by Bob Mueser

Fwd: Final Fall Schedule- Fall 23.xls

All:

 

Thank you for your schedule corrections, attached please find a final schedule for the Fall 23 season that you can share with your parents and players.  From this point forward, any schedule changes must be coordinated amongst the two teams playing and must follow the following procedure:

 

If a venue change occurs then you must notify the away coach and let me know.  For games that involve our PIAA referees our referee coordinator must be made aware of the change as well so that he can verify referee coverage.

 

If the change involves a date or time change then the following procedure must be followed:

 

JV/Varsity matches – Coaches need to agree on a mutual date and time for a reschedule, home and away status should not change, unless the home team is unable to find a date that works for them and they agree to play away.  Once that date/time/venue is agreed upon an email needs to be sent to me at [email protected] and to Chuck Pruss at [email protected] and Chuck and I need to sign off on the changes

 

Developmental matches – Coaches need to agree on a mutual date and time for a reschedule, home and away status should not change, unless the home team is unable to find a date that works for them and they agree to play away.  Once that date/time/venue is agreed upon an email needs to be sent to me at [email protected] If our referee coordinator is providing refs to the game then to Chuck Pruss at [email protected] so he can verify referee coverage. 

 

All changes should be made with a minimum of three hours’ notice and much more whenever possible.  Changes that involve our PIAA referees (all JV/V games and certain developmental games) should be made with 48 hours’ notice.  If less than 48 hours’ notice is provided then Chuck should be called on his cell phone as well.  Failure to follow those procedures may result in game forfeitures and/or the need to pay referees for their time even if no game has been played.  If all of these methods fail, don’t hesitate to call me personally. 

 

I am working on coach contact tabs next and will have those out well before the start of the season. That document will have all coach emails and phone numbers as well as my and the referee coordinator’s email and phone numbers. 

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

Regards,

Rob
by Bob Mueser

DSL – League Schedules

Good evening, I know that the league timeline notes that game schedules will be delivered on August 28.  We had a little luck this season and are in a position to send them out earlier than expected.  To that end, please find the schedules for our league (first grade through Varsity) in the attached spreadsheet.  

For those that have coached before in the league, the format should be familiar.  There is a tab for each of the following brackets:
  • first grade
  • second grade
  • first/second grade
  • third grade
  • fourth grade
  • third/fourth grade
  • 7v7 (also noted as MLS)
  • 11v11 (also noted as Premier League)
Home teams are listed first and are in blue, away teams are listed second and are in yellow (and in one case, green).  Home game days, times and locations are listed for each school and if you are the away team refer to the hosting teams information rows for those details
I do note that some of this information is in flux and hosting teams may reach out to visiting teams to update details.  Also, home teams must remember to include me on emails that update game information, and with respect to JV/Varsity matches and developmental matches that PIAA refs are utilized, they must include our referee coordinator, Chuck Pruss, who is cc'd here.  Home Teams, please communicate issues as they are discovered with ample time and consideration provided to all involved.  Away teams please be understanding and as flexible as you can when home teams reach out
by Bob Mueser

DSL League Meeting

Good Evening:

I have attached a draft closing agenda for Thursday's 7:30pm league meeting. It is not necessary for everyone to join on the call, but all are welcome, and it is highly recommended that each school has a representative on the call.  I'm always happy to answer questions throughout the season, but attendance at this meeting will probably proactively answer the majority of questions that arise throughout the season.
Below is a zoom meeting link, I'll endeavor to make things go quickly and there will be time at the end of the meeting to ask any other questions that you may have.
Also, as a reminder, League registration fees were due on August 1.  If you have not sent yours in yet, please do so immediately.  
Regards, 
Rob Glentzer

by Bob Mueser

DSL – Game Time/Day/Registration information needed.

