-2011 season, we have a U10/U11 tournament team. The upcoming seasons will only allow for U10 teams. We will make an exception and allow older tournament teams if there is a competitive team fully rostered in that age group already. This program is to augment the competitive program, not take away from it.