When the river spilled across the levee, it filled the St. Louis Youth Soccer Association fields like a bathtub. By Thursday, water had reached the roof of the pavilion in the soccer complex parking lot.

SLYSA President Roger Uphoff said it would take at least six months to regrow the fields from scratch, which would mean the league’s 8,000 players might not be able to play on the fields this fall. Uphoff said he planned to meet with team coaches next week to discuss possibilities.

from the St Charles Journal

Note: the water is dark and ugly and filled with trash. It stinks in areas downwind of the flooded areas, as if you had an entire teams wet mud stained uniforms stored in your minivan for a couple of days in the sun.

The Elm Point levee broke around 1:30 a.m. Officials said flooding appears to be limited to a soccer park and a sod farm. A nearby mobile home park did not appear it would flood, but residents have been warned to be prepared.

Video of the affected area The soccer fields are part of the initial view you see, with the early green space on the right giving way to the brown water. Look close, the 4th billboard down the highway is closest to the road that split the SLYSA fields. You can barely see the roof of the central building (also pictured above) sticking out of the water beyond that point.

Eighteen St. Louis Youth Soccer Association playing fields also flooded Tuesday.
They are fields that the association says 7,000 children will depend on this fall.
When it comes to the damage the flood water is expected to do to turf on the fields, “The financial impact is somewhere between five hundred thousand to seven hundred thousand dollars to replace it,” said Roger Uphoff, the soccer association’s president.

From the StLsoccer.net message board:
wilber (Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 2:02 pm): That picture is not even close to what it looks like now. I just drove past 10 minutes ago. the water is about 3 feet or so from HWY 370!!!! You can see about 2 feet of the concession stand roof. the poles with the field number markers, you know the ones that are really high, you can see the flags and about a foot of the pole below that. It is still going up.

I dont know how many of you remember 93 but before the flood there was a huge softball complex(about 24 fields) where SLYSA is, interestingly enough called 2 Rivers softball complex. They had been working on the fields for a few years and had really brought them along and then the flood came and wiped it out. You know there is no more 2 Rivers Softball Complex. I dont think the owners had the cash to rebuild. I dont think the water was this high back then, and as someone mentioned before, the water is now trapped by the levee and the highway in that valley. This will be a tough one.

Superintendent Ron Lankford said the R-7 Board of Education voted June 10 not to add girls soccer and golf programs this fall based on his recommendation. Lankford said rising fuel costs make this a bad time to add programs that involve traveling to competitions.

Someone remind me again how many boys a high school football program will take to a road game weekly? I remember covering a Glendale Falcons game (my sister’s stepson was playing) and Joplin had 40+ JV players and an equal number of varsity players on the sideline.

In the Spring of 2009, Girls High School Soccer in Missouri will expand to 3 classes. Why is this happening? Do we really need three classes? What does it mean for the schools in Southwest Missouri?

Why are we going to have three classes in Girls Soccer in 2009?

It is all pretty simple really. Because the number of schools participating in girls soccer continues to grow, a third State Championship Class will be added.

The Missouri State High School Activities Association determines the number of classes in each sport or activity based on the number of schools registered for that sport or activity. There is a maximum of 5 Classes except for Football. For safety purposes, schools shall be divided in six Classes in 11-man Football. The MSHSAA uses the following numbers to determine the number of classes in an activity:

128 or fewer schools - 1 Class
129-192 schools - 2 Classes
193-256 schools - 3 Classes
257-513 schools - 4 Classes
514 or more schools - 5 Classes

From 1985 (the first year the MSHSAA sponsored a State Championship in Girls Soccer) through 1998, there was only one class in Girls Soccer. Every school regardless of their size competed for one State Championship. By 1998, the number of schools participating in Girls Soccer passed the 129 mark and Girls Soccer was split into two classes from 1999 through 2008. For 2008 there were 199 schools registered for Girls soccer, 6 more than the 193 required to have 3 classes. We will add another 4 school with girls soccer in 2009 in Southwest Missouri alone (Branson, Carl Junction, Carthage, and Logan-Rogersville). So with a new two-year classification cycle beginning, Girls Soccer will expand to 3 classes just like the boys.

Do we really need three classes?

