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[RCL_Fan]

With only the final stretch run remaining for Washington and Oregon teams to position themselves to make the NWCL semifinals (currently scheduled for March 5-6, 2011 in the Portland metro area), it appears very possible that all four semifinalists in each of the three youngest girls age groups (U-12 through U-14) will be from Washington. If that should play out, then it may prompt more pressure from Washington programs to try to find an alternative site in Washington to host the NWCL semifinals in order to limit the need for Washington families to spend additional dollars for overnight lodging down south.

With another weekend of NWCL games remaining (as well as any rescheduled make-up games), the NWCL standings for the Girls U-12 through U-14 age groups are as follows:

Under 12 Girls                 Pts GP   W   T   L  GF   GA  GD
1. NW Nationals 98 Red    19   9    6   1   2   17     7    10
2. Eastside FC 98 Red       17   7    5   2   0   15     2    13
3. Dos 98 Red                  16   8    5   1   2   16      6    10
4. Crossfire Premier 98A  16   6    5   1   0   15      4    11
5. THU SC Onyx               16   8    4   4   0   20      4    16
6. WPFC 98 Black             13   8    4   1   3   21      9    12
7. Eastside United FC       12   6    4   0   2    7       7      0
8. Sherwood United 98      10   8    3   1   4    8       9     -1
9. Lake Oswego SC            8    9    2   2    5   7     17   -10
10. FC Portland 98G Navy   2   8    0   2    6    4      19   -15
11. Westside Metros          1   9    0   1    8    3      23   -20
12. Southside SC Stealth    0   6    0   0    6    0      26   -26

Under 13 Girls                  Pts   GP   W   T   L    GF   GA    GD
1 Crossfire Premier 97A     21   7     7    0   0    30     1     29
2. NW Nationals 97 Red     20    8     6    2   0    18     3     15
3. VUSA Timbers 97 Red    17    9     5    2   2    16     7       9
4. Eastside FC 97 Red       17    8     5    2   1    21     8      13
5. FWU Reign 97 Purple     16    9     4    4   1    12     6       6
6. HPFC 97 Blue                12    7     4    0   3    11    11      0
7. Westside Metros 97      10    9     3    1   5     8      9      -1
8. THU SC Iridium              9    9     3    0   6     4     12     -8
9. TSC Metros Rage           8     9     2    2   5     3     12     -9
10. Lake Oswego SC Ice     6     9     2    0   7    11     32   -21
11. Southside SC Crush      4     9     1    1   7      8     24   -16
12. Eastside United FC       2     7     0    2   5      2     19   -17

Under 14 Girls                  Pts    GP   W   T   L   GF    GA    GD
1. VUSA Timbers 96 Red    25    10    8   1    1    20     6     14
2. Eastside FC 96 Red       25      9    8   1    0    20     5     15
3. NW Nationals 96 Red     22      9    7   1    1    18     7     11
4. WPFC 96 Black              21      9    7   0    2    22     8     14
5. Crossfire Premier 96 A  21      7    7   0    0    27     3      24
6. FC Portland 1996G Navy  7      9    2   1    6    10    20    -10
7. PS Slammers 96 Black     6      8    1   3    4      3      9      -6
8. Lake Oswego SC             5    10    1   2    7      8     26    -18
9. Southside SC Trinidad     5      8    1   2    5      7     12      -5
10. OS Academy Explosion   5      9    1   2    6      9     24    -15
11. THU SC Mercury            4      9    1   1    7      6     18    -12
12. Eastside United FC        4      9    0   4    5      5     17    -12

The top team in each of the three four-team pools (see NWCL website for pool breakdowns) in each of the age groups plus the team with the next highest number of points advance to the semifinal round. The first tie-breaker is head-to-head results. The second tie-breaker is which team has the greater number of wins.

[RCL_Fan]

Last weekend's NWCL games in the Girls U-12 through U-14 age groups resulted in a number of teams clinching semifinal berths. The NWCL tourney is currently scheduled to be played during the first weekend in March 2011. The site of the semifinals for the Girls U-12 through U-14 age groups is now being rumored to be within the greater Puget Sound area.

