Massachusetts Boys High School Soccer Participation Rate & Teams Strength Estimates by Leagues and Divisions

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Massachusetts Boys High School Soccer Participation Rate & Teams Strength Estimates by Leagues and Divisions;

+ interesting info re Football Teams

Version 1 8:28 PM 9/25/2009

Verson 2 4:07 AM 10/1/2009

Contents of this page

This page contains: info re participation rates in high school and collegiate sports in Massachusetts and in the US; info re Massachusetts performance compared to US performance in football and soccer; words re the utility of this page when it comes to soccer tactics/strategy; three tables that give an idea regarding the soccer strength of the various Massachusetts soccer and football divisions and leagues; info re what football leagues are in what football divisions; info re where the best football team in each division is located to provide an idea re the location of the divisions.

Percent of age-group participation in sports in Massachusetts and in the US: similar in football, higher for MA in soccer

Participation in Massachusetts interscholastic boys high school sports in the 2008-9 school year was as follows: (sport, thousands participating K=1000s, percent of high school age population participating) : Basketball, 12.1K, 7.7%; football 20.8K, 13.2%; baseball 13.0K, 8.3%; ice hockey 7.4K, 4.7%; soccer 13.2K, 8.4% ( http://www.nfhs.org/Participation/).

Participation in total US interscholastic males high school sports in the 2008-9 school year was as follows: (sport, thousands participating, percent of high school age population participating) : Basketball, 545K, 6.6%; football 1112K, 13.4%; baseball 473K, 5.7%; ice hockey 37K, 0.4%; soccer 384K, 4.6%.

The percent of the high school boys age group participating in high school football is the same comparing Massachusetts to the US. The participation percentage rate for soccer is 83% higher in Massachusetts compared to the US as a whole.

The percentage of age group participation level at the collegiate level is much lower than it is at the high school level. Soccer participation as percentage of males in the same age group as college students falls from 4.6% for high school soccer to 0.3% for NCAA soccer.

Participation in total US interscholastic male college sports during 2006 was as follows: (sport, thousands participating, percent of college age population participating) : Basketball, 17K, 0.2%; football 61K, 0.8%; baseball 29K 0.4%; ice hockey 4K, 0.05%; soccer 20K, 0.3% (http://www.aahperd.org/NASPE/pdf_files/pos_papers/EstimatedProbability_AthleticsBeyondHighSchool.pdf).

Compared to football, Massachusetts fares better relative to the nation as a whole in soccer

Whereas the top ranked high school football team in Massachusetts, Xaverian, is ranked above 93.1% of the high school teams nationally (http://www.maxpreps.com/state/football/massachusetts.htm), ranking #1014 in the nation, the top ranked high school soccer team in Massachusetts, Ludlow, is ranked above 99.7% of the teams in the nation at #31 nationally, and the second ranked high school soccer team in Massachusetts, St. John's of Shrewsbury, is also ranked above 99.7% of the teams in the nation ranking at #36 nationally (http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/fab50?sportId=10020040&seasonType=1&season=2009&week=4). This calculation is based on the NFHS report that 11,139 US high schools participated in soccer ( http://www.nfhs.org/Participation/), and the fact that maxpreps.com ranked 14,711 teams in the nation in high school football (http://www.maxpreps.com/list/rankings.aspx?ssid=f11d21e3-d9ab-4c9b-974b-ff4fcfed5c76&state=All%20States&teamsize=11&showmyrankings=true&page=589).

As of now I am assuming that the NFHS figures for number of schools 'participating' in a sport are at least approximate to the number of schools fielding interscholastic teams in the sport.

Tactical Utility of this page

I am using the football leagues and divisions to illustrate the soccer strengths in the various leagues and divisions. I have not come across any info re the leagues and divisions with regards to soccer competition, except for the division of the Boys HS soccer in Massachusetts into several large divisions: Division I North, South, West, and Central; Division II North, South, West & Central; and Division III North South West and Central. Problem with this is that since there are so many teams in each division, it becomes difficult to determine things such as which locations, and athletic leagues feature the superior soccer (which is something you want to do if you want to learn by observing the top teams). If I get the chance I will look into the question of how the soccer teams are divided into leagues and where the records are for the soccer league standings; frankly, I dread the laboriousness of inquiring into the matter via emails and phone calls to harried coaches and administrators who have a hard time with understanding and communicating.

