Chico,
I agree with on the statement that CESA as a whole is head and shoulders above any other club in South Carolina. There is no doubt that their leadership and staff are top notch. On the girls side, there is no doubt that CESA is dominant. 3 out of 4 championships clearly shows that, but on the boys side, I believe that the parity is showing a little more. When you look at 4 different clubs winning a boys championship, that shows no dominance by anyone.
I am not wanting to dispute the power of CESA. I actually think that others are trying to bring together better players because of CESA's dominance. This may not be a club direction, but is definitely happening with individual teams.
The one thing that I think makes a big difference is the attitude of the clubs concerning the behavior of their players when representing the club. When my boys played with GFC, the expectations were high to not bring embarassment to the team/club while representing the club. This included tournaments (at hotels, fields...). I think having the deeper pool of players helps this because of competition for playing time, but not having as many players shouldn't allow the ethics of the program to slip. I have heard many coaches say that they are not the parent, they are the coach. I believe that many people mold and shape children as they grow and a partnership between the parents and a coaches can be invaluable.
Once again, I agree with you about the dominance of CESA, but I think that it is the open thinking of the leadership, their willingness to do what it takes to get better and their ability to let the coaches and coaching directors run the soccer side while the administration is done by the board. CESA (GFC was this way also) is the only club I have seen where the decisions for the teams are not driven by the desires of the people that volunteer to help the club.
