Haven’t seen anything about 16’s on here. Going into the first crossover weekend for futures, what are the thoughts on teams and placement?
Looks like Shores, Newport and La Jolla were strong in D1.
Greenwich, Vanguard, Sand Canyon, and Carlsbad all have a good opportunity to move up from what I saw the first weekend.
I think this year, more than any other the past few years that I can remember, we will have no clue until JOs who the best clubs are…who exactly is rostered on the best 16u teams, who is forming multi club super teams, and even if those teams are playing 16u or moving their best up to 18u…
Some kids are on their 6th or 7th weekend in a row of playing between 16u and 18u tournaments and leagues.
Seems very chaotic.
Agree it is super chaotic. Maybe with 16u futures and national league playing this weekend, it will flush some of it out…are clubs putting more emphasis into 18u national league or 16u futures? Seems like 18u national league to me but would be curious to hear what everyone thinks.
The top clubs seem to be focused on their best athletes playing up. If there’s an 16u and 18u tournament, the athlete plays on the 18u team. If an athlete is double rostered on an 18u club team as well as an open National League team, they “play up”. It seems consistent across the board. What will be interesting to see, the decisions made at crunch time (super finals, JO Quals, JOs). I’m sure the elite athletes will be double rostered but where do they play when a choice must be made.
Seems to me that playing up to 18u would make sense for development. If these 16U players are on varsity high school teams then they already play the 18u during that season. I bet for JOs they go back to 16U, but in a world where more closed clubs and super teams are forming maybe there is no need to tout JO results for drawing/retaining talent to a program after 14U?
Probably an interesting debate between coaches/parents/players but I would think in most cases player development is top priority.
does anyone have the schedule for Newport invite tournament this weekend?