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What is everyone's opinion on the SOC girls teams this year?

SOC 1...it's Clay's to lose. Lost some senior starters and most importantly Hempill, BUT they still have depth, height, and their younger players gained a lot of experience in the tournament. As long as Curley is back to 100% come the beginning of the season along with Spriggs they will be tough to beat.

Looking forward to the upcoming season.

It may be there's to lose but do not count out symmes valley. Much improved.

who is Spriggs ? she play last year ? I agree about Clay. Didn't they get a NB or East transfer thats a good player ? Good guard play that limits turnovers and gets your team shots (like Curly does ) is what wins championships . SV looks good in the shootouts , girls giving great effort for new coach.

Spriggs was a junior guard coming off the bench last season so she'll be a senior, but tore her ACL at a game in New Boston about mid-season. Curley was playing club soccer in Dayton earlier this spring and tore her ACL as well. So hopefully these girls will be at 100% for the season because they will be a huge part of Clay's success. Not sure about the transfer, I haven't heard anything.

losing Curley would be huge, best guard in league easily. League will be very even with lots of upsets IMO, no superstar team to dominate , road wins will be hard to get.

Just a thought aout Notre Dame: They didnt lose any seniors from last year, add a few talented freshman, and IMO have a chance at the convo again this year.

lot of question marks still with ND. Can they score enough to beat people ? (outside of Arnzen who will score) Can they get enough shots up without turning the ball over 25 plus times a game ? what will the line up look like once the season gets here ? They are putting in the time and working hard, will it translate to that elusive SOC title ? lot of experience and talent . size --check rebounding -check good D ? check speed ? double check offense ? ? ? MD

Well it sounds like Clay will have the advantage and sounds pretty
Good for Notre Dame also. Symmes Valley has to cut way down on
Turnovers to stay competitive, although they are a young team for the current season they will return Next year with the same exact girls plus a couple freshman that might help.
What I haven't heard is anything about Eastern. I know they lost Staker and Rowe,
So Who steps up and fills those shoes?? That's a lot of points to account for but I feel
Eastern will be ready, they always are!
Not sure about Green, Western or New Boston Should be an interesting season!
Good luck girls!!

Don't sleep on Western this year they return the Reaer kid and 6'1 Coleson kid ,Rhoads,Gragg, Jackson,Russle, and a 6'1 freshmen Woods they are very young but big for our league . If they are in shape they can make some teams scared this year.

what grade are the players you mention coming back ? How many seniors did Western lose ? no offense but they were not very good last season.

I believe Western beat Clay last season, so obviously they had to be pretty good. Clay doesn't just lose to lose. Western apparently was athletic enough to do so.

yes , in the earliest part of the year Western got a W over Clay . But they also lost 3 times to Notre Dame who finished in the middle of the pack somewhere . finishing the middle or lower 1/2 of a pretty weak conference is not "pretty good" at least IMO. MD

Not to take anything away from Western because a win is a win, but there were definitely some coaching issues for Clay in that game IMO. Once everything between coach and players came together we all saw how well Clay could play.

Curley, Spriggs, Redding, Whitley, Jenkins, Pelfrey are going to be the go-to girls for the team with some contributions from Carter. I said it last season and I'll say it again this season....Clay's success will be determined by Curley's confidence in handling the ball and scoring points along with Spriggs' aggressiveness.

Not taking anything away from Clay, they are a good program. But all it takes is one game to make a difference in a conference championship. Western beating Clay gave Eastern the opportunity to take 1st place alone, and sure enough they did by winning at Clay. This next season should be a good one.

I agree run-n-gun..and I mentioned on here after they lost at Western that it would probably cost them the SOC I Title. IMO Clay has an advantage on most SOC teams because of their depth. Surprisingly, Clay was one of the only teams with a full JV team so that could prove to be an advantage late in games as far as giving the starters time to rest throughout the game.

Looking forward to the season!

SOC teams that refuse to put in the effort (or maybe too short staffed to get it done) to schedule JV games are cutting their own throat. hats to Clay and i'm sure it will pay off (just getting kids playing time instead of burried on the bench helps a ton , keeps kids from wanting to quit) MD

What teams had a full JV team last year and should this season?

Yes, Clay having a full JV team will highly benefit them every year. You can practice all you want, but when it comes down to execution and winning, playing time and experience makes all the difference.

Clay has the potential to win the SOC 1, if all hinges on Curley's return, they have a good group that can play togehter, but you have to have a ball handler and Curley gives them that and she can score, play defense..also beleive that if Redding can play to her potential, as I have seen her in the past, it will give them a inside outside threat. Sounds like Spriggs can be the other guard to help Curley. But you have to pay the game and still dont know what other kids and other teams have put inthe work.