Link to Friday’s Pualski Academy vs Chaminade game in first Arkansas/California showdown
Posted: August 29, 2012 Filed under: High School Football | Tags: Chaminade, Little Rock Central High, Pulaski Academy, Springdale High Leave a comment »UPDATE: Two late fourth-quarter turnovers doomed PA, leading to a 49-39 loss. Massively entertaining game to watch, though.
Central Arkansas prep powerhouse Pulaski Academy files to California to take on LA-area powerhouse weChaminade on Friday. By my cursory recon, this is the first time an Arkansas prep football team has played a California prep football team. It will be streamed live at 10 p.m. on Friday, August 31 here.
Curious as to the farthest an Arkansas prep team has traveled for football before this game? My evidence points to Springdale High, which lost 3-49 to an Ohio team in 2006, and Little Rock Central, which played quite a few Kentucky teams in the 1950s.
PS – Just saw this on PA’s Twitter feed: PA/Chaminade game watch party tonight at 10pm at Jim’s Razorback Pizza. 16101 Cantrell Rd, Little Rock, Arkansas 72223-4565
PSS - Local prep football guru Robert Yates has led me down the path to enlightenment. He recalls in 1991, Springdale High traveled to Hawaii, where it lost to St. Louis Honolulu 14-27. That trip sets the mark for the farthest an Arky team has ventured out of its own backyard.
It’s a record that should last some time, I imagine, until something like this happens.
How did Springdale soccer end up ranked as the nation’s 13th-best team?
Posted: May 2, 2012 Filed under: Soccer | Tags: Catholic High, Conway, Springdale High Leave a comment »
Things are looking up, Arkansas prep soccer scene. But not THAT up. - courtesy Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
At first glance, it seems awesome: little ol’ Arkansas’ very own Springdale High boys soccer team is ranked as the 13th-best team in the nation. At second glance, it gets a little less awesome: at the top of the poll, you’ll find the ranking pertains only to “Spring Boys” and that the #1 ranked team is something called “Snohomish, Wash.”
What, exactly, is going on here?
Welcome to the unique world of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s rankings. This major national association divvies up the nation’s teams in a few ways – first, by season. Texas schools, for instance, play in the winter. Arkansas plays in the spring. Secondly, the NSCAA divides the nation into five regions:
Region I-South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
Region II-Alabama and Georgia
Region III-Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming
Region IV-Arkansas and Oklahoma
Region V-Alaska, California, Washington
Schools are ranked within each of those regions primarily based on win-loss record. The NSCAA then stiches together its Top 20 poll almost purely based on rankings within the five regions. The first five spots of the Top 20 are reserved for the five No. 1 teams, each from a different region. Spots 6-10 in the Top 20 are reserved for the five No. 2 teams from each region, spots 11-15 for the No. 3s and so on.