All:
Thank you for your registration forms received to date.  In order to keep us on track for schedule distribution I need anyone who has not sent in a registration form to do so by end of day Friday, August 4.  At this time I need the game day/times completed for all times as well as any scheduling requests (filed location and coaches names and contact info can follow in a week or two if needed).  If that information is still in flux, give me your best guess.  If I do not receive this info by end of day Friday I will assume that your most recent previous season information continues to be accurate and that you have no scheduling requests and it will be up to you to reach out individually to schools to reschedule as needed .  Thanks for your understanding and all of your efforts to date.  I will start the laboring process of scheduling this weekend based on the information provided.
Rob Glentzer

by Bob Mueser

Fall 2023 DSL Registration is closed

Good morning, a couple quick items for you today.

First, after receiving feedback from the league we are making a slight adjustment to roster size for 7v7 teams and increasing max roster size from 14 to 15.  
Second, registration is closed and I can confirm receiving team registrations from the following schools.  If your school is not on the list below, but you'd like to play soccer this fall, please contact me prior to 5pm today before we lock things in.  The registered schools are as follows:

Aquinas Academy

Archangel Gabriel

Ave Maria Academy

Blessed Seelos

Blessed Trinity Academy

Butler Catholic

Divine Mercy Academy

Eden Christian Academy

Guardian Angel Academy

Holy Cross Academy

Holy Family

Holy Sepulcher

Mary of Nazareth

Our Lady of Fatima

Providence Heights Alpha

Sacred Heart

St. Bede

St. James

St. Kilian

St. Louise de Marillac

South Hills Catholic Academy

Regards,
Rob Glentzer

by Bob Mueser

Last Day to Register for Fall Diocese Soccer Season

All:

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday August 1, is the last day for schools to register teams for the Fall 23 Soccer Season.  To date I have registrations from the following schools:
Aquinas 
Ave Maria
Divine Mercy
Eden Christian
Holy Cross
Holy Family
Providence Heights Alpha
Sacred Heart
St. James
St. Louise

Let me know if you have any questions or if you thought you sent your registration but you are not listed above.

by Bob Mueser

DSL – End of season email and looking ahead to Fall 23′ season

All:

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

Fall 2023- DSL Timeline

 

July 1st

Registration is open

 

August 1st   

School Registrations to the DSL are due

 

August 1st  

DSL fees are due, the check can be made out to the Pittsburgh Diocese 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)

 

August 10th

DSL Kickoff meeting – 7:30pm (link to follow closer to the date)

August 14th

Practices can start on or after this date

 

August 28th

Schedules to be distributed

 

August 31st   

Rosters are due 

 

August 31st – September 3rd  

First week of games (note this is Labor Day Weekend; if you are unable to play this weekend, clearly indicate that conflict in your registration)

 

September 14th through October 13th

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

 

October 28th   

Tentative date for Developmental Tournament

 

October 29th  

Last day to complete JV/Varsity games for playoff determinations

 

October 30th – November 5th

Tentative date for JV/Varsity Championship Series

 
Before signing off, I wanted to recognize all of the teams that participated this Spring– we had a great turnout and I hope you all had a great season.  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- St. Kilian played Archangel Gabriel in the Championship Game and won
  • Varsity Bundesliga League  – Christ the Divine Teacher played Mary of Nazareth in the Championship Game and won
  • Varsity MLS League – Sts. Peter and Paul played South Hills Catholic in the Championship Game and won
  • Varsity 7v7 League  – Blessed Seelos played Divine Mercy in the Championship Game and won
  • JV Premier League – St. Kilian played Guardian Angel in the Championship Game and won
  • JV Bundesliga League – St. Kilian played Holy Cross in the Championship Game and won
  • JV MLS League – Aquinas played St. Bede in the Championship Game and won
  • JV 7v7 League – Ave Maria played St. James in the Championship Game and won
  • All Girls Varsity – Mary of Nazareth played Holy Cross in the Championship Game and won
  • All Girls JV –  St. Kilian played Sacred Heart in the Championship Game and won 
  • 4th Grade – Aquinas Navy played Aquinas Gray in the Championship Game and won
  • 3/4 Grade – St. James played Holy Sepulcher in the Championship Game and won
  • 3rd Grade – Sacred Heart played Aquinas in the Championship Game and won
  • 2nd Grade – St. Kilian played Sacred Heart in the Championship Game and won
  • 1/2nd Grade – Guardian Angel played Mary of Nazareth in the Championship Game and won
  • 1st Grade – St. Kilian played Ave Maria in the Championship Game and won
Regards,
Rob
by Bob Mueser

