Div 3 [VMSL Div 3] Results, Predictions & Banter 2014/2015

[RickG]

And we are off again in less than two weeks time.

Interesting groupings for the upcoming season, with former Div. 2 sides spread through the A, B and C divisions. Who are the favorites? Any dark horses?

 

[Mr Base]

B United back to div two next year. They do have a solid side. Is Deep with the team this year. He pushes youth hard.

 

[trece verde]

We'll let you know in a few weeks...

 

[RickG]

Strong shows by Squamish and Lobbans in Week one. I know something about that team and barring injuries the Squamish boys will likely fight it out with PCOV and Lobbans in group C.
Bowen is still getting organized and completely sucked on Saturday. West Coast Celt are a footie branch off from an Aussie Rules football club in town. Big, big boys with lots of fan support. Not too many stellar soccer players, but enough to surprise some teams on game day. Nobody will push these lads around, thats for sure.

 

[trece verde]

Good start for the Bhoys taking a 3-0 away win from Ex-Pats FC on the postage stamp of a field at Mosquito Heaven (Manoah Steves) in Richmond. Kept expecting Father John to wobble up on his bike, but that was probably just the heat stroke getting to me...

Similar to RickG's report about WCC, Ex-Pats have some large boys who like to play a bit physically, but I think they'd have a more difficult time on a larger surface. They're a new team from the Ultra League. We actually had a decent ref who kept a lid on the swinging of handbags.

 

[Gurps]

Kept expecting Father John to wobble up on his bike, but that was probably just the heat stroke getting to me...

Too funny....

 

[trece verde]

3B News...

Celtic 2 Royal Dutch Cousins 2 - couldn't hold a lead or finish lunch today. Stinking hot on the turf at AL, and glad for the bevvies after. Despite the WTF name, these oranjes are not bad. Bunch of persistent tall lads who didn't give up despite being behind twice. Biggest difference was the shite own-goal we scored; our keeper was wrong footed on a header back to him that hit top corner.

Ante Up 1 Bby Metro 1
America 12 B's donut - apparently Mr. Base's question has been answered, especially since it was reported that even Neo (our old keeper) scored a hatty. Way to keep it close
Benfica bagel Serbia 6
Lions 0 Ex-Pats 1

Knowing that it's still early days, but America and Serbia look to try running the table. We'll have to see if we can interrupt that on Friday night.

Next:

Serbia vs. Celtic
Ex-Pats vs. B's
Ante-Up vs. America
Dutch vs. Lions
Metro vs. Benfica

Anything from the other groups?

 

[trece verde]

Actually, a quick look at 3A & 3C shows Pacifica and the rebranded Friends (Arya A) as both getting shellacked... hope they can sort things out before too long.

 

[RickG]

As I suggested earlier, Squamish will be the hot team in 3C. They' have skill and tenacity in the midfield and the results show they've got guys who can put the ball in the net. I know for sure that they've got a couple of Premiere quality players on that side. Lobbans brought what looked like 20 guys to our match at Confederation, including a lot of young guys. They've got some skill and play a very nice team game. We struggled for players as usual and were only able to get 10 guys for the match. Playing shorthanded in the heat meant just sitting back, trying to soak up the pressure, slow the game down and try to hit them on the counter. We won in the end, but it wasn't pretty and Lobbans were the better team. I'm sure they'll get stronger over the course of the season. As for Bowen, well, as they say, its better to be lucky than good.

 

[seven07]

I am surprised no one mentioned Astro so far, they are winning with some high scores.

 

[trece verde]

What's stopping you?

3A has Astro who put up ridiculous numbers on the aforementioned hapless Pacifica and respectable ones against Burnaby Select United. Have they had a good start? Yes. Have they played anybody with any substance yet? No.

 

[seven07]

I'm new to the whole vmsl world right now. Wasn't sure of the strong teams vs the teams that are there just to play soccer.

Looking forward to see which teams are putting the strong effort to get promoted or just there to enjoy the beautiful game of soccer.

 

[trece verde]

Serbia 4 Celtic 0

Good first half, shite second half as the fog really rolled in last night.

A couple of missed opportunities converted would have helped, but they were full value for the win. Serbia will definitely contend for promotion, but too many of their guys need to learn not to go into tackles with their cleats up.

 

[RickG]

Boners 2, Bosna 1 on Sunday at Van Tech. Good game that could have gone either way with the island boys riding their luck for another week. Still too early to map the strength of all the teams across the division, although the signs are there. But we all know the VMSL is a marathon and not a sprint. We'll see if the same teams are winning in the November rain.

