High School Soccer

You are absolutely right!! My son, Brandon Richter#21 co-captain plays for Jericho. We as you know lost last night to Great Neck North 8-7 in penalty kicks. After these kids killed themselves for practically 2 hours. We lost because it came down to a kid who hadn't played the entire season, taking a kick a missing. What a bad way to end a season! It just isn't a fair way! Your thoughts certainly make sense and hopefully by the time my 8th grader gets to play in a varsity playoff, things will have changed.
By the way, Newsday was at Hofstra last night, taking many shots, how would I go about getting copies?
Please advise. I really enjoy reading your columns. I wish you had been able to write up last nights game, because the columnist who did write it up, did so very one-sided. No mention about the way Jericho played, almost as if there was only 1 team playing last night!!
You should pass this information on to the writer.
Regards, Ken Richter, Jericho parent and longtime soccer supporter

I have recently discussed this matter with a club coach at a section game in section I. I totally agree that shootouts should be taken out of all soccer competitions. It should come down to this:
two ten minute OT. Then another 10 "golden goal with 9 players. Then 7 v 7 until a goal is scored (no time). The game is made up endurance and we should keep it that way. I have coached two pk shootouts and won both of them (I still don't like it).

The average midfielder runs 4-5 miles in a regulation game. Add an extra 40 minutes of overtime and then fewer players covering the same ground for time after that and you are risking the health of high school players. A shootout is how tied soccer games are decided at all levels from HS to the World Cup. It may be anti-climactic, but that's the game. Changing the rules by pulling players off the field would be a much more gimmicy gimmic.

I agree that a shootout is not the best way to end a game. But, how does running a 7v7 drill make it more legitmate? In that scenario, you're taking almost half the team off the field in order to decide an entire season. If you want to make OT 2-20 minute halves, I would no problem with that - but making it a free fall with limited players on the field seems more ridiculous than ending it in a shootout. After 120 minutes of play, both teams would have had plenty of chances to win their game through the run of play.

I see what your saying but to change the game that has been the same for so long is silly and your way just complicates a simple game that is fine like it is. I personally like shootouts.

As a player for 15 or so years, playing all my life, I do agree it sucks that a game has to come down to a shootout and lose, but that's the way it goes. On the other hand, I will agree that the OT should be longer, maybe 20-25 minute halves. You can't just take the shootout out of the game. That's the way it's played and there's nothing anyone can/should do about it. After 120 or so minutes of play, there are enough chances for a team to convert and if there isn't, then there's something wrong with that team. Some teams play for a shootout and that's someone's style of play. If you take the shootout out of the game, who knows how long you can go for. It won't be right without the shootout (after 120+ minutes).

To Ken Richter, hope you feel better mentioning a kid who "never played" costing your son Brandon Richter # 21 co-captain the countys. I also hope that your 8th grader doesn't have that happen to him (or hes not the one taking that 8th kick). I'm pretty sure that the other parents of and the players on your sons team know you and stay away!

No its not my son, dont even have a son playing soccer, but my daugher does and I am a fan of how hard all these kids work.

PKs are a questionable way to end a hard fought game, but if its good enough for FIFA when there is big money on the line who can argue? Especially when these kids have to get up the next morning and go to school.

Misplaced passion is what is ruining youth sports and you are the poster parent!

WRONG, this is how soccer is played, not a 7-7 drill. Leave it how it is.

Hey Ken Richter. Is it right to be singling out a player because he didn't play all season. How would you feel if that was your kid that missed the kick to end somebody elses year. Grow up a little alright. Shootouts are the way the game is played. If you don't like have your kid play another sport. I remember my high school team, when we made it to the county finals and the state semi's the following year, we had won 4 rounds in shootouts. So as an ex-player of the game and with friends and relatives playing still, don't blame it on the kid that missed becaue he didn't play, blame it on the kdis that couldn't put the ball in the mesh during the 120 minutes of regulation.

Ken Richter is correct when he said it was a kid who never played. The kid is a very talented young player but played on the JV level all year. That was the first time he ever stepped onto the varsity playing field. So, Ken was not incorrect in what he said, he just did not explain further. On a side note, if half of the high school players had a heart like Brandon Richter they would be in the county finals as well. No one works harder for a whole game then that kid.

To Ken Richter and Hugh Likbols, I am a 16 year old student at Great Neck North and I was at the game last night and I absolutely agree that a shootout is not the way to go about finishing a playoff game. That game last night was an incredible game; hard fought and very intense. Both teams were excellent. Ken, your son Brandon was excellent and I found myself wowed at times by his blazing speed. However, back to the topic of the shootout, the kid that missed the kick for Jericho last night was in fact a Junior Varsity call-up and I really do not understand why he was kicking. My aunt is the Assistant Principal at Jericho High School, Joan Rosenberg, and my cousin is a senior, Marc Rosenberg, and all three of us agreed that that sophomore should not have kicked the PK. The unfortunate thing about the miss is that he might never be the same today, and the sad thing is that our keeper is good friends with that kid and informed me that he could not go to school today. What a shame. However, Hugh, don't go ripping apart Mr. Richter because that is not necessary. I have a feeling that you were not at the game last night to see what an amazing game it really was. I feel bad for that sophomore that missed the kick and Jericho played an awesome game, they have nothing to be ashamed of and I just hope that kid can get over that missed PK. My dad is a former soccer player at Jericho High School and him and I were talking about how it should not have to come down to PKs because that is a terrible way to end a playoff game let alone a County Championship game.