Some people argue that adding classes lessens the accomplishment of becoming a State Champion. To quote one poster on www.Stlsoccer.net

6 classes for football is a joke. Only 32 schools are in class 6 for the entire state. I hope that soccer never goes for such insanity. It is bad enough with 3 classes. In football, we have 6 different champions. This trend in America of lessening the importance of achievement is not a good long-term trend. Winning needs to be meaningful and not just granted.”

In Arkansas, where soccer has been a sanctioned sport since 1998, they now have 4 classes in soccer. In 2008, there were 75 boys teams and 70 girls teams competing for 4 State Championships each. Does it lessen the accomplishment of a State Championship or does it make for a more level playing field.

According to the MSHSAA Constitution, Article II Section 1: Philosophy, “Interscholastic activities are an integral part which complements the secondary curricular program. This program shall provide educational and social experiences for the students and school community which result in positive learner outcomes contributing to the development of good citizenship, sportsmanship and equitable competition.”

Equitable can be defined as: characterized by equity or fairness. Is it fair for a school with an adjusted enrollment figure of 134 to have to compete for a State Championship against a school with an enrollment figure of 1200? Not really. But that is how it would be if we didn’t add a third class in Girls Soccer. So adding classes helps to make things more equitable for all schools and provides the opportunity for more student/athletes to compete for a State Championship.

In some states, there is a call to reduce the number of classes. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, in Indiana they are surveying members about scaling back from 4 Classes to 3 Classes in basketball.

“Since the expansion in the 1997-98 season, schools have experienced problems with travel distances, transportation costs, revenue, sectional brackets and alignments—and fan interest.”

Will we have the same impact with Girls Soccer? I can’t say for sure one way or the other. But with more and more schools adding the sport, I think there are enough schools in most areas that adding a class isn’t going to effect travel a great deal for most schools.

What does it mean for Southwest Missouri?

The enrollment numbers for all schools are taken every two years for re-classification purposes. Enrollment numbers are taken the last Wednesday of September in odd numbered years (2007) and are used to determine the classes for the following two years. Non-public school enrollments are multiplied by a 1.35 adjustment factor. Single gender school enrollments are doubled (nonpublic schools would then be multiplied by 1.35). The top 96 schools are in class 3. In that 96 are schools that don’t play soccer and single gender schools. They still count in the 96. It isn’t the largest 96 soccer playing schools. The next 96 are in Class 2 and the rest are in class 1.

What does that mean for Southwest Missouri? In 2008, there were Two Class 2 Districts made up of 6 teams each, one Class 1 District with 9 schools. Another Class 1 District has 4 schools (Dixon, Laquey, Richland, St. James) which could be considered part of Southwest Missouri. This makes a total of 25 schools. Add in the 4 new schools that begin play next year and you have 29 schools in our region. Nobody except the MSHSAA can say for sure what will happen as far as District Assignments, but here is a good guess. Not only will we change to 3 classes, but some schools with move because of their enrollment numbers. The enrollment breaks for the next 2-year cycle are:

Class 3 = 1203 and above
Class 2 = 578-1202
Class 1 = 577 and below

For a complete listing of school enrollments visit the MSHSAA website http://www.mshsaa.org/Activities/Info/Gymnastics_News_Gymnastics_content.aspx?viewmode=story&storyid=27

Class 3 - will include the following schools:

Branson (new program), Carthage (new program), Central, Glendale, Hillcrest, Joplin, Kickapoo, Lebanon, Neosho, Nixa, Ozark, Parkview, Rolla, Waynesville, Willard (moving up from small class)

Class 3 will be the most interesting to watch. With 15 schools, they could be divided with 7 schools in one district and 8 schools in the other. Another possibility would be to move a school to another district (Rolla to Central Missouri joining Camdenton, Jeff City, Smith-Cotton, Rock Bridge and Hickman). Another possibility would be to divide the schools into 3 districts. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. (Note: the same thing will happen with the boys as in Class 3 as Carthage and Willard will move up from Class 2 and Branson will be a new program – so we should see how this plays out in August)

Class 2 - will include the following schools

Bolivar, Carl Junction (new program), Logan-Rogersville (new program), Marshfield, St. James (Could go to a district toward St. Louis), West Plains

With class 2, I would assume that we will only have 8 districts like the boys, but how that shakes out is anyone’s guess. Will we have a 5 or 6 team district in Southwest Missouri? Some new teams will get their shot at winning a District Championship as Catholic who has won the last 6 District Titles will be in the smaller class.

