2026-08-17, 10:06 AM - Word count:
I finally got my first sim league championship! AS Paris won division 1 minors and our parent organization União São Paulo won the Cup. For those counting, it took me 3+ ISFL seasons and 2 SSL seasons (including academy and DSFL). Due to the historical significance of this moment, I thought it might be worthwhile to reflect on this past season in SSL.
Highs
Winning Division 1 Minors – Our team was stupidly dominant going 13-1-1 with a goal difference of 44. We were the only team in division 1 with a positive difference this season. As a result of being so dominant, we secured the championship with several weeks left in the season to go. Vibes are great!
Winning the Cup – The Cup being at the end of the season is really nice because if you secure a regular season championship early on, you can get another high just as the previous championship high is falling by winning the Cup at the end.
Class of 26 All Star Game & POTM – I really enjoy this series (hopefully it continues as one) a lot. It started after my academy season and continued again this season. Xyan’s team (which includes two ASP players – Austin and myself) won 5-2 in the exhibition this time around. We dominated XG and had better key statistics across the board. Both ASP players shined. My player (Owen Goal) won player of the match with a 9.5 rating – 1 goal, 2 assists, and 2 clear cut chances. Ignignokt had the second highest rating at 8.6 with a solid stat line as well – 1 goal, 1 assist, and another 2 clear cut chances.
ISFL -> SSL Pipeline – One of the amusing and unintended consequences of not joining the SSL Discord was that I would yap in the ISFL server’s other-sim-leagues channel about the SSL constantly. That channel ended up being fairly active this past season. I am not saying I caused a lot of users to join SSL from ISFL. But I’d like to think I played a small part in at least making it top of mind. It was also pretty cool to see a good number of SSL users come over to ISFL. The ISFL class of S63 looks like an SSL affiliate class.
Lows
Not going undefeated in Division 1 Minors – Maybe I am just greedy, but it would have been nice to have an all-time historic season as my first season in the league. We were really close too. On MD7 we tied the worst team in our division (no disrespect, just facts). We dominated the team stats but only had a tie to show for it. To make matters worse, if I recall correctly, the goal they scored did some wild pinball bouncing to ricochet into our goal (could’ve been a different game but I am too lazy to fact check right now). But even after MD7 being tied still meant we had a chance to technically have an undefeated season. Then MD13 comes along vs Krung Thep FC. This game was cursed as well. Again, we’re solidly ahead in team stats, however we lose 0-1 due to an own goal. Wild. To put it in perspective, our head-to-head record against Krung Thep FC is 12-2-2.
Getting Simmed – Sim gunna sim. But it did not feel great. While this fortunately did not affect the overall outcome for AS Paris, it definitely did for União São Paulo. There was one game in particular late in the season that I think highlights this perfectly. MD15 vs Hollywood. Hollywood gets an early red card. They somehow manage to score twice down a player to sneak away with a 2-2 tie. Again, USP is dominating in team stats. I am no stranger to getting simmed, but it felt like USP was the SSL version of BFB/OSK. Have the highest TPE entering the season only to inexplicably lose random games.
Cup Draw – This didn’t matter in the end, but it was annoying nonetheless. The Cup draw had both AS Paris and União São Paulo on the same side of the bracket. An organization’s teams should be on opposite sides of the bracket as foundational rule. We did not eliminate each other this time around, but in the event that teams from the same organization meet, it should be the Cup finals. I understand there are some challenges with getting this setup the way I prefer, but I hope it can be figured out.
Other Notable – These are not necessarily highs or lows, just something that stood out this season.
Testing – I started testing early in the season. This was my first time testing for any team in any league. While admittedly, I didn’t do a lot of testing it was an enjoyable experience. If my availability allows it and my team needs me, I’ll likely continue this again next season.
Expansion – Expansion was something. I was looking forward to expansion all season. I have some mixed feelings though. I think it would’ve been cool/more fun to head into expansion (and this offseason in general) with more draft assets to be able to move around and make more deals. That said, it was very interesting to navigate protections and the expansion draft. I was surprised at the lack of additional protection slot purchases. It could be because this incoming class looks very deep. We opted not to purchase any additional protection slots. I wonder if the expansion teams would’ve even selected our pick packages had we went that direction instead. I imagine division 1 picks are not super attractive. The main downside of expansion was losing players. That was a bummer. All in all, it was an experience.
What’s Next
Back to striker – I swapped positions last season to help the team out and this coming season I’ll return to my preferred position. Hopefully we’ll have another strong season and I’ll be able to take advantage of my opportunities.
