PS all-star rundown

The process of selecting the 2011 Post-Star GirlsSoccer All-Star team is well under way.

This will be our first full-fledged print all-star team, meaningit will conform to the guidelines we use for all otherPost-Star teams. There will be some differences fromthe online all-star teams I used to run for girls soccer. Whetheror not you like those changes depends on your location andperspective.

The all-star team will appear in print first. Only after thatwill I discuss the selections in the blog. I do not have a date yet,but I anticipate we are at least a week or two away from running theteam; it will take that long to make the selections and get thepictures taken. One detraction is that the suspense is gone … ifyou get a call or email from me to have your picture taken, youknow you are on the first team. All members of the first and secondteams will receive plaques.

I realize the readership of this blog extends well beyond thatrange, but this is now a print operation and that is the way itworks. I also realize you can buy the newspaper in many placesbeyond our core circulation, as far south as downtown Albany. Aline has to be drawn someplace, and that is where it is.

The criteria for selection hasn’t changed. I’ll use the rest ofthis post to review that process, and some of the decisions I’mwrestling with.

League all-star teams: They carry a good dealof weight in my decision-making, but I am not obligated to followthem. The leagues sometimes use very different criteria in makingselections, some of which will be noted below.

Positions: Our all-star teams are selected byposition. I have at least three or four defenders at each level,whereas league all-star teams sometimes ignore defenders. The topdefenders have a better chance of being honored on our team.Conversely, it’s harder for high-scoring forwards to get on ourteam.

What I do not look at: What you did last year,what you might do next year, what you did for your club team.Performance on the field this season is all that counts. Also, yourgrade-point average (unless it kept you off the field), yourcharitable work, the color of your socks, the pro teams you rootfor (yes, even Red Sox fans are eligible), what you do in othersports, how you treat your dog Bowser.

Year is school: Is not generally relevant tothe process. However, if it’s an absolute tossup, I will take asenior over a much younger player.

Player of the Year: I know I whine every yearabout how difficult this decision is, but the choice this seasonseems utterly ridiculous. Just within a couple miles of the HudsonRiver, we have three outstanding players who will go on to playcollege soccer at a high level. In some past years, any of thosethree would have been the hands-down choice as player of the year.We also have a goalie who was named MVP of the Suburban Council.Woe is me for having to make this decision.

Co-players of the year: Will not happen. If youcan have co-players of the year, then why not tri-players of theyear? Or quad players of the year? Pretty soon you have got a huge oldmeaningless group photo. There’s a reason why they have ascoreboard at the field — the sports world demands a definitiveresult, not watered-down platitudes. There will be one, and onlyone, POY.

Coach of the Year: To me, there are two obviouscandidates. The problem is that one of those coaches has a relativeworking at The Post-Star. That creates at least theappearance of a conflict of interest, even though 99 percent of youwouldn’t have known about it unless I brought it up. So I havechosen three unattached coaches to make that decision for me, and Iwill abide by their decision.

Comments, emails: Please don’t. This is not apopularity contest. I know some of you think there are things Idon’t see, but by the end of this process, I will know more thanyou think.

The nature of the beast: Every all-star team issubjective, whether it’s picked by coaches, me or whomever. Thereare no absolutes. All I can promise is that I will do my honestbest.

Finally: I have most of the evidence I need.There are just a few more phone calls to be made. Some time in thenext two days I will lay it all out on a desk, put on myheadphones, listen to the genius of Dvorak and hope for an epiphany.

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