In Northern California when a soccer team makes it to the Section Finals they are basically guaranteed a spot in the state championship tournament with the winner hosting a home game and loser going on the road in the first round. 

The Analy High School Girls Soccer team made it to the North Coast Section Finals ranked number one in the Section.  They played the number two ranked team, Campolindo, and lost.  Both teams have a ticket to win the state title. 

However…..

“Surprisingly, the team held a postgame vote on Saturday and two-thirds of the players voted not to participate in the NorCal tournament and, thus, Analy’s season is now over…… (Analy Coach) Briones said she thinks the decision by the 14 girls who voted not to attend NorCal was based on obligations to club teams, injuries and the disappointment of losing in the NCS championship game. ”

This is a fairly disgraceful turn of events. 

My initial feeling is that Coach Briones should tell the team that the season is not over, apply for NorCals, and take the members that are dedicated to the team to the game.  Those that choose not to attend are making the choice to quit so they receive no recognition as varsity athletes; no letter, no awards, nothing.  They quit before the season was over. 

A much stronger feeling is that this is another sad result of “Briones said she thinks the decision by the 14 girls who voted not to attend NorCal was based on obligations to club teams….”.  There is a perception that AAU Basketball is the most invasive club program in Northern California and I would argue that club soccer is much, much worse.  Club soccer is the reason why an outdoor field sport had their season moved from Fall and Spring to season of November to March. 

Here’s a nice cost/benefit from the Sacramento Bee.  Scroll down to the list of positives and #1 is:

-It reduces conflicts with club soccer…

Too bad. 

And the Analy Girls Soccer team should be ashamed.