As we head into summer and before we get started in earnest on the logistics of the fall 22 season I thought it made sense to both circulate a fall timeline (see attached) and to get some input on this year's season.

It is pretty straightforward and not much has changed from last year.  Let me know if you have any questions and note that DSL Registration opens July 1, closes August 1, and that our kickoff meeting is August 11th at 7:30pm (zoom link to follow closer to the date).

On the plus side for this year, I noted that our league has gained quite a bit in the way of parity amongst the teams in each bracket.  For those that like data, I've attached a few charts that note league wins, goal differential for the each game throughout the season, and goal differential for each game during the playoffs at the JV/Varsity level; and while there are always exceptions here and there, overall the league parity is as close as I can recall it ever being, which goes a long way in keeping the sport exciting for all involved.

On the negative side for this year, I have seen a trend that started in the fall of 2020 where some schools have had issues fielding 11 on the field for games.  At the time, this trend was largely attributed to COVID issues.  This trend was further felt this spring when DSL soccer had to largely compress our season into the month of May due to weather issues, and then it was even more pronounced when the other spring sports had to do the same.  Weather-wise, this spring was definitely an anomaly, but it did get me thinking a bit outside of the box and wonder whether it made sense to restructure our league a bit.  So here is what I am asking for your input on–(1) should we leave the league as is and have all JV/V matches be 11v11, or (2) should we try to create two divisions to our league – one 11v11 and one 7v7?  

There are some details that we'd need to work out before we definitively committed to doing two separate leagues, but I can tell you that if we did this, we'd let schools opt into what league that they prefer and then make our skill level brackets up from there.  11v11 teams would play each other and 7v7 teams would play each other; there would be no crossovers.  Also, due to current scheduling limitations, both your JV and Varsity teams would have to opt into the same league, we can't have one JV team be 11v11 and the corresponding varsity team be 7v7 (or vice versa).  If that scheduling limitation ends up going away, I'll let you know, but for now there is no way around that.  

Finally, I wanted to note that the goal still is and should remain to field 11v11 teams.  The 7v7 option is being considered for school's whose soccer enrollment would make that otherwise impossible and their only recourse is to not roster a team, or continually forfeit games throughout the season. If you attempt to enter two teams in the same age group into 7v7 that will not be permitted. Instead we'd reserve the discretion to either bump you up to 11v11 or eliminate one of the 7v7 squads.  I don't want to encourage teams to forum shop brackets in the 7v7 league to seemingly increase their odds of winning a trophy, this is an option only to be used when enrollment dictates it and I'd ask you to utilize it only for that purpose.

I'm curious as to your thoughts on this and am soliciting your opinions in the attached survey link.  I can tell you on the plus side I think it might allow more schools to compete and get more players on the field, which is always one of our top priorities.  On the down side I foresee more administrative work making this all work (not ideal, but doable), some opportunities for schools to manipulate numbers to try to get into lower brackets (which we hope won't happen but we will try to build in some safeguards to prevent), and the other big negative I foresee is the potential backwards step in league parity– doing two leagues will result in fewer teams in each league so when I make the competitive brackets there could be less competitive matchups than what we might otherwise have seen.  That is speculative though.  

The other item that came up towards the end of our season was tie breaker rules.  At the JV/V level section standings and playoff qualifications are determined by standing points (3 for win, 1 for a tie, and 0 for a loss, -2 for a forfeit loss, 2 for a forfeit win and 0 for an unplayed game).  At the end of the season those numbers are calculated.  In the event of a tie we then go to our tiebreakers.  The tiebreaker rules are in our rules posted online, but the first tie breaker is goal differential amongst the two tied teams in their head to head matchup(s) (capped at 4 per game) and the second one is overall goal differential for each team for their entire season (again capped at 4 per game).  Because our league has become more competitive, these tie breaker rules have become more utilized recently.  Also, our webpage does a great job at keeping everyone up to date on the game results, but the coding logic is unable to process our first tie breaker (head to head goal differential in those one or two matchups) and despite disclaimers/warnings on this discrepancy to the league, I am aware of one incident where a team didn't understand the tie breaker rules and it caused some confusion on their end.  

