i was just wondering how school teams are looking for next year so if you have any idea on how many returning players you have or have some idea of how your team will do this year please respond. i would love to hear how school think they are going to do

Magic7

SUMTER HIGH (SHS) will have a good year in 2004.
(12)players from SHS Varsity lady's are playing Classic in Fall on the Sumter United U18.

I think that West Florence girls are going to be back at the State Championship again this next season. They only lost on senior.

Does anyone know how RNE is going to be in 2004? Did they lose a lot? Any good players moving up?

James Island and West Ashley will bring forward to the 2004 season the same core players they had in 2003, barring any injuries during the club season. Both should be formidable teams. I know Wando is losing a couple of their starters but Kelly McGinty (top state scorer) remains and a number of their all state players will remain. Region 7 4-A should be great entertainment again this year.

lpaf

ps: Some will argue that West Ashley (4-A State Champs 2002 and 2003) should be the odds on favorite to win the region. Such logic fails to take into account the psychological trauma the WA players and coaching staff suffered in their post season struggle with the SC High School League to have their title re-instated after the "8th graders on the bench fiasco". Many of the girls have signs of post traumatic soccer regulation disorder (PTSRD) and may have a hard time in the coming HS season. Time will tell, but for the present I think Wando, again, is team to beat in the low country.

See, there you go again trying to play WA as the underdog. I think that time is up, my friend. B2B Champs don't qualify for sympathy.

chs --

Just doing the best I can with what I got. Region 7 4-A is really a dead heat with three excellent contenders, any one of which can win or lose against the others on any given day.

lpaf

LPAF!
What are you smoking over there in good old WA?
The Wildcats will be favored to win all their games before the 1st 5 minutes is played. They by far have the best talent in the state . Combine that with the award winning coaching staff, the BEST parents on the East Coast, and the confidence that comes from knowing they should win every game and I do not give anyone much chance of even stepping on the field with them.
James Island is opbviously the 2nd best team in state.
Poor Wando - I do not know how they are going to cope.

S1 --

I had a feeling you'd weigh in on this one. Although WA will certainly be ranked first leading up to the preseason tournaments, the team has tended in the last two years to get off to a bit of a slow start. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them settle into the regular season games again in a solid top 5 position, but not at the top of the heap. I stand by my comments that the best girl's soccer in the state is in Charleston county. Should be a lot of fun to watch again next year.

I appreciate your kind words about the WA parents. With East Cooper as our shining example of what modern life can (and should) be we have made much progress toward our own betterment in the last few months. Indoor plumbing has begun making inroads into a number of our homes. We have learned that water out of the spigot can be a health hazard and begun buying it in small bottles. (Outhouse Springs - available only at Piggly Wiggly - is more popular here than those fizzy French waters, though.) And finally a few foreign cars are begining to sell on the motor mile -- mostly used VW Rabbits and Hundai's. Give us another couple of years and I think we'll be ready to build our own Town Center...

LPAF

Again if my neice at Wando is any example, they all pray every night to the soccer gods to please let them be half as good as the West Ashley elite.

I hear April Hendricks is regularly on the phone w/ Drew and Andy asking for their advice on how to prepare the USA team for World Cup play. Also April wants to borrow the Fusion to teach Mia and company how to play the game.

The SCHSL should just go ahead and engrave the 2004 trophy now. Save everyone the pain and humilation of having to play the Mighty Wildcats.

S1 --

WA was willing to let the SCHSL decide if they should forfeit or keep the 2003 trophy. If you can get the HS League to commit already for the 2004 trophy you could save all of us a lot of worry. Get back to me on this if you can. Otherwise I guess we'll just have to play the HS season and see what happens...

lpaf

S1 --

Opinions are a lot like specific (but herein unspecified) body parts. Everyone has their own.

Do you have anything useful to say about Wando's 2004 team, as that seems to be the topic of this board?

lpaf

Region 1 Coach --

How do the upstate 4-A regions shape up for next year? Did any of the top teams take a big hit in graduating seniors?

lpaf

Wow. Touched a nerve! I even deleted post as it was a cheap shot and unwarranted per your conversion to a kindler gentler tone last spring.

Re Wando, I don't see them adding any new talent that would incrementally allow them to overcome WA and JI's superior abilities.

S1 --

Now we're left with my rude post just sitting there and your rude post that prompted it mysteriously deleted. I've abandoned at present any thoughts of working the underdog angle for West Ashley. You win for now. We'll see if another opportunity arises.

lpaf

Ah, the upstate. The Red Headed Stepchild of the 4a high school girl's soccer scene. Mauldin took a major shot on the chin from graduation, but as we say in Anderson "Mauldin is still Mauldin". Look for Spartanburg to make a top 5 finish with Dutch Fork again to astonish all viewers (at least untill playoffs...sorry coach). Greenwood will be entertaining a new coach and could be seen rising to the top 15, probably taking Aiken High's position which was devastated by the much hated "if you have graduated from high school then you cannot come back and play on the high school team" rule. I could go on and on, but as well all know in girl's 4a soccer, the upstate's position in championship game is just a formality. The actual championship can be viewed six times this year in our former capital.

well spartanburg high beat WA 2-0 in the viking cup they didnt even come close to scoring so you can stop with WA this and WA that

All this talk of 4A girls soccer! How about AAA/AA/A/SCISA? How does Bishop England look? How about West Florence (I know most of those girls are back this year). How about Dreher or Brookland-Cayce to challenge? Does Riverside have enough to down Eastside? Who else in the Upstate AAA? Is Chapin for real or does ChapinDad reveal the weakness in only four girls playing club? How about Emerald girls or Academic Magnet? Can Waccamaw challenge? How about Hanahan? I look for Christ Church to be solid again. Cardinal Newman in SCISA? Who else?

