Perspective, folks. Wow, this has gone on and on. My high school coach hates me now? I've let my team down? I have to make a life-changing choice? Just a little dose of perspective.

Let me start by saying that it's spring season, so I'm wearing my high school coach hat. (Actually, I'm wearing my NSCAA hat; picked it up at the convention in Baltimore and it's a nice blend of classic style and comfort--the basic black blends well with both high school and club colors, and it's hard to find a good, easily-shaped cotton material cap these days--but that's beside the point.)

The Viking Cup--the premier SC girls' tournament...great competition, good season preview, better than decent exposure.

And it's a preseason tournament. Period. The world did not end because any player or group of players decided to pursue a single opportunity to do something different for themselves on a somewhat bigger stage.

Perspective. The Viking Cup, while packed with prestige, will have little or no effect on any team's run for the playoffs or for a championship. A preseason tournament win or loss will only count on a team's record in case of a tie for region seeding--and, depending on the region's tiebreaking methods, is probably well down the list of tiebreaking opportunities. A typical region seeding method would be something like:

1. Overall region record.
2. If region records are identical, head to head competition between the tied teams.
3. If the teams split in head to head competition, then overall winning percentage EXCLUDING tournaments.
4. If records are STILL identical, overall record INCLUDING tournaments.

That's pretty far down on the depth chart.

"But it's THE VIKING CUP!"

Perspective. Fact is, a win or loss in the little tournament we used to attend in Goose Creek had the exact same effect on our record and playoff seeding as your win or loss at THE VIKING CUP.

Perspective. A win or loss in that random non-region game you scheduled with that school in the next town that you picked up on a whim because you needed to fill out your schedule, or because your buddy is coaching there, or your AD is friends with their AD, or they're in your school district so it's considered protocol to play them, will have MORE of an effect on your record for playoff seeding than your win or loss at THE VIKING CUP. Would there be all this hullaballoo if a couple of players went off to an
ECNL event on that night?

Perspective. How many teams have gone into a region match--with FAR more effect on region and playoff standings than any win or loss in THE VIKING CUP--missing key players for one reason or another? Would you make as much of an issue over a player missing a single region match as has been made over missing THE VIKING CUP?

Perspective. There's been a lot of bantering back and forth about exposure to college coaches--who's available at ECNL, who at VC. If that was really the issue--getting exposure for the players--wouldn't it be more of a player's choice issue? Why would a coach punish a player for getting exposure in one venue rather than getting exposure in another if that was the main focus?

Perspective. THE VIKING CUP is a prestigious event...but take a good hard look and make sure that the desire for prestige isn't blurring the focus on what's best, and reasonable, and healthy, and fair, and enjoyable, and beneficial for the players in the game--the ones who have to make the choices and live with them, the ones who have multiple obligations and sometimes have to choose among them--but also the ones who, if they think they let you down in one place in order to do something they found important, will come back and play their hearts out for you to make it up when it counts most--IF you don't break them down and hold a grudge against them for bruising your ego.

Perspective. Take a step back.

I've got good news and bad news...