All I have to go on as of now, is the division of the soccer teams represented in the state tourney, into four large divisions, north south west and east, for divisions I, II, and III. On average each geographical section of each division had 15.8 teams in the 2008 Massachusetts Boys HS Soccer Tourney; the four division I geographical sections each had on average 16.3 teams in the tourney. By way of contrast, the football leagues in total featured 288 teams in 44 leagues, 6.4 teams per league. Thus knowing for a given school that plays soccer, which league the school's football team plays in, helps to narrow things down if one is interested in focusing on teams that have the most interaction with the top teams (for example one could learn something simply studying a team that has played a team that played a top team).

Looking at how the league line-ups in football and basketball compare, I estimate that there is about 80% correlation between which league a Massachusetts boys football team is in, and which league a Massachusetts boys basketball team is in; one could expect this level of correlation between football and soccer.

Much of the pleasure and value in sports comes from the intellectual aspect of an individual's or team's struggle. Mentally speaking a natural priority is learning through observing other teams. Studying a top team, one looks at teams that have played the top team, even at teams that have played a team that has played the top team; such teams tend to be aligned with the 'top team' in question through being in the same league in sports such as football.

Table 1 shows how the football teams in the various divisions have their playoffs leading to their 'Super Bowls'. The purpose of this to show how the various leagues in divisions relate to each other in football, as this has implications for soccer.

Table 1

Massachusetts Boys HS Soccer Strength by School's Football Division, School's Football League, & School's Soccer Division

Football

Division

Top Ranked Football

team in Division

National

rank of

top ranked

football

team in

Division

2009;

percent of teams ranked lower in nation

14,711

ranked teams in nation

State rank

of top ranked

football

team in

Division

2009

Location

of top ranked football team in Division

Football

Leagues

in Division;

number of teams in league

288 teams in 44 leagues, average 6.4 teams per league

Football

Tournament/

Playoff/

'Superbowl'

Structure

Total

estimated

soccer

strength in points

football

league

(from Table 2)

Total

soccer

strength

of football

Division

in points

(from Table 2)

Soccer

Division

Affiliation

Number of schools in various soccer divisions by football division

SND1=

2008 Soccer Tourney

North

Div 1 (22 teams); SSD1=

2008 Soccer Tourney

South Div 1

(20 teams);

SCD1= 2008 Soccer Tourney

Central Div 1 (13 teams);

SWD1= 2008 Soccer

Tourney

West

Div 1 10 teams).

Noted

Soccer

Teams in various football divisions

(football league and division affiliation of school given)

(total points

in terms of estimated soccer strength given)

60% of high schools, 11,139 schools, play interscholastic

soccer

C-1

(Div 1)

St John's

Shrewsbury MA

1095

92.6%

40 miles

west of

Boston

Division 1A (A conference), 6;

Division 1B,

(B Conference), 6;

Division 1C (C Conference), 6;

3/18

In C-1 Div, Top 3 teams + next 5 based on 'power ratings'; playoffs reduces the 8 to 2 teams.

Div 1A

222 pts

Div 1B

75 pts

Div 1C

0 pts

297 pts

SCD1:

Div 1A: 4;

Div 1B: 3;

Div 1C: 1

St. John's HS, Shrewsbury MA, SCD1 soccer, Div 1A League football; Soccer ranking, #2 in state, #36 nationally; 99.7% of US high schools rank lower than St John's in soccer; #6 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

126 pts

Algonquin HS, Northborough MA, SCD1 soccer, Div 1A League football. Soccer ranking, #5 in state; #15 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

96 pts

MIlford HS; Div 1B league in football; Div 1 Central in soccer; #21 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

75 pts

C-2

(Div 2)

Auburn

3878

73.6%

45 miles

west of

Boston

Division 2A, 7;

Division 2B, 8;

2/15

In C-2 Div, Winner of each conference + next 6 teams based on 'power ratings'; through playoffs top 2 teams produced.

Div 2A

0 pts

Div 2B

0 pts

SCD1:

Div 2A: 3

C-3

(Div 3)

Littleton/Bromfield

Littleton MA

6545

55.5%

30 miles

northwest

of Boston

Division 3A, 6;

Division 3B, 6;

Division 3C, 7;

3/19

In C-3 Div, Top 3 teams + next 5 based on 'power ratings'; playoffs reduces the 8 to 2 teams.

