Author: Bob Mueser

by Bob Mueser

Registration for Spring 2023 DSL Soccer is open.

All:

Registration is open for the Spring 2023 DSL Soccer Season for teams.   If your school has not opened up players registration for spring soccer yet, please encourage them to do so.  I have attached the Spring timeline and registration to this email.  Key dates are summarized below.  Additionally, we will again try to make the regular 11v11 and the 7v7 formats work for the JV/Varsity squads, subject to the same limitations that we had in place last season.  If your team is considering doing 7v7 due to registration numbers at the JV and Varsity, please reach out to me to discuss what that format entails. 
February 24th – Registration Deadline
March 3rd – Registration Payment Deadline ($125 per team)
March 6th – Practices can start on or after this date (each school determines there own “beginning” of season so to speak, usually it is after March 6, but from a Diocese perspective schools are cleared to practice from March 6th and on)
March 20th – Target date for schedule distribution
March 23rd – Rosters are due
March 23rd – First weekend of games
April 6th – 9th – No games or practices due to Easter holiday\
April 15th – Registration for Developmental/All Girl tournament opens
May 5th – Registration for Developmental/All Girl Tournament Closes
May 20th – Developmental/All Girl Tournament
May 28th – Last day to get JV/Varsity Games in
May 29th – June 4th – Tentative dates for JV/Varsity Playoffs
Feel free to reach out with any questions.
Regards,
Rob Glentzer
DSL Commissioner
by Bob Mueser

DSL – Season Wrap Up Email

It was a great season this fall and I appreciate all of your efforts and time that was put into it.  This past weekend we were rewarded with some of the most beautiful November soccer weather I've ever experienced, and was able to watch 17 great matches over Saturday and Sunday as a cap off to a great season.  Below are the Championship Series winners:

