Folks: It's been fun. I mean that sincerely. I've had a great time learning and writing about youth soccer.
But after a few years and 2100+ posts, I'm going to retire "Shibumi/Chico/etc." I think I can find time in the middle of the night to "lurk" on this message board...but posting is too arduous for what I'm working on now. I still plan on going to high school and club games -- and I still plan on helping a few clubs that I see trying to grow the sport (e.g., CESA and CRSA come to mind immediately.)
I did want to say thank you to just a few folks. I'm going to miss a lot of folks in this post; so let me say up front I apologize to those that I don't explicitly name. There have been so many coaches that have helped over the years. While I've had my (well documented) problems with administrators and sometimes parents, I've always been a big fan of the coaches who work tirelessly to promote this sport that my kid chose to play.
Thanks to Chris Fryland who first coached my kid on his recreation boys team and then years later coached my kid in high school. Thanks to Paul Armstrong, the coach that chose my kid to her first select team; Paul led that team to a challenge cup state championship. Thanks to Shaun Jacques, who allowed my kid to join his team after that team imploded (my kid was playing up and most of the kids that spring went to play JV); Shaun led that team to a challenge cup state championship. [As far as I know, Paul and Shaun are the only coaches on the girls side to ever win challenge cup state championships at Lexington County Soccer Club.]
Shaun went above and beyond both in providing extra training and then made a move that at the time I didn't realize was extraordinary -- he recommended that my kid investigate playing for a better team. That led to Shaun recommending my kid to Andrew Hyslop of GFC -- who let her practice for free for a few months with his 17 and 18 year old kids when my kid was 13, less than 5' tall and couldn't break 90 pounds.
Andrew then did the next incredible thing -- when my kid asked how to get better, recommended she play a lot of soccer anywhere she possibly could. Thanks to "Gonzo" for letting her play in the Thursday night "ad hoc" games with mostly adults and thanks to him for letting her train with the various boys teams and during one summer play for them.
Thanks to Justin Rhodes and his wonderful Aiken Fire team who opened their training to her. I'll never forget Justin telling me that Bert Mollinari at USC asked if she was their mascot. Jamaal, Eric, and a whole lot of really great folks were very kind.
I got to know Andrew Hyslop and Pearse Tormey; both were truly inspirational in terms of how they put aside their own self-interests and drove the formation of CESA. I've never seen a single decision from either of them that even hinted that it wasn't the best thing for kids -- not just kids in the club -- but kids overall.
CESA's a godsend for girls soccer in this state. Boys soccer is more competitive on average across the state and more clubs can be competitive; but without CESA we'd be almost nowhere in a consistent fashion on the girls side (note: this does not mitigate great things done by one-off teams in the past or the strides CUFC is making being more consistent on the girls side.) But of course, this didn't start with CESA -- it started with GFC, SGU, and even before that. Hyslop and Tormey both have done a tremendous amount for girls' soccer -- thank you. And even more importantly, thanks for running an "open" club where kids can practice with any team, boy or girl, anytime they want.
The Heise's not only provide this message board, but gave my kid and other kids who weren't members of CRSA a club and led us to Will Eudy's boys team to practice with -- never asking for a dime -- thanks to the Heise's and to Eudy.
Thanks to all the coaches that let my kid train with them -- from Heather Frederick to Keith Shrum to Chris Christian to Eddie Crosby to Nick Finotti to Carlos Osorio to lots of others.
Thanks to the various ODP coaches over the year. In particular, thanks to Jamie Smith for all of the time and energy he put into ODP teams upon which my kid played. Thanks also to Brian Purcell and Heather.
A few parent thank yous. Thanks to Rick Bolt, who is the prototype for the rule that you shouldn't brag about your kid on this message board or anywhere else. His daughter, Julie, was the player of the year in SC her senior year and is a superb player for Clemson (Anson Dorrance talked about how she tore up UNC a year or two back) -- and yet Rick always talked more about the other club and high school players Julie played with. It was a superb example for how I think people should act on this board. Thanks to "Hurst66" who helped me understand soccer in his area. And thanks to a whole lot of parents who had been through a lot and helped us understand the various processes -- including the Sharpes, Matterns, the Beams, the Blackwells -- the list is endless.
Finally, a few organizational thank yous. In the past 10 years, there have been just a few organizations stepping forward to try to make change happen in SC. Leading the way was CESA. CUFC has made some amazing strides; as someone "inside" the formation of CESA, I can tell you that making these things work takes heroic effort and that Savitz and Miller did a fantastic job -- otherwise it would have imploded. And Bridge through its decision to participate outside of the USYSA structure has I think helped. I hope that these and other major clubs continue to push forward in the state.
Good luck to everyone going forward...