Div 3A

71 pts

Div 3B

0 pts

Div 3C

72 pts

143 pts

SCD1:

Div 3A: 1;

Marlboro HS; Div 3C league in football; Div 1 Central in soccer; #24 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

72 pts

Groton-Dunstable HS; Div 3A league in football; Div 1 Central in soccer; #25 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate

71 pts

E-1

Xaverian

Westwood MA

1014

93.1%

10 miles

southwest

of Boston

Big Three (Big 3), 3;

Catholic, 5;

Greater Boston (GBL), 5;

Merrimack Valley - Large (MVC Large), 5;

4/18

MVC Large Champ plays GBL champ; Big 3 champ plays Catholic League Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

Big 3

173 pts

Catholic

134 pts

GBL

88 pts

MVC

0 pts

406 pts

SND1:

Catholic:1;

GBL: 3;

MVC: 3

SSD1:

Big 3: 2;

Catholic: 4;

Brockton HS, Big 3 football; SSD1 soccer. Soccer ranking #4 Boston area; #5 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate

91 pts

St John's Prep, Catholic league in football; soccer rank #10 in Boston area; #10 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate

86 pts

New Bedford HS, Big 3 league in football; Div 1 South in soccer; soccer rank #17 Boston area; #14 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate

82 pts

Boston College HS, Catholic league in football, #19 in Boston area in soccer

59 pts

Everett HS; GBL in football; #8 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate

88 pts

E-1A

Gloucester HS

1984

86.5%

40 miles

northeast

of Boston

Bay State - Carey, 6;

Dual County - Large, 6;

Northeastern - Large, 6;

Old Colony, 5;

4/23

NE Large Champ plays Dual County Large champ; Bay State - Carey champ plays Old Colony Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

Bay St - Carey

278 pts

Dual County Large

80 pts

NE Large

0 pts

Old Colony

76 pts

434 pts

SND1:

Bay-St-Carey:2;

Dual County-Large: 3;

Northeastern-

Large: 4

SSD1:

Bay St-Carey: 2;

Old Colony: 3;

Waltham HS, Waltham MA, SND1 in soccer, Dual County - Large in football

no points (home team)

Framingham HS, Framingham MA, SND1 soccer, Bay State Carey league in football. Soccer ranking: #4 in state; #1 Boston area; #2 in MA state tourney 2008;

110 pts

Needham HS, Bay St - Carey league in football; Div 1 South in soccer; soccer rank #13 in Boston area; #13 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

83 pts

Westford HS, Dual County Large league in football; Div 1 North in soccer; soccer rank #18 in Boston area; #16 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

80 pts

Brookline HS, Bay St Carey league in football, Div 1 North in soccer, #11 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

85 pts

Dartmouth HS, Old Colony in football; Div 1 South in soccer; #20 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate

76 pts

E-2

Mansfield HS

2126

85.5%

30 miles

south

of Boston

Bay State-Herget, 6;

Hockomock, 9;

Merrimack Valley - Small (MVC-Small), 5;

Middlesex, 10;

4/25

MVC Small Champ plays Middlesex champ; Bay State - Herget champ plays Hockomock Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

Bay State-Herget

0 pts

Hockomock

62 pts

Merrimack Valley - Small (MVC-Small)

0 pts

Middlesex

175 pts

237 pts

SND1:

Middlesex:2;

SSD1:

Bay St-Herget: 1;

Hockomock: 1;

Lexington HS

Lexington MA, SND1 in Soccer, Middlesex League in football. Soccer ranking #3 in state, #3 Boston area; #7 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

106 pts

Winchester HS, Middlesex in football; soccer rank #5 Boston area;

69 pts

Canton HS, Hockomock league in football; #14 in Boston area in soccer;

62 pts

E-2A

Marshfield

Atlantic Coast League

Cape Ann - Large

1510

89.7%

25 miles

southeast

of Boston

Atlantic Coast, 7;

Cape Ann - Large, 5;

Dual County - Small, 6;

Patriot - Keenan, 6;

4/24

142

Cape Ann Large Champ plays Dual County Small champ; Atlantic Coast champ plays Patriot - Keenan Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

Atlantic Coast

145 pts

Cape Ann - Large

137 pts

Dual County - Small

65 pts

Patriot - Keenan

61 pts

408 pts

SSD1:

Atlantic Coast: 3;