  • 7's JV – It was Blessed Seelos over St. James in the championship match, 6-5
  • MLS JV –  It was St. Kilian White over AMA, 4-1
  • Premier JV – It was St. Kilian Green over Guardian Angel, 3-1
  • 7's Varsity – It was Divine Mercy over St. James, 4-3
  • MLS Varsity – It was Ave Maria over St. Louise 3-2, in a match that went all the way to penalty kicks
  • Premier Varsity  – It was St. Kilian Green over Archangel Gabriel, 2-1 off of a last second goal
Off Season – Attached is a timeline for the Spring Season, as you can see, registration opens up January 1st and closes February 24th, please plan your registrations periods accordingly.
Also, some of you have inquired about off season opportunities for soccer.  I know that there are several leagues throughout the area that specialize in indoor soccer and futsal leagues.  These leagues tend to be smaller in format since space is limited and many teams lose players to other winter activities.  If you would like any information about opportunities in your area let me know.  Also, No offseason is Russelton is putting together some tournaments at rec, travel and comp level for teams.  The next one is over thanksgiving break and they'll  have some in December, January, and February as well.  Attached is a flyer for that.
The Off Season is also a time for me to reflect on what is working and what isn't working in the league and revisiting our rules.  One rule change that we will be making in the offseason at the Developmental Level is to modify the Build Out Rule.  Currently, it states that (i) when the keeper has the ball, attacking players are to retreat to the buildout line and not advance until the keeper puts the ball in play, and (ii) when there is a goal kick, attacking players are to retreat to the buildout line and not advance until either (1) the kick is received by a defending player (2) or the ball crosses the buildout line).  This difference in when attacking players can advance has continually caused confusion amongst players, coaches, referees and parents.  In order to simplify things going forward the new rule will be: When the keeper receives the ball or there is a goal kick, attacking players are to retreat to the buildout line and not advance until either (1) the kick is received by a defending player (2) or the ball crosses the buildout line.  Nice and simple, so at grades 1-4, coach the kids to get back and don't touch the ball until another defender touches it or it rolls past the build out line.
One change from this current season that I believe we will be keeping is the 7v7 league.  It seemed to provide a venue to play the game for schools that would not have been otherwise able to play due to low numbers.  Assuming we have enough schools that register to make a bracket, I'd like to continue having that option available to you all.
Finally, looking forward to the spring season, I do expect to need to do a modest cost increase for the league–  it will probably be a $25 per team increase for regular season and postseason play.  I am still looking at the numbers and running projected costs, but I wanted to share this possibility with you for planning purposes, as well as providing you with the following reasons:
  • Our league fees have been static since at least 2012 (and probably longer) when I became involved with the league
    (other than a dollar per dollar fee increase for the JV/Varsity championship series to increase the referees on the field from 2 to 3).  Since that time our costs have not remained static, and recent inflationary pressure has made things only worse. 
  • Since I took over the league in 2020, I have kept my focus on bettering player experience including (1) increasing the brackets at the JV/Varsity size to both make play more competitive and increase trophies/medals presented to players by 50% to 100% depending on the season, (2) increasing the fields used for the developmental tournament from 1 field to 2 fields and utilizing fields that have lighting so we no longer have to turn schools away for the developmental tournament, (3) responding to coaches request to make 3rd and 4th grade tournament play 7v7 on a larger field to more closely match regular season conditions (but also resulting in fewer playing fields overall in the same space, and accordingly, larger rental costs), and (4) switching from grass fields to turf fields at the developmental level to give the kids a better, safer, and more consistent playing experience (one of the best changes made in my opinion as weather is largely eliminated from the playability equation, but it comes at a substantially increased rental cost).  All  of these changes have been for the better, but all were changes that add to the cost.
  • These changes have also resulted in some growth to our league, but growth also comes with problems.  Our league participants are not doing a great job at following the rules that our venues have asked us to adhere to.  At the developmental tournament we still had some parking issues, still had some issues with people bringing pets and food into the venue, issues with garbage not being disposed of properly, and still had issues with people setting up tents in areas where they were not permitted.  Some of these same issues occured at Seton LaSalle as well.  I've tried my best to manage them, but frankly there are alot more offenders than there are of me and it isn't possible to keep up with policing everything and run the tournaments.  Accordingly the vendors have let me know that our rental rates are increasing to build in the costs of hiring staff to oversee this policing since we have done a poor job of doing that ourselves over these last three seasons.  I'm sorry, this is a cost that I really wanted to avoid and I tried, but our organization will have to bear this cost going forward if we want to keep having these types of events.
  • While it isn't happening in the Spring, we know that the referee rates will increase next Fall so I need to plan for that as well as the post season referees is a cost that the league covers.
I wanted to get this in front of you for planning purposes and so you understood the rationale.  I do not take any increase of costs lightly and we try to do our best to give you a great experience for your kids at as small of cost as possible, but I do hope that especially those of you who have been involved in the league for a bit will appreciate the improvements that we have made during the last few years to try to give our players a great event to end their seasons. 
Additional OffSeason Playing Opportunities- This can be a bit of a challenge to work in, especially if your players have moved onto basketball, wrestling or another winter activity, but for those of you that have a group of players that are still interested in playing soccer over the offseason, there are opportunities out there.  One nice thing about them is that they tend to be indoor and smaller rostered sized, so it's easier to field a squad when kids have conflicts.  I'm more familiar with opportunities in the northern part of the region because that's where I live, but there are lots of places out there where you can have your players sign up for an indoor soccer or futsal team and they'll get a game every week to keep them engaged and not be rusty for the start of the spring session- I've personally had my kids play indoor at Tri County and futsal at PISA and both are great. I know with Futsal and Indoor Soccer they've already started their first session but there is a second session that starts up in January and tends to go 6-8 weeks. 
If a once a week commitment is still too much there are other venues that do mini tournaments, including a 5v5 tournament for different ages and skill levels up at No Offseason. They are having a tournament over Thanksgiving weekend (girls will be on Friday and boys will be on Saturday).  I've attached a flyer for the Thanksgiving session and I know that they will be doing indoor ones in December, January, and February as well. 
For any of these opportunities let me know if you want more details.  I have found it to be a fun way to keep the players engaged and their skill sharp.
Regards,
Rob
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by Bob Mueser

DSL – Dev Tournament Results and this Weekend’s Championship Matches

Good evening everyone, I wanted to reach out to everyone and congratulate both our JV/Varsity qualifiers for this weekend's championship as well as thank everyone for their efforts this past weekend at the DSL Tournament and acknowledge our winners.  