With that background I wanted to take the league pulse on this point and see if there was significant support to revisit our tie breaker rules.  Reasonable people can disagree on this and let's face it, any time you are looking at tiebreakers, someone is going to get the short end of the stick.  I can tell you that the rationale for using head to head performance first is that oftentimes schools schedules aren't the same and if Team A and Team B are tied and Team A played Team C twice and Team B only played Team C once and Team C happened to be the worst team that season, Team A has an advantage that wasn't foreseen at the time schedules were made.  By using the head to head tiebreaker though you focus on those two teams' performance against one another.  The down side though is that rather than focus on a season's worth of performance to break the tie, you are focussing on just one or two games.  I don't think any answer is wrong, but for what it's worth, I do think that our current method is the most correct.  I'd be curious as to your opinions though so please let me know in the below survey link:

That is all I have for now.  In the off time before Fall registration opens up on July 1 though, feel free to read through our rules and let me know if anything else strikes you as needing revisited.  If it's as simple as a clean up or typo we can correct that easily.  If it's more substantive than that though we can discuss.  Otherwise I look forward to working with you all again soon and enjoy your summer.

Rob Glentzer

DSL Commissioner

Yesterday we just capped off our last Spring Soccer event of the year, the Spring 2022 JV/Varsity Championship Series.  Over the weekend we had 27 different teams play 19 different games to get down to 8 Champions (2 age groups, and 4 skill brackets).  It was some of the more competitive soccer I witnessed in my two years running the league.  Those 19 games had an average goal differential of 1.8 games per game and we had 4 matches decided in overtime.  The 8 championship matches were even more competitive than that, with an average goal differential of 1.4 and no match having a goal differential over 2.  Congrats to all the teams that participated and I do want to recognize our champions and runners ups:

Two things:

First, I have a correction and apology to make regarding the developmental tournament announcements. St Bede First Grade Team was the second place finisher.  I had initially reported them as only making it to the semifinals.  Congrats St. Bede.

Second, as we head into our last weekend of play at the JV/V level, I would remind all teams to upload the gamecards immediately after their game.  There are some very close brackets that may come down to tie breakers and the sooner we have the scores from these games, the sooner we can make playoff determinations and announce pairings, dates and times for specific games.  Absent an exemption granted by me, games not played by Sunday will not count for standings, so please contact me immediately if you foresee any issues.  

I would again ask each coach to review the webpage standings and confirm that they are accurate.  https://pittdsl.org/standings/  To our knowledge these standings are accurate (absent possible tie breaker situations as the web page formula isn't aligned with our tie breaker formula (human logic and computer logic are not always simpatico, so I have to sharpen the pencil and crunch numbers when we get into the realm of tiebreakers).  

Also note that this is the second request asking teams to review standings.  If you fail to review the standings and do not bring any issues to our attention by Sunday, the ability for us to make any necessary corrections will have expired as more than likely schedules and pairings will have been released.  And while I will feel bad that due to an error your team was left out, I will remind you of this email and the one before where I asked you to verify standings and explain that had you reviewed and brought it to our attention earlier we could have corrected it, but that the period for corrections has expired.  

Don't put yourself, your team or me in that position, please review.  Remember we are volunteers with day jobs and teams of our own.  And while we have reviewed the standings and believe them to be correct, it is not too much to ask that each of you confirm your team's standings as a final quality control check.  

That's it, good luck to the teams that are playing this weekend and everyone else have a great memorial day weekend.

Rob

Just a couple of things as we finished up our developmental spring season and head into the last week of our regular season for JV/Varsity.  With respect to the developmental season we will recognize our tournament champions and with respect to the JV/Varsity season we need to talk about unplayed games and leading into the playoffs.

It was a brutally hot day yesterday but I enjoyed seeing everyone out there playing such competitive soccer.  Thanks for taking some time out of your weekend and joining us.  I want to especially thank everyone from St. Kilian that helped set up the fields the night before and helped make sure things ran smoothly the day of.

I don't get to watch nearly as much soccer as I would like to during these tournaments, but I saw a lot of great play across the board and a lot of really talented teams that didn't manage to qualify for the semi finals or finals in their brackets.  I wanted to give a shout out though to all of those teams that played before recognizing the ones that brought home hardware.

First Grade – St. Kilian White – Champions, Sacred Heart Red – Runner Up and St. Bede and Sacred Heart Black qualified for the semi finals.

Second Grade – Sacred Heart Red – Champions, St. Kilian Black – Runner Up and St. Kilian Green and Blessed Seelos qualified for the semi finals.

First/Second Grade Combined – Guardian Angel – Champions, Our Lady of Fatima – Runner Up and St. James and Alpha Yellow qualified for the semi finals.

Third Grade – St. Kilian Green – Champions, Aquinas Gray- Runner Up and Aquinas Navy and St. Bede qualified for the semi finals.