Last I can recall soccer is a team sport. Perhaps if # 21, co-captain, could've found the net during the game or if the Jericho keeper would've stopped just 1 PK or if, if ,if...... Bottom line the entire team put the weight of winning the game on this boys shoulders and he stepped up and gave it his best shot.

To Hugh Likbols and who else is singling out Ken Richter,
Why don't you find out what it feels like for your kid to have the game ride on the shoulders of a sophmore jv player who has never step n a varsity field before. He was just trying to make a point about how a shootout puts too much pressure on a high school kid. In no way was he putting down the kid or pointing him out in a negative manner. You guys should take a look at yourself in the mirror and put even your own kid in that situation. And to question this shootout thing again, in the state finals, there are no shootouts. If tied after 4 short OT periods, both teams are crowned co-State Champions. So why the shootout in the County finals? I don't see much of a difference. Extend the overtimes so the kids get a flow of the game and not chop it up into small increments of time. I would like to see the percentage of games that went into overtime, how many of them went into a shootout. I'd bet a majority of them went to a shootout.

Shootouts are part of the game.
Shootouts are exciting. Games won in this fashion have long lasting, exciting memories for the participants.
Shootouts bring out the skills of players under pressure.

How many times did the Jericho coach have all of his players practice PKs this week?
Did he keep track of who the best 10 were?
If this soph was part of the top 10, he deserved to be there. If he wasn't, shame on the coach!

Highly paid professionals sometimes miss PKs. This soph has nothing to be ashamed of.

Be thankful your team didn't lose a playoff game due to serious mistakes by the officials. I know of two matches that were impacted by the officials within the last week.

Clearly some of you have never played nor officiated soccer. PK's are perhaps the most exciting part of the game. I have 25 years of playing experience and 15 years under my belt as a referee, and whenever there are PK's the entire soccer complex shows up to watch. It's unfortunate that an entire season can come down to penalty kicks, but if a team can't convert in regulation more times than their opponent, maybe they don't deserve to win. Kids these days are so incredibly pampered it's disturbing. They have been sheltered from what it feels like to lose a game, get cut from a team, etc. all becuase parents throw their weight around. What's going to happen when these kids get into the real world if they can't handle losing a HS soccer playoff game? Mommy and Daddy aren't going to be around to complain and blow everything out of proportion on some local newspaper's blog.

And for that parent whose child lost a playoff game becuase of a "kid that never plays" ... if that kid was on the line taking a PK, the rules of the game state that he had to be on the field at the end of OT to be eligible to take a PK in the first place. If he was good enough to be on the field during critical overtime periods, he's good enough to take PK's. Why not blame the Jericho keeper for letting in more goals than GNN's keeper let in? Only 5 kids from each team (adding 1 additional as needed to determine a winner) take PK's ... having that boy take a PK was the coaches decision.

I've heard the argument that you should take people off the field to determine the winner of an OT game in soccer before, but I don't really understand how it's supposed to work. The players have played 100 or whatever minutes of soccer, they're exhausted...so you solve the problem by taking guys off the field, making the rest of the players cover even more ground and do even more work? I don't really have a better solution, and I hate PKs as well...but this seems like it would lower the quality of play enough that it wouldn't be much better.

To Jericho fan ( Ken is that you answering your own posts?) and Jared, never disputed that it was a hard fought game, just how 1 player was named as the reason you lost. The blog question was what you thought about PKs settling a game! Jared, do you think all those people you named are happy about being recognized here? I would bet a lot of money that they are not too happy. As for Brandons heart and blazing speed, I will be looking for him on TV next year in the NCAA D1 playoffs and maybe on the national team.

Jared, you are young so you get a pass.

Ken, do you know eubonics? Say my name slowly.......

