Author: Bob Mueser

by Bob Mueser

DSL – Final Schdules and Contact Lists as well as other Week 1 items

All:

 

A couple of things as we head into week 1:

 

1. Final Schedules and Contact Lists.  Attached is what I believe to be the final schedule  (in PDF and Excel format) and coach contacts list (in Excel format) which reflects a few more additions and revisions that I received.  Please use these attachments going forward.  Game information contained herein can be shared with your team (and if you did not listen to my earlier advice and uploaded/shared this game info with your team prior to me sending the final form, please double check the attached for any changes in game times, dates, etc. from the draft that was previously sent).  Also note, I understand that some of you are already working to reschedule games due to some since learned conflicts.  The attached doesn't supersede what you are working with respect to reschedules, it just reflects what I know as of now.

 

2. Player Rosters. They are due next week before your first game.  Here is a format that can be used, let me know if you have any questions.  They need to be signed by the school's principal as well certifying attendance.

3. Game Cards.  For all JV and Varsity Games, each coach needs to fill out two copies of their game cards and give one copy to the referees and the other to the opposing coach.  Immediately following the game you will need to scan the QR code and upload the results (together with a picture of a complete game card).  The winning team has the responsibility to upload (in the event of a tie, the home team does).  If you do not take a picture of both game cards, in their entirety, we will reject the upload (I specifically need to see the game score, the signoff of the ref, and whether or not any cards were issued and to whom).  Failure to upload a complete picture will result in the score not counting.  Failure to upload at all will result in the score not counting.  Please upload immediately after the game so you don't forget, or even worse, misplace the game card.  

4. DSL Spring Tournament – Registration for the Spring 24 Developmental (Grades 1-4) and all Girls (JV/V) Tournament will open Monday, March 18th.  I am asking each soccer coordinator to let me know how many teams and at what bracket that they are registering.   This Spring's Tournament will be Saturday May 18th at No Off Season Sports in Russellton.   Registration will remain open until Tuesday, April 30th and then it will close.  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.  Cost for entry is $125 per team.  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 April 30th, any registrations are considered late and may not be allowed if scheduling is already complete and/or brackets are filled.  Current rules are attached for your reference, please read and understand these to make your tournament experience the best it can possibly be.

 

Thanks and let me know if you have any questions.

 

by Bob Mueser

DSL Spring 24 Soccer Schedules, Coaches’ Contact List and Kickoff Email

by Bob Mueser

DSL – Pre Season Email

All, a few things as we head into March:

1. Registration/Registration Fees. If you have not fully completed and sent them to me already, they are almost a week late.  (fully completed would include all home game days/times and scheduling requests, if any). Please send me both immediately (if you need information as to where to send the registration fees, please let me know that as well).  With respect to the registrations, I cannot complete schedules without them.  The original time frame submitted to the league last November called for registration forms to be delivered no later than February 23 and then schedules were to be distributed the week of March 17.  With registrations still outstanding, we are now looking like schedules won't be able to be distributed until the following week, March 23 which is the first weekend of games.  If I don't get the remaining registration forms immediately, I will be forced to choose between moving on without your teams, or delaying the season by 1 week, which would result in a shortened season for everyone, something that I am not inclined to do.  Please do not make me have to make that decision.  I will create schedules once all information is submitted, but please understand that the process takes time and I will get them to you as soon as we are able.
2. DSG Coupon.  March 8th through the 10th is our Dick's Sporting Goods 20% off sale weekend.  Attached is a link and pdf of the coupon.  Please feel free to use it as needed for almost any items sold at DSG and feel free to share the coupon with your players, your school and anyone else who could use it.  https://cmm.dickssportinggoods.com/crmcdn/getoffer.aspx?offer_entity_code=O241CZ14&token=x-vqa0QuznujnYxcp8mn4DpfoHtofi3j87edttRmqR2mnp1hFEC9GiKHBhi5HaJM1iNWhIlBTJ8dJD-uAKmtZA2 
3. Practices.  Schools are cleared for practice on my end starting as early as March 11th.  That being said,each school determines when they will actually start their practice
by Bob Mueser

DSL Soccer – Registration Reminder

All: a few notices/reminders:

1. As a reminder, this is the last week for spring soccer registration for the DSL is currently open and will close on Friday February 23.  Please send me your team registrations once you have that information available.  Registration fees are also due at the time of registration.  Please let me know if you have any questions on any of that.
2.  If you were interested in the playing on turn option for week 1 please let me know that at the time of registration as well.  You can refer to my earlier email last month for details or reach out with any questions.
3. Summer soccer camps are starting to get put together and from time to time I'll pass along opportunities for your players to get extra touches if you are interested, see the following link for information on some Riverhounds summer camps.
Regards,
Rob

by Bob Mueser

DSL Spring Season Registration and Week 1 Logistics


As a reminder, spring soccer registration for the DSL is currently open and will close, roughly three weeks from now, on Friday February 23.  Please send me your team registrations once you have that information available.  
Also, as many of you have noticed, the Spring Season has some logistical challenges with the placement of Easter, an extended Easter break for many schools, and the Memorial Day holiday.  Couple that with our first week of games being March 23/24, where the weather will be iffy, and we could have a busier than normal couple of months in April and May.  In an effort to alleviate that as much as possible we have a two fold plan
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