Fourth Grade – St. Kilian Green – Champions and Sacred Heart Black – Runner Up

Third/Fourth Grade  – Guardian Angel – Champions, St. James – Runner Up and Mary of Nazareth and Holy Cross qualified for the semi finals

JV Girls – Aquinas – Champions and St. Kilian – Runner Up

Varsity Girls – Aquinas – Champions and Holy Cross – Runner Up

Congrats to all of the above teams and congrats to everyone who was able to participate yesterday.  I'm already looking forward to next Fall.

The regular season is just about wrapped up, this is our last week to get in any regular season games and then we move into the Championship Series.  The format and rules will be very similar to what they have been in the past.  Below is a brief summary, but I will give more details out as we get closer.

If your bracket has 6 teams in it, the top 4 advance to the playoffs and every team plays in a semi final game with the winners advancing to the championship round.

If your bracket has 5 teams in it, the top 3 advance.  The 1 seed gets a bye into the championship game and the 2 and 3 seed participate in a play-in game.

The days of the tournament will be Friday June 4 through Sunday June 6.  We will be playing at Seton LaSalle High School on Friday and Saturday and at LaRoche College on Sunday.  Once the tournament schedule is posted, it is final, if your team is unable to participate because of conflicts then the next highest seeded team step up and the bracket would be rebalanced.  To the extent that you are aware of any school or diocese conflict that impacts your ability to field a team in the tournament you should let me know ASAP.  I cannot guarantee I can make accommodations for everyone, but I can tell you that I always try and that I do give priority to accommodating diocese/school conflicts in the order that the requests are received.

Before we can figure out the logistics of post season play, we have to determine who qualifies, and in order to figure that out, we have to talk about unplayed games.  I want to first thank all of the coaches, coordinators and referees for all of their efforts this season.  This weather was beyond frustrating and I have personally witnessed how hard you all have worked to try to get reschedules in.  We are at that point in the season though where I can see that the amount of games yet to be played very likely exceeds our time frame to get them all in.  I am going to ask two things from the JV/Varsity coaches and coordinator:  

1)  Take a look at our webpage (pittdsl.org) and make sure that things look accurate for your team and that you aren't missing any game results.  If there is an error this is the time to catch it.  If it isn't caught before playoff pairings are announced, it may be too late.  Any questions, let me know

2) At the end of this email I will include a list of all games that I still have as unplayed (or at least not uploaded to our website– also, this list does not include games that I know were scheduled for this week when my schedule was initially distributed, or ones for which I understand score cards are being uploaded tomorrow.)  If your team is listed below as having an unplayed game, let me know whether (i) it has been played, but you just need to upload a score card, (ii) if it has been rescheduled and for when, (iii) if you are still working on a reschedule (and if you want my assistance on that), or (iv) if it is a forfeit and who forfeits (if its the other school that is forfeiting, please include them on the email).  This will allow us to get a better picture of what is going on and it will also allow us to announce the postseason much more quickly.  

All Game Cards should be uploaded the day that the game is played this week and if you play on Sunday, that game card needs to be uploaded by 9pm on Sunday in order to count for league standings.  All games for which game cards have not been received and which have not been clearly designated as forfeits by either me or the coaches, will be scored as not played, which results in both teams getting zero standing points for that match.  Standing points will not be prorated so if you have only got 6 games in your team will be at a disadvantage when compared to those that have gotten all 8 in.

My list of potentially outstanding games is as follows (and the teams are listed in no particular order so don't assume that the home team is the first one listed). Apologies if some of this has already been relayed to us, but with as kinetic as this schedule has been this season, I'd rather get it twice than miss it entirely.  Also, if I've missed an open game, let me know that too:

CDTA v HS

HS v CDTA

HS v OLF

CDTA v HS

HS v CDTA

MNZ v SH

MNZ v SH

BTA v MOM

BTA v AMA

AMA v BTA

BTA v GAA

BTA v AMA

AMA v BTA

AGS v SB

BFS v SB

PHA v AA

Just a quick reminder on the Tournament this Saturday.  The address of our venue is 904 Little Deer Creek Valley Road, Russelton, PA

Please arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled game and please be at your field 15 minutes prior to your scheduled game time (unless you are playing in a game immediately prior to then, in that instance, leave the field as soon as you can to get to your next game… if for some reason your game is running long and you will not be at the next game on time, send a parent or assistant coach to the DSL Tent so we can manage the situation).  When you check in you will need your team roster and your registration fee.  If you are late we will not wait, we don't have any wiggle room in our schedule and failure to be at the field ready to play will result in a forfeit for that match.  Coaches, there will be field marshalls at each field checking you in prior to the start of the game.  Pay attention when they ask what team you are, we have had people go to the wrong fields in the past and it causes a lot of complications.