With respect to the Championship Series, the below reflects those teams that qualified for post-season play and those matches will occur this Saturday and Sunday at Seton LaSalle's Merrick Field.  As a reminder, all players that play in this Championship Series must have been rostered on one of your school's teams, on or before their 4th game of the season.  4th Graders are permitted to play up on JV teams and 5th and 6th Graders are permitted to play up on Varsity teams in accordance with our league rules if such a play up is necessary or desired and does not expose the player who is playing up to undue risk of harm or injury.
I
2022 Fall DSL Championship Series  
         
         
  Saturday November 5, 2022@ Seton LaSalle High School (8:00 am-10:00 pm)  
  Time  Home  Away  
  8:00am Divine Mercy V Blessed Seelos V  
  9:15am St. James V Holy Sepulcher V  
  10:30am Holy Sepulcher JV Blessed Seelos JV  
  11:45pm St. Louise JV Ave Maria JV  
  1:00pm Sacred Heart JV Guardian Angel JV Black  
  2:15pm St. Bede JV St. Kilian JV White  
  3:30pm St. Kilian JV Green Aquinas JV  
  4:45pm Ave Maria V St. Kilian V White  
  6:00pm St. Kilian V Green Guardian Angel V  
  7:15pm St. Louise V Mary of Nazareth V  
  8:30pm Aquinas V Archangel Gabriel V  
         
         
     
  Sunday November 6, 2022@ Seton LaSalle High School (1:00 pm-8:30 pm)  
  Time  Home  Away  
  1:00pm* St. James JV Winner of JV 7's Play in Match  
  2:15pm* Highest Seeded Winner of Var 7's Play in Match Lowest Seeded Winner of Var 7's Play in Match  
  3:30pm* Highest Seeded Winner of JV MLS Play in Match Lowest Seeded Winner of JV MLS Play in Match  
  4:45pm* Highest Seeded Winner of JV Premier Play in Match Lowest Seeded Winner of JV Premier Play in Match  
  6:00pm* Highest Seeded Winner of Var MLS Play in Match Lowest Seeded Winner of Var MLS Play in Match  
  7:15pm* Highest Seeded Winner of Var Premier Play in Match Lowest Seeded Winner of Var Premier Play in Match  
         
         
         
         
         
    * Denotes Championship Game    
         
         
         
With respect to the Developmental & All Girls Tournament, below are the winners of the championship matches and more detailed tournament results can be seen at https://pittdsl.org/tournament/table/all-teams/
  • 1st Grade – Ave Maria Royals over St. Kilian Celtics (Celtics) 
  • 1/2 Grade – Guardian Angel Warriors over St. Peters & Paul Pacers 
  • 2nd Grade – St. Kilian Celtics (Green) over Sacred Heart Crusaders (Red)
  • 3rd Grade – Sacred Heart Crusaders (Red) over Ave Maria Royals
  • 3/4 Grade – St. James Cougars over Guardian Angel Warriors (Black)
  • 4th Grade – Aquinas Crusaders (Navy) over Aquinas Crusaders (Gray)
  • JV Girls –  St. Kilians Celtics over Sacred Heart Crusaders
  • Var Girls – Sts. Peter & Paul Pacers over Aquinas Crusaders
There were a lot of great matches going on all day and beautiful weather throughout the day.  For those that were in attendance, you understand that events like this don't just happen.  It took a tremendous amount of work from a lot of people over the last couple of weeks to pull this all together.  I wanted to acknowledge and thank some of them now:
  • Set Up Crew – Rory Garr, Tim Baird, Jim Licthenwalter, Jeremy Lichtenwalter, Jen Mondi, Joe Piccirilli, Walt Drescher
  • Tear Down Crew – Jeff Laubenthal, Jim Lichtenwalter, Matt DiPlacido, Mike Cingolani
  • Field Marshals and Event Staff – : Aidan Glentzer, Evan Laubenthal, Ryan Mueser, Logan Mueser, Andrew Baird, Jeremy Lichtenwalter, Declan Hibbard, Kellar Hibbard, Zach Cingolani, Luke DiPlacido, Anthony Piccirilli, Rocco Piccirilli
  • Ref Coordinator – Chuck Pruss
  • Web Creator and Tent Manager – Bob Mueser
Thanks to all of them for all of their efforts and thanks to you for joining us for a great end to the developmental soccer season.
Regards,
Rob Glentzer
by Bob Mueser

DSL – Week 9 email

Good afternoon:

