Wando girls achilles heel

With a student body size that not only more than doubles that of many of their 4A competitors, but also draws that population from one of the most soccer-rich areas of the state, it would be hard to say that Wando's weakness is drawing from a smaller talent pool than any of their competitors, public, private, or magnet. There are girls sitting on the Wando bench (and, probably, some who didn't even make the varsity bench) who would be sought-after starters in the majority of programs in the state. It has often been speculated that Wando could field two very competitive girls' and boys' varsity teams, not just one--the boys' successful tactic this season of subbing the full field at a time would seem to support that theory. No, if Wando has an Achilles' heel, I don't think it's access to plenty of quality athletes.

The only serious "Achilles' heel," or weakness, I can see for the Wando girls is a set of expectations that, while not exactly impossible, is very improbable and maybe a bit impractical to maintain. If a team has set such a precedent of winning state championships that anything less than a state championship indicates weakness, then they are bound to show "weakness" sooner or later.

The Law of Diminishing Returns shows that everything has a limitation--a level of peak performance. As you near that peak, no matter how much effort or how many resources you put into things, the level of IMPROVEMENT tapers off, and will even begin to fluctuate up and down near the peak level. Every athlete, every team, every organization, has that fluctuation, and odds are no matter how good you are, sooner or later you're going to run into someone who happens to be at their peak when you're a little off. That's why in sports we continually hear the statement, "Today, they were the better team." Tomorrow, or next week, or next month, the result might be different.

Wando has had their share of championship trophies, and it's hard to remember a year when they weren't in the finals. That's consistently maintaining a level at the very top of S.C. soccer...I certainly wouldn't call that fluctuation at the top a weakness.

Perhaps if Wando has an Achilles' heel, it's the expectation itself. Championships are only meaningful if they aren't guaranteed; it's hard to get excited over something you do every year. Championships at that level are fueled as much by heart, desire, and pure will to win as by skill and athleticism. If one team is doing something that has become routine and expected, while the other team is finding themselves in the excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, then sometimes that "X-Factor" that tips the scales falls on the side of those who are trying to accomplish something they've never done before, who are striving for that first taste of championship.

At any rate, in order to have an Achilles' heel, you first have to rise to the status of being an Achilles--the guy who was renowned for being unbeatable except for that one little weakness. And that's no small accomplishment in and of itself.

As for everyone liking to see a winner lose, I don't think that's it--sometimes people just like to see someone else get a chance to experience the thrill of being the heroes. It's good for next year's Wando team as well--now, instead of just trying to maintain what the girls before them had all done, they get to try to be the heroes who win back the lost title. It will give them something to strive for, and a reason to step up!

Anyway, just one guy waxing philosophical from the sideline, hoping one day to narrow down his own weaknesses to an Achilles' heel!

In the end, boys or girls, the real question isn't whether you have 32 kids who can play anywhere else, but rather whether you have a significant spine of 12-14 who can withstand significant minutes when the chips are down.

The Wando boys' mass-substitution pattern worked great against inferior opposition. (All the mommies and daddies were happy that Nos. 24-32 were getting significant varsity minutes.) But it didn't enhance match fitness for the core, and it effectively created a situation in which Mann scored the game-winner when Wando had a handful of key players off the pitch.

As to the original question -- the achilles heel -- MOST championship high school teams are, almost by definition, built around upperclassmen. When those kids inevitably graduate, the dynamic changes. Some schools/programs survive graduation losses better than others.

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In the end, boys or girls, the real question isn't whether you have 32 kids who can play anywhere else, but rather whether you have a significant spine of 12-14 who can withstand significant minutes when the chips are down.

The Wando boys' mass-substitution pattern worked great against inferior opposition. (All the mommies and daddies were happy that Nos. 24-32 were getting significant varsity minutes.) But it didn't enhance match fitness for the core, and it effectively created a situation in which Mann scored the game-winner when Wando had a handful of key players off the pitch.

As to the original question -- the achilles heel -- MOST championship high school teams are, almost by definition, built around upperclassmen. When those kids inevitably graduate, the dynamic changes. Some schools/programs survive graduation losses better than others.