Ten of those 12 semifinalist positions have been locked up. It looks very definitive that all four semifinalists in each of the three youngest girls age groups will be from Washington. The THU SC Onyx (U-12) held out the most hope of the Oregon teams to crash the all-Washington party, but too many ties (4) will keep that team out of the semis despite what could be an undefeated NWCL record if it should win its final two NWCL games.

The girls semifinalist teams by age group appear to be:

Girls U-12
1) Crossfire Premier 98A (Reece)
2) Eastside FC 98 Red
3) NW Nationals 98 Red
4) Either Dos 98 Red of WPFC 98 Black  (Dos will advance with either a tie or win against WPFC)

Girls U-13
1) NW Nationals 97 Red
2) Crossfire Premier 97A (Reynolds)
3) Eastside FC 98 Red
4) Either VUSA Timbers 97 Red or Federal Way United Reign 97 Purple  (Timbers lead by one point with two games to play)

Girls U-14
1)  Crossfire Premier 96A
2)  Eastside FC 96 Red
3)  NW Nationals 96 Red
4) VUSA Timbers 96 Red

[EWSoccer64]

Thanks for the update, RCL_fan.  It looks like the Oregon teams failed to achieve even the more pessimistic expections.   It will be interesting to see if this holds true for the other age groups.

[nirvana]

tis a waste for most of the wa teams. lots of these games are being played without the starters for the wa teams. several wa coaches are resting their starters when playing against the oregon teams. this league is the time for injured wa  players to heal and for players who normally don't get as much play time to play. oregon teams that normally  wouldn't have a chance are able to tie and occasionally beat a wa team due to the wa players resting, getting well, or even going to their own odp tryouts or trainings. in most cases, not all(thusc onyx), these games are a waste for the wa teams. just mho.

[tripleplay]

Ten of those 12 semifinalist positions have been locked up. It looks very definitive that all four semifinalists in each of the three youngest girls age groups will be from Washington. The THU SC Onyx (U-12) held out the most hope of the Oregon teams to crash the all-Washington party, but too many ties (4) will keep that team out of the semis despite what could be an undefeated NWCL record if it should win its final two NWCL games.

You are exaggerating the "locked up" part. (E.g. only NWN G98 has mathematically clinched a semifinal spot in the G98s.), But your predictions are likely to hold. Some of WA's apparent "dominance", however, is just an artifact of the playing format, where the Oregon teams played a much harder schedule than the Washington teams. So for example, G98 THUSC Onyx has a 2W-0L-4T record against WA teams to date. In RCL league play, NWN (who has clinched in the RCL) has so far gone 2W-5L against the same 4 WA teams. But in the RCL, NWN played a number of Oregon teams that Onyx was undefeated against in league play.

[ShelbyJ]

So based on all this info, was this league worth playing in? Will they do it again? Congrats to the girls who are all finishing at the top. GU-14 is kind of a bummer that there can't be 5 teams playing off--pretty close at the top and then a huge drop off.

SJ

[billybuck]

I think it will be worth it to the eventual winner as I believe they get a Surf cup bid, the jury is out for the rest of the field. 3-play, the competition has been sub- standard for the top Washington teams at the U12 group except for Onyx who are a very competitive team.

[tripleplay]

I think it will be worth it to the eventual winner as I believe they get a Surf cup bid, the jury is out for the rest of the field. 3-play, the completion has been sub- standard for the top Washington teams at the U12 group except for Onyx who are a very competitive team.

For some reason, there are 7 Oregon teams in this age group instead of 6. 4 of the 7 Oregon teams have 0.500 or below records in the Oregon Premier League. So, you are right, the #11 Oregon team is not competitive with the best Washington teams. But then again, neither is the #11 Washington team.

The best three Oregon teams (THUSC, Sherwood, and LOSC) which have good records in the OPL, were very competitive with Washington's top 5. They all had wins and ties and most of the scores were very close. So the real problem is that Oregon did not identify its top teams properly. Next year, these three teams will be back, along with FCSC Nemesis, and the sub-0.500 teams will be gone.