Patriot-Keenan: 2

Masconomet HS, Cape Ann Large football;

#26 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

70 pts

Nauset HS, Atlantic Coast in football, soccer rank #6 Boston area;

68 pts

Wilmington HS, Cape Ann Large football; #7 in Boston area in soccer;

67 pts

Bedford HS, Dual County Small league; soccer rank #9 Boston area;

65 pts

Whitman-Hanson HS, Patriot-Keenan league in football; soccer rank #15 Boston area;

61 pts

Sandwich HS, Atlantic Coast league in football; Div 1 South in soccer; soccer rank #16 Boston area; #19 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

77 pts

E-3

Bishop Feehan

Attleboro MA

3269

77.8%

30 miles

south

of Boston

Eastern, 5;

Northeastern - Small, 6;

Patriot - Fisher, 6;

South Coast, 9;

4/26

Patriot-Fisher Champ plays NE Small champ; Eastern champ plays South Coast Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

Eastern

0 pts

Northeastern - Small

0 pts

Patriot - Fisher

58 pts

South Coast

0 pts

58 pts

SSD1:

South Coast: 1

Pembroke HS, Patriot-Fisher league in football, soccer rank #20 Boston area;

58 pts

E-3A

Medway

3248
77.9%

20 miles

southwest

of Boston

Cape Ann - Small, 7;

Catholic Central - Large, 6;

South Shore, 7;

Tri-Valley, 10;

4/30

Catholic Central Large Champ plays Cape Ann Small champ; South Shore champ plays Tri-Valley Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

Cape Ann - Small

66 pts

Catholic Central - Large

0 pts

South Shore

64 pts

Tri-Valley

63 pts

193 pts

Hamilton-Wenham, Cape Ann Small in football; soccer rank #8 Boston area;

66 pts

Carver HS, South Shore League in football, soccer rank #11 Boston area;

64 pts

Medfield HS, Tri-valley league in football; soccer rank #12 Boston area;

63 pts

E-4

Manchester

Essex/Rockport

Manchester MA

2221

84.9%

25 miles

northeast

of Boston

Boston - North, 6;

Commonwealth - Large, 6;

Mayflower - Large, 7;

3/19

As there are only three leagues in this division, One league champ will get a bye to the Div Superbowl, to play the winner of the game between the other two league champs.

Boston - North;

153 pts

Commonwealth - Large

0 pts

Mayflower - Large

0 pts

153 pts

SND1:

Boston-North: 1;

SSD1: Boston-North: 1

Madison Park HS; Boston North league in football; Div 1 North in soccer; #17 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

79 pts

East Boston HS; Boston North in football; Div 1 North in soccer; #22 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

74 pts

E-4A

O'Bryant
Roxbury MA

9963

32.3%

176

In Boston

Boston - South, 6;

Catholic Central -Small, 7;

Commonwealth - Small, 5;

Mayflower - Small, 5;

4/23

Commonwealth Small Champ plays Catholic Central Small champ; Boston South champ plays Mayflower Small Champ. Produces 2 winners who play each other in 'Division Superbowl'.

0 pts

SSD1:

Boston-South: 1;

W-1

(Div 1)

Longmeadow

2126

85.5%

80 miles

west of

Boston

Suburban, 9;

AA, 8;

2/17

Div W-1 winner plays Div W-4 winner; winner of this plays winner of Div W-2 vs Div W-3 in 'Western Mass

Superbowl'

Suburban;

249 pts

165 pts

414 pts

SWD1:

Suburban: 3;

AA: 3

Minnechaug HS; AA league in football; Div 1 West in soccer; soccer ranking #4 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

92 pts

Chicopee HS, Suburban league in football; Div 1 West in soccer, #9 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

87 pts

West Springfield; Suburban league in football; Fiv 1 West in soccer; #12 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

84 pts

Northampton HS, Suburban league & Div 1 in basketball, no football, Div 1 West in soccer, #18 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

78 pts

Agawam HS, AA league; Div 1 Central in soccer, #23 in 2008 state tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

73 pts

W-2

(Div 2)

Wahconah Regional

Dalton MA

AA League

5262

64.2%

120 miles

west of

Boston

Berkshires, 9;

Intercounty, 8;

Suburban, 9;

AA, 8;

2/17

Div W-2 winner plays Div W-3 winner; winner of this plays winner of Div W-1 vs Div W-4 in 'Western Mass

