Author: Bob Mueser

by Bob Mueser

DSL – End of Season email and looking forward to Spring 24′

All:

 

Thanks to everyone for your efforts in making a great fall season this year.  Looking ahead to next spring, I wanted to include the timeline for next season.  The first dates that you will notice are that registration by the schools with the diocese for the number of teams to be registered starts on January 1 and closes on Friday, February 23.  In order to get schedules and brackets made in a timely manner for the beginning of the spring season we need to adhere to the February 23 deadline. I encourage all athletic directors to match your school's registrations deadlines to that time frame if possible. I will circulate a form of registration closer to the January date.

 

SPRING 2024- DSL Timeline

 

January 1st

Registration is open

 

February 23rd

School Registrations to the DSL are due

 

February 23rd

DSL fees are due, the check can be made out to the Diocese of Pittsburgh and mailed to me at my home address 116 Wickerham Drive, Mars, PA 16046 (fees are $125 per team, so if you have one JV team and 2 developmental teams, send one check for $375)

 

March 11th

Practices can start on or after this date

 

March 17th

Schedules to be distributed

 

March 22nd

Rosters are due

 

March 22nd

First weekend of games

 

March 28th-31st

Easter Holiday – No Games or Practices

 

April 4th through May 4th

Developmental Tournament & JV/Varsity All Girls Tournament Registration is open

 

May 19th  

Tentative date for Developmental Tournament

 

May 26th

Last day to complete JV/Varsity games for playoff determinations (note this is Memorial Day Weekend; if you are unable to play this weekend, clearly indicate that conflict in your registration)

 

May 27th – June 2nd

Tentative date for JV/Varsity Championship Series

 

 

Finally, before signing off I wanted to recognize all of the teams that participated this Fall– we had a great turnout and I hope you all had a great season and that your players had fun and learned a bit of soccer along the way.  We capped off our seasons with a couple of tournaments and below is a list of teams that made it to the championship games of their respective brackets:


·       Varsity Premier League Guardian Angel played Sacred Heart in the Championship Game and won

·       Varsity MLS League – Archangel Gabriel played Blessed Seelos in the Championship Game and won

·       JV Premier League – St. Kilian Green played St. Kilian White in the Championship Game and won

·       JV MLS League – St. James played Holy Sepulcher in the Championship Game and won

·       All Girls Varsity – Guardian Angel played St. Kilian in the Championship Game and won

·       All Girls JV –  Aquinas played St. Bede in the Championship Game and won 

·       4th Grade – Sacred Heart Black played Ave Maria in the Championship Game and won

·       3/4 Grade – Blessed Seelos White played Butler Catholic in the Championship Game and won

·       3rd Grade – St. Kilian Green played St. Kilian White in the Championship Game and won

·       2nd Grade – Aquinas Gray played Ave Maria in the Championship Game and won

·       1/2nd Grade – South Hills Catholic played St. James in the Championship Game and won

·       1st Grade – St. Bede played St. Kilian Black in the Championship Game and won

Regards,

 

Rob

by Bob Mueser

DSL Tournament – current webpage issue

All:

It has come to our attention that the Tournament webpage had a data import error and some of your games are showing the wrong time/field for tomorrow.  We are correcting this error now and hope to have it up again this evening, but please, always rely on the information that was circulated in the email pdf for game times as the most accurate source.  

by Bob Mueser

Dev/All Girls Tournament and JV/V Playoff Remindres

All, a few quick reminders:

JV/V Play
Upload your game results this week as soon as your game is finished so we can keep track of standings in real time.  There are several competitive brackets and in many instances we will need to use tie breakers to determine who qualifies and what seed they secured in the DSL Championship Series.  The sooner I have that information the sooner I can get schedules for next week to you all.  If I have to chase that information down, the schedules will lag.  Also, please note, our webpage is awesome for keeping track of the standings, but it is not gospel.  We need to double check entries for accuracy and in some instances make sure that it is computing tie breakers correctly (for example, the website often uses goal differential as the first tie breaker when displaying standings and our league rules look at head to head play first, so in the past (and possibly in this season), we need to make corrections prior to finalizing the standings).
The All Girls and Developmental Tournament (“DSL Tournament”) 
  • The Tournament location is at the No Offseason 904 Little Deer Creek Valley Rd, Russellton, PA 15076.  Please check into the registration tent at least 30 minutes prior to the start of your first game.  
  • In advance of the DSLTournament on Saturday here is a link to a tournament website where you can follow the standings as they are updated.  Here is a link to the tournament site.  

    https://pittdsl.org/tournament/    We will also utilize tournament boards at the tent (weather permitting) to keep track of things in real time as well.

