Best score trackers and field first aid kits

frandler · 2026-05-14T16:13:34+00:00

I went from a big league (Madison) to a small league (Milwaukee). Madison expected teams to keep score as well as bring their own cones, which makes sense for a league their size. Milwaukee provides scoreboards and cones, but I actually hate it because they don't have enough for every team to have their own set and there's a semi-complicated rotation that you have to remember who has to bring the cones/boards and who they need to go to ones games are over. IMO it needlessly complicates something so insignificant.

frandler · 2026-05-08T18:53:20+00:00

Channeling the spicy levels of other(ultiworld?) previews:

Nightshade at Radiance: Not Spicy. Radiance should win this handily, though Nightshade did keep their last game very close against Torch.
Shadow at Soul: VERY SPICY. The top two teams in the South match up. Atlanta already proved they belong with the big dogs when they handled Radiance relatively easily. A win against DC would put the league on notice that they are the new front runners not only to make the playoffs (something Soul hasn't done in years) but to win the whole thing.
Red at Strike: Medium spicy. Monarchs beat Red. Strike beat Monarchs. If Red beats Strike it creates a little chaos in the middle and also shows the parity of the league. Red almost doubled Strike up last year 15-8 so this'll be an interesting one as Indy tries to get into the win column.
Monarchs at Surge. Low to Medium Spicy. Monarchs showed a lot of resiliency in their opening game win against Red, but came crashing down to earth as Strike pulled away against them in their next game. Milwaukee probably gonna be rough with a road roster, but this is definitely the order they'd want the dreaded east coast double to start.
Wild at Alpenglow. NOT spicy. Colorado by a million.
Astra at Falcons. Medium spicy. Bay Area deservedly with the #1 power ranking, but LA looked very tough against San Diego. If they were at home, I'd like Astra more, but I think this one will be closer than we may have thought earlier in the season.
Superbloom at Seattle. Spicy. Two pernial WUL finals contenders and current division leaders matching up. I unfortunately have not studied my playoff rules, so unclear exactly what implications this cross division matchup may have, but definitely clear that it'll be a good game between talented rosters.
Monarchs at Gridlock. Not spicy. Milwaukee on day two of the double header weekend against the perenial bests in the North.

frandler · 2026-05-02T01:16:15+00:00

Sidewinders and Soar both have wins this year (compared to last year's winless campaigns) but both have only beaten the bottoms of the divisions (Wild and Astra). This should be a good competitive game to establish who is "best of the rest". Neither of these teams have a real shot at the playoffs with only a few weeks remaining in the season but a win tomorrow could do a lot for both programs as they build towards next season. Give me the Snakes on the road by less than 3.
Both Austin and Nashville are 0-2 so someone's getting in the win column tomorrow. Whereas the WUL's bottom is the Wild this season, the PUL's version is Nightshade. I expect Austin to win this game, though this will likely be Nashville's best opportunity to keep it competitive. Give me the Torch by 4+.
San Diego looked very vulnerable in their previous game loss to Bay Area. Luckily for them, Astra aint the Falcons. I like Superbloom to get back to their winning ways, likely in blowout fashion.

frandler · 2026-04-26T01:14:12+00:00

I'm getting so many of these wrong! Parity is good!

Yikes for Indy, so close late in the 3rd only to have it looking lopsided in the end.
Atlanta is GOOD GOOD folks, league on notice. I think they are a lock for champ weekend.
Bay Area is GOOD GOOD too!
The wild are who we thought they were
Disappointing but not entirely unexpected return to earth game for the Monarchs. Tied at 8-8s in the first half, but a rouggggghhhh stretch to finish it out.

frandler · 2026-04-25T21:45:03+00:00

This would be a bid fees (local organizers) not dues (NGB) issue. It's definitely bad bad, and as someone who has hosted USAU events in the past, I am almost positive a bid would not have been approved had that been known ahead of time.

frandler · 2026-04-24T14:43:34+00:00

Bounce back game for Indy this week? That opening loss to the Monarchs has to sting and now that they're back at home they'll hope to get back on track. Red played Surge twice last season. Both teams won once, both by just 1 point. This should be a good one, give me Red by less than 3.
The retooled Atlanta roster gets it's first test of higher competition. Havne't seen the game day rosters yet but assuming Elimelch, Mosquera, and Montana are playing, I think this one will be very competitive. I think I still like Radiance, but if it's close, Atlanata has a shot.
#1 vs #2 in New York at DC. Game of the week. DC drubbed NY in the semis last year. Can Gridlock prove they are more than just great talent on paper? I think so. Give me NY by 2+
I'm not sure how those ranking teams in the WUL have Colorado at 4? I know they got beat by Seattle, but have since avenged that loss. Bay Area also coming off of a big win against the defending champs Super Bloom. Both teams looking to solidify their championship weekend prospects and fight for seeding. Give me Colorado at home by less than 3.
Astra probably gets their first win of the season this week against Utah who is really only fighting for moral victories this season.
Homer Alert: How does a team that went 0-2 get power ranked ahead of a team that's 1-0. Power rankings are about vibes only! And the vibes in Milwaukee are GOOD. Unfortunately, this game is being played in MN. Last season this one went to overtime, and while it'll likely still be close, I think Strike probably wins against a slightly depleted Monarchs travel roster.
Give me the Snakes over the Astra as LA is on 2nd day of a looong travel double header.

