TopDrawerSoccer article on Capelle

Nice story about Micaela:

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-archives/nid-15540/Capelle-Finds-Early-Success-in-Undefeated-Start

Nice article. Note the shooting accuracy. he is a real star in the making.

I dont remember who it was on this forumn that noticed Michaeala at H.S. or club tourney held at Merlo, but they stated she was the best player on the pitch! Kudos to them for spotting the talent and kudos to whoever on the U of P staff that got her to change her mind from Oregon to U of P!!

Actually Emerald City (with 2011 recruits Rebecca Kurle and Malloy Leahy) scrimmaged FC Portland at Merlo last summer. At that time Micaela had already committed to Oregon. She put on a show of speed and balance and obviously the Portland coaching staff took notice or increased their interest or she decided she liked playing at Merlo ...

I wonder if she changed her mind or the Pilots' brain trust changed theirs and found her some scholarship money? I'm guessing the latter. It's hard to imagine any soccer player choosing Oregon over Portland if given a financially neutral choice.

Well I mean unless of course you want an easier route to more playing time...

What a debut for Capelle this season. Every season some freshman catches fire -- really helps the team -- and this year she is the one. Just a wonderful surprise to see how effective she has been.

You guys don't know the story of how Micaela ended up at UP. She was committed to Oregon for over a year when she schooled those other future Pilots and then mysteriously 5 days before signing day UP makes her an offer and she signs. Garrett had never recruited her before that. 99 percent of the time teams leave committed players alone, but there is that 1 percent of coaches low on ethics that will steal players. Congrats on your "find" Garrett.

Thanks, Jill, for your lesson on ethics. No facts, just smear.

NWsocr wrote:You guys don't know the story of how Micaela ended up at UP. She was committed to Oregon for over a year when she schooled those other future Pilots and then mysteriously 5 days before signing day UP makes her an offer and she signs. Garrett had never recruited her before that. 99 percent of the time teams leave committed players alone, but there is that 1 percent of coaches low on ethics that will steal players. Congrats on your "find" Garrett.

NWsocr, you are making an unwarranted assumption about what at least some of us knew or assumed was the case.

Are you suggesting that if a possibly "late developer" or "un-noticed" player could have a chance to play for a team like Portland instead of a team like Oregon, then the player should be denied that opportunity because it wasn't until late in the process that the team like Portland noticed her? Especially when the team like Portland was the one team she really wanted to play for? Or, are you suggesting that the NCAA rules shouldn't be treated as meaning what they say and an oral commitment really should be binding on players (in other words, that it's "low on ethics" to treat the NCAA rules as meaning what they say)?

Also, there is some history here that precedes Micaela. Are you unaware of or ignoring that? Or do your ethical standards not take that into account?

I also notice that this is your first post and that your profile contains no information whatsoever about yourself. Although I respect posters desires for privacy, if you're going to put your kind of post on this website, at least have the courage and honesty to tell us enough in your profile that where you're coming from is out in the open.

NWsocr wrote:You guys don't know the story of how Micaela ended up at UP. She was committed to Oregon for over a year when she schooled those other future Pilots and then mysteriously 5 days before signing day UP makes her an offer and she signs. Garrett had never recruited her before that. 99 percent of the time teams leave committed players alone, but there is that 1 percent of coaches low on ethics that will steal players. Congrats on your "find" Garrett.

You must be lost. You want this site:
www.bigsoccer.com

Jog on.

Everything I said is a fact. Micaela was not recruited by Portland until the week before signing. I understand that it was not an NCAA violation, and that UP is better soccer program than Oregon. Most college coaches do not recruit verbally committed players in Women's Soccer. Again all facts.

The Pilot staff gets word that Capelle, though she has given a verbal to UO, would really love to play at Portland. They had not seen her play until this tournament, where their eyes are opened, so they respond to the effect of, "If you have an interest, we have an interest."

This version, which I just made up, fits the "facts" in the above post. There's more than one way to spin things.

(Semi-rhetorical) Question: If she doesn't turn out to be a phenomenal goalscorer in four weeks of college soccer does this thread even exist?

NWsocr wrote:Everything I said is a fact. Micaela was not recruited by Portland until the week before signing. I understand that it was not an NCAA violation, and that UP is better soccer program than Oregon. Most college coaches do not recruit verbally committed players in Women's Soccer. Again all facts.