Class 1 – will include the following schools

Dixon (could go to a district toward Central Missouri), Greenwood, Laquey (could go to a district toward Central Missouri), Liberty (Mountain View), McAuley, Pleasant Hope,
Richland (could go to a district toward Central Missouri), Springfield Catholic

With class 1, I would also assume that we will only have 8 districts like the boys, but we’ll have to wait and see. How many teams will be grouped here will be the big question.

I think going to Three Classes for Girls Soccer is a good thing. It gives more teams the opportunity to pursue District and State Championships. For now we will all have to wait to see how the MSHSAA sorts out the District Assignments. For those of you who weren’t sure what was happening, I hope this shed’s a little light on the subject. If you are curious as to where I got most of this information, it is available in the MSHSAA Handbook which can be found on the MSHSAA website www.mshsaa.org.

What about Conference affiliation?

The MSHSAA doesn’t control Conference affiliation, but I think they consider Conference affiliation somewhat when making district assignments.

Will it cause a problem scheduling schools in the Districts? Is it that important to play all the teams in your District? At West Plains we don’t play most schools that are currently in our District, but our Conference schedule does a great job of preparing us for District Play, so playing everyone in the District isn’t a necessity, although it does help being familiar with an opponent.

Will a change in classes have any effect on Conference affiliation? I don’t know. There is always some talk about conferences changing, but it doesn’t always happen. Most recently we have seen the Central Ozark Conference expand to 15 teams (Not all of them play soccer) which will allow them to have an official Conference Champion in soccer for the first time this fall.

Adding a Class in soccer probably won’t affect Conference affiliations, but changing enrollments could be something that effect things. Schools on the fringe or that find drastic changes in their enrollments could change or be forced to change Conferences. When looking at Conference affiliation, you have to look at the big picture. Right now I think the Conferences as they are now seem to be a pretty good fit as far as schools being competitive. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens in the next few years.
========================

Thanks to Coach Schmitt for his contribution. He is also in the process of writing “In Pursuit Of A Championship: The History of High School Soccer in Southwest Missouri” - due out Spring 2009

http://www.pursuitofachampionship.info - Book Website
http://zizzersoccer.com - HS Soccer Website

You can read it here in their online version. Flip back to page 25 and then you’ll probably want to zoom in (button on top right).

Not my best work, I had one weekend to knock it out but if we can bring a few more kids into the game this way, it was worth it. What are your thoughts?

Workers completed most of the installation of synthetic turf at Bulldog Stadium this week. Though portions behind the end zone for track activities need to be finished, the field portion is completed and ready for football and soccer.

The UMKC Kangaroo’s, a Division I program in Kansas City, is adding women’s soccer in 2009. They are also building a $9 million dollar soccer complex!

The Stanley H. Durwood stadium is expected to be completed in time for the inaugural season of the UMKC women’s soccer team in 2009. Completion of the entire complex is anticipated by spring 2010. It will include the stadium, a premier four-lane track and a concession area. Offices and locker rooms will be built to house the men’s and women’s soccer teams, softball and men’s and women’s track and field.

The KC Wizards continue to move forward on their plans for a permanent home in 2010. They hinted at recent progress on the Hillcrest Road blog (named for the new stadium location) and Swope Park, their training facility, should have an artificial surface shortly. UPDATE - Down The Byline provides some deep background.

Finally, he has tried to be proactive and broaden the restaurant’s appeal, reaching out to new clientele. “We try not to blame it on the economy,” he said. “We try to find out other reasons for what’s happening and what we can do to promote business and bring other clientele in here.”

Recently, Coe said, he began courting soccer fans, who have few venues in Springfield to watch televised games. Coe signed up for an expanded cable package featuring soccer games and began posting invitations on soccer-oriented Web-sites.

“We’ve got a lot of soccer fans to come in daily now,” he said Tuesday, as several fans could be heard cheering a game in the background.

I enjoyed the MLS game Saturday night at Coester’s, featuring the LA Galaxy vs Chivas. Tuesday and Wednesday this week there will be Champions League semifinals at 1:30 pm. Come out for a late lunch and support my sponsor as well as help establish a new soccer tradition in this region. Information.

For those of you who have visited Coester’s, how about leaving a comment about your experience!