Expanded role – I am exploring the idea of becoming more involved with the league, perhaps taking on a league job. We’ll see how that goes.
Joining SSL Discord – Just kidding.
Highs
Winning Division 1 Minors – Our team was stupidly dominant going 13-1-1 with a goal difference of 44. We were the only team in division 1 with a positive difference this season. As a result of being so dominant, we secured the championship with several weeks left in the season to go. Vibes are great!
Winning the Cup – The Cup being at the end of the season is really nice because if you secure a regular season championship early on, you can get another high just as the previous championship high is falling by winning the Cup at the end.
Class of 26 All Star Game & POTM – I really enjoy this series (hopefully it continues as one) a lot. It started after my academy season and continued again this season. Xyan’s team (which includes two ASP players – Austin and myself) won 5-2 in the exhibition this time around. We dominated XG and had better key statistics across the board. Both ASP players shined. My player (Owen Goal) won player of the match with a 9.5 rating – 1 goal, 2 assists, and 2 clear cut chances. Ignignokt had the second highest rating at 8.6 with a solid stat line as well – 1 goal, 1 assist, and another 2 clear cut chances.
ISFL -> SSL Pipeline – One of the amusing and unintended consequences of not joining the SSL Discord was that I would yap in the ISFL server’s other-sim-leagues channel about the SSL constantly. That channel ended up being fairly active this past season. I am not saying I caused a lot of users to join SSL from ISFL. But I’d like to think I played a small part in at least making it top of mind. It was also pretty cool to see a good number of SSL users come over to ISFL. The ISFL class of S63 looks like an SSL affiliate class.
Lows
Not going undefeated in Division 1 Minors – Maybe I am just greedy, but it would have been nice to have an all-time historic season as my first season in the league. We were really close too. On MD7 we tied the worst team in our division (no disrespect, just facts). We dominated the team stats but only had a tie to show for it. To make matters worse, if I recall correctly, the goal they scored did some wild pinball bouncing to ricochet into our goal (could’ve been a different game but I am too lazy to fact check right now). But even after MD7 being tied still meant we had a chance to technically have an undefeated season. Then MD13 comes along vs Krung Thep FC. This game was cursed as well. Again, we’re solidly ahead in team stats, however we lose 0-1 due to an own goal. Wild. To put it in perspective, our head-to-head record against Krung Thep FC is 12-2-2.
Getting Simmed – Sim gunna sim. But it did not feel great. While this fortunately did not affect the overall outcome for AS Paris, it definitely did for União São Paulo. There was one game in particular late in the season that I think highlights this perfectly. MD15 vs Hollywood. Hollywood gets an early red card. They somehow manage to score twice down a player to sneak away with a 2-2 tie. Again, USP is dominating in team stats. I am no stranger to getting simmed, but it felt like USP was the SSL version of BFB/OSK. Have the highest TPE entering the season only to inexplicably lose random games.
Cup Draw – This didn’t matter in the end, but it was annoying nonetheless. The Cup draw had both AS Paris and União São Paulo on the same side of the bracket. An organization’s teams should be on opposite sides of the bracket as foundational rule. We did not eliminate each other this time around, but in the event that teams from the same organization meet, it should be the Cup finals. I understand there are some challenges with getting this setup the way I prefer, but I hope it can be figured out.
Other Notable – These are not necessarily highs or lows, just something that stood out this season.
Testing – I started testing early in the season. This was my first time testing for any team in any league. While admittedly, I didn’t do a lot of testing it was an enjoyable experience. If my availability allows it and my team needs me, I’ll likely continue this again next season.
Expansion – Expansion was something. I was looking forward to expansion all season. I have some mixed feelings though. I think it would’ve been cool/more fun to head into expansion (and this offseason in general) with more draft assets to be able to move around and make more deals. That said, it was very interesting to navigate protections and the expansion draft. I was surprised at the lack of additional protection slot purchases. It could be because this incoming class looks very deep. We opted not to purchase any additional protection slots. I wonder if the expansion teams would’ve even selected our pick packages had we went that direction instead. I imagine division 1 picks are not super attractive. The main downside of expansion was losing players. That was a bummer. All in all, it was an experience.
What’s Next
Back to striker – I swapped positions last season to help the team out and this coming season I’ll return to my preferred position. Hopefully we’ll have another strong season and I’ll be able to take advantage of my opportunities.
Expanded role – I am exploring the idea of becoming more involved with the league, perhaps taking on a league job. We’ll see how that goes.
Joining SSL Discord – Just kidding.
