Titel: US Under 19 Team

All in all it was a good season for USA. I know your feelings of disappointment. Last week was a killer loss for the senior team, as was this week. Well at least the U21 had a good game. If you are running again next season I will vote for ya.

Hey thanks.

Yeah it was a pretty tough group. I knew that between hungary, italy, and latvia, it would be hard to advance. I saved a bit of energy on a couple of the early games against the tougher opponents (hoping to win home games down the stretch), but it still might not be enough. We pretty much need to win against hungary, or need latvia to lose against belarus (unlikely).

Definitely not down and out... considering that hungary has nothing to gain by spending energy... but it's looking like we'll probably end up missing the qualification by goal differential (since hungary is damn good even if they play on Normal). That's a tough pill to swallow.

Regardless though, it was a bit of an uphill battle considering the attrition that we've had in handball. I agree with you that we had a damn good season (CWC and Champions League included) internationally.

Just doing a quick inventory of the players that will be lost due to "aging up:"

Wilfred Crabtree - Off. RB
Rolland Benedict - Off. UB
Leroy Booker - Off. UB

Ted Keenan - Def. RB
Emerson Pickering - Def. LB
Cary Ward - Def. LB
Daryl Hamby - Def. UB

Rafael Fairchild - Off. LW
Patrice Marquez - Off. Leaning / Balanced UW
Rod Taylor - Def. Leaning / Balanced LW

Wayne Wilcox - Def. Leaning / Balanced Pivot

Marty Geese - Goalie
Vince Burns - Goalie

Of these... the losses of Wilfred Crabtree , Rolland Benedict , Ted Keenan , Emerson Pickering , Cary Ward , Marty Geese , and Vince Burns will sting quite a bit (especially since the losses encompass all but 2 of the team's Backs - offensive AND defensive)

We do have a number of younger guys on the team, who are ready to take on more responsibility in the slots left vacant. Stu Jones Will take on even more responsibility next season as the team's best offensive back. Gabriel Childs will take on a much more prominent roll as well at that position.

While he's not a specialist, Franklyn Clark will fill the def. pivot spot next season. He's a solid player, and being more balanced, might actually be more of a factor on the fast break. I just hope we don't miss the extra 50 points of BLK on the defensive side.

With the loss of both Marty Geese and Vince Burns , Nathaniel Cunningham will take on a much heavier load next season. Here's hoping he holds up and stays healthy. I'll be adding a couple more goalies to back him up, but he'll be the de-facto starter in most/all of our competitive matchups.

On a bright note (this season at least), our starting wings won't really change at all. We certainly lost some depth at the position, but I'd rather have youngsters fill those depth spots anyways (with future seasons in mind). Next season's graduation will leave us scrambling for wings just like this season has left us scrambling for Backs.

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But that's all for now... I'll post a list of players I'm considering for next season (and any anticipated adjustments to the existing roster) when I get around to doing the necessary legwork.

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Goalies:
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The following players were considered for goaltending positions:

Nathaniel Cunningham - age: 19 / 5 CL / 1047 OR / 82 EQ
Marcus Bruneau - age: 18 / 5 CL / 833 OR / 79 EQ
Tony Rice - age: 19 / 5 CL / 876 OR / 74 EQ
Deke Sharpe - age: 18 / 5 CL / 782 OR / 75 EQ
Lysander Feldman - age: 18 / 5 CL / 709 OR / 75 EQ
Arden Corcoran - age: 17 / 6 CL / 654 OR / 85 EQ
Jordy Duarte - age: 17 / 6 CL / 691 OR / 77 EQ
Erwin Copeland - age: 17 / 5 CL / 689 OR / 78 EQ
Daryl Marshall - age: 16 / 6 CL / 578 OR / 79 EQ

I've decided to call on Nathaniel Cunningham , Marcus Bruneau , and Erwin Copeland . Nathaniel Cunningham will start pretty much every important game with Marcus Bruneau as his backup. Erwin Copeland will play in friendlies only, and is on the team to gain chemistry for coming seasons.