Just a few reminders for our tournament teams this weekend and our JV/Varsity teams as we finish out our last regular week.
On the Tournament front it appears that we are going to be blessed with a beautiful Saturday for Soccer.  Let me know if anyone has any questions, but otherwise please plan on checking in at the registration tent at least 30 minutes prior to the start of your first game and make sure that you have a copy of your tournament roster and registration fee.  I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
For our JV/Varsity teams this is our last week of regular season games.  Please upload your game cards to the site immediately following your game for this week so that I can keep an eye on standings in real time.  That will allow me to get to you all as early as Sunday evening or Monday morning with game times for next weekend's Championship series.  
Good luck to all of those that are playing this weekend.
Regards,
Rob 
by Bob Mueser

DSL Developmental and All Girls Tournament Email

All:

Next Saturday, October 29, will be the day of the Developmental and All Girls JV/V Soccer Tournament.  The Tournament location is at the No Offseason 904 Little Deer Creek Valley Rd, Russellton, PA 15076.  I have attached a few things that should make your day go more smoothly if you are participating in this year's tournament.  They are as follows:

 

1. Tournament Spreadsheet.  The Games, Bracket and Points, Game Times Sorted by School, and Field Layout Tabs will be most helpful to you.  Note that in the Layout tab this spreadsheet is not to scale for any of the fields, but the general location will be accurate.  With respect to coaches names, absent anything sent to me to the contrary, I went with coaches from the regular season.  If there needs to be any corrections there, let me know by end of day Sunday as I will be going to the printer on Monday morning and then things are set in stone.  


Also, with respect to the schedule please note that while we generally have each developmental team play three play-in games and then determine playoffs from there, whenever a grade level has an odd amount of teams in it I randomly select one team to play a fourth game.  This fourth game does not count for standings for the team that already has played three games, but it does count for standings for the team that needs to get their third game in.  This year the following teams were selected to play a fourth game: First Grade – Sacred Heart Black, First/Second Grade – BC Saints Black, Third Grade – St. Kilian Green, Fourth Grade – Blessed Seelos.  Give me a call with any questions.  


And be sure to familiarize yourself with the Field Layout tab, things will move very, very quickly on Saturday.  You won't have time to wander, so make sure you know where you should be and be there early.


Finally I'd ask each team to email me back your game times and field locations.  I know it seems like a simple thing, but it goes a long way to making sure that I know that you've read the schedule right and where you need to be and it will help stave off any issues the day of the games.  A quick email has the potential to save you a lot of confusions the day of.

 

2. Tournament Rules – A lot of time has gone into the preparation of this tournament.  We do insist on having each coach read these rules and we ask that you share them with your families as well.  Most of all issues that arise during the tournament can usually be attributable to someone not knowing the rules.  Take a couple of minutes to familiarize yourselves with them, it will make Saturday go much more smoothly for all of us.  Some of the common ones that have caused confusion in the past are:  (i) Offside – remember is that offside calls will be made at all age groups (though at the first and second grade levels the referees have the discretion to only call major violations (i.e., cherry picking), (ii) Punts – No punts from the keeper at all levels, and (iii) Indirect Kicks – at the developmental level  no direct or penalty kicks are awarded, all infractions that normally would result in direct or penalty kicks are instead indirect kicks. 

 

3. Form of Team Roster – Please bring this and the registration fee to the DSL Tent for each team prior to the start of your first game.  Schools can have one person drop off all fees and registrations, but each team should still check in with the tent so that we know you are here.  

 

Also, please note the following:

 

 Registration Fee. Tournament Registration fees are $100.  Unless alternative arrangements have been made with me prior to the event, payments should be made in cash prior to the start of your fist game so we can use those funds to offset game day expenses (I won’t have time to go and cash checks during the tournament).  I can provide receipts upon request.

 

 Arrival.  Remember to arrive at the fields at least 30 minutes prior to your first game to allow adequate time for parking, registration, and organizing your team.  If you are late to the field for your pending game time you will most likely forfeit that much.  We are organizing and coordinating around 116 games throughout the day.  Our schedule won’t allow for reschedules so if you are not there on time, we won’t be able to wait. 

 

 Parking.  We have rearranged the tournament flow and fields a bit to try to eliminate the parking issues we had last fall.  When parking in no event should you block someone in, you may find your vehicle towed if you do.  If by chance there isn't a parking space readily available, drop off your player and wait for a spot to open before parking, we have teams rolling in and out all day.  I know it can be frustrating, but not nearly as frustrating for the other person who is now boxed in.