You are correct! #20 the big center back for Wando is outstanding but he was totally gassed with 20 minutes left in the game. Those mass subs are a nice problem to have but it looked to me like it got them out of sync.

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Exactly. Have to find a way to beef up their schedule. Not their fault but if it wasn't for the viking cup they wouldn't play a winning team.
Also mann is a magnet school which used to help as far as attracting atheletes but now the board decides who gets in. Thus the decline in basketball. Where as Mauldin and Riverside are not magnets and are allowed up to a dozen kids in for no reason. (I don't think recruiting has helped in soccer anyway). Stay tuned for possible coaching changes.)

Riverside girls have NO players from outside the Riverside district.

Repeat NO as is NONE!!!

Now who's fault is that? Should be easy to recruit to a public private school

Mann could recruit the entire student body of neighboring Eastside, call it a merger of school districts and still have about 600 fewer students than Wando. Would Wando feel better about Mann picking up 1200 students from Eastside (including its entire boys team) rather than 1 or 2?

As for the girls' weakness of schedule as the possible achilles heel, yes it doesn't help. But, after the final regular season game loss of TLH to RHS, a number of posts here pointed to a supposed overrating of TLH based on weakness of schedule... "It appears that Vegas did not give enough weight to Hanna's weak schedule before they posted their line. " What Vegas didn't weight in that game was a catalytic midfielder watching the entire game from the bench. I still think the achilles heel of more than one team will work itself out in about a year.

Yes. It helps Vegas when we get a starting roster. I am liking that merger with eastside. Tired of stealing mauldin and Riverside players.

There's really no point harping on enrollments and attendance zones, once the SCHSL establishes them. There's really zero reason why a school with 1800 kids can't field a team that is competitive with its counterpart from a school of 3200 kids, when the only issue is the skill, fitness and preparedness of the 12-14 who are on the pitch in the final 20 minutes of a tied match.
Where this stuff IS relevant is the case of parochial schools, which draw from wide attendance zones and don't always adhere to "recruiting" rules.

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There's really no point harping on enrollments and attendance zones, once the SCHSL establishes them. There's really zero reason why a school with 1800 kids can't field a team that is competitive with its counterpart from a school of 3200 kids, when the only issue is the skill, fitness and preparedness of the 12-14 who are on the pitch in the final 20 minutes of a tied match.
Where this stuff IS relevant is the case of parochial schools, which draw from wide attendance zones and don't always adhere to "recruiting" rules.

Are you saying a school of 1800 kids should have just as many high quality players (which ever club level you subscribe to as "high" level) as a school with 3600? Or are you saying a good program can take their "lesser" quality that they start with and build them into "12-14" stars? Guessing you would suscribe to the idea that demographics of the student bodies also do not matter?

As for attendance zones, I did not think SCHSL had any say in that they just look at school size and say "you are A,AA,AAA,AAAA". They set the regions but not who can go to what school which is a factor for some schools and not others. Will be interesting if this modified school choice law gos thru.... Can see kids choosing to go to cross town school in districts with more than 1 HS because the other school is better in the sport they play!

Chief: Shouldn't the opposite also be true? If it's ALL about enrollment, why don't Dorman, Summerville, the pre-Cane bay Stratford, etc., absolutely dominate IN ALL SPORTS? The point IN SOCCER is, if you have a solid base, with a good coach, the question isn't, who has 1800 or 3200, or who has the best 32 players? It's: Who has the top 14-16, and who coaches/develops them best?
I'll give you another example. For years, the Goose Creek High School girls basketball team was one of the worst AAAA programs in the state. The "demographic" and enrollment were there; the coaching and programmatic commitment were not. One without the others? Largely ineffective.
You're right, attendance zones ARE established at a local level, but CROSSING them to compete athletically is against SCHSL rules. That's where the SCHSL comes in.
Finally, everyone here gets way too hyped over these issues. For years in the Lowcountry, Summerville, Stratford and Berkeley were dominant high school football programs. They built community traditions, feeder systems, and facilities and thrived. Maybe I missed it, but nobody said they had an unfair advantage (except in the case of redshirting and recruiting allegations against Summerville).
So why make a big deal over similar things in soccer?