I don't think there will be any non-NWCL Washington teams any better than those 4. And that's the point. You'll be raising the average competition level with only a couple of trips to Portland. It's a much better deal than you find in the Washington leagues, where you drive all over the place to play much weaker teams.

Oregon's teams look bad in the standings because the format is rigged against them. I gave the G98 example, where arguably the best team didn't make the semis. But the same thing on a lesser scale happened for the G97s. Westside had a 0.500 record against the top 6 Washington teams, which would put them 4th. But they couldn't compete against teams that were running up big records against much weaker teams at the bottom of Oregon's leagues. It's like having division 1 play division 2 and then looking at who has the best record. It's an idiotic comparison if the goal is to identify the best teams, because the strength of schedule is different.

[tripleplay]

So based on all this info, was this league worth playing in? Will they do it again? Congrats to the girls who are all finishing at the top. GU-14 is kind of a bummer that there can't be 5 teams playing off--pretty close at the top and then a huge drop off.

SJ

Great league that needs some tweaking. Apparently next year there will be 4 teams from Oregon (instead of 6) and two from Idaho. Personally, I'm skeptical that adding in Idaho is going to be a plus. But, as always, the devil is in the details.

BTW, GU14 is an exceptional age group where even Oregon's best team was not competitive with Washington's entries.

[nirvana]

a lot of the reason some of the games are competitive between the oregon  and wa teams is due to the wa teams not always playing their strongest players or playing to win. in talking to several coaches and parents  at the 96, 97, and 98 age groups, they are mostly using this league for development rather than for wins. my guess is that (and I haven't checked scores recently to confirm this) there were some unexpected/unusual scores from the u12 and u13 teams this past weekend. why? because washington's best 98 players were at the epd pool trainings. the oregon  teams may have a tougher route to win their brackets, but most washington teams aren't "putting it all out there" either. i've seen several games this season where the normal starters played 30-50% of any given game and several b team players are being brought in to get some play time with the a teams. and washington is still taking it to the oregon teams the majority of the time. maybe at the older ages the oregon teams will be able to hang with the wa teams. it sure isn't happening at the younger ages. 

[goldengoal]

a lot of the reason some of the games are competitive between the oregon  and wa teams is due to the wa teams not always playing their strongest players or playing to win. in talking to several coaches and parents  at the 96, 97, and 98 age groups, they are mostly using this league for development rather than for wins. my guess is that (and I haven't checked scores recently to confirm this) there were some unexpected/unusual scores from the u12 and u13 teams this past weekend. why? because washington's best 98 players were at the epd pool trainings. the oregon  teams may have a tougher route to win their brackets, but most washington teams aren't "putting it all out there" either. i've seen several games this season where the normal starters played 30-50% of any given game and several b team players are being brought in to get some play time with the a teams. and washington is still taking it to the oregon teams the majority of the time. maybe at the older ages the oregon teams will be able to hang with the wa teams. it sure isn't happening at the younger ages. 

Please re-write what you stated or tell your coaches that every game should be about development at these age groups. Either way, if it is true that these coaches are using this league for development, it sad that they are using the RCL league to just win at all costs, but some of us already suspected that some coaches already did this.

[billybuck]

The idea of development vs. winning is a very fine line, also team development  vs.  individual skills development are easy to lump into one and they are very different. For now lets talk about team development. For a team to get better it needs to be challenged by playing better teams. After a few years there may only be 1 or 2 teams in your state that can give you a game. So you start to look at regional or national leagues that are merit based. Acceptance into these elite leagues is based on a team’s resume or wins loss record, so in a way getting exposed to a higher level of competition is contingent on your win loss record which puts an emphasis on winning....Humm what to do? BTW-if you aren't interested in winning you might as well not use goals and just play possession-just a thought.