Superbowl'

Berkshires

0 pts

Intercounty

0 pts

Suburban

245 pts

0 pts

245 pts

SWD1:

Berkshires: 1;

Suburban: 2

Ludlow HS, SWD1 soccer,

Suburban

League football; soccer ranking #31 nationally; 99.7% of US high schools rank lower than Ludlow in soccer; #1 in state; #1 in 2008 state soccer tourney;

152 pts

Amherst HS, Suburban league in football; Div 1 West in soccer; soccer ranking- ranked #3 in 2008 state soccer tourney acc to Hobbs estimate;

93 pts

W-3

(Div 3)

Mahar Regional

Orange MA

9236

37.2%

149

80 miles

northwest

of Boston

Berkshires, 9;

Intercounty, 8;

Suburban, 9;

Div W-2 winner plays Div W-3 winner; winner of this plays winner of Div W-1 vs Div W-4 in 'Western Mass

Superbowl'

Berkshires

0 pts

Intercounty

0 pts

Suburban

0 pts

W-4

(Div 4)

Easthampton/Hampshire

Easthampton MA

10536

28.4%

188

80 miles

west of

Boston

Tri-County, 8;

Intercounty, 8

1/8

140

Div W-1 winner plays Div W-4 winner; winner of this plays winner of Div W-2 vs Div W-3 in 'Western Mass

Superbowl'

Tri-County

0 pts

Intercounty

0 pts

W-I

Northampton/Smith Vo-Tech

(Northampton, MA)

9036

38.6%

141

80 miles

west of

Boston

AA, 8;

(just 1 team,

Northampton/Smith Vo-tech)

0 pts

Table 1 Notes

High Schools participation data

http://www.nfhs.org/Participation/

The lowest Maxpreps ranked HS football team in the nation is Navajo Pines, ranked at #14711 in the nation.

http://www.maxpreps.com/list/rankings.aspx?ssid=f11d21e3-d9ab-4c9b-974b-ff4fcfed5c76&state=All%20States&teamsize=11&showmyrankings=true&page=589

Table 2 is shown below.

Column 1 in Table 2 uses a simple formula for ranks #1 to #25. Details re the rank order listed in Col 1 in Table 2 are given in Table 3. Ludlow was the state champ. If a team lost to Ludlow by 1, I ranked it -1. If a team lost to a team that lost to Ludlow by 2 goals, by 3 goals, I ranked it -5. And etcetera. Meaning that if a team ended up with a -8 rank, my estimate was that it would lose to state champ Ludlow by 8; if a team ended up with a -4 rank, my estimate was that it would lose to Ludlow by 4. And etcetera.

Ranks #26 - #38 in col 1 in Table 2 are filled out based on the 2008 end of season Boston.com rankings for Boys High School soccer in the Boston area.

Thus The first column combines my 2008 Tourney rank with the 2008 Boston area rankings. First place gets 38 points, second 37, 37th place 2 points, 38th place 1 point. etc etc.

The fifth column shows the Boston.com Boston area 2008 ranking, no points awarded as this is worked into the first column, and because the Boston.com rankings seemed inaccurate compared to my method based on the 2008 state tournament results. Re this inaccuracy, it is incredible how few of the teams Boston.com ranked as being in the top 20 in the Boston area, were even entered into the Division 1 Massachusetts Boys High School Soccer Tournament.

.In the fifth column the five teams ranked by ESPN in its listing of the top 5 times in Massachusetts for 2009, are given high scores and the other teams not ranked by ESPN are given average scores.

The seventh column: The two Massachusetts teams ranked by ESPN nationally are given high scores and the other teams are given average scores.

The eigth column, the team ranked by NSCAA is given a high score and the other teams are given average scores.

The ninth column, sums up the total points for a team. The tenth column, gives the final rank in points.