For what it's worth, from a purely competitive perspective, I suspect Wando would have been better off by cutting to 24-26 kids BEFORE the season, focusing on that hard core, developing a merit-based player rotation, and fostering the type of cohesiveness and match fitness J.L. Mann showed in the boys' title game.
(But that's just me.)

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Chief: ...If it's ALL about enrollment,...

I see what your saying but there is no black and white of "ALL" for anything in life. There are varring shades of grey for every facet involved here. Question is what carries more weight Demographics or school size? For girls soccer I would go Demographics 1st and then say size (and as someone already stated, it does matter

) Program sucess is one measure and when you look at the regular contenders (more than just the 1 winner of the big dance) you seem to get the same 4-8 big schools with good demographics every year, with a few outliers who squeak in from time to time.

Like you say, shades of gray.
And if all things are equal ...
But things are SELDOM equal and always in flux. Seems to me, this year's Class AAAA boys Final Four was a large enrollment defending champion (Wando); two not-so-long-ago AAA teams (South Aiken and J.L. Mann); and your "outlier" ... Clover.
The Lower State semifinal losers this year were Fort D and Lexington. The Lower State championship loser in 2011 was Beaufort.
...
I will say this. My sense, with nothing to back it up, is that AAAA girls' soccer is more of a limited field. That may be unfair. And I'm open to correction there.

Enrollment is one of a number of limiting factors that can affect overall performance, but it is only one of a number of variables. The trick to a limiting factor is that just because less of something can limit your chances, having more doesn't necessarily help in proportion.

To quote Papa John, "The best pizzas start with the best ingredients." While this is true, just having the best ingredients on hand certainly doesn't guarantee that you have the recipe and the skill to produce the best pizza with them.

Since it's the beginning of grilling season, I'll continue the food metaphor...just having the best cut of meat doesn't necessarily mean you can grill the best steak...but it sure helps. Still, it's a lot easier to take a great cut of meat and make it tough than it is to take a tough cut of meat and make it tender. Top-quality ingredients are a lot more forgiving of error, but there are still many more variables that can keep them from transforming into a top-quality dish.

Make sense?

Nice metaphor. When do we break out the cold ones?
Many of the people who endlessly cite enrollment and demographics are the same ones who blame every loss on the quarterback. It's what they see, what they know, and what they have the capacity to quantify ... especially when they haven't seen a team play all year, then struggle to form opinions based on a one-game sample.
Not to write off those issues. But in reality, once two competitive teams advance through four playoff games to a single-game championship match, enrollment has little to do with the outcome. It's about form, fitness, coaching, strategy, field conditions, officiating, "intangibles" and a bunch of other things.
If you look at Wando's boys, they lost two of their final seven matches: one to Class AA Bishop England and one to a comparatively small-enrollment J.L. Mann side. Both of those programs have great traditions and long-time professional coaches. One of Wando's late-season matches was a 2-0 (1-0 until late on) win over a James Island side that likely will slip to AAA classification in the next go-round.
Now, to get back to the Wando girls' "achilles," I could give you several: inability to replace graduated players over several years; potential loss of a proven, successful coach; etc. But that's the same at EVERY high school in EVERY sport, regardless of enrollment.

i'm sure scheduling is a nightmare, but a home & home game against academic magnet late april & early may would have benefited both schools. do the same with BE, because they'll be back also. try to get the region out of the way asap, except play west ashly late also & look for some other tough ones late. forget about rankings & w/l records.
quality losses help focus the team going forward.
wando looked confused when the other team didn't check out after 20 minutes.

"But it didn't enhance match fitness for the core, and it effectively created a situation in which Mann scored the game-winner when Wando had a handful of key players off the pitch."

I don't know if you meant it this way, but this sounds like you are placing a lot of blame on the subs. The "key players" didn't have enough time to get the job done? And they couldn't get it done because they weren't fit enough? The Wando bench isn't deep enough to sustain a handful of substitutions?

Perhaps there should have been more subs if match fitness was an issue? More like what Wando reportedly did the rest of the season? With a bench supposedly that big and deep, that's apparently gotten so much playing time all season that "All the mommies and daddies were happy that Nos. 24-32 were getting significant varsity minutes" - why change if it ain't broke?