 

 Tents and Food.  The venue will permit schools to set up team tents in the orange shaded area that surrounds the fields (but that is not adjacent to the main walkway).  Tent space is limited, is on a first come basis, and they should not be set up on the turf.  All tents must be anchored down with weights – stakes won't work in stone areas around the fields.  The venue is not allowing outside food or beverage and is asking attendees to use the concessions that are on site.  Personal items such as water bottles and snacks that can fit in a six pack cooler is permitted, but they are no longer permitting tailgating in the tents so items such as pizzas and other food spreads are not allowed.  If we do not adhere to this rule we will no longer be allowed to have schools bring tents to the event and we could lose the field as a tournament option.

 

 Other Venue Rules are as follows:

•    No coolers larger than a 6-pack cooler are permitted

•    No grills or propane heaters are permitted

•    No pets are permitted

•    No sunflower seeds or peanuts are permitted

•    No alcohol or tobacco are permitted

•    No outside food is permitted at the venue

•    Loudspeakers and radios are prohibited

•    No double parking vehicles in the parking lot

 

One final note —  A lot of time has been put into this day, and while we keep score and hand out trophies, the real purpose of the day is to get the kids together and end their season in a fun tournament atmosphere.  Keep it fun and light with the kids, if they lose a game, shake it off and focus on the next one, or even better yet, instead of focusing on winning and losing, focus on player development.  Set goals for your players and have fun watching them get there.  If they want to color their hair or paint their faces the team colors have fun with it.  That's it, let me know if you have any questions and I'm looking forward to a great event.  And if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.

 

Regards,


Rob Glentzer

 

 

by Bob Mueser

Final Reminder

Final reminder, tomorrow (Saturday 10/15) is the last day to register teams for the developmental tournament.  As of today, all brackets are viable.  For the Girls JV/Varsity matches we currently have enough teams for a shortened bracket, with 3 teams in each bracket, each team playing each other twice and the top two going to the finals.  I’d prefer to get at least one more team in each bracket so we could go with a regular tournament format though if possible.  If you are on the bubble of registering and just need a few more players, let me know and I’ll try to pair you with another school. As of now I have Aquinas, Kilian, and Sacred Heart registered at the Girls JV level and Aquinas, Fatima, and Peter and Paul registered at the Girls Varsity level.
That’s all, have a great weekend and I’ll be in the next week or so with tournament schedules.
by Bob Mueser

DSL – Week 7 Email

All:

Not a lot to talk about this week, just a reminder that Saturday, October 15th is the last day to register for the DSL Developmental and Girls JV/V tournament that is taking place on October 29th.
Most brackets are viable, with the exception of the Girls JV and Girls Varsity brackets, I need two more teams at each level.  If you have a few girls, but not enough to field a team on your own, let me know and we could look into partnering you with a school in a similar situation.  If we can't get at least two more JV teams and two more Varsity teams though we will have to scrap the girls tournament and try again in the spring.   
Also, here is a listing of schools and teams that I have registered to date, please review and let me know prior to Saturday if any changes are needed.  Schools that have active developmental teams this fall but for whom I have not received any registrations include Guardian Angel, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Louise de Marillac and Southhills Academy.  All other active schools have registered, but again, please review for accuracy.  Additionally, if you don't have an active developmental team or JV/V team and would like to enter into the tournament we can accommodate that if we have space, just let me know.
Rob Glentzer
SCHOOL NAME 1st   1st/2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd/4th 4th JV Girls Varsity Girls Total
Aquinas Academy 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 1 5
Archangel Gabriel  1 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 5
Ave Maria Academy 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
Blessed Seelos 2 0 2 1 0 1 0 0 6
Blessed Trinity Academy 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Butler Catholic 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
Carlow 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Christ the Divine Teacher  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Divine Mercy Academy  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eden Christian Academy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guardian Angel Academy                  
Holy Cross Academy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Holy Sepulcher 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 3
Mary of Nazareth  0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
Mother of Mercy Academy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Northside Catholic Assumption 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Our Lady of Fatima                  
Providence Heights Alpha 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
Sacred Heart 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 7
St. Bede 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 4
St. James 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
St. Kilian 4 0 5 2 1 1 1 0 14
St. Louise de Marillac                  
St. Monica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sts. Peter and Paul  0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 4
Southhills Catholic Academy                  
by Bob Mueser

