Does anyone else smell a rat, here?

[Rockeyes]

Why does WDM Valley get home field advantage against Ankeny in the Substate Final on Monday?

Ankeny is 14-1, overall this season. The WDM tigers are 13-3.

And Ankeny is ranked #3 in the final state poll, with WDM Valley ranked like 5th?

That makes zero sense. If I was Ankeny, I'd be Torqued.....

 

[Goal Scorer]

The seeding was done on May 8th. At that point in time, Valley was ranked #1 and Ankeny was ranked #2. Why the Association decided to use the rankings from May 8th instead of the final rankings is a little fishy.

Ankeny is now 16-1 while Valley is 14-3. Ankeny is ranked #2 and Valley #4. Had the IHSAA waited, Ankeny would have been the top seed in this grouping. However...

That probably would not have affected who hosts the substate final. Valley stadium is one of the best facilities in the state. It is a no brainer when choosing between Valley Stadium and Ankeny Stadium. Ankeny is narrow and choppy while Valley is wide and smooth. Playing the substate final at Valley will allow for better soccer. Ankeny needs to improve its facilities if they wish to host substate finals.

 

[nhssoccer]

Association needs a little time in order to secure fields and get schedules out to teams so they can prepare for travel, etc. Can't wait that long. Sites are also as much about who is willing to host and who has fields available on those nights as anything else.

 

[Rockeyes]

On May 8th, it looks to me like Ankeny had the better record, undefeated..........therefore there wasn't any real basis to choose Valley's home field.

Therefore, at the very least, it should have been on a Neutral Field. And according to the defenders of the very POOR, POOR decision of the IHSAAU to have State games on Des Moines High school fields, there definitely should have been a different decision.

 

[nhssoccer]

You are clearly biased and talking without actually having any information on how it works. Substate locations have nothing to do with seedings, only the brackets do. Locations have to do with who is available to host, and who has the facility to do so. There is no substate played on a neutral field, they are based on location, which makes sense due to cost, and if the team hosting advances, then that just happens some time. A field doesn't play for you, if Ankeny is a better team and plays better that day, they will win the game.

 

[Rockeyes]

EVERYONE knows that Home Field advantage DOES matter. Ask ANY coach in America, in practically any sport. Of course, EVERYONE wants home field advantage. What I don't understand is how WDM Valley got it, here, based on the criteria that was understood to be used in making the decision

 

[baseballballa]

i dont think you get how it works so you should really stop commenting on this topic

 

[nhssoccer]

Seeding for substates was for bracketing only, has nothing to do with where they are played. And I'm a coach, we declined to host substates at home, would prefer to play on a good, wide field.