Weatherwise we have good and not so good news.  The good news is the weather won't be like it was this evening, the bad news is that in addition to it being remarkably drier, it will also be remarkably warmer.  With temperatures approaching 90 degrees I did want to remind everyone that our facility has concessions, but we are not able to have tents and they do not allow any large coolers.  You can bring coolers as large as six pack coolers and you can bring multiple ones if needed.  There will also be restrooms/water fountains to fill up your water bottles.  We have tried to keep the games for a given age bracket in blocks so that should help as well, but if players are too warm, don't hesitate to retreat to your vehicles and turn on the air conditioning.

Results will be posted at the DSL tent (in the middle of the 1st, 2nd and 1st/2nd grade fields) and there will also be a QR code that will allow you to check the results online.

Also, please remember that while the tournament is competitive, we are still a developmental league and we still adhere to our league rules regarding sportsmanship with the scores.  After your team hits a 4 goal differential, nothing beyond that is counted for the purposes of tie breakers.   In fact, as a coach, my goal is to try to get up by 4 and then switch to heavy defensive play because after the goal differential (max 4 goals), the next tie breaker is goals allowed.  We encourage coaches to focus on other aspects of their game other than scoring if they are dominating the game.  If the goal differential exceeds 8 goals (which is a very lenient benchmark), we reserve the right to set aside that game result.  Given that the majority of these games are 20 minutes in length, this should not be a hard ask.  But for those that do somehow manage to exceed that goal differential, there will be a conversation with the coaches involved and absent something unforeseen, the team that would have otherwise prevailed will not get credit for a win.  Feel free to contact me with any questions, but this is something that can be easily controlled and shouldn't be an issue.

I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday and I look forward to a great ending of our developmental season.

Regards,

Rob Glentzer

DSL Commissioner

This next Saturday, May 21, 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 Venue Tabs will be most helpful to you, but feel free to review them all.  Note that in the VEnue Layout tab this spreadsheet is not to scale for any of the fields, and that the fields for JV/V girls tournament will be larger than what they appear on the layout (we will be combining fields), but the general location will be accurate.

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.  I almost had to disqualify one team last year for failure to read and follow the rules and the venue could ask you to leave if you do not follow their rules (such as no dogs, etc.).  Take a couple of minutes to familiarize yourselves with them, it will make Saturday go much more smoothly for all of us.

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.  

Remember to check in 30 minutes prior to the start of your first game to allow you time to get to the venue, park, and start organizing your team.  

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.

Finally, please note that due to size constraints that there will not be any school tents permitted this year so prepare accordingly.  We also are not permitting any food on the fields due to last season's issues with garbage and food being left on the field.  Concessions will be provided and there are areas that you can eat, just not on the fields.  Those that do not follow these rules will be asked to leave.  I would not want to choose to ask a parent to leave and not watch their kids play, but the alternative is that we lose these fields and we may not be able to have a tournament next season, so please be a considerate guest and do not eat on the fields.

That's it, let me know if you have any questions and I'm looking forward to a great event.

Rob Glentzer

Just a couple of things as we enter into our last few weeks of the season.

• To say that this season's weather has been a challenge is a bit of an understatement.  I know that you are all doing your best to get games in, but we currently sit at around 25 games that haven't been rescheduled and our regular season is over Sunday May 29.  Games not played by May 29 will not count for standings and standings will not be prorated, so unplayed games will put your team at a competitive disadvantage when deciding who makes the playoffs.  Given that the weekend of May 29 is also memorial day you may have further complications in trying to reschedule matches.  At this point I would encourage all teams that have games to reschedule to use weekdays if necessary.  Also, if you don't have enough to field a squad, check with the other team as well, both teams can agree to play 10v10, 9v9, 8v8 or even 7v7 if you need to do that to get the game in.  