Deciding between Erwin Copeland , Jordy Duarte , and Arden Corcoran for the last spot was actually pretty tough. I decided to fill the 3rd slot with Erwin Copeland because of the following reasons:
1) Copeland will train all year at a level 15 Training Facility and the majority of the year at a level 13 Regen Facility (compared to 12/10 for Arden Corcoran and 13/12 for Jordy Duarte ).
2) Copeland's OR is currently the highest, and as a result of the above, will likely continue to be through the next couple of seasons.

If there are any injuries to our starting 2 goalies, I'll likely call the best goalie available at that time (Tony Rice is sitting in that seat at the moment) to fill in as a 4th option.

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Offensive Backs:
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After considering countless backs for the team, the following players made it onto the short list for offensive back:

Caleb Pressley Universal
19 years old / 5 CL
1026 OR / 76 EQ
exp: 11
Stu Jones Left
19 years old / 5 CL
1081 OR / 83 EQ
exp: 13
Gabriel Childs Universal
19 years old / 5 CL
1011 OR / 78 EQ
exp: 11
Enrico Dye Right
19 years old / 5 CL
859 OR / 80 EQ
exp: 14
Dwayne Moore Right
19 years old / 5 CL
863 OR / 81 EQ
exp: 13
Daniel Lorenz Right
19 years old / 5 CL
875 OR / 76 EQ
exp: 5
Steve Dashner Right
17 years old / 6 CL
781 OR / 83 EQ
exp: 3
Ignacio Bittner Right
18 years old / 5 CL
827 OR / 76 EQ
exp: 2
Clifton Monroe Left
18 years old / 5 CL
919 OR / 79 EQ
exp: 16

Caleb Pressley , Stu Jones , and Gabriel Childs will be the 3 starting offensive backs, and will play most games.

3 of the following 4 players will be added and serve as backups:
1) Either Enrico Dye or Dwayne Moore
2) Steve Dashner
3) Clifton Monroe

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Defensive Backs:
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After considering countless backs for the team, the following players made it onto the short list for defensive back:

Willie Palmer Left
19 years old / 5 CL
926 OR / 79 EQ
exp: 1
Rod Vu Left
19 years old / 5 CL
958 OR / 74 EQ
exp: 12
Jim Holden Left
19 years old / 4 CL
937 OR / 77 EQ
exp: 17
Ray Brink Universal
19 years old / 5 CL
843 OR / 71 EQ
exp: 6
Houston Schaefer Universal
19 years old / 4 CL
929 OR / 65 EQ
exp: 33
Clifton Monroe Left
18 years old / 5 CL
919 OR / 81 EQ
exp: 16
Derrick Hill Universal
18 years old / 6 CL
775 OR / 78 EQ
exp: 2
Burt Cason Universal
18 years old / 5 CL
730 OR / 74 EQ
exp: 8
Dick Quiroz Universal
18 years old / 6 CL
762 OR / 81 EQ
exp: 0
Jon Braman Right
18 years old / 6 CL
732 OR / 83 EQ
exp: 0

Four of the players with the highest eOR at defensive back are Left handed. Willie Palmer , Rod Vu , Jim Holden , and Clifton Monroe will all make the team. Clifton Monroe was already one of the depth players at offensive back - so he'll kind of be a floating backup... playing mostly for chemistry building and in the event of injury.

Houston Schaefer will be cut. He doesn't have any chemistry left over from last season anyways, and he's more of a balanced back (ie. he'll probably never actually play). Dick Quiroz and Derrick Hill will alternate playing the right side on defense. Quiroz and Hill are a year younger than Schaefer, are more specialized, and will likely train better given their teams' superior training and regen facilities.

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Wings:
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The following players made it onto the short list for offensive and defensive wings:

Offensive oriented guys:

Clint Wicker Left
19 years old / 4 CL
1118 OR / 73 EQ
exp: 44
Morris Donaldson Left
19 years old / 5 CL
992 OR / 77 EQ
exp: 14
Myron Garcia Universal
19 years old / 4 CL
1040 OR / 67 EQ
exp: 12
Byron Enriquez Universal
18 years old / 5 CL
762 OR / 66 EQ
exp: 3
Luke Walker Left
17 years old / 4 CL
698 OR / 69 EQ
exp: 1
Joel McIntyre Universal
17 years old / 5 CL
684 OR / 73 EQ
exp: 2
Leslie Carlson Universal
17 years old / 5 CL
701 OR / 77 EQ
exp: 0