Table 2

Massachusetts Boys High School Soccer Top Teams Based on Various Rankings

Hobbs 2008 Tourney Rank for top 25; Boston.com Boston area 2008 rank for 26-38 (points)	School	Hobbs 2008 Tourney Score	Division 1 division	Boston.com Dec 2008 Boston area Rank	ESPN 2009 MA Soccer Top 5 (points)	2009 ESPN RISE FAB National top 50	2009 NSCAA top 10 New England	Total points	Rank in points
1 (38)	Ludlow	0	West		1 (38)	31 (38)	4 (38)	152	1
2 (37)	Framingham	-1	North	1	4 (35)	(19)	(19)	110	3
3 (36)	Amherst	-1	West		(19)	(19)	(19)	93	6
4 (35)	Minnechaug	-1	West		(19)	(19)	(19)	92	7
5 (34)	Brockton	-2	South	4	(19)	(19)	(19)	91	8
6 (33)	St John's Shrewsbury	-2	Central		2 (37)	36 (37)	(19)	126	2
7 (32)	Lexington	-2	North	3	3 (36)	(19)	(19)	106	4
8 (31)	Everett	-2	North		(19)	(19)	(19)	88	9
9 (30)	Chicopee	-2	West		(19)	(19)	(19)	87	10
10 (29)	St John's Prep	-3	North	10	(19)	(19)	(19)	86	11
11 (28)	Brookline	-3	North		(19)	(19)	(19)	85	12
12 (27)	W Springfield	-3	West		(19)	(19)	(19)	84	13
13 (26)	Needham	-3	South	13	(19)	(19)	(19)	83	14
14 (25)	New Bedford	-3	South	17	(19)	(19)	(19)	82	15
15 (24)	Algonquin	-3	Central		5 (34)	(19)	(19)	96	5
16 (23)	Westford	-4	North	18	(19)	(19)	(19)	80	16
17 (22)	Madison Park	-4	North		(19)	(19)	(19)	79	17
18 (21)	Northampton	-4	West		(19)	(19)	(19)	78	18
19 (20)	Sandwich	-4	South	16	(19)	(19)	(19)	77	19
20 (19)	Dartmouth	-4	South		(19)	(19)	(19)	76	20
21 (18)	Milford	-4	Central		(19)	(19)	(19)	75	21
22 (17)	E Boston	-5	North		(19)	(19)	(19)	74	22
23 (16)	Agawam	-5	Central		(19)	(19)	(19)	73	23
24 (15)	Marlboro	-5	Central		(19)	(19)	(19)	72	24
25 (14)	Groton-Dunstable	-6	Central		(19)	(19)	(19)	71	25
26 (13)	Masconomet			2	(19)	(19)	(19)	70	26
27 (12)	Winchester			5	(19)	(19)	(19)	69	27
28 (11)	Nauset			6	(19)	(19)	(19)	68	28
29 (10)	Wilmington			7	(19)	(19)	(19)	67	29
30 (9)	Hamilton-Wenham			8	(19)	(19)	(19)	66	30
31 (8)	Bedford			9	(19)	(19)	(19)	65	31
32 (7)	Carver			11	(19)	(19)	(19)	64	32
33 (6)	Medfield			12	(19)	(19)	(19)	63	33
34 (5)	Canton			14	(19)	(19)	(19)	62	34
35 (4)	Whitman-Hanson			15	(19)	(19)	(19)	61	35
36 (3)	Westford			18	(19)	(19)	(19)	60	36
37 (2)	BC High			19	(19)	(19)	(19)	59	37
38 (1)	Pembroke			20	(19)	(19)	(19)	58	38

Table 3, shown below, gives my (Hobbs) Ranking estimate based on the 2008 State Tourney results:

Col 1 in Table 3, ranks #1 - #25: I did this using a simple formula. Ludlow was the state champ. If a team lost to Ludlow by 1, I scored it -1. If a team lost to a team that lost to Ludlow by 2 goals, by 3 goals, I ranked it -5. And etcetera. Meaning that if a team ended up with a -8 rank, my estimate was that it would lose to state champ Ludlow by 8 goals; if a team ended up with a -4 rank, my estimate was that it would lose to Ludlow by 4. And etcetera.

The second column shows how in Table 3 shows how many goals I estimate the team in question would have lost to Ludlow by had they played Ludlow in 2008. Where teams are tied in terms of this number, the team from the tougher soccer division is ranked higher.

My calculations used to produce Table 3, produced some insight into the question of the relative strengths of the various soccer divisions. Looking at the teams that placed amongst the top 32 teams in terms of the tourney results, I assigned a number to each of the teams based on an estimate of how many goals they would lose to tourney champion Ludlow by. The calculations showed that the top eight teams in Soccer Division 1 North would lose to Ludlow by an average of 3 goals; the top eight teams in soccer Division 1 West would lose to Ludlow by an average of 3 goals; the top eight teams in Soccer Division 1 South would lose to Ludlow by an average of 4.6 goals; and the top eight teams in soccer Division 1 Central would lose to Ludlow by an average of 5.5 goals.