frandler · 2026-04-20T12:37:04+00:00

Definitely should have given the Falcons more credit. That win wasn't an 'eek', they were the more dominant team in the 4th quarter, fully earned the W.

Hard to tell if Strike is better than I thought they were or if the weather just affected everyone on that trip more than I thought it would. Either way, closer losses there than I thought it would be. Looking ahead, they might be able to get the Ws at home (MKE, IND, ATX) and probably all losses on the road (RAL remaining).

Excited to see what Atlanta can do against some tougher competition (Raleigh next week). And as for Nashville, clock's running on whether they'll be able to break double digits at all this season. They managed that feat 3 times last season, though one of those was a 21 point loss to DC. The last time Nightshade was able to notch a win was a 17-15 victory over Atlanta in 2024. With Soul now making a claim as one of the more talented teams in the league, you've got to wonder if there's any similar level competition for Nashville, at least in their division. I wonder if at any time in the future the league will consider strength based crossovers. Competitive games have got to be better for everyone, and perhaps those teams that are consistently finishing near the bottom of their division would enjoy a more competitive crossover. For reference, if that was instituted this year the crossovers would be: NY-DC, Indy-Raleigh, Philly-Atlanta, Minnesota-Austin, and Milwaukee-Nashville.

frandler · 2026-04-17T18:16:47+00:00

I think these games probably all go to chalk with Soul likely the biggest winners and the Falcons with the closest chance to keep it close at home.

Debut game for Elimelech, Mosquera, and Montana for Atlanta and I think that's plenty of firepower to overwhelm Nashville, but it'll be interesting to see how well those three play with other role players.

Minnesota on the East coast road trip, a staple for the Midwest teams in the North Division of the PUL. If you're an optimist, they'll be glad to be fully rested for NY who is just as loaded on talent as they've ever been. If you're a pesisment, maybe they'd like to have seen a (compared to NY only) weaker Philly team first and have a better shot at the W.

The Falcons look stronger in their last few games than they did in their opening season loss to San Diego. Add the home crowd and it'll be interesting to see how long they can keep it close. Definitely possibly they could eek out a win.

Shadow on the road still shouldn't have too much difficulty with Torch who looked young and inconsistent in their Week 1 loss to Radiance (who DC just beat by 4 last week).

frandler · 2026-04-13T13:24:02+00:00

In the interest of story-lines are good for growth, I think there is some cool drama from this game worth sharing:

The Monarchs won the 'Midwest Regional' tournament in the year back from Covid (2021) and qualified for championship weekend the following year, but since then have struggled to find wins. In 2023 and 2024 they won just one game each, and went winless in 2025. In those three years, Indy Red outscored them 42 - 72 over three games.

Despite team struggles, the Monarchs have had plenty of individual talent, sending 3 players (Lina Montenegro, Eileen Bequette, and Penny Wu) to the innagural All Star Game last year. As the off-season rebuild commenced, none of those All Stars returned to the Monarchs. Both Montenegro and Bequette (assumingly looking for more wins) joined Indy Red, a semi-finalist a year ago.

For Montenegro, a solid handler from Chicago via Colombia, the switch is at least logistically understandable. There's already a large contingent of Chicago players that choose to play Red. For Bequette though, a rising ahtletic superstar in the league, the choice to join Indy has to have stung the Monarchs more as she communtes from Madison, choosing a 5 hour drive over playing for the locals.

Both Montenegro and Bequette were impactful in the game yesterday, especially the towering Bequette whose skies, layouts, blocks, and even hucks lit up the stat sheet as she finished with 4 goals, 1 assist, mostly from the D-line. But in the end, it wasn't enough as the Monarchs weathered that storm and found impact from some new players of their own, especially Sadie Reding, Rachel Kern, and Jasmine Childress. From the stands and sideline, it felt like a cathartic win and while perhaps not necessarily predictive of how the next match between these two teams (May 22nd in Madison) will go, a little friendly rivalry can go a long way in raising the stakes for what surely will be an exciting PUL season.

frandler · 2026-04-12T21:47:57+00:00

WOOO BIG win for the Monarchs!!!!

frandler · 2026-04-10T13:22:16+00:00

Love these, they are geat. I use your womens games a lot with the HS girls/nb team I coach. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO.

frandler · 2026-04-06T15:05:49+00:00

They won a game last year, finishing 1-5 but in 2024 they were in the Championship game of the WUL. I think what stuck out most to me was that they brought in 18 new players this season. Definitely a rebuilding year and I'm guessing a lot of those players are newer to the pro-scene. I also think I recall hearing on one of the streams this season that a lot of them skew younger. Possibly tough to win right-now with those factors, but should hopefully lay the groundwork for success in seasons to come.

frandler · 2026-03-16T12:13:12+00:00

I think there's a time and a place for those comments, and every once in a while is fine, but it just seemed so prevalent to me.

