Kevin,
If the South Carolina ODP system were perfect, and able to identify the top 18 players per age group each year (and these players and their parents could afford it and would choose to participate), how many of these kids would receive athletic aid to play soccer in college?
Look at the rosters of our 20+ college programs. These college coaches aren't stupid, they are in a competitive situation and they are paid to succeed (win). We are a relatively small state with a limited soccer history. We are getting better each year but we are not yet producing tons of players of the calibre of some of our regional competition (GA, FL, TX, NC, VA). Therefore, these college coaches look elsewhere.
Realistically, we have 18 players on a U-18 ODP roster, what's the proper/average distribution for the college level that they should play at? How many are D1, D2 & D3? If they are D3, where are they going? We don't have any D3 schools in SC. It would cost a fortune for a South Carolina kid to play at a D3 school unless he/she has at least 1400 SATs and is in the Top 2% of their class.