Table 3

End of 2008 Massachusetts Boys HS Soccer Rankings Based on 2008 State Tournament Game Scores

Rank	School	Score	Division 1 division
1	Ludlow	0	West
2	Framingham	-1	North
3	Amherst	-1	West
4	Minnechaug	-1	West
5	Brockton	-2	South
6	St John's Shrewsbury	-2	Central
7	Lexington	-2	North
8	Everett	-2	North
9	Chicopee	-2	West
10	St John's Prep	-3	North
11	Brookline	-3	North
12	W Springfield	-3	West
13	Needham	-3	South
14	New Bedford	-3	South
15	Algonquin	-3	Central
16	Westford	-4	North
17	Madison Park	-4	North
18	Northampton	-4	West
19	Sandwich	-4	South
20	Dartmouth	-4	South
21	Milford	-4	Central
22	E Boston	-5	North
23	Agawam	-5	Central
24	Marlboro	-5	Central
25	Groton-Dunstable	-6	Central

Notes/Links:

"The estimated number of high school student-athletes participating interscholastically in the sports having a major professional league in the United States (in 2006) was obtained from the National Federation of State High School Associations." http://www.aahperd.org/NASPE/pdf_files/pos_papers/EstimatedProbability_AthleticsBeyondHighSchool.pdf

Less than three in 50, or about 5.5 percent, of high school senior boys interscholastic soccer players will go on to play men's soccer at a NCAA member institution. Less than one in 50, or about 1.7 percent, of NCAA senior male soccer players will be drafted by a Major League Soccer (MLS) team. Approximately one in 1,250, or approximately 0.07 percent of high school senior boys playing interscholastic soccer will eventually be drafted by an MLS team http://www.aahperd.org/NASPE/pdf_files/pos_papers/EstimatedProbability_AthleticsBeyondHighSchool.pdf

Until the 1980s, most high schools in the U.S. did not offer soccer at all, and youth soccer programs were extremely rare until the 1970s. Thus, older generations of Americans living today grew up with virtually no exposure to the sport.... with increased urbanization, American high schools have grown to the point where most offer both (football and soccer) sports in their fall sports seasons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_in_the_United_States

'The NFHS publishes playing rules in 16 sports for boys and girls competition and administers fine arts programs in speech, theater, debate and music. It provides a variety of program initiatives that reach the 18,500 high schools and over 11 million students involved in athletic and activity programs'

http://www.nfhs.org/Activity3.aspx?id=3260&linkidentifier=id&itemid=3260

Calpreps, a site devoted to California HS football, has hidden away within it an amazing page that helps one to sort out Massachusetts football at

http://calpreps.com/preview/2009/

MIAA 2009 Football Tourney Plans

http://www.miaa.net/football-2009-format.pdf

2008 December Boston.com top 20 soccer rankings

http://www.boston.com/partners/globesports/schools/rankings/rankssc.html

1. Framingham; 2. Masconomet; 3. Lexington; 4. Brockton; 5. Winchester; 6. Nauset; 7. Wilmington; 8. Hamilton-Wenham; 9. Bedford; 10. St. John's Prep; 11. Carver; 12. Medfield; 13. Needham; 14. Canton; 15. Whitman-Hanson; 16. Sandwich; 17 New Bedford; 18. Westford; 19. BC High; 20. Pembroke

2009 ESPN Boys High School Soccer Rankings Top 5 for each state

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/hssoccer/0-13-21/Boys-state-by-state-rankings---Fall.html

MA: #1 Ludlow; #2 St. John's Shrewsbury; #3 Lexington HS; #4 Framingham HS; #5 Algonquin HS

2009 Fall ESPN RISE FAB top 50 Boys Soccer National,

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/fab50?sportId=10020040&seasonType=1&season=2009&week=4

Ludlow HS, MA, ranked #31 nationally; St. John's Shrewsbury #36 nationally

2009 NSCAA National HS top 25 Boys Soccer

http://www.nscaa.com/hsRes.php?it=1906

No MA school ranked

2009 NSCAA top 10 New England

http://www.nscaa.com/hsRes.php?it=1888

Ludlow HS, MA, ranked #4 in New England