Lurker: Thanks for digging the statistics out. Unfortunately, In my view, I see a different picture with the numbers. There is clearly a jump in Fall 2004, and to me there seems to be an outlier this past fall. Although I dont have the statistics to document the cause, one possible item causing the jump in F2004 might be the formation of CESA. (I wish the spring 2007 #s weren't back to the baseline of fall 2004 through spring 2006.)
bamr1: I also become uncomfortable when the teams I root for tend to get up by five goals, one, because I empathize for the other team's moral, but two, my kid probably didn't improve his skills. (I'm not for implementing a mercy rule because I see that as worse.) Within the current structure, I agree that placing teams in challenge or classic is a coach/team/club decision (and not SCYSA). My view is that unless you're playing in the top division available to you that a winning percentage between .33 - .66 is ideal for player development.
I guess, that I'm inclined to think that SCYSA ought to form a 3rd division, even if only on an experimental basis for say two years for U13/U14, and promote cross division play if there are not enough teams. (Only doing it for one year would not probably allow enough time to evaluate the impact.) My thinking is that we might get some more teams created at the lower end willing to consider competitive play instead of recreation soccer, and perhaps over the long term result in more teams being able to play at the challenge level. This might mean that the smaller local clubs will have to become more creative in encouraging 7th &8th graders to play club soccer in the spring in addition or in lieu of JV, but I dont see it as a bad thing .. just another challenge. I could see some creative scheduling in the 3rd division for more regional play, but ultimately, I think the teams need to be prepared for two road trips (i.e., travel to upper or lower state from Columbia, or travel to Columbia from upper/lower state).
Am I kidding myself, and this would essentially create a state wide recreation league (which might not be of value)? Or, would it help promote player development?