[goldengoal]

The idea of development vs. winning is a very fine line, also team development  vs.  individual skills development are easy to lump into one and they are very different. For now lets talk about team development. For a team to get better it needs to be challenged by playing better teams. After a few years there may only be 1 or 2 teams in your state that can give you a game. So you start to look at regional or national leagues that are merit based. Acceptance into these elite leagues is based on a team’s resume or wins loss record, so in a way getting exposed to a higher level of competition is contingent on your win loss record which puts an emphasis on winning....Humm what to do? BTW-if you aren't interested in winning you might as well not use goals and just play possession-just a thought.

Was going to respond, but not sure who is this meant for?

[nirvana]

not going to get too much into the "wins vs development" thing here. let's not take what i wrote to the extreme either. yes coaches want to develop players in both nwcl and rcl and yes they want to win games in both leagues. from what i have witnessed in the nwcl, more play time is given to non-starters and b team players and positions are switched around.  those players give it their all, yes, to win the game and yes to score goals. that is how some of  the wa teams are winning several of the games in the nwcl. at rcl games the starters start, non-starters get a respectable amount of play time, development still happens, and yes teams are playing to win. they are not playing to win "at all costs" or at the cost of development. more emphasis is put on winning in the rcl than the nwcl but development is still most important regardless of who starts. hope that explains a little better but my point is still that for the most part the wa teams are dominating this league and in several cases wa  teams are not even putting their best foot forward. that was my main point.

[tripleplay]

a lot of the reason some of the games are competitive between the oregon  and wa teams is due to the wa teams not always playing their strongest players or playing to win. in talking to several coaches and parents  at the 96, 97, and 98 age groups, they are mostly using this league for development rather than for wins. my guess is that (and I haven't checked scores recently to confirm this) there were some unexpected/unusual scores from the u12 and u13 teams this past weekend. why? because washington's best 98 players were at the epd pool trainings. the oregon  teams may have a tougher route to win their brackets, but most washington teams aren't "putting it all out there" either. i've seen several games this season where the normal starters played 30-50% of any given game and several b team players are being brought in to get some play time with the a teams. and washington is still taking it to the oregon teams the majority of the time. maybe at the older ages the oregon teams will be able to hang with the wa teams. it sure isn't happening at the younger ages. 

Your observation is completely the opposite of mine. Teams care about winning the NWCL, because it can lead to a Surf Cup bid, among other things. It's kind of like a 2-state state cup. The RCL games are the more "developmental" ones. Sure, there are always going to be some games that don't matter (because a team has already clinched or been eliminated) but those happen in any league, and there will be just as many teams on the Oregon side as the Washington side affected by those considerations. Personally, I've been astonished at the size of many of the Oregon teams for these young ages - I've seen 6 or 7 subs all getting playing time.

On the girls side, only in the 96s are we seeing dominance. In the 97s and 98s what we are seeing is (1) a league format that severely penalizes the Oregon teams and (2)  too many Oregon teams - the bottom ones aren't competitive and these give the Washington teams a ton  of easy wins making it impossible for the true "top-4" Oregon team to advance. Similar story for the boys, I think. There are Oregon teams with winning records against our best teams.

[nirvana]

i don't think the bid to the surf cup is as important as you may think. yes its nice but a few of the wa teams went to surf cup last year and may go again next year regardless of the nwcl outcome because chances are that the some of the  wa teams in the nwcl will be in the wa state cup finals which gives them a good shot of being invited to surf cup anyways. i could be wrong about that but i do know that a few of the 96/97 wa teams went to surf cup last year. again, some of the top 4 oregon teams are able to tie or win a game but i think the or teams are taking it a little more serious than the wa teams are. i'll be really anxious to see what wa teams sign up for this league next year.

[RCL_Fan]

I typically agree with much of what Triple Play has to offer.

However, the recent Triple Play post that noted the following makes him/her appear to be an Oregon apologist.