  • Remember to bring a completed tournament roster and turn it into the tent prior to your first game.  Failure to do so can result in forfeits being assessed.  For those that need it, here is a link to the forms, including the one you need, the “Current DSL Tournament Roster”  https://pittdsl.org/forms/  Each coach needs to turn one in for each team. Registration fees for each school should be dropped off at the tent as well prior to your first game unless the school is sending the fees for all teams with one coach.  If that is your preferred drop off method, let us know.

  • Get to the venue early!  Parking will be a challenge at times– there is a very large lot, but we have approximately 3000 people for our event alone and there will be a baseball tournament going on simultaneously.  If parking is not readily available, consider dropping off your player with another adult so they can get to the fields while you continue searching for a spot— we have the tournament teams coming and going all day so spots will open up
  • Get to your fields early!  Your play in games go fast and if you are late you will miss the next game.  There is no time for warm ups on the field once the previous game is over as we need to keep the schedule running on time since we are on the fields all day.  Coaches should be organized and have a plan for the day and execute on it.
  • Bring both dark and light jerseys and/or a set of pinnies for your team in case they are needed.  
  • Hopefully the rain misses us, but be prepared for it in case it hits–  the fields are turf so we won't get rained out, but an extra set of dry socks is never a bad idea. 
  • Please be respectful of the other coaches, players, referees and tournament volunteers.  If there are any issues come see me at the tournament tent and we will do our best to resolve them.
  • If your team has a chance of advancing out of the play-in rounds, keep a parent or coach near the tent after your last play-in game .  We will announce who advances at the tent and if someone is nearby that makes it easier for you and us.

That's it for me, if you have any questions reach out to me today or tomorrow or Saturday at the Event Tent.  Note that I will not be in a position to respond to emails/texts/phone calls on Friday as that day is generally consumed with tournament set up, so ask me any questions prior to then or on Saturday.

by Bob Mueser

DSL Week 8 Email

Good morning everyone:  