The point was, what works during the regular season (against Goose Creek, West ashley, etc.) DOESN'T necessarily work when playing against better teams during the post-season.
I'm sure someone here will point out that it worked in the Palmetto Cup, but THAT was a completely different situation -- 5 games in four days, as opposed to five games in 12 days.
With 20 minutes left in a 1-1 match, with momentum going your way, you don't wholesale substitute a bunch of players for 8-10 minutes, as you did during the regular season. Instead, you rotate one off at a time, over a period of 8-10 minutes, thereby maintaining continuity and momentum.

maybe the final 4 from each class of the previous season schedule late season matches against each other.
some sort of combination where its class 4a vs 2a vs 3a etc & give some good home games for the fans & quality playoff prep for the teams. call it bracketbuster & play on saturdays if travel time is needed.

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call it bracketbuster & play on saturdays if travel time is needed.

You want to open up Saturday for high school play? I have a better idea. FA Cup-like tournament involving the top 16 4A, top 10 3A and the top 6 2A/1A/SCISA teams. Increasing the number from 32 to 64 would only add another week, so why not expand the field.

Draw the names out of a hat each week, first team selected is the home team. Play the matches on Saturday. Start the second weekend in March and take a week or two off for spring breaks. Single elimination, no seeding.

Pro's - David vs. Goliath, blind draw, competitive matches at the end of the season
Con's - David vs. Goliath, tournament conflicts, "Hilton Head vs. Clover"

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call it bracketbuster & play on saturdays if travel time is needed.

You want to open up Saturday for high school play? I have a better idea. FA Cup-like tournament involving the top 16 4A, top 10 3A and the top 6 2A/1A/SCISA teams. Increasing the number from 32 to 64 would only add another week, so why not expand the field.

Draw the names out of a hat each week, first team selected is the home team. Play the matches on Saturday. Start the second weekend in March and take a week or two off for spring breaks. Single elimination, no seeding.

Pro's - David vs. Goliath, blind draw, competitive matches at the end of the season
Con's - David vs. Goliath, tournament conflicts, "Hilton Head vs. Clover"

Hurst, I tried to accomplish this under the current tournament rules but can't exceed ten days, start to finish. Your approach sounds good but one must take into consideration that teams can only play a certain amount of regular season games and how is that going to be controlled under your FA format? I would love to see this but then again did not have a lot of favorable if any response to a similar gameplan over two weekends on neutral, local fields. Let's keep throwing ideas out there and see if we can get one to stick!

I doubt if anything will ever change as long as SCHSL has the same leadership.

True enough. You are asking for a bit of creative thinking and flexibility, and the SCHSL isn't exactly loaded with either. It's all about who butters the bread, and in the SCHSL office, soccer takes a big-time backseat to football, and other sports.

One alternative is have team use 3 of their non-region games as pool play then use those results for a two weekend tournament format which would only count as one tournament. Who is game?

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One alternative is have team use 3 of their non-region games as pool play then use those results for a two weekend tournament format which would only count as one tournament. Who is game?

No pool play in my format.....straight knockout.

Could we have used our two region games against Fairfield Central that never materialized toward this cup tournament?

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One alternative is have team use 3 of their non-region games as pool play then use those results for a two weekend tournament format which would only count as one tournament. Who is game?

No pool play in my format.....straight knockout.

Could we have used our two region games against Fairfield Central that never materialized toward this cup tournament?

How about a two weekend Knockout Tournament. We could handle 32 teams and no one would have to forfeit/lose any regular season games. Max loss to a team would be 2 tournament games.

slighly off topic but coach merriman of academic magnet got a letter to the editor in todays post & courier about the terrible team pictures posted after their losses. i remember at the time being uncomfortable with those also.
i was embarrassed for those girls. it was two large cringe worthy closeup photos of wando & AM girls pouting. as a parent i wouldn't have been happy with the choices p&c made.
coaches point was with all the great action shots that should have been instead, they went with a couple exploitive pics that didn't really tell the story of the two teams. i agree. & maybe a lesson for future finalists & coaches to perk it up after a great season.