Fwd: DSL – Last Week of Regular Season Games

All:
At this point I have enough games uploaded to be able to determine and share next weekend's Tournament Schedule that will take place at Seton LaSalle High School.  To the extent that games are scheduled, but not yet played, please ensure that those games are played  as the whole point of doing this season after season is so the kids can get touches.  Also, the below schedule is subject to change if a forfeit is assessed.  Assuming that that is not the case though, I have attached three things to this email:
  1. The Tournament Schedule – email me and confirm that your team will be able to attend. If you fail to confirm by end of day Sunday your playoff spot may go to another team that is able to make it
  2. Tournament Rules – read through these so you will be prepared for the tournament
  3. Form of Tournament Game Day Roster (bring three to each games completely filled with your player names, numbers and grades and ensure that no player is on your roster that isn't eligible)
Other than the above, the only thing needed to be brought would be the $150 registration fee (one time fee, payable in cash prior to the start of your first game to offset tournament day costs) and pinnies/change in uniform just in case they are needed.  Note that the higher seeded team is the home team and can wear dark (on my schedule the higher seeded team is in the left hand column) lower seeded team should wear white.  If your team only has one uniform you must bring pinnies with you in the event that your jersey color is too close to the opposing team. The DSL will provide all game balls. 
That's it, let me know if you have any questions, and remember to confirm your attendance.
Rob

On Wed, May 24, 2023 at 11:06 PM Rob Glentzer <[email protected]> wrote:

All:

Real quickly I want to thank everyone that came out this past Saturday for the DSL tournament.  Despite the rain, it was a great event.  I'll send out more details on the tournament results in the end of season email.
Moving onto this week and next week.  For those that have games this week please remember to upload your game cards immediately.  I am working on the schedule for next weekend's Playoffs but I still have a few game pairings that will be decided by games played this week.  
Over the next 24 hours please review the standings on the webpage (dslpitt.org).  Things look generally correct from our end, but if you notice an error with anything on the standings, please notify us ASAP as I expect to be able to circulate playoff pairings and game times as early as tomorrow evening (depending on how quickly all of you are uploading your game cards).  
Generally speaking we will play playoff games next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  JV 7's will play Friday (with their championship on Saturday) and all other teams that qualify will have their play in games on Saturday and championship games on Sunday.  We don't have much flexibility on game days and times so I will ask all teams that qualify to confirm that you can play once the schedule is circulated (If you are missing a few kids I wouldn't sweat it too much, this time of year all the teams lose a few to early vacations, other sporting events and other commitments in general).  
Aside from confirming your availability, the only other thing that we require each team to bring are 1) registration fee of $150 per team (one time fee, payable in cash so we can use it to offset game day expenses and you do not pay it again on day 2 if you advance) and 2) three copies of your game day rosters completely filled out with players names and numbers.  This will need to be brought again on day 2 if you advance.  I'll circulate playoff specific ones early next week.
One note on rosters, JV can have 4th graders play up and Varsity can have 5th and 6th graders play up.  If your school has multiple teams that advance in the playoffs please note that JV teams in one bracket cannot play for other JV teams and Varsity teams in one bracket cannot play for other Varsity teams.  Players that play up need to be listed on the roster and you should not have players playing up if you have 4 or 5 subs already without them playing up.  Doing so results in three things that we don't like – 1) diminished playing time for your grade appropriate players, 2) difficulties/distractions for coaches and DSL officials with an excessively large bench, and 3) the real possibility of me running out of medals for the other teams if teams decide that this is a great opportunity to squeeze everyone on the team to get a medal.    As a general rule we don't expect 7v7 teams to exceed 15 players and we don't expect varsity teams to exceed 23 players.  Please manage your bench appropriately in this regard.  And to avoid confusion, if your team has been larger than that all year long due to whatever reason, don't cut players for this game, I usually have plenty of medals in reserve for that scenario as I know what your roster sizes are.  What I am trying to avoid though is the artificial team inflation by having players play up when it isn't needed from a number perspective.
Also, and I believe every coach on this list knows this, there is no stacking any team with players who are not on your roster prior to the start of your 4th game.  If any team is found to be playing players in violation of this rule it is ground for immediate forfeiture of the match.
I don't expect any of the above to cause any issues and I look forward to another great event to cap off our season.  let me know if you have any questions and I'll be in touch soon.
Regards,
Rob
by Bob Mueser