Defensive oriented guys:

Stan Sikes Right
19 years old / 4 CL
1102 OR / 76 EQ
exp: 43
Tad Price Right
18 years old / 6 CL
915 OR / 83 EQ
exp: 10
Lee Donald Left
17 years old / 4 CL
705 OR / 73 EQ
exp: 4
Clay Chase Universal
17 years old / 5 CL
674 OR / 77 EQ
exp: 0
Logan Potter Left
18 years old / 5 CL
746 OR / 81 EQ
exp: 6

Our starters will once again include Clint Wicker , Morris Donaldson , and Myron Garcia this year. With Morris Donaldson and Myron Garcia playing left and right offensive wings (respectively) and Clint Wicker playing left defensive wing. Stan Sikes will share the right defensive wing with Tad Price who is a year younger, and far more specialized for the position.

After that it gets a bit interesting. As far as offensive wing depth goes, I think I'll add Luke Walker and one of Joel McIntyre or Leslie Carlson . For defensive wing depth, I'll add Clay Chase and one of Logan Potter or Lee Donald . Right now I'm leaning towards Joel McIntyre and Logan Potter being picked. McIntyre because he's more specialized than Carlson, and therefore more ready to be a backup this season if need be. Potter because he's owned by a U.S. manager while Donald is not.

*NOTE 1* I anticipate that Carlson and Donald will be on the team next season.

The four "backup guys" (Luke Walker , Joel McIntyre , Clay Chase , and Logan Potter ) will probably not play much this season (maybe friendlies, I haven't decided yet). Mostly, I'm just adding them now to make it easier for myself at the start of next season.

*NOTE 2* It's a shame that Eddy Lafave ended up on a dead team. He would've been a decent guy to add this season or next.

Good work lanky

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Pivots:
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The following players made it onto the short list for offensive and defensive pivots:

Balanced-type guys:

Franklyn Clark
19 years old / 4 CL
1034 OR / 73 EQ
exp: 9
Ryan Atwood
18 years old / 5 CL
883 OR / 77 EQ
exp: 5
Erick Anderson
18 years old / 4 CL
830 OR / 66 EQ
exp: 5

Offensive oriented guys:

Leon Ware
19 years old / 5 CL
950 OR / 82 EQ
exp: 9
Preston Branham
18 years old / 4 CL
800 OR / 70 EQ
exp: 6
Armando Pryor
17 years old / 6 CL
705 OR / 77 EQ
exp: 5
Lyle Vandyke
18 years old / 5 CL
825 OR / 78 EQ
exp: 2

Defensive oriented guys:

Darrell Swartz
19 years old / 5 CL
941 OR / 76 EQ
exp: 10
Dexter Stapleton
16 years old / 6 CL
656 OR / 85 EQ
exp: 0

I like running with 2 specialist pivots (1 offense and 1 defense) and a balanced guy. Seems to work pretty well. We have 3 guys from last year's team ready to fill those slots (Franklyn Clark for the balanced pivot, Leon Ware for the offensive pivot, and Darrell Swartz for the defensive pivot). "Problem" is... all three of those guys are 19.

I don't really want to go into next season with "naked" chemistry at the pivot position, so I've been considering using some of the available slots and adding one or two more (mainly for playing friendlies).

I'm thinking Ryan Atwood or Lyle Vandyke . But it'll probably end up being Ryan Atwood .

Next season, Ryan Atwood will take over as the balanced pivot option, Lyle Vandyke or Armando Pryor will join as the offensive pivot option, and Dexter Stapleton will join at 17 as the defensive pivot option.

hey thanks!

I've added the players that I mentioned above to the U19 team... and it looks to be in a good place to start the season. The team itself appears to be substantially weaker than it was last year, but I suppose that was expected given the completely revamped Back core.

It certainly won't help that we have a tough schedule again this season.

We're grouped with Hungary for the second year in a row. For those who didn't notice, Hungary won all three national championships last season (U19, U21, and Senior). They look even better (comparatively) than they did last season, so I'm already kind of anticipating 2 losses there.

