>>[bamr1] We should not benchmark against CASL. They have a much larger population to draw from therefore a much larger rec program.<<
Actually, Raleigh and Greenville in terms of metropolitan areas aren't that far apart compared to many clubs. However, the way you benchmark is by denominating over eligible people, i.e., people aged 5-18.
>>Talking Rec in Greenville what are the parents options; YMCA, Foothills, Greer, USA etc . . . Except for the YMCA the other clubs play in our Academy league.<<
Understood.
>>I agree with you that building a bigger rec program gives you more kids feeding into the academy program. Thats a no brainer, but what I was trying to say is that the much bigger problem is getting parents to move their talented children out of the rec program and into the select academy program. This is an especially trying issue on the girls side of the equation. I used to think it was all about "education". Parents just did not know about the academy program. Although I still believe this to be a factor I am not as hung up on it as I was. Last year I assisted with handing out flyers to the girls (U8-U12 rec teams)and spoke very briefly with the parents and coaches. I expected at tryouts to see this overwhelming number of girls trying out at U-10 and U-11 and that just did not happen. <<
You raise a great point. I had to focus on something else immediately after I posted my response to you and thought while doing it that I should have asked for more information. It's a fascinating perspective you have that the real problem is conversion of talented recreation players to academy and beyond. Let me ask you; have you shared this with the directors or anyone at CESA and gotten their perspective on this? Not doubting you...just wondering...