At least 30 girls had signed up to express an interest in the program, and most appeared to be on hand at the board meeting. “We support the proposal to add girls soccer,” he said. “Kids do better in school when they’re involved in activities. They do better in their studies and attendance, and they’re more likely to graduate.”

Reed after the meeting said that Carthage has had a boys soccer program since 1989. He said a first-year budget for the program will be between $20,000 and $25,000, a higher total the first year because of uniform purchases.

UPDATE - the Carthage Press chimes in with this additional tidbit

Carthage is entering the Central Ozark Conference (COC) next year and all but one school will have girls soccer – Webb City doesn’t have the sport and Republic will introduce it in the 2009-2010 school year.

In addition to soccer, the Ozark Tigers are out working to support hungry kids in Haiti.

Ozark Lady Tiger soccer players donated their time and energy on Thursday to help the Springfield organization Kids Against Hunger package food for children who are currently starving in the island nation of Haiti. The organization’s current goal is to package and send 100,000 meals to the children of Haiti.

Skyler Russell (pictured - Kickapoo Chiefs) has been playing for the Scott Gallagher U16 US Academy team and they just returned from a Florida tournament where they faced off against the US U16 National Team, losing 1-0. The Academy is the highest level of play in the country, designed to provide a model similar to the International Clubs that develop youth players for their adult teams. It has also been designated as the way USSF will identify future National Team players.

Just down the road in Joplin, Max Duncan (Joplin) has been traveling North to play for the KC Wizards Juniors who have just been accepted into the USSF Academy program beginning next year. Max’s U16 squad currently plays in the Midwest Regional League, in the First Division that includes the Springfield SC squad.

That’s the next step before the June election when TCLA is asking voters to approve a 3-percent increase in the lodging tax.

TCLA is interested in developing the lake area as a destination for soccer tournaments to bring in new visitors and generate additional revenue for the local economy.

The Lake-Sun Leader offers more details here

“Games are cancelled for a while since we no longer have soccer fields; we have a big lake,” Bishop said. “We’ll just have to wait until the water has receded and see how much damage has been done.”

The Middle School is located near the Roubidoux River which flows below I-44. The High School fields are located up the hill and are unaffected.

I saw Mike’s career win on Saturday and it was great taking in some quality games. But before I dive into your opportunities this week, I want to remind you about the Lake Country Soccer Open Forum tomorrow night. Tuesday March 25th, 6:00 - 8:00 pm, meet with the Board and share your thoughts on the long term direction that should be taken. Given the likelihood of cuts in the Parks Department, it’s very important for the soccer community to get out in front of any possible issues.

Speaking of getting in front of any issues, how many of you have seen the pictures of the AB Soccer Complex in Fenton? The helicopter photos last night showed the water was up to the 8th row on the main field which I figure puts the upper level fields under 4-6 feet of water. This photo is the entrance to the Park with #3 Field to the right under water, #1 Field in the background. I found some shots of the area around Fenton, including I-44 and 141 where the Taco Bell just West of the Soccer Park is located.

I wonder if Lake Country Soccer might be a better alternative for the State Soccer tournament this year?

The Springfield public school teams get started this week, including Kickapoo opening defense of their Sectional title by hosting Bentonville (AR) this evening. Keep an eye on Courtney Sanders for the Tigers. They’ll also play Lebanon (Tue), Catholic (Fri) and Rogers (AR) on Saturday.

Coach Tom Davidson at Ozark is two games away from earning his 500th win. His Lady Tigers will have three opportunities this week to reach the magic number. They open their season tomorrow in Waynesville, travel to Willard for a COC game on Friday and have their home opener on Saturday at 6:00 pm when Harrison (AR) comes for a game originally scheduled for last Thursday.

The Glendale Falcons play Friday for the first time when Rogers (AR) visits. Willard travels to Hillcrest tonight, Joplin hosts Catholic, the Zizzer’s travel to Poplar Bluff tomorrow and to Liberty Mountain View Friday to play the new girls team in the region. I’m still getting caught up on the calendars so I’ll have more later.

One final mention. The KC Wizards open their Major League Soccer season this Saturday at home. I was considering attending the game but it turns out I have a new sponsor. Coesters, at 631 S Kimbrough just West of the MSU Campus, has committed to becoming the home of the KC Wizards this season so that’s where you’ll find me Saturday night at 7:00 pm. I’ll have more details ASAP but consider joining me for Jackie Jewsbury’s latest professional campaign!