"On the girls side, only in the 96s are we seeing dominance. In the 97s and 98s what we are seeing is (1) a league format that severely penalizes the Oregon teams and (2)  too many Oregon teams - the bottom ones aren't competitive and these give the Washington teams a ton  of easy wins making it impossible for the true "top-4" Oregon team to advance. Similar story for the boys, I think. There are Oregon teams with winning records against our best teams."

It wasn't "impossible" for an Oregon team to advance to the semifinals in the NWCL. The best prospect for advancing appeared to be the THU SC Onyx at U-12. However, when a team (Onyx) ties four times during its first 7 games (regardless of whether it was against Washington or Oregon teams), it likely won't advance as a wildcard. The Onyx simply needed to win one of the four games that it tied against Washington U-12 competition and it would have advanced. That was far from "impossible". Onyx is a high quality team. However, it has lost to Washington competition (WPFC during the summer) and it tied four games in the NWCL, the equivalent of dropping 8 potential points (nearly three losses) in the standings. It was very possible for an Oregon team to advance. The teams simply needed to win more games.

Why did the Onyx cancel its NWCL game that was scheduled with Crossfire 98 A on December 12 in Redmond? Was it waiting to see if the game had meaning for the Onyx in terms of earning a wildcard berth?

I do like the idea of Oregon sending only its best four teams to the NWCL for 2011 competition. As Triple Play has noted, that will help make the overall Oregon representation more competitive.

[tripleplay]

I typically agree with much of what Triple Play has to offer.

However, the recent Triple Play post that noted the following makes him/her appear to be an Oregon apologist.

"On the girls side, only in the 96s are we seeing dominance. In the 97s and 98s what we are seeing is (1) a league format that severely penalizes the Oregon teams and (2)  too many Oregon teams - the bottom ones aren't competitive and these give the Washington teams a ton  of easy wins making it impossible for the true "top-4" Oregon team to advance. Similar story for the boys, I think. There are Oregon teams with winning records against our best teams."

It wasn't "impossible" for an Oregon team to advance to the semifinals in the NWCL. The best prospect for advancing appeared to be the THU SC Onyx at U-12. However, when a team (Onyx) ties four times during its first 7 games (regardless of whether it was against Washington or Oregon teams), it likely won't advance as a wildcard. The Onyx simply needed to win one of the four games that it tied against Washington U-12 competition and it would have advanced. That was far from "impossible". Onyx is a high quality team. However, it has lost to Washington competition (WPFC during the summer) and it tied four games in the NWCL, the equivalent of dropping 8 potential points (nearly three losses) in the standings. It was very possible for an Oregon team to advance. The teams simply needed to win more games.

Why did the Onyx cancel its NWCL game that was scheduled with Crossfire 98 A on December 12 in Redmond? Was it waiting to see if the game had meaning for the Onyx in terms of earning a wildcard berth?

I do like the idea of Oregon sending only its best four teams to the NWCL for 2011 competition. As Triple Play has noted, that will help make the overall Oregon representative more competitive.

You are missing the point of  my post. Here is my assessment of the number of top-4 Oregon teams by age group: G98-1, G97-1, G96-0, B98-1, B97-2, B96-1. However, three of those  (G98, G97 and B98) likely won't make the semis because of the skewed playing format. I'm not complaining about the format. First, as a Washingtonian it benefits me. Second, the whole purpose of the league is to generate interstate play, and that is probably a more important objective than perfect fairness.

What I was taking issue with was the implication of your post, parroted by some of the usual ignorami like EW, that Washington's numbers in the semis is indicative of an overall inability of Oregon teams to compete. That's a false conclusion coming from a misunderstanding of the rules under which the league was played. If you look at the actual details and results, it is easy to see that.

[soccer45girls]

From the NWCL website.....

Girls U14 Final Four Determined
Washington Teams Sweep the Age Group
(Tacoma, Dec. 14, 2010): The NWCL for the girls U14 age group is all but over, and the top four teams have been revealed.  Crossfire 96A has won its group in convincing fashion with 2 games still to play that will not affect the outcome.  VUSA Timbers earned the top spot in the Rainier Division with 26 points and EFC 96 Red edged Northwest Nationals 96 Red for the top spot in the Sawtooth Division. EFC 96 Red won the group based on the first tiebreaker, which is head to head competition. Earlier in the program, EFC 96 Red edged Northwest Nationals 2-1.