Other than Hungary, we'll face tough challenges in Argentina and Croatia. Both look to be better than us, so winning any of the 4 matches against them should be considered an upset and an accomplishment.

Chile looks to be a slightly worse than us, so we'll definitely be looking to get two wins against them. If we don't sweep Chile, we will statistically have little chance of advancing.

It's gonna be a tough season.

Well... it came down to the last game. Had we won, we would've made it out of the qualification round. We didn't. So we finished 4th in our group. Again.

We had a decent showing though considering that this was largely a rebuilding year (I still say our team was weaker this year than last). Time to get ready for next season. We'll be losing many of our wings now, but at least we'll have several backs returning for youth national competition in season 11.

The following goalies were considered:
Marcus Bruneau
Erwin Copeland
Jordy Duarte
Ben McLaughlin
Arden Corcoran
Daryl Marshall
Dan Varner
Rolland Rowell
Antoine Strauss
John Field
Vic Marino

Marcus Bruneau and Erwin Copeland will remain on the roster and will be the primary tenders this season. Jordy Duarte will join as a 3rd option.

We'll use 1 slot for a developmental goalie as well. Rolland Rowell , Antoine Strauss , John Field , and Vic Marino are the goalies of the future.

Rolland Rowell was added to the team towards the end of last season so that he wouldn't disappear when his old team folded. He'll be cut for now but will be an important piece of the puzzle in coming seasons. He's the weakest of the four younger guys in terms of OR (having only slightly higher OR than the other 3 despite being 1 year older), so I can't really justify having him in the developmental slot.

John Field will get the call as the 4th goalie this season. He has solid CL, high OR, and stellar eQ. He is on my personal roster, and I'm watching his development very closely. He'll be backing up Lloyd Russ in most games this season as a 16 year old, and will rapidly take on more responsibility in the next few seasons. I anticipate that he'll be my team's primary starter by the time he's 19. He should be roughly 1300 OR at the start of that season.

The following defensive backs were considered:
Dick Quiroz
Danny Newman
Benjamin Lewis
Derrick Hill
Jon Braman
Tyrone Cambridge
Chad Pinson
Gene Trimble
Dallas Culpepper
Ronald McNamara

Dick Quiroz , Benjamin Lewis , and Derrick Hill will be the main defensive backs this season.

Clifton Monroe can slot in on defense quite well, and will likely do so here and there.

We're losing all but 1 defensive back at the end of this season, so I'm adding both Tyrone Cambridge and Chad Pinson for developmental reasons.

Danny Newman won't start with the team, but he'll be the first back to be called up if we have an injury or two.

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The following offensive backs were considered:
Clifton Monroe
Steve Dashner
Ignacio Bittner
Michael Capps
Victor Harley
Peter Rodriquez
Dalton McCall
Nolan McQueen
Robert Mercado
Howie Bivens

Clifton Monroe is really more of a balanced back. He actually has a slight defensive lean, but I included him here just ... because. He'll likely be floating between offense and defense throughout the season.

Other than that, the other offensive backs that we'll lean on will be: Steve Dashner , Ignacio Bittner , and Michael Capps .

If we need to call someone up, Victor Harley will be the go-to.

Developmental spots go to Nolan McQueen and Robert Mercado . Both will be VERY good offensive backs for us as soon as next season.

The following defensive wings were considered:
Tad Price
Homer Delong
Clay Chase
Lee Donald
Logan Potter

Tad Price will start on the right side. Clay Chase will back him up.

Logan Potter and Lee Donald will man the Left Wing.

We're actually looking pretty good at def. wing this season and next (as we'll have 2 of our 4 guys back next season, and have coverage on both sides).

Homer Delong won't join the team since he's the same age and handedness as Tad Price , but worse in pretty much every way.

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The following offensive wings were considered:
Luke Walker
Joel McIntyre
Vern Bull
Jesse Capp
Leslie Carlson
Justin Mckenzie

Luke Walker and Vern Bull will take care of the LW.

Leslie Carlson and Joel McIntyre will take care of the RW.

Justin Mckenzie will ride the roster in a developmental role.