Week 5 – DSL Email

Evening Everyone:

Apologies on the delay for this week's email, the week has been hectic.  Just a quick note on cancellations as we prepare for what appears to be a wet weekend.
Prior to the game if weather related cancellations are needed the home team is responsible for making the call.  This call should be made with as much notice as possible and in no event less than 2 hours notice (but the more you can provide the better).   Notices of cancellations should be sent to the opposing coach, the opposing school's soccer coordinator and your referees (of if its a JV/Varsity match or you use the PIAA refs to Chuck Pruss at 412-443-5630– use this phone number, not his email, for cancellations within 48 hours of game time).  Failure to notify the referees with adequate time will result in the home field still having to pay the referee fees despite the fact that the game wasn't played.
Once a game starts, only the referee can delay/cancel the game.  Valid reasons for cancellation are that the field conditions are too dangerous (generally standing water of a few inches deep and thick mud) and thunder or lightning.  If thunder is heard or lightning is observed, play should be suspended until 30 minutes after the last observance thereof.  Rain in and by itself is not a reason to cancel.  Games can be played in the rain on turf and grass fields if the fields are still adequately draining.
Finally, there are about a half dozen games at the JV/V level that were previously cancelled and have not yet been made up and I'm sure that there are numerous ones at the developmental level.  And that is the tally before this weekend's weather.  Now is the time to schedule the make ups.  Games not played by October 30 will not count for standings for the playoffs and could result in negative forfeiture points if one team is not willing to make it up and the other is trying to do so.  
Good luck this weekend, play hard but be safe.
Rob
by Bob Mueser

Fwd: DSL Week 3 email

I’m resending the week three email as it looks like not everyone received it.  The below talks about game control, referee interactions, and developmental and all girls JV/V tournament registration.
Just a few things as we enter into Week 3 of our season:
1. Fall DSL Tournament Registration –  Registration is officially open for the Developmental Tournament.  I am asking each soccer coordinator to let me know how many teams and at what bracket that they are registering.   This Fall’s Tournament will be Saturday October 29 at No Off Season Sports in Russellton.   Registration will remain open for 1 month and will close October 15.  We will take registrations for the following brackets, 5v5 1st grade, 5v5 2nd grade,  5v5 1/2 grade, 7v7 3rd grade, 7v7 4th grade, 7v7 3/4 grade, 5v5 JV All Girls, 5v5 Varsity All girls.  As always, if we fill up (and we tend to fill up at the younger age levels), preference is given to those schools that register first.  After October 15 any registrations are considered late and may not be allowed if scheduling is already complete.  Attached are the rules for the tournament (please read these, almost all past issues at our tournaments could be 100% avoided if coaches read and know the tournament rules.  The first question I will ask you when an issue arises is whether or not you read the rules).
2. Game Control – I received a few emails regarding teams that failed to keep the score in check.  I know that it can be difficult, especially for the younger players, to keep the score in check.  As a coach though it is your responsibility to do so.  Keep an eye on this throughout your game and if it becomes apparent that your squad has more talent, start taking steps early on to control the score.  Our line in the sand is 8 goal or more differential–  once you are at or exceed that I tend to hear about it and have to get involved.  A good coach will start addressing the issue at a 4 or 5 goal lead as that gives you some room to maneuver.
Some tried and true methods of game control include, but are not limited to, getting weaker players more playing time and at the offensive positions, moving stronger players to goalie, defense or to the rest them more than normal, telling players to only use their non-dominant foot to pass and shoot (usually their left foot), playing possession where no one can shoot until all players on your team have passed to one another (including the keeper) without the other team intercepting, playing down a player or two, offering to allow the other team to play up a player or two, and/or lending some of your stronger players to the  other team to make a more competitive match.
I am happy to discuss this in more depth with any of you if you have questions.  If we get repeated complaints of the same teams running up the score then I will have to take action beyond email reminders.  So I encourage any of you who foresee this being a problem to be proactive, plan for this contingency, and if needed, reach out to me with any questions.
3. Referee interactions – On a comparable note, I have also received some reports already at the developmental level of coaches yelling at referees.  Let me be clear, without referees we can’t play, and our entire region is in the midst of a referee shortage, largely precipitated by coaches who chase referees out of the game by yelling, threatening, and/or being disrespectful.  This type of conduct can result in you being issued a card and getting thrown from the game.
I’m even more troubled though when I hear of this happening at the developmental level as many of the referees are Jr. High and High School players.  If you find yourself screaming at a child that is trying to referee a game, it might be worth taking a step back and reassessing some of your life’s decisions up to this point and reevaluate if you are in a good place to coach youth sports.
All referee’s, especially the young ones, can make mistakes. Some of it is a question of them not seeing what you saw, some of it is a question of them making an honest mistake.  In any event though, if your goal is to correct the situation, I have never seen a coach succeed in getting a call overturned by yelling at a referee.  When and if you find yourself in a situation where you disagree with a referee’s call, the smart coaches that I have seen over the years wait for a stoppage in the game, typically at half time (or the end of the game) approach the referee calmly and respectfully, explain what they saw and ask for an explanation of the referree’s call.  If you are handling this in a different manner, you are probably doing it wrong and will not only fail to get your desired results, but run a good chance of having an awkward conversation with me and possibly taking a game or two off from your coaching duties.
That is all from me, good luck with this week’s games and as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Regards,
Rob Glentzer