A fact would be something like when she decommitted from Oregon. If it was more than a week before she signed with UP, or if the UP staff said something to her like "we can't talk to you until you decommit" and she does so, then by your own admission, you lose your argument.

Now come up with a fact or take your little whiney ass and crawl back in your hole.

Here's a fact:

Trolls are so rare here by the time I decide how I want to deal with them Geezer has already taken care of business.

NWsocr wrote:Everything I said is a fact. Micaela was not recruited by Portland until the week before signing. I understand that it was not an NCAA violation, and that UP is better soccer program than Oregon. Most college coaches do not recruit verbally committed players in Women's Soccer. Again all facts.

But, you didn't answer my questions. Come on, you made an ethics charge, so please go back to the questions and answer them, "Yes or no." Or, give us qualified answers, if you want to. It's easy to toss around charges, but not so easy when you have to examine the implications of what you're saying, which was the point of my questions. Also, you haven't addressed the second part of my post, referring to the possible larger context. Also, you haven't told us enough information about yourself to let us know where you're coming from. Come on, have some courage! You obviously have an issue with what happened, so give us some carefully thought out discussion rather than just throwing around the "ethics" word. I'm actually interested in what you have to say, because I don't see anything wrong with what happened, but I'm willing to entertain a well presented alternative perspective.

Micaela is listed as playing club soccer at FC Portland 2008-10. She played HS in Gresham and for Eastside United before 2008. So I'm struggling with this idea that nobody at UP knew who she was.

Harry Redknapp wrote:Micaela is listed as playing club soccer at FC Portland 2008-10. She played HS in Gresham and for Eastside United before 2008. So I'm struggling with this idea that nobody at UP knew who she was.

Especially since every Up coach is at FC Portland, as was Lauren Hansen (Formerly UP assistant and now the associate head coach at Oregon). They never talked about her? Really?

Now THERE is a scandal.

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:Here's a fact:

Trolls are so rare here by the time I decide how I want to deal with them Geezer has already taken care of business.

I must spend a little more time with the trolls at BS than you do

The hard truth is that Micaela wouldn't be the player she's become if she went to Oregon. Her meteroic rise in the soccer world is probably due to the Pilot teammates that surround her...that she practices against and competes with everyday. I'm not discounting the players at UO. I just don't believe Micaela would see the successes she's experiencing now. The learning curve in being at UP probably expedited her level of play. Give Maecala credit...cuz when it really comes down to it....SHE made the decision to go to UP instead of UO. SHE decided that UP was the right fit for her! And you know what...SHE made the right decision!

GO PILOTS!!!

NWSocr - I know practically nothing about Michaela's background. However, knowing the Pilot program as I do and how they genuinely care about the welfare of the players (they let Charney play this year), I would be flabbergasted if anything that was even remotely unethical happened here. What would you have the coaches do if a recruit comes to them and says "I've changed my mind, I want to play for Portland"? "Sorry - you've already verbally committed to another school - go away"? Gimme a break. Answer UPSF's questions, please.

NWsocr wrote:<Conjecture>

Waaaaaahhhhh!

Welcome to big-time recruiting where there's competition between schools. These kids aren't even allowed to vote or smoke; asking them to make a college decision is a big step in their lives. They can certainly change their minds on it, especially if a potential better offer comes along. We don't know the circumstances surrounding her change of her verbal, so it would be inappropriate to level unsubstantiated ethical charges against a program with an otherwise impeccable record.

It appears that some people know some of the background already. To say that UP staff did not know about Micaela till that game is crap. Lauren was her club coach and when Lauren left Garrett was her coach in the interim. Lauren obviously knew how good she was because she was immediately recruited to Oregon and committed.

Give this scenario to any other college coach and they would tell that this is not the way recruiting is done. The reason coaches don't recruit verbally committed players is that in soccer the numbers are much smaller than say football so after getting a verbal commit coaches move on to another recruit, position, class, etc. If you can't rely on verbal commits it throws the whole early commit system out of whack. If you think it is ok to recruit committed players for better offers than UP fans should be fine with better academic institutions coming in at the eleventh hour taking recruits, right?

Thanks for the name calling, very classy. Must be very defensive about any criticism.

Do you know for a fact that the UP coaches were actively recruiting Michaela, or did she come to the coaches and say "I changed my mind"? If so, HOW do you know that for a fact?