As the wildcard, Northwest Nationals will take the 4th seed with the remaining places to be determined by random draw on Friday, December 17, 2010 at 10:00 am at the league office. The draw will be conducted by a representative of the accounting firm, Panagiotu Pension Advisors, Inc. The names of the group winners will be placed in the pot, and the first team drawn will be deemed the number 1 seed and face Northwest Nationals in the first semifinal. The remaining two teams drawn will be seeded 2 and 3, respectively, and will face each other in the other semifinal match.

The semifinals will be played on Saturday, March 5th on Fields 1 and 2 at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington, with the final played on Sunday, March 6th at 6:00 pm. The winner of the age group will receive an automatic entry into Surf Cup XXXI to be played in San Diego, California. Following the draw of Friday, the complete schedule for the girls U14 age group will be published.

As soon as other finalists are determined, we will publish the information.

http://www.northwestchampions.com/home/486915.html

[Goingu11u13]

I'm not sure if this is on-topic, but I wanted to see if any other parents felt like the NWCL on top of the RCL was too much soccer this fall for your family.

We have two kids in the RCL and one in both the NWCL and RCL.  My kid doing both had 25 games over 13 weeks (with Thanksgiving week-end off).  If I add my other kid into the equation it was 37 games for our family over the same 13 weeks.  As a parent it felt like too much soccer this fall - and I'm crazy about watching my kids play.  When double-header week-ends are the norm so many other things have to be sacrificed both for the family and the kid.  Teen-agers need to be able to have sleepovers, go to dances, etc.  Neither of my kids were able to play middle school soccer because they never would have been able to make a game.

As a parent I was continually exhausted - we traveled to Yakima, Bellingham, Vancouver three times and spent two week-ends in Portland - all in 13 weeks.  The past two week-ends with the frigid cold/wind in Portland and then torrential downpours in Seattle put me over the edge.  

[EWSoccer64]

>>>>You are missing the point of  my post. Here is my assessment of the number of top-4 Oregon teams by age group: G98-1, G97-1, G96-0, B98-1, B97-2, B96-1. However, three of those  (G98, G97 and B98) likely won't make the semis because of the skewed playing format. I'm not complaining about the format. First, as a Washingtonian it benefits me. Second, the whole purpose of the league is to generate interstate play, and that is probably a more important objective than perfect fairness.

What I was taking issue was the implication of your post, parroted by some of the usual ignorami like EW, that Washington's numbers in the semis is indicative of an overall inability of Oregon teams to compete. That's a false conclusion coming from a misunderstanding of the rules under which the league was played. If you look at the actual details and results, it is easy to see that.<<<<

3Plays point is that the results are skewed against Oregon because they had to play more Washington teams and Washington teams had to play more Oregon teams?   Sounds like 3Play is agreeing that the Oregon competition is pretty weak, then, in comparison.

Dropping the number of Oregon teams down to only the top two per age group would likely help.   But as we have seen so far, the top Oregon teams struggle against the upper level Washington teams. 

In will be interesting to see if the results from the other age groups fully replicate the younger age groups.  I fully expect that there is an occassional top Oregon team that is able to compete with the top Washington teams.  But so far, all the available evidence is that the NWCL is largely a waste for Washington clubs.

[soccer45girls]

Does anyone have more information regarding the addition of Canadian/Idaho teams? Any word on who and when?

[tripleplay]

3Plays point is that the results are skewed against Oregon because they had to play more Washington teams and Washington teams had to play more Oregon teams?   Sounds like 3Play is agreeing that the Oregon competition is pretty weak, then, in comparison.

Dropping the number of Oregon teams down to only the top two per age group would likely help.   But as we have seen so far, the top Oregon teams struggle against the upper level Washington teams.  