 

by Bob Mueser

DSL – Week 4

All, just a few items as we head into week 4 of our season:

1. Reschedules – As we head into week 4 we've already had about a half dozen JV/V matches need rescheduled as well as numerous Developmental matches.  Believe it or not we are less than two weeks away from October so please get these rematches scheduled ASAP.  There is a referee shortage in Western PA so we only have so much capacity, if you wait until the last minute to schedule a JV/V game in particular, we may not be able to cover it.  
Also, as a reminder, all JV/V games must be played by Sunday, October 30 in order to count for standings.  Unplayed games will result either in no standing points being awarded (which is the equivalent of a loss for both teams) or a forfeit, depending on the circumstances involved (forfeit wins/losses are the less than the equivalent of win and loss for the two team when computing standing points (-2 for the forfeit loss and only +2 for the forfeit win).  
2. Offside calls – As a reminder all teams from grades 3 up through varsity should be playing with the offside rules in place.  Our PIAA officials know this and call this at the JV/V level.  Soccer coaches at the third and fourth grade level should be teaching their players the offside rules and Soccer Coordinators should make sure that their referees at the developmental level are making offside calls when players are not onside.  Also, as we enter into October, first and second grade coaches should start introducing this concept to their players as obvious offside calls at the tournament are called even at that age group, so it makes for a better day for all involved if the kids have had some exposure to that concept in advance of the tournament.
3. DSL Tournament – Registration is open for the DSL Developmental and All Girls JV/VTournament until October 15th, see the Week 3 email for more details.
4. Updated Coach's list – Hopefully the attached is the final coach's list.  It contains updates at the 1st/2nd grade level to reflect revisions to the Blessed Seelos Team contact info.  Please refer to this contact list going forward as previous lists are dated and contain incorrect information.
5. JV/V Playoffs – We have the Seton LaSalle venue reserved for Saturday and Sunday November 5th & 6th.  Play in games will be on Saturday and Championship Games will be on Sunday.  As a reminder, brackets with 5 teams will have the top three teams qualify for the playoff and seeds 2 and 3 will play Saturday with the winner advancing to play seed 1 on Sunday.  JV 7's are the only bracket with 5 teams so they will follow this format.  Teams with 6 or 7 teams (which are all other JV/V brackets) will have the top four teams qualify for the playoffs with seeds 1 and 4 playing and sees 2 and 3 playing one another on Saturday, and the winners of those games will advance to Sunday to play in the Championship game.  Actual game times will be determined closer to the date and after we determine which teams qualified for post-season play.
6. No Offseason Tournament – In addition to the DSL Developmental tournament, No Offseason Sports in Russellton is offering an under the light tournament for teams in the pittsburgh region if you are interested.  The boys tournament has some openings still at the U-8 level and the cutoff for registration is Wednesday September 21 and the tournament is Saturday, September 24, from 5pm until 9pm.  The Girls Tournament has registration open until this Sunday, September 25 and the tournament is Saturday, October 1, from 5pm until 9pm and it has openings at U-6, U-8, U-10 and U-12.  If you would like more detail let me know.
That's it from me, as always, let me know of any questions or issues that you are running into and I hope you all have a great week and weekend full of soccer.
Rob Glentzer
DSL Commissioner