DSL – Last Week of Regular Season Games

All:

Real quickly I want to thank everyone that came out this past Saturday for the DSL tournament.  Despite the rain, it was a great event.  I'll send out more details on the tournament results in the end of season email.
Moving onto this week and next week.  For those that have games this week please remember to upload your game cards immediately.  I am working on the schedule for next weekend's Playoffs but I still have a few game pairings that will be decided by games played this week.  
Over the next 24 hours please review the standings on the webpage (dslpitt.org).  Things look generally correct from our end, but if you notice an error with anything on the standings, please notify us ASAP as I expect to be able to circulate playoff pairings and game times as early as tomorrow evening (depending on how quickly all of you are uploading your game cards).  
Generally speaking we will play playoff games next Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  JV 7's will play Friday (with their championship on Saturday) and all other teams that qualify will have their play in games on Saturday and championship games on Sunday.  We don't have much flexibility on game days and times so I will ask all teams that qualify to confirm that you can play once the schedule is circulated (If you are missing a few kids I wouldn't sweat it too much, this time of year all the teams lose a few to early vacations, other sporting events and other commitments in general).  
Aside from confirming your availability, the only other thing that we require each team to bring are 1) registration fee of $150 per team (one time fee, payable in cash so we can use it to offset game day expenses and you do not pay it again on day 2 if you advance) and 2) three copies of your game day rosters completely filled out with players names and numbers.  This will need to be brought again on day 2 if you advance.  I'll circulate playoff specific ones early next week.
One note on rosters, JV can have 4th graders play up and Varsity can have 5th and 6th graders play up.  If your school has multiple teams that advance in the playoffs please note that JV teams in one bracket cannot play for other JV teams and Varsity teams in one bracket cannot play for other Varsity teams.  Players that play up need to be listed on the roster and you should not have players playing up if you have 4 or 5 subs already without them playing up.  Doing so results in three things that we don't like – 1) diminished playing time for your grade appropriate players, 2) difficulties/distractions for coaches and DSL officials with an excessively large bench, and 3) the real possibility of me running out of medals for the other teams if teams decide that this is a great opportunity to squeeze everyone on the team to get a medal.    As a general rule we don't expect 7v7 teams to exceed 15 players and we don't expect varsity teams to exceed 23 players.  Please manage your bench appropriately in this regard.  And to avoid confusion, if your team has been larger than that all year long due to whatever reason, don't cut players for this game, I usually have plenty of medals in reserve for that scenario as I know what your roster sizes are.  What I am trying to avoid though is the artificial team inflation by having players play up when it isn't needed from a number perspective.
Also, and I believe every coach on this list knows this, there is no stacking any team with players who are not on your roster prior to the start of your 4th game.  If any team is found to be playing players in violation of this rule it is ground for immediate forfeiture of the match.
I don't expect any of the above to cause any issues and I look forward to another great event to cap off our season.  let me know if you have any questions and I'll be in touch soon.
Regards,
Rob