Just a couple items as we head into our final week of regular season play for the JV/V teams and our post season play for the Developmental teams:
Developmental – This past weekend capped off our regular season play.  I hope you have had a great season with your players and hopefully we will see you all back in the spring.  Before the spring though, we will end the season with the Developmental and All Girls JV/V Tournament this Saturday at No Offseason.  I won't be redundant and relist all the information previously sent (see last Friday's email for those details), but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to me, preferably prior to Friday as I may not be able to respond on Friday with all of the pre-tournament punch list tasks that day are fairly consuming.
JV/Varsity – This is the last week of regular season play.  Please make sure all game cards from this past week are uploaded and check the site to make sure your standings are correct.  This week you must upload your game card immediately after the game so we can keep standings current.  Any game cards not uploaded by end of day Sunday (10/29) will not count for standings.  Playoff determinations, seedings and game times will be determined based upon what has been received.  If you have any issues, give me a call/text/email.
Based on the information that we have received so far I can tell you the following information, all of which is subject to change.
JV MLS (7v7) – Absent any unanticipated forfeits, the playoff teams appear to be locked in and this week's games will determine final seeding. The following teams should advance to playoffs – St. James, Aquinas, Holy Sepulcher, Blessed Seelos and Sacred Heart.  We currently expect to have the 4 and 5 seed play at 5pm on either Wednesday or Thursday (11/1 & 11/2) at a TBD location, our Semifinals Saturday (11/4) early morning at Seton LaSalle, and our championship game Sunday (11/5) early afternoon at Seton LaSalle. If field space opens up at Seton LaSalle we will move the 4v5 seed game to Thursday (11/2).  Also, if we don't move to Seton Lasalle on Thursday and if we get rained out on Wednesday/Thursday for the 4v5 seed game, our plan B is to play the 4v5 seed game Saturday early morning at Seton LaSalle and then our Semifinals again that same morning.
Varsity MLS (7v7) – Absent any unanticipated forfeits, the playoff teams appear to be almost locked in and this week's games will determine final seeding. The following teams should advance to playoffs – Archangel Gabriel, Blessed Seelos, Sacred Heart and St. James and Sts. Peter and Paul.  We currently expect to have the 4 and 5 seed play at 5pm on either Wednesday or Thursday (11/1 & 11/2) at a TBD location, our Semifinals Saturday (11/4) late morning/early afternoon at Seton LaSalle, and our championship game Sunday (11/5) early afternoon at Seton LaSalle. If field space opens up at Seton LaSalle we will move the 4v5 seed game to Thursday (11/2).  Also, if we don't move to Seton Lasalle on Thursday and if we get rained out on Wednesday/Thursday for the 4v5 seed game, our plan B is to play the 4v5 seed game Saturday early morning at Seton LaSalle and then our Semifinals again that same morning.
JV Premier (11v11) – Absent any unanticipated forfeits, the playoff teams appear to be almost locked in and this week's games will determine the last playoff spot and final seeding. The following teams should advance to playoffs – St. Kilian White, Aquinas, St. Kilian Green, St. Louise and Archangel Gabriel.  Guardian Angel Black and Eden Christian are fighting for the last playoff spot.  We currently expect to have the 6v3 seed game and the 5v4 seed game play at 5pm and 6:15pm on Friday (11/3) at Riverview Turf Park, our Semifinals Saturday (11/4) early to mid-afternoon at Seton LaSalle, and our championship game Sunday (11/5) mid-afternoon at Seton LaSalle. Saturday's time ranges are subject to being pushed back a bit if we have rain delays earlier in the week that necessitate moving one or two 4v5 games at the 7v7 league to early Saturday morning.
Varsity Premier (11v11) – Absent any unanticipated forfeits, the playoff teams appear to be almost locked in and this week's games will determine the last playoff spot and final seeding. The following teams should advance to playoffs – St. Kilian Green, Aquinas, Sacred Heart and Guardian Angel.  St. Louise and St. Kilian White are fighting for the last playoff spot.  We currently expect to have the 5v4 seed game play at 7:30pm on Friday (11/3) at Riverview Turf Park, our Semifinals Saturday (11/4) late afternoon at Seton LaSalle, and our championship game Sunday (11/5) late afternoon at Seton LaSalle. Saturday's time ranges are subject to being pushed back a bit if we have rain delays earlier in the week that necessitate moving one or two 4v5 games at the 7v7 league to early Saturday morning.

More details will come late Sunday or early Monday.  I wanted to get this on all of your radars now.  If your team does qualify, remember the following details as well

by Bob Mueser

DSL Tournament Email– including Schedule, Rules and Roster Form

All:

Next Saturday, October 28, 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 (converted to pdf format).  The Games, Bracket and Points, Game Times Sorted by School, and 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.  We will not be on the Soccer Fields (as we have been the last couple of times), instead we will be on the turf baseball fields which are the next set of fields beyond the soccer fields.  Look for the DSL Tent and new field flags to guide the way.


2. Schedule (included in pdf).  All teams are expected to know their schedule, arrive at the games at least 5 minutes prior to the start of your game (unless you have back to back games, then come immediately following your previous game), and stick close to the event tent after the end of your bracket's play in games if you are close to making the semi finals/finals.   The day moves very, very fast, there is no time to warm up prior to the games so come to the field ready to play.  We have 137 games to get in in one day, things will move fast and if you are not ready to go, we can't wait

by Bob Mueser

Wek 7 DSL Email

All, 

Just a few things as we head into this weeks for soccer:
1. Developmental level notes- this is the last week of the regular season and our tournament will take place the following Saturday.  Offsides will be called at the tournament for all levels, including 1/2 grade.  Offside calls at the 1/2 level will generally be limited to obvious examples/cherry picking.  I know that many of those young players won't have much exposure to the rule, do your best to introduce them to the concept and consider playing this weekend's matches with that in effect at those younger levels.  For those that are interested, here is a short video that might help the players understand it a bit better.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjnrfRJ6yv0
2. Varsity/JV level notes – we have two weeks left in the regular season so please make sure that you are (1) actively working to get your reschedules made and (2) directly after your match make sure that the winner is uploading your game card/results so that they can count for standings.  When the regular season closes we have to make playoff determinations quickly so unloaded results wont' count.  I am currently missing the following game card results from this past weekend that should be uploaded ASAP:

  • JV MLS 
    • SPP v SJ
  • JV Premier
    • ECA v SHC

Also, it may make sense to double check your team's standings to make sure that everything has been recorded properly.  After playoff determinations have been made it will be too late to correct any errors.

by Bob Mueser

DSL – Final Tournament Registrations Numbers.

All:

Here is what I have for the final registration numbers for the Developmental and All Girls Tournament that is taking place at No Off Season in Russelton on Oct. 28.  Coordinators – please verify your team count and let know of any corrections on or before 12pm today (Saturday Oct 14th).  I will start the process of scheduling after that and it will likely be too late to make changes after that.  Once i am able I will circulate schedules to you all, which will, with any luck, be out on or before Sunday, Oct. 22.
SCHOOL NAME 1st   1st/2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd/4th 4th JV Girls Varsity Girls
Aquinas Academy 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 1
Archangel Gabriel  1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
Ave Maria Academy 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1
Blessed Seelos 3 0 2 1 2 0 0 0
Blessed Trinity Academy 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Butler Catholic 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Carlow – – – – – – – –
Christ the Divine Teacher  – – – – – – – –
Divine Mercy Academy  – – – – – – – –
Eden Christian Academy – – – – – – – –
Guardian Angel Academy 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1
Holy Cross Academy 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Holy Family 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Holy Sepulcher 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Mary of Nazareth  0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
Mother of Mercy Academy – – – – – – – –
Northside Catholic Assumption – – – – – – – –
Our Lady of Fatima 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
Providence Heights Alpha 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Sacred Heart 3 0 1 2 0 2 1 0
St. Bede 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 1
St. James 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
St. Kilian 3 0 3 3 0 1 0 1
St. Louise de Marillac – – – – 2 – – –
St. Monica – – – – – – – –
Sts. Peter and Paul  0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
Southhills Catholic Academy 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0


by Bob Mueser

DSL – Weekly email

All:

Just a few things as we head into the week:
1. DSL Tournament Registration.  Friday is the last day to register teams for the Oct. 28 DSL Tournament for grades 1-4 and the girls JV/V games (Co-ed JV/V playoffs will be the following week and participation for the JV/V Co-ed Playoffs is determined by league standings).  As of now it looks like I will have enough teams to make the following brackets work for the tournament, I will let you know if something changes:  1st, 2nd, 1st/2nd, 3rd, 4th, 3rd/4th, JV Girls, Varsity Girls.
Also, note that the 1st and 2nd grade brackets are almost full so if you haven't registered a team there yet but are planning on doing so, I'd recommend reaching out sooner rather than later.
2. Score Control – I was disappointed to see some instances of poor sportsmanship this past weekend, right on the cusp of a reminder email about keeping game scores in check.  In the JV bracket we had one team rack up a goal differential of 13 on another team.  Our rules are very clear that this is not permitted.  We recommend that teams keep game scores within 4 to 5 goals  In JV/V there is no competitive advangtage to scoring more than a plus 4
by Bob Mueser

DSL Weekly email

All:

Looking ahead just a few things to discuss:
  • 1. Regular Season Game Performance – Coaches – please remember to exercise good sportsmanship.  This consists of things like:
    • Communicating in advance of game day with the opposing team
    • Not running up the score.  Sometimes, especially at the younger ages, this can be a challenge if you have a talented team and you are playing a team without substantially less skill.  Let me know if you need any tips on game control.  At a minimum have a discussion with the opposing coach when a mismatch is in the making.  They will appreciate the effort.
    • Remind fans to be only positively cheering.  They should not be making disparaging remarks to the other team or referee, about the other team or referee.  Also, parents need to stay away from the coach/player side of the field at all times
    • Coaches, same thing