An interesting questions was posted in the comment section of the "priorities" article:
Just out of curiosity, what juniors teams that didn't have a great spring season last year are potential powerhouses for the fall?
Please leave your team's potential in the comments section...
Monday, August 28, 2006
2006/2007 Potential Powerhouses
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23 comments:
Watchung Hills lost only 2 starters to graduation, and has a large class of '09s, with strong recruiting from the class of '10s coming in.
Yeah, but Watchung Hills also sucks.
If Watchung Hills sucks, what about the several NJ teams that they've always crushed? Oh wait, they just suck more...
It seems Paideia should be at the top of the list for best hs team in 2006-2007. They return 3 Worlds players (including one of the team captains) and the Worlds head coach. I'm betting the experience they gained at this high level of competition will give them the experience boost to take Amherst.
I think the 5(?) Amherst players on the Worlds team all graduated.
the question is though, will Paideia be at easterns?
ive heard through the grapevine that these past few years they have missed because of prom, anyone have confirmation on this?
any word on the future?
How many players did the Western powerhouse schools graduate this past year? Specifically I'm thinking of Northwest (who i'm predicting to take Westerns again), Lakeside, Hopkins, South Eugene, Crescent Valley, etc.
Alameda lost 3 starters, holding onto 5 ringers, and is looking to stick around as a dominant force.
south lost 2 guys and 2 girls
I am far from partial, but look for Hopkins to continue to be a mid-west powerhouse. We lost a very large and very talented senior class, (I think 20+ in all, maybe 11 off of our A-team)however this in no way reflects on the skill level of our returning roster, which is filled with talent.
While I am less confident that Hopkins will be able to challenge the East and West powerhouses (Northwest L9-14, Amherst L10-15, Paideia W11-7, etc...)that have dominated many of the tournaments we attended, it will certainly be, in my opinion, the Midwest team to reckon with. The new class perhaps lacks some of the raw athleticism and play making ability that was present on the 05-06 team, however it is filled with experienced and savvy players who have competed at the highest high school level and are less prone to the streaky play so often characterized by Hopkins in the past.
Carl (Hopkins Hurt, Captain)
Speaking of Needham, they will be up there. They lost 2 kids to graduation, and only one of them was a starter. They now have a team with 13 or 14 seniors. They were 23rd in the Nation at the end of last year with a team of all juniors
Yeah, I saw a lot of the Needham kids at JEM this year and they were looking really good. Lead by Andrew Lunetta, they are going to be a force in the east. I would not be surprised if they took a good run at easterns.
Carl
None of my players have said anything, but I can comment a little about Churchill this coming 06/07 season.
We graduated a couple players who played with us in previous seasons, but will only lose one of our male starters: Ethan Smith-Gillespie, who peaked 2 years ago at Westerns 2005. Our fall season is mostly mixed, but for those schools who have teams in all three divisions (mixed, open, and girls), it looks like we'll have enough players to field 3 mixed teams (50+ players), meaning we'll have a Varsity and two JV teams. This is mostly due to last year's 8th grade MS program that graduated over 10 players... (a few who could make our varsity squads).
Our spring season will be strickly open & girls, something we've never really done. We hope to still participate at Slopfest VI, bring JV teams to Spring Reign, and then finish our season with OHSUC... but these will be mixed tournaments we'll attend for fun. Our spring experience will hopefully be dominated with open and girls play, namely at college tournaments we hope to get bids into. We will have enough open players to field two teams, but there won't really be a place to have our JV Open team play. Our girls team on the other hand had around 18 females last year. None of them graduated, and with only two senior returners (Autumn & Aubri), we should be setting ourselves up well in the future if we can continue to build our girls program.
Look to see our mixed team having a fun time this fall...
Look to see our open team avenging its' performance at this last Westerns...
Look to see our girls team to build upon its' 5th place finish this last spring at Westerns...
Deuce,
Thanks for the kind words. What I think you will see is that the top 8 or 10 teams in the country can all beat each other on any given day. Parity is coming and it is good for the sport at the high school level. Let's just hope we don't sacrifice the integrity of the games.
The Eugene teams will always be tough, especially now that Luke has the middle schools running down there and that they are committing to single gender for the entire spring.
Hopkins is a strong program in a big school. They have a great coaching staff and what looked to me like great parental support. Hopkins won't be rebuilding, they will be reloading, though I heard they sent one of their kids to the Seattle area. Our YCC program is going to really appreciate that as will whatever high school he attends.
The big four Seattle teams will all be solid.
And watch out for Vancouver. They have a great scene up there and when it goes single gender they will be very strong. Notice all the BC kids on the Canadian National Team.
Last little thing, I'm not sure where it started but we are not the Northwest School of Boys, we are in fact a coed school. The name is The Northwest School, well actually it is The Northwest School of the Arts, Humanities, and Environment but that is a little long for most of us.
-Mike Mullen, Northwest School Boys Coach
'their school will not let them attend any "national" tourne because of some reason. I think it has to do something with the VC sponsership'.
So drop the sponsorship, pay for your jerseys like every other high school team and go to easterns!!!! Come on, that can't be the reason but if it is then there is a simple solution to the problem!
No, it's not the reason. The reason the past 3 years, and likely for the next few, is Easterns is on the same weekend as graduation, not prom.
Haha, "won't be rebuilding, they'll be reloading," I like that. I've been looking for the right term to describe this season and rebuilding never had the right connotation.
Carl
Hopkins Hurt, Captain
Don't everybody froget about Wissahickon so fast. They might have lost the speedy Aman and the Great throws by Kyle, but I tell you what, watch out Pennsbury...they are coming for you!
With four people?
dont even worry about it, just worry about wissahickon's star juniors.
i miss gabe so much he is an outstnading player
South Eugene High School only lost 2 players from our open team. Most of our top players are back, and a few new additions from an experienced MS team will be a nice addition. Watch out for us at Westerns. We lost our two girl's captains, and the true gravity of their graduation has yet to be realized. I think that this could be a re-peak for south eugene after our great year my freshman year (2004 3rd place at natties). We always get counted out because we don't have a coach, but watch yourself. The competition on the west coast is stiff though.
what about pennsbury? they lost 1 senior last year and led philly to a ycc championship this summer. they have a very athletic core and should give some of the top teams in the country a run for there money. also last year when they played amherst at the amherst invatational they scored nine. only one team put up more and thats hopkins with 10.
YEH HOPKINS!
LETS GO
Just to set the record straight on Paideia, they will not be attending Easterns becuase it is the same weekend as graduation. Paideia attending the Amherst Invitational is also up in the air becuase it is the weekend beofre finals.
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