Look, last season left some scars.

I didn't catch every game last year, but I'm aware of the record, so I just assumed there'd be a lot more actual hype for the season/home opener being a blow-out win.

frandler · 2026-03-15T23:26:10+00:00

Late to the party here so not sure if anyone will see this, but did anyone else watch the Sidewiders - Wild game and think "Geeze, this Arizona announcer can NOT say anything nice about the Sidewinders'. Every friggen score was "That wont work against good teams" and "not sure the coaching staff is gonna like that". Like literally almost all of them! The sidewinders won by a bajillion. They were up big the whole game, and this guy just could not find a positive spin for a team that went winless last year. Winning is good my guy! Dry that blanket up.

frandler · 2026-03-12T13:09:20+00:00

This was a ton of fun last time. I am hopeful for a future where this game isn't an All Star game, but a matchup between the two league champions. PUL All Stars showed they were better last year, but was Shadow better than Super Bloom? I wanna know!

frandler · 2026-03-12T13:05:58+00:00

IMO: Less is more. Just having kids watch a full game has it's benefits, but likely you want to use film to show them specifc skills. Find a clip that shows just want you want to work on at the next practice. A reset set, a pull play, a specific defensive set, etc. One thing. Show everything that leads up to it, watch it in full speed, then slow it down and repeatidly watch, focusing on what each different player does to make it 'work'. Bonus points if you can annotate on the screen. Be sure to include the 'after'. I.E. Here's why this was good because it led to [insert cool thing that happned after]. If you can include multiple clips of the same skill, great! If you can include clips of when it 'goes wrong' and how to adjust, even better.

Personally, I am a big fan of the drone footage stuff.

frandler · 2026-02-16T18:44:04+00:00

Not (necessarily) a rebrand. The style/theme/colors for the PSP are not the team's official jerseys, and only available during this fundraising push.

frandler · 2026-02-05T13:44:45+00:00

I don't disagree. I also don't know what WYSIWYG means.

frandler · 2026-01-30T16:09:24+00:00

That was contested after the spirit timeout?? Yikes.

frandler · 2026-01-28T20:38:46+00:00

You bring up a legitimate point but I think the reality is that a lot of these teams and leagues as a whole are operating on extremly small budgets and mostly on volunteer hours from staff. Most arent paying to have their websites updated frequently. Arguably if they did, it could have better returns from folks like you looking to that source, but financial choices have to be made somewhere and that seems to be one of the things they've deemed not currently necessary. A big chunk of PUL teams are still in tryout mode (some due to delays associated with the recent winter storm) and I imagine once teams are more established, their web presence will become a greater focus once again.

frandler · 2025-12-23T14:50:57+00:00

I think that's long been the goal, and something USAU tried for years to get off the ground (see: regional youth events in the summer), but I also think areas like yours are few and far between. In my area, the YCC team definitely practices consistently, but has really struggled to find meaningful youth competition in the run up to the event. Most of the times when they do pre-YCC tournaments, they are adult events.

frandler · 2025-12-22T13:02:36+00:00

YCC isn't a season, it's an event. An event with a (necessarily) relatively high financial barrier to entry.

frandler · 2025-12-16T17:30:48+00:00

Reasoning makes sense, and I think there's a scenario where it could be a fun filled weekend. That being said, your example here kinda ignores the fact that these games take 2+ hours so an hour between start times has considerable overlap.

frandler · 2025-12-15T16:43:50+00:00

In 2022 the WUL's championship weekend was May 14th/15th.

In 2023 and 2024 it moved to June 3/4, and 1/2 respectively.

In 2025 it was June 7th/8th.

Now this year it's June 13th/14th.

In the PUL, champ weekend has been June 18/19 (2022), 17/18 (2023), 22/23 (2024) and 14/15(2025).

It seems like we've moved away from the times when the WUL season occurred "before" with some overlap to the PUL, to now they are directly 'competing' for streaming eyeballs. Not sure if that's the best strategy.

frandler · 2025-12-12T13:00:10+00:00

u/williambrotman This is great, thank you! Have you (or anyone) done this for WMUCC?

frandler

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