Maybe shootouts aren't the best solution, but 7v7 games are definately not the way to find out who is better at soccer. That's just seeing who can run around the longest - if you want that, go watch a track meet. As a varsity goalkeeper myself, I think that it's pretty fair to determine tied games with a shootout - it shows which team can handle shooting under pressure, and which team has enough talented players to score/save the PK's.
Ken - If you needed a kid to shoot who had never played for varsity before, then perhaps you didn't deserve to win the game anyway - your team obviously was unable to score enough during regulation. That's just how it goes sometimes. And yes, the game might have been amazing, and your kid might be awesome, but that doesn't mean that you lost because an 8th grader couldn't score a penalty kick. In every game, there are so many scenarios that could be much different if only one play or pass was changed. So - get over the fact that you lost, and next season, maybe the coach will have the team work on PK's. Face it - shootouts are part of the game, and just because you have a problem with it doesn't mean it's going to go away.

matthew and soccer player and ref: for your info.both teams were crowned Nassau County A Champions. the PKs were taken to determine a winner so one team can move on in the playoffs.soccer ref, you must not be a h.s. official because the rule was changed a number of years ago that to participate in a PK shootout, you dont have to be on the field at the conclusion of the game.know the rules before you make that statement. 7 games in Nassau went to overtime and 7 games went to PKs.take it from someone who saw all the games.

Teams that win in regulation find away to overwelm the defense.Massapequa somehow found away to do it and avoid pk's. The GNN/Jericho match was a great match and I don't ever remember feeling upset when the soph missed the kick. But you
knew that was the only ending with somebody not delievering.
Co-champs and the game has to end. Great talent on display throughout and I hope the seniors can get into the college of their
choice for their efforts. Good luck in the next round to the victors!

my point exactly, and maybe some of the other peoples' points: these short overtime periods don't settle anything, so why have them? they need to make the overtimes longer so games won't always have to be settled by PKs. and i do agree that PKs is one of the most exciting events in sports, but it shouldn't come down to PKs as much as it has (partially because the overtimes are soo damn short).

you cant go and be taking people off and keep playing because then the game would last for so long and when you get to that point thats when people start to get hurt. yes, maybe they should extend the overtime a little longer but not the take one off to 7-7. what they should do, like the pro's and unlike the nhl, they should have it were only the people who are on the field at the time the ot ends doing the PK. or have a list of 5 kids and those are the people who do the PK. i really like the PK because it shows that you have an all around good tim, you have a good anuff goalie and you have people who can score. i really dont think people should be complaining tho because they could have it like lacrosse where theres one fielder and a goalie per team

hey hugh likbols, maybe if you were at the jericho great neck north game people would care about what you say and agree, but you have no idea the incredible game that was played #21 Brandon Richter played with so much heart and enthusiasm that it was a shame to see them lose. When you talk bad about something you should really know what happened instead of talking without knowledge. I wish you would of attended that game, you would be mad at yourself for talking so porely. It was wrong of the coach to bring the whole season down to one junior varsity kid. It's terrible seeing people like hugh likbols talking bad about things he has no idea about and is making a shame of high school soccer.

to Hugh Likbols, why don't you understand the situation, nobody is blaming the kid who missed the kick, we were just saying its not the right way to end a game of such magnitude and to put so much pressure on any kid, if its the captain like myself or any kid on the whole roster. obviously i should have worked harder and tried to score during the game but it just didnt happen, i dont think your tone is necessary answering questions like that. yea im mad we lost but nobody is blaming anyone here and you should take your unneccessary bs somewhere else

I have been involved with soccer as a player and coach for almost 40 years. No player or coach whose team has dominated a game walks away from a PK decision feeling gratified either as a winner or loser. I played in a Suffolk County Championship in 1973. Our team was overmatched and outplayed and after overtimes we lost on total corner kicks. This concept makes alot more sense than PK's. The best way is to play under the lights which is not difficult these days and play until a real winner is determined. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST, you might say.

Well I do agree that soccer, like most sports, is a team game, but the fact is the rules have been established. In every game a strategy can be played to those rules, such as, intentionally walking a player in baseball, fouling in basketball just so they won't score, or pass interference in football to stop people from making a touchdown pass. It's part of the rules for a reason, and there is plenty of strategy to play to these rules. What's been suggested is very peculiar, it eliminates the ability to play towards a rule.

Also, I love how everyone is basically dicounting the goalkeeper, it's their job to keep the ball out and the players job to get the ball in. It's like everyone's saying it's impossible for a goalie to stop the score and it's a shame if they do stop it.

They've been playing for 100+ minutes, and the game hasn't been decided, it obviously has to change because the game is going no where. If the team thinks "Hmm I could run up the clock until it's a shootout, I'm pretty sure my team could win", they should be able to use that strategy. Otherwise that's like telling a football team, or basketball team they can't run out the clock. I'm sorry that your team lost, but the fact is, they went in with full knowledge of the rules, and they should have counted on the fact it might come down to a shootout. They were illprepared and the other team wasn't. You shouldn't change rules because they worked against your team.

Now as far as it not being an individual sport you're absolutely right, but the goal keeper is an individual position. They do their job in penalty kicks just like in regulation time. If they need to rely on the other players, maybe they shouldn't be the goalie. I've seen incredible saves from goalies so hey don't try to ruin a potential spotlight moment for them.

Instead of lashing out at the rules, why not try to use them to your advantage. Be strategic rather than just athletic. If you don't want to see people doing that don't watch sports.