State Tournament

All,
as I alluded to last week when I sent out the updated schedule, its time to organize for the Div. 2 State Tournament. I have to apply our team by Friday, April 6th.

There will tentatively be a regional qualifying tournament on May 5-6 somewhere near Nashville. This regional qualifier will only happen if enough teams apply for the tournament. We have to plan for playing that weekend. The State finals will be May 19-20, two weeks after the qualifier, this is also in Nashville. Again, we have to plan on this weekend. As I said before, normally teams this old go straight to the Finals but I can't be sure about this, nor will Tenn Soccer commit to anything, until the deadline of April 6th passes.

Now some background. Sam can't play in the 91 bracket because she is too old - and the U-16 bracket is the oldest bracket. Also, Julianna has been guest playing as a goalkeeper with the 91 Lady Lobos in their D1 qualifying after the Lobos lost their goalie this past January. The agreement I have with the Lobos coach is that she remains a Cougar for the regular season (and guest plays for the Lobos) and if the Lobos qualify for D1 State, she can play with them. But if they don't qualify, she plays with us at D2 State. Regardless, I have Caroline Higdon, a 92 Lobos goalie, in reserve in case Julianna does not go with us.

It is my intention to take the girls to State. The proviso is, we need to have enough players. I must freeze the roster by April 20th. Therefore, I'm asking you to give me a definite "yes" if your daughter can play both weekends in question. Due to the limits on rostering, I will need an affirmative response by at least 12 girls for both weekends to go forward. If you can play one weekend but not another one, tell me that too. So please respond by email at sonnyb@midsouth.rr.com by April 4th with your "yes or "no."

In case you're wondering, there are other options other than D2 State. D3 State is the weekend of May 12-13, which is Mother's Day weekend. We did this last year and I don't want to have to play again on Mother's Day. Besides, there was no D3 State for U-16 teams last year.

If we can't get enough players for D2 State for whatever reason, we can possibly play in a tournament the weekend of May 5-6. More to come.

Coach Sonny