Chasing History

[Soccerfan1]

How many goals should a coach, team, school "allow" an athlete to score in a soccer game, if chasing a record (school, local, state)?

Example, a player needs 5 goals to tie 6 goals to break a record.... should coach let him/her score that many against a less than equal opponent? Or play a normal game as if the record does not exist?

Love to hear your thought!!

[4thgoal]

I think overall the idea of chasing these kinds of records has been replaced by sportsmanship and respecting your opponent. If you look at the state record book for goals in a game (minimum 7), there are 30 records listed, but only 4 of them are within the last 10 years. Does this mean kids aren't capable of scoring that many?.....of course not. The same is shown in the team goals scored in a game section (minimum of 18). There are 22 scores listed, but the most recent one was in 2005. I think the same can be said here and that I am guessing there have been many cases where a team could have put 18+ on a lesser opponent, but a coaching decision prevented this.

[Soccerfan1]

I think overall the idea of chasing these kinds of records has been replaced by sportsmanship and respecting your opponent. If you look at the state record book for goals in a game (minimum 7), there are 30 records listed, but only 4 of them are within the last 10 years. Does this mean kids aren't capable of scoring that many?.....of course not. The same is shown in the team goals scored in a game section (minimum of 18). There are 22 scores listed, but the most recent one was in 2005. I think the same can be said here and that I am guessing there have been many cases where a team could have put 18+ on a lesser opponent, but a coaching decision prevented this.

How about an individual record? Most goals in career? Most assists in career? Again, school records, local/league records, or as you mentioned state records?

[4thgoal]

How about an individual record? Most goals in career? Most assists in career? Again, school records, local/league records, or as you mentioned state records?

I don't have a problem chasing any record, but get it done early in the match so you aren't pushing the score to 14-0 just to get a record. I don't have a problem if the score ends up 14-0, but it shouldn't be a starting striker that scores goals 13 & 14.

[Falcon01]

A really good player won't need a coach to help them chase records. However a really good player shouldn't be chasing records late in a blowout. Or even playing for that matter.

[danicalifornia]

My biggest issue is when the history is being done late in a blowout. If you get your school record or whatever early-ish in the 2nd half of a blowout, that’s fine, because you still need to play.

I worry more about a kid getting injured by a frustrated opponent in a blowout than I do about hurting another team’s feelings too. I mean, earlier this week I saw a team taking late tackles in a game that they were being blown out in.

[AthensSoccerFan]

A really good player won't need a coach to help them chase records. However a really good player shouldn't be chasing records late in a blowout. Or even playing for that matter.

Falcon01 is right--the high school record doesn't really matter when it comes to college soccer because everyone knows that there are teams that have different levels of players and sometimes the contest will be very uneven. And on the boys side, playing high school soccer instead of developmental academy is a huge disadvantage for most serious players, who find that even if they are really good and play for a really good club team that plays in the top leagues that most D1s, D2s and good NAIAs like Rio Grande aren't very interested or will take you but not play you (there are exceptions but there is also a lot of attrition).

Which is why I'm wondering why so many high school coaches, particularly on the boy's side, allow the score to become completely lopsided. Today, I looked at the paper and saw that a brand new, first year team lost to last year's district winners by a score of 19-1. Who really benefits from this kind of game? Do you really want the first year soccer program to fold after one year because the players are so discouraged that they decide to do something else? Why is it that this never happens in club soccer, where the coaches seem to have no problem controlling the team and knowing how to pull back (for the most part)?

[bball30]

On the topic of chasing history (and not the unnecessary padding of scoring records), the Alexander program now sits at 299 wins. One more and they hit the 300 mark. Very commendable.

[AthensSoccerFan]

On the topic of chasing history (and not the unnecessary padding of scoring records), the Alexander program now sits at 299 wins. One more and they hit the 300 mark. Very commendable.

I agree. Alexander is a well run program. The girls side is doing very well too. The team is newer--the program is less than 10 years old.