2. DSL Developmental and All Girls JV/Varsity Tournament 

• Coaches List – I have attached a pdf of the registered teams.  I included coaches names based largely off of the coaches who are coaching during the regular season.  AD's, Coordinators, and Coaches, please take a look and let me know who should be coaching in for the teams that don't have coaches listed yet and if any changes need to be made since my assumption that regular season coaches may be incorrect or I might have selected the wrong coaches.  That attached pdf is sorted by school alphabetically, so it should be fairly easy to review and get me comments.  Please provide me with any changes to this list by the end of day, Wednesday, May 11.
• Schedule – I am working on the schedule now and it will take some time to complete.  Generally speaking (and subject to change), first grade and third grade will start the day at 8am,1/2 and 3/4 will follow, second and fourth grade would be next and then the JV/Varsity Girls go last.  Once I have specifics I will share them but that likely won't be until Wednesday the week of the Tournament.
• Check ins – Each team should check in at the Diocese tent 30 minutes prior to the start of your first game so that I can verify that you are here and ready to play.  Each team should have their roster and fee with them at check in, or, if your school is sending payment/roster with one team, it should be the first team playing that day.  Each team should be at their field 10 minutes before the start of your game (unless you are playing back to back, in which case you should come immediately to your next game).  We will be running early at times.  We do not have time to wait for teams that are late so if you are not at the field early for your match you may end up forfeiting your match.
• Fees and Tournament Rosters – As a reminder, they are $100 per team, payable in cash the day of the tournament.  Please do not come with a check in hand that day as I won't have time to cash it that day and the fees are used to pay the costs of the tournament incurred that day such as refs, field fees, etc.  Tournament Rosters are also due that day, before your first game.
• Rule Correction – in the guidance I previously circulated I mistakenly said that 3rd and 4th grade will play with a size 3 ball– they will play with a size 4 ball.

Rob Glentzer

Today is the last chance to register for the DSL Developmental and All Girls JV/Varsity Tournament.  Below is what I have each school as having registered.  If this is not accurate please let me know by end of day Saturday as I will start scheduling with the information set forth below.

SCHOOL NAME	1st	1st/2nd	2nd	3rd	3rd/4th	4th	Girls JV	Girls V	Spring 22 #’s
Aquinas Academy	1	0	1	2	0	1	1	1	7
Archangel Gabriel	2	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	6
Ave Maria Academy	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
BFSA	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	6
Blessed Trinity Academy	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
Butler Catholic	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
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
Guardian Angel Academy	0	1	0	0	3	0	1	1	6
Holy Cross Academy	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3
Holy Sepulcher	1	0	1	0	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	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3
Providence Heights Alpha	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3
Sacred Heart	2	0	2	2	0	2	1	0	9
St. Bede	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3
St. James	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
St. Kilian	4	0	4	2	0	2	1	1	14
St. Louise de Marillac	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
St. Monica	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sts. Peter and Paul	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Southhills Catholic Academy	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
PHA/OLF	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
totals	16	9	10	10	12	7	6	5	75

Regards,

Rob Glentzer

As a reminder, this Friday, May 6 is the deadline to register for the Developmental Tournament  and All Girls JV/Varsity Tournament.  At this time, the first grade bracket is full and we are only accepting standy registrations.  All other age groups have availability.  Additionally I need two more Girls JV teams and two more Girls Varsity teams to register in order to have that tournament.  The all girls Tournament is a 5v5 game and plays short 20 minute games (finals consist of two 15 minute halves) so even a team of 5 girls would work.  If you have any interest in either the JV or Varsity girls tournament please let me know.

Finally, below is what schools we have registered and for what teams.  I have not had any registrations for the following active schools so if you were planning on registering please let me know:  Ave Maria (only one first grade team registered to date), Carlow, Christ the Divine Teacher, Divine Mercy, Guardian Angel, Mother of Mercy, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Monica, and Sts. Peter and Paul.  If I missed a registration that you believe that you sent and it is not reflected below, please resend immediately.

Regards,

Rob Glentzer

SCHOOL NAME	1st	1st/2nd	2nd	3rd	3rd/4th	4th	Girls JV	Girls V	Total
Aquinas Academy	1	0	1	2	0	1	1	1	7
Archangel Gabriel	2	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	6
Ave Maria Academy	1								1
BFSA	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	6
Blessed Trinity Academy
Butler Catholic	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Carlow
Christ the Divine Teacher
Divine Mercy Academy
Guardian Angel Academy
Holy Cross Academy	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	3
Holy Sepulcher	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	3
Mary of Nazareth	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
Mother of Mercy Academy
Northside Catholic Assumption
Our Lady of Fatima
Providence Heights Alpha	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3
Sacred Heart	2	0	2	2	0	2	1	0	9
St. Bede	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	3
St. James	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2
St. Kilian	4	0	4	2	0	2	0	0	12
St. Louise de Marillac
St. Monica
Sts. Peter and Paul
Southhills Catholic Academy	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
totals	16	5	12	9	6	7	2	2	59

If you wanted to order wristbands in honor of Samanth Persuitte, Monday is the last day.  See below for details.