NESCAC

[12SNoon]

Re: All-NESCAC Selection Travesty
For Gab Wirz not to make 1st team, in a season where he was often the best player on the field for Amherst (alongside NPL), is a glaring error.

[Brother Flounder]

I think the same thing can be said for Santos, Kayne & Greenwood...but that is the nature of the beast and I won't take away from those named to the first team.....

[12SNoon]

I think the same thing can be said for Santos, Kayne & Greenwood...but that is the nature of the beast and I won't take away from those named to the first team.....

In the same vein that we ask for accountability and fairness for teams/coaches/referees/fans during games, it would be irresponsible to overlook the sheer injustices that often occur when NESCAC coaches select their all-conference teams. At some point this process & system probably needs to be re-worked.

[lastguyoffthebench]

As an outsider, I think the Colby coach was deserving of the award...

[Brother Flounder]

You may know more than me, but how do these "sheer injustices" occur?  Isn't it a democratic vote for the players?  What are the injustices and how can they be fixed?  Thanks for your insight!..or maybe Mr. Right has some input in this regard.....

[12SNoon]

To my understanding the coaches are responsible for nominating their own players, after which a ballet is circulated. The coaches then vote without even having a conference call. Uneducated votes are therefore commonplace.

Take Julien Aoyoma of Amherst in 2011 for example:

D3 Soccer National Defensive Player of the Year
All-American

...2nd team All-NESCAC.

[Bucket]

Congrats to Midd sophomore Greg Conrad for being named NESCAC Player of the Year.

I'll admit to being a little bit surprised—though thrilled for the kids—to see four Panthers on the first team, more than any other NESCAC squad:

*Conrad
*Adam Glaser
*Deklan Robinson
*Greg Sydor

Instant thoughts:

*Three sophomores and a junior. The next two years should be a whole lot of fun up here in the Green Mountain State.
*Sydor...talk about an impact transfer, first-team all-conference at a position the Panthers sorely needed help.
*Really happy for Robinson. The Panther defenders have been roundly maligned on these boards, and to my admittedly blue-and-white shaded vision, I thought they played quite well this year. It seems that the conference coaches felt similarly, naming the central defender of this line to the first-team all-conference.
*Two years of play for Glaser, two first-team All-Nescac nods. Quite impressive.
*And Conrad, so often he seemed to be on just another level than everyone else (witness regular season hat trick against Wesleyan). Glad to see him recognized with this honor.

---

Congrats to all of the other honorees. A terrific group of players, each deserving of the recognition bestowed upon them.

[PaulNewman]

I'm gonna back up Mr. Noon on this one.  It's one thing to be resentful and/or passive-aggressive with a coach, but it's wrong to take that out on college kids.  If you are going to bother handing out these kind of awards then try your darnedest to get them right.  If something's a really close call and goes the other way, then that's one thing, but the Aoyoma example was a great one.  I don't follow that stuff to know how many egregious errors are made, but still....There seemed to be some rough consensus that NPL from Amherst was the most deserving player.

And on the other hand, I can't quite get my head around why these awards are so important to people.  The topic of who deserved and was going to to win these awards has been one of the most popular (and passionate) in this thread.  Why is this stuff more compelling?  I've also found that announcing these awards when they do (and not just NESCAC), and this happens in high school too, right in the middle of tournament season is a real distraction.  Why not wait until the season has ended?

[Brother Flounder]

I think the same thing can be said for Santos, Kayne & Greenwood...but that is the nature of the beast and I won't take away from those named to the first team.....

In the same vein that we ask for accountability and fairness for teams/coaches/referees/fans during games, it would be irresponsible to overlook the sheer injustices that often occur when NESCAC coaches select their all-conference teams. At some point this process & system probably needs to be re-worked.

I definitely agree, but in all my experience with youth, high school and college sports, I have seen some sort of bias, politics, or results where all of the players that really deserved the awards didn't receive them, or where some coaches had more pull over others in the voting process for some reason. It's unfortunate and shouldn't happen but does.....It would take a total group effort of the coaches, and maybe the athletic directors, to establish some sort of fair process, and then total compliance thereafter..... One thing I also noticed is that the offensive winners often go to those with the best statistics, but in some cases the best statistics don't always reflect the best or most important players to a team..... 

[Mr.Right]

Well Noon would know travesty ever since he was not named player of the year in 2012. Wirz should have been on the 1st team for Deklan Robinson but I do not think it was a travesty. Bratt, Williams and Daniliack are quality and I think you should have put Wirz for Robinson. I think coaches not voting for Amherst players is over blown nowadays. From 2008-2012 it was legitimate and last year Serpone won COY and his players have been awarded. This year I see know slight other than Wirz and that might have been a minor vote call. Noon might be better served to motivate his former All Nescac teammate Jae Heo as he has really disappeared all year. If he had the quality he had a couple years ago Amherst would be well on its way. Serpone and his players used to get punished in this voting because of the buffoonery he and his players act like on the field. Nowadays teams ignore it.

[Mr.Right]

Coaches nominate 5 players from their own teams to be voted on by the rest of the league. After the league has received this coaches send in 5 votes each for forwards,midfield and backs..3 GK and 3 coaches all ranked 1 thru 5. Also, ROY and POY. The league tallies up the votes with a point system and you get 1st and 2nd team and COY,ROY and POY. Coaches cannot vote for their own players and with all the players they send for nomination they can write a very short paragraph on why they should vote for their player. Also, to be noted coaches do not have to nominate 5 players from their own team. Some only nominate 2 or 3.

[12SNoon]

Well Noon would know travesty ever since he was not named player of the year in 2012. Wirz should have been on the 1st team for Deklan Robinson but I do not think it was a travesty. Bratt, Williams and Daniliack are quality and I think you should have put Wirz for Robinson. I think coaches not voting for Amherst players is over blown nowadays. From 2008-2012 it was legitimate and last year Serpone won COY and his players have been awarded. This year I see know slight other than Wirz and that might have been a minor vote call. Noon might be better served to motivate his former All Nescac teammate Jae Heo as he has really disappeared all year. If he had the quality he had a couple years ago Amherst would be well on its way. Serpone and his players used to get punished in this voting because of the buffoonery he and his players act like on the field. Nowadays teams ignore it.

Jae actually tore his ACL and his college career is officially over, so I'll pass.

[Mr.Right]

Kind of like when you passed in 2012 against Williams in PK's.

[GarbageGoals33]

Does that seem like a necessary comment?

[GarbageGoals33]

Felt like giving me some smite there Mr. Right? There's a difference between trolling and being a Richard. Don't be a Richard.