 

[trece verde]

Strathcona & Twin Arrows in 3A yet to drop any points, along with Serbia in 3B and Squamish in 3C. Mr. Base's pick to take it all aren't doing too well, with an absolute pumping followed by a forfeit.

I was a bit off on my predictions, too:
Serbia 4-0 Celtic
Ex-Pats FFT over B's
Ante-Up 2-1 America (this was a surprise)
Dutch 2-3 Lions
Metro 4-2 Benfica

seven07, are you actually playing for anyone? Preferably a team in 3A? ...Just to keep Rick and I from talking to each other...

 

[RickG]

Hey Trece, howzit goin'. Man this thread is so dead I'm actually waiting for a post from Mr. Base. I will say I think Base is right about streamlining the league into 6 or 7 tiers with two going down and two going up each year in each tier. So simple, why doesn't the league just do it?

 

[trece verde]

Hi Rick.

The league actually used to run like that (the Island league still does), but there were a couple of issues with it:
1. if you have a really strong team that enters the league, they end up killing everyone for 4-5 years before they can get to the appropriate level. For most teams, that's a long time (a career for some guys), and it's hard to keep a group together for so long (even if you are winning regularly).
2. The instant gratification generation won't wait that long. Even now, you have teams who want to get into the league at a higher level than from the bottom, so they take over a spot from someone a bit more established. Having a shorter pyramid instead of a full ladder is supposed to prevent (or at least minimize) that...
3. Then you get the hard sell of how to pick who's going to be dropped to Div 7... One would think that there would be more of an appeal to have lower divisions be more recreationally-focused (say at the Urban Rec level) and gradually have things more competitive as you go up, but this doesn't seem to sell...

 

[bandcamp]

Hi Rick.

The league actually used to run like that (the Island league still does), but there were a couple of issues with it:
1. if you have a really strong team that enters the league, they end up killing everyone for 4-5 years before they can get to the appropriate level. For most teams, that's a long time (a career for some guys), and it's hard to keep a group together for so long (even if you are winning regularly).
2. The instant gratification generation won't wait that long. Even now, you have teams who want to get into the league at a higher level than from the bottom, so they take over a spot from someone a bit more established. Having a shorter pyramid instead of a full ladder is supposed to prevent (or at least minimize) that...
3. Then you get the hard sell of how to pick who's going to be dropped to Div 7... One would think that there would be more of an appeal to have lower divisions be more recreationally-focused (say at the Urban Rec level) and gradually have things more competitive as you go up, but this doesn't seem to sell...

If the rec hockey leagues (UBC and 8 Rinks) can run 'ladder' divisions, reset teams after several weeks and get it mostly right year after year then I believe there is a way to have 10 teams in each division that lets teams enter the league and get to where they deserve, more or less, to be in one season. In fact, the youth soccer leagues do this at my son's level. If after 4 weeks there's a team killing teams in Silver 1 they will bump them up to Gold 1 or 2.

I played on the island for several seasons and there is parity in each group of 10. Much prefer the way they run things.

 

[trece verde]

Didn't mean to come across as if I was trying to defend the current structure; only to try to explain the rationale behind it. When I started playing there WERE 7 divisions in a ladder structure, and it was just the way that things were done. Things have obviously changed since then here. They also appear to have changed on the island, too because it looks like the ladder has been shortened (I just took a look at their website).

Yes, I know how the youth structure works, and how the Thanksgiving repositioning works as well. I've had to explain it to enough people over the years, but thanks for citing it as an example.

 

[RickG]

I dunno but there has got to be a way to somehow sort teams coming into the bottom division. AFC Warriors, new in division 3 this year, nice guys, trying hard, but they are a pure kick around rec team and clearly don't have any more than a handful of guys with experience playing at a competitive level. I'm sure they'll improve over the year but they are getting slaughtered at the moment-- 27 against in 4 games--and they haven't played the strongest teams in the division yet. Its no fun for anyone in this situation. Then you compare them with an ambitious, skilled, new team like Squamish and its like apples and oranges.

Maybe one way to do it is to have a 4th division, based on previous years results, and give new teams the option of starting in Div. 4 or Div. 3. The ambitious teams, with tryouts, and players with a lot of experience playing at competitive levels, could choose to jump into a Div. 3, made more competitive by the elimination of some of the purely social teams, and the guys who just wanna kick a ball, practice occasionally, compete a bit, and enjoy the post game beers, could opt for Div. 4.