A reminder to parents about this tournament and the way that the matchups are set.
The philosophy and the spirit of the Belmont Cup is to give every player in the U10, U12, & U14 division the chance to have a fun and competitive tournament experience. Keep in mind that for the vast majority of these players, this is the only tournament they will play in. As such, the system in place over the years has been to have teams play other teams that are no more that 4 places above or below them in the standings. The idea behind this is that every team comes into the tournament with the chance to win at least 1 game. Therefore, the 1st place team plays the 4th and 5th, not the last place team. The 2nd place team plays the 3rd & 6th, 3rd plays 2nd & 7th, 4th plays 1st & 8th, etc. As a result, the top 4 or 5 teams are the ones that usually complain, and all of the rest think that things are fine.
Keep in mind that the winner of the Belmont Cup is simply the winner of the Belmont Cup. That team doesn’t go on to represent our region in any other capacity. It just won our end-of-the-season-fun-for-everyone tournament. Our regional representative is determined by the season results, which are done before this tournament starts. The goal of the tournament is not to have the 1st or 2nd place team get to beat the last or second to last place team 7-0 again. The goal is for every team and every player to have a chance at a competitive game or two, and finish their soccer season on a good note.
We believe that our past and current approach provides the most good for the most kids, and that’s what AYSO is all about. Let's have a great tournament!
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