In will be interesting to see if the results from the other age groups fully replicate the younger age groups.  I fully expect that there is an occassional top Oregon team that is able to compete with the top Washington teams.  But so far, all the available evidence is that the NWCL is largely a waste for Washington clubs.

Not far off. For most age groups, the best Oregon teams were better than any other non-NWCL teams you can find in Washington. However, the worst Oregon teams were not competitive. The benefit of the league for Washington teams is that you can add better teams while only adding one city (which is no farther than we already travel to) and you can play multiple games in a single trip. Compare that to the RCL where you are faced with going to far flung locations for a single game against weaker teams.

In an ideal world, the NWCL would replace the top RCL division. Parents would get better games with less travel. However, that's not likely to happen soon as the adults are busy fighting their various turf wars.  

[EWSoccer64]

Actually, the RCL first division is apparently already stronger than the NWCL.  That is the evidence we have before us.  It would make sense for the Washington teams to scrap the NWCL altogether.    Any more competitive NWCL system would have to include teams from areas not already included, and drop out more than half the Oregon slots.  As 3Play admitted, Oregon teams just not as competitive overall.  Of course, the more experienced soccer people already knew that.
Call it four Washington, 1 Idaho, 2 Oregon, and 3 BC teams in a new RCL.   But then you would have to travel more, as well.    And the last "super league" that tried that was the Super-Y.

Right now, the NWCL adds to the clutter of what the USYSA has called "too many meaningless games", and it does not benefit the teams in relationship to the various costs associated.

3Plays point is that the results are skewed against Oregon because they had to play more Washington teams and Washington teams had to play more Oregon teams?   Sounds like 3Play is agreeing that the Oregon competition is pretty weak, then, in comparison.

Dropping the number of Oregon teams down to only the top two per age group would likely help.   But as we have seen so far, the top Oregon teams struggle against the upper level Washington teams.  

In will be interesting to see if the results from the other age groups fully replicate the younger age groups.  I fully expect that there is an occassional top Oregon team that is able to compete with the top Washington teams.  But so far, all the available evidence is that the NWCL is largely a waste for Washington clubs.

Not far off. For most age groups, the best Oregon teams were better than any other non-NWCL teams you can find in Washington. However, the worst Oregon teams were not competitive. The benefit of the league for Washington teams is that you can add better teams while only adding one city (which is no farther than we already travel to) and you can play multiple games in a single trip. Compare that to the RCL where you are faced with going to far flung locations for a single game against weaker teams.

In an ideal world, the NWCL would replace the top RCL division. Parents would get better games with less travel. However, that's not likely to happen soon as the adults are busy fighting their various turf wars.  

[tripleplay]

Actually, the RCL first division is apparently already stronger than the NWCL.  That is the evidence we have before us.  It would make sense for the Washington teams to scrap the NWCL altogether.    Any more competitive NWCL system would have to include teams from areas not already included, and drop out more than half the Oregon slots.  As 3Play admitted, Oregon teams just not as competitive overall.  Of course, the more experienced soccer people already knew that.
Call it four Washington, 1 Idaho, 2 Oregon, and 3 BC teams in a new RCL.   But then you would have to travel more, as well.    And the last "super league" that tried that was the Super-Y.

Right now, the NWCL adds to the clutter of what the USYSA has called "too many meaningless games", and it does not benefit the teams in relationship to the various costs associated.

The meaningless games to which they are referring are the 50+ Washington  teams playing in statewide leagues. Simple fact is that Portland gives us much better soccer teams per mile travelled than District 6 (not faulting anybody here - it's just the reality of geography and demographics). So we should be encouraging ties with Portland and the NWCL is doing exactly that with an effective, well-run league. There have been some lopsided games due to having some of the weaker Oregon teams and, in some cases, the PSPL team. But since it doesn't really add much to travel because the games are being played tournament format, there isn't really a huge downside to having a few teams that don't belong - besides hurting the stronger Oregon teams when it comes to making the semis.

