On Twitter Friday, Lou Fusz Athletic released their initial team list with Coaches,including identifying the teams that would be competing in the Girls Academy this Fall. It’s a first step towards restructuring the girls program that will move them more towards a model implemented at SLSG several years ago where players are placed on teams rather than recruited by coaches/teams individually. So let’s look at the foundation so when we look back in a few years, we can see how it began. Lou Fusz Athletic Girls Soccer Coaches Announced
First item – it looks like the club has done a good job of bringing in some youth coaches that are current college players or recent graduates. Lauren Lottman (Marquette/UMSL ’20) and Katie Nash (Summit/Maryville ’23) along with Daniel Placke (Webster Groves ’19) are familiar names. Placke follows in his father’s footsteps, after playing playing baseball, soccer and basketball for St. Michael’s with my nephew Eric for six years, all coached by his father. He was a key contributor in goal for the Webster Groves Statesmen in his senior year. Lauren played for Wendy Dillinger at UMSL who I would guess had a hand in bringing Lauren to the club, after joining the club as Director of Jr. Blue Stars.
Lou Fusz Athletic has announced they will compete in the Girls Academy (DPL registration) as well as the USYSA Midwest Conference (Affinity registration) in the Club v Club Division. In addition, I anticipate that they will also compete in the USYSA National League (GotSoccer registration) as well as the Missouri State Cup (Affinity registration) If they also have teams competing in SLYSA (GotSoccer registration) with five teams in every age group except 2007, that will be a treat for their Registrar who will need to manage three different registration systems. So let’s look at what their lineups across the three primary competition platforms might be.
GIRLS ACADEMY The team has identified the Coaches for the six Girls Academy teams that will compete in the new league. Of note, Lindsey Bryant has joined the club. Wife of Paul Bryant, better known as STLDigital, she has apparently brought her National Presidents Cup champions from Sporting STL to their neighbor on the other side of 141. For the 2005 age group, David Critchley has now taken responsibility for a girls team. As I understand it, the Lou Fusz Geerling team was coached by McKee/McVey during the 2019 HSG State Cup. I suspect Chritchley’s team may consist of a number of the Geerling team who finished second nationally in 2019 after qualifying via National League. The 2003 National Champion team, previously coached by Cal McKee, will now by handled by Pat McVey.
GIRLS ACADEMY COACHES 2008, Jake Cawsey, 2007, Lindsey Bryant, President’s Cup National Champions 2006, Cal McKee, 2005, David Critchley, see note above 2004, Cal McKee, 2003, Pat McVey, National Champions & 2020 NCS qualified via NL
MIDWEST CONFERENCE/NATIONAL LEAGUE/STATE CUP I thought I might be able to break this out by the three primary competitions but it got a bit complicated so instead I’ve got background and some possibilities.
The Midwest Conference Club v Club Division was recently announced. Lou Fusz Athletic is part of Bracket A that includes three local programs plus two from Chicago and one each from Michigan and Nebraska. The competition lineup is defined this way
Teams in each bracket of the Club vs. Club Divisions will play within their own brackets (no crossover matches) to determine the final standings. To determine who advances to the annual USYS Midwest Regional Championships, a playoff will take place at the end of the season. The highest placed teams from each bracket — that have not already qualified for Regionals by winning their State Cup — will meet to determine the age group’s Club vs. Club Division representative at Regionals.
Midwest Conference Girls Club vs. Club Division | Fall 2020 Brackets BRACKET A Chicago Inter Soccer (IL) Team Chicago (IL) Lou Fusz Athletic (MO) Sporting STL (MO) St. Louis Scott Gallagher (MO) Midwest United FC (MI) Sporting Omaha (NE)
NATIONAL LEAGUE Announces New Structure Beginning with the 2020-2021 season, the traditional format of the USYS National League will be adapted into the ALL NEW USYS National Showcase Series that is accessible to teams competing in ANY of the USYS Conferences, among others. This change will offer greater access to national programming within the National League structure while continuing to provide teams with an avenue to compete against the best teams from across the country.
WHO’S WHO So the next question is who will play where. The gallery of photos below provides a screen shot for the age group with the National ranking for the Missouri teams. A look at the roster of teams and where they finished last year. One note: GotSoccer is an incomplete picture but it does offer a starting point. Best example I can offer is the 2003 listing. The National Champion Lou Fusz Blue team is ranked #17 nationally? The second team listed is also Lou Fusz Blue so use these lists with a grain of salt.
2008: The Liz Gaudy coached White Star squad comes in at #6 and McDevitt at #11 with two additional teams that are in the Top 20. 2007: Blue Star Premier are top of the table despite playing up (2008) while the 2007 Red squad is #22 2006: Phillips is the top-ranked LFA team at the moment, #4 in Missouri while ##8 Lawrence and #11 Puszkar are the other teams in the Top 25. Phillips finished 4th in their 1st Division of the Midwest Conference last Fall, not enough to be promoted normally but could slot into Club v Club easily. 2005: I mentioned the Geerling team situation above, Tottleben is ranked just below them and are defending State Cup Champions as well as a returning Midwest Conference team if that is the way the currents run. They finished 5th in Premier I last Fall. The Otec brothers have a pair of teams in the Top 15 while Dodd is #11 and the McVey team is at #18 on the list. 2004: The McKee squad was the top LFA team last Fall and finished 2nd in their Midwest Conference 1st Division competition but are headed for GA. Nabours had a pair of teams in the Top 11 in the State. I see that Nick Valenti has joined the club after being part of Missouri Rush for a number of years. Matt Hearty is also the Girls Coach at Webster Groves (I’m guessing they misspelled his name) 2003: Phillips was a State Cup semifinalist while Senter and Wayland are both Top 25 and had a combined team last Fall.
One thing stands out for me and that it’s going to be a challenge to to sort out final rosters for the Academy teams in most instances followed by the Club-v-Club rosters and coaches.
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2003 Girls
2004 Girls
2005 Girls
2006 Girls
2007 Girls
2008 Girls
https://twitter.com/LouFuszSoccer/status/1269051562321743873?s=19
Lou Fusz Athletic Girls Soccer Coaches Announced
Lou Fusz Athletic Girls Soccer Coaches Announced On Twitter Friday, Lou Fusz Athletic released their initial team list with Coaches,including identifying the teams that would be competing in the Girls Academy this Fall.