I usually don't answer posts on this site, but this is to the point where it is getting ridiculous on both sides.
First after an initial cursory investigation we have not found any Wren player to be daileydozen 22. I hope we do not but we will continue to try. The Wren coaches and I feel sure most of our players do not condone or encourage this type of posting in our name. Games are played on the field not the computer.
I have the greatest respect for Coach Dom Wren and the team he has put together.They deserve their ranking and certainly Enzo deserves the awards he has garnered over the past years. I have no illusions about our chances but also I am looking forward to seeing this team in action. If nothing else it will give us a benchmark about the skills a top rated team needs to have. Dom was asking for a game and I agree to it knowing full well what type of team he has. All we can do is play as hard and well as we can and then if we do that I will be satisfied no matter what the score. I know of no other way to judge my players. I am extremely proud of my team and assistant coaches and their play and behavior on the field.
In regards to our schedule, we play the teams we have in our region, we also play the teams that we are asked to play in tournaments e.g. The homeschool team, which by the way is being denigrated unfairly on this board. They are well coached and play hard as any of their opponent will tell you. We have never attempted to weaken our schedule, we normally play either Mann, Eastside, Riverside, Wade Hampton, or any other of the fine teams from Greenville AAA.
We play a regular game with Seneca and try to schedule Daniel every year since they were our natural rival when we were AAA. Dave Wilcox at Christ Church and I are friends and try to play every year since we coached together in the North /South game. We have won games against all of these teams but you are right in saying that we are not as consistant as any of them. I believe that finally having a JV program for the last four years has begun to give us a more consistant quality. You are also correct that we have never advanced past the third round of the playoffs but that allows us to continue to strive to meet that goal.
Finally, feel free to ask other coaches of quality teams if we turn down the opportunity to play them or not, don't rely on a message board, it's easy to look up or ask. We did not hesitate to play Park View,Georgia and schedule North Gwinnett, Geogia both of whom are well know for the quality of their programs.
I am looking forward to Wren playing against the best team in the country, and the best player over the past two years.
I encourage all of you to come out and watch the game on Wednesday, May 6th at Wren, you will be welcomed as we welcome Northwestern.
Mike Hazel
Wren HS
Boys Soccer
Last edited by Mike Hazel; 04/28/09 12:03 AM.