[EWSoccer64]

Actually, the RCL first division is apparently already stronger than the NWCL.  That is the evidence we have before us.  It would make sense for the Washington teams to scrap the NWCL altogether.    Any more competitive NWCL system would have to include teams from areas not already included, and drop out more than half the Oregon slots.  As 3Play admitted, Oregon teams just not as competitive overall.  Of course, the more experienced soccer people already knew that.
Call it four Washington, 1 Idaho, 2 Oregon, and 3 BC teams in a new RCL.   But then you would have to travel more, as well.    And the last "super league" that tried that was the Super-Y.

Right now, the NWCL adds to the clutter of what the USYSA has called "too many meaningless games", and it does not benefit the teams in relationship to the various costs associated.

The meaningless games to which they are referring are the 50+ Washington  teams playing in statewide leagues. Simple fact is that Portland gives us much better soccer teams per mile travelled than District 6 (not faulting anybody here - it's just the reality of geography and demographics). So we should be encouraging ties with Portland and the NWCL is doing exactly that with an effective, well-run league. There have been some lopsided games due to having some of the weaker Oregon teams and, in some cases, the PSPL team. But since it doesn't really add much to travel because the games are being played tournament format, there isn't really a huge downside to having a few teams that don't belong - besides hurting the stronger Oregon teams when it comes to making the semis.

You are making some sweeping assumptions that are not borne out by the facts.   Proove your assertions here.   And having multiple games on a single weekend is not as conducive to good soccer as having a single game  per weekend, or at most a game a day.   For oen who wants to surrender all control to the DoCs because they are the "experts", you seem to be blind to the true "experts" who formulate the opinions of the USYSA and USSF.

[futbol123]

THUSC Onyx just beat Dos 2-0, NWN 2-1 and Crossfire 4-0.  Earlier on they beat WPFC 5-2 and beat Eastside Red 1-0. They are a highly competitive team and deserve to be in the final four for NWCL. As Tripleplay has stated the schedule works against them. Look at who they've had to play compared to Crossfire (whos is the ONLY WA team who doesn't have to play ANY other WA team). I hope next year they fix the scheduling issues. Teams in the same bracket should at least have to play the same teams.

The tie breaker of "most wins" should be "most wins within your own bracket". How is most wins even fair if everyone is playing different teams? If Onyx had been allowed to play Oregon teams more often they would probably be in 1st place. Look at their scores vs the Oregon teams compared to the Washington scores vs the Oregon teams. They are tied for the greatest goal differential and have had a much, much harder schedule.

[futbol123]

Why did the Onyx cancel its NWCL game that was scheduled with Crossfire 98 A on December 12 in Redmond? Was it waiting to see if the game had meaning for the Onyx in terms of earning a wildcard berth?

Onyx didn't cancel the game. Onyx actually drove all the way to Seattle and then Crossfire cancelled it.

[RCL_Fan]

What was the reason(s) for the NWCL game cancellation between the THU SC Onyx and Crossfire 98A team in December?

Is that game going to be re-scheduled? Or, has it been determined to be relatively meaningless now that Onyx can't move on to the semifinals?

[billybuck]

THUSC Onyx just beat Dos 2-0, NWN 2-1 and Crossfire 4-0.  Earlier on they beat WPFC 5-2 and beat Eastside Red 1-0. They are a highly competitive team and deserve to be in the final four for NWCL. As Tripleplay has stated the schedule works against them. Look at who they've had to play compared to Crossfire (whos is the ONLY WA team who doesn't have to play ANY other WA team). I hope next year they fix the scheduling issues. Teams in the same bracket should at least have to play the same teams.

The tie breaker of "most wins" should be "most wins within your own bracket". How is most wins even fair if everyone is playing different teams? If Onyx had been allowed to play Oregon teams more often they would probably be in 1st place. Look at their scores vs the Oregon teams compared to the Washington scores vs the Oregon teams. They are tied for the greatest goal differential and have had a much, much harder schedule.

Futbol, we should clarify that Onyx and EFC tied this fall in NWCL league play. Perhaps the score you are quoting is from 2010 summer tournament play? Crossfire challenge?