Here swimmer and LPAF go again...ya'll always seem to dominate posts whenenever there's mention of ANYTHING ya'll can say. I would have to agree with LPAF about WA. They seem to be getting off to a slow start this year at least. At the viking cup, I did not see anything close to impressive play... How many players were they missing if missing any at all?

It is hard to keep up when people take one subject and respond to it in another thread. Give this feeble old mind a break!
Just to show we can talk about other divisions. BE returns 10 starters from last yr's state champion team. So that it why it was good to see Chapin perform well. Also, assume Christ Church will have another strong core or players. Academic Magnet will not challenge this year. Good school and coach - just not enough of a club feeder system for them. Same for Porter Gaud in SCISA.

me123 --

West Ashley played without their all state sweeper, Danielle Jordan, who was finishing the basket ball season. In the semifinal game with Spartanburg Julie Bolt (WA high scorer last two years) was held out due to an ankle sprain. Another missing person in the WA equation is Demetria Gibbs who has moved to Columbia and is playing for Spring Valley. In general I thought much of last weekend's play looked ragged for almost all teams present. That's to be expected this early in the season. WA will have to find more spark offensively if they want to make a run at state again this year.

lpaf

R1C --

"Look for Spartanburg to make a top 5 finish with Dutch Fork again to astonish all viewers."

I did a double take when I saw your posting date on the above post. August 25, 2003. And the two upstate teams to watch? Spartanburg and Dutch Fork -- just like the Viking Cup results came to show. Great prediction, coach.

lpaf

ps: Any hot stock predictions or a line on the the World Series?

I had the insiders information on the Spartanburg predictions so go ahead and call me Martha Stewart. A little bit of research and a whole lot of luck made DF come true. Lets check out this thread again in three months and see how well I read palms then. Stock tips??? I hear that Boeing is looking fantastic lately thanks in part to our armed forces followed by Westinghouse and there 1300 employers soon to be at your local temp office. I also see a reduced tuition rate to someone close to you in the up and coming future...

R!C --

Call it inside research and luck if you want but to put those two teams in the same sentence last August seems more like Nostradamus than Martha Stewart to me. I hope your tuition prediction holds true, in less than two years I'll have 4 children in college at the same time and every little bit helps.

lpaf

I think Dutch Fork has always been very good. They just do not quite make it to the top every year, not sure why. In fact I think last year and the year before they had alot of talented players and could have gone further then they did.

lpac

Continuing with D1C's predictions: In the next sentence, he mentions Greenwood as being likely to move into the top 15. I think he will be proven correct with this prediction as well. We will know soon, as the first four matches are with Emerald, Aiken, Dorman, and Spartanburg--all currently ranked in their respective divisions.

Coach McClendon is doing an excellent job with the girls. They are solid in the front and the back, and the midfield will be more than adequate. Barring key injuries, they will continue to improve throughout the season.

So can I get on the stock tip list, too?

It's going to be fun to watch Greenwood this year for one reason...Laura Armstrong. A coaching change persuaded her to return to high school ball this year. She's a bit like Claire Joyce from Aiken's squad last year. Big, tough, and exxxxxxxtremely difficult to defend against. Pardon my excessive letters to add emphasis. They played Wren the other day and it was a 1-0 loss. I think that can be interpreted two ways--Wren's strength this year, and Greenwood still shaking the rust off. Today's stock tip: Hardees. I strolled in the other day out of curiosity. I was expecting these thin little burgers like everywhere else. What I found was these huge burgers. And get this...they were made out of Angus Beef, the best you can buy. Just like that, the last place I'd go to for a burger is now the first.

The Wren game was great for the team in that it put things into perspective and showed them some things they need to correct before the season starts. They were also missing 4 key players that were still in basketball, dance, and cheerleading and could not play. The previous 10-0 romp over Laurens the week before really did not help them much. After they got three of the players back, they beat Boiling Springs 3-0 so they now should be ready to prove themselves in real games.

Another player to watch is Cristin May who also did not play last year. She is one of the best sweepers around, and, along with Maria Psomas and a capable supporting cast, will make it difficult for opposing teams to get off shots.

I'm (obviously) from Wren and I played against Greenwood a couple weeks ago.

They're midfield was unbelievably weak and there was next to NO transition play that this section of the field was ever able to handle. Greenwood just played boom ball a lot of the night through though.

I wish I could play Greenwood again against this *army* of girls coming from other sports because they must have made the difference in the Boiling Springs game.

We pretty much shut Laura Armstrong down as in she couldn't possess the ball long enough to do any damage by herself. She had a few good runs but good runs arn't good if theyre ran for a short distance beside the sideline. Shes probably the only glipse of greatness I saw from this team unless there is some good talent from the new girls. Don't get me wrong, I did some ODP stuff with Laura before and I thought she was awesome myself. Maybe it was a bad night?

Speaking of the young lady, I saw Laura in goal against Clemson this weekend and thought she played that position as well. Its amazing she can do two very different positions so well. You've analyzed Greenwood quite well, now might I offer a suggestion to you. I'm impressed with the quality of players and obviously Coach Burris has you playing enthused and tactfully. However, if that monkey is to ever release his grip from your back, you need to sell your stock in Turnovers and buy up as much fluidity as you can. Greenville schools and Daniel have your number. This is your year to take the latter, now do your part as players and concentrate to take care of the former.

R1C

I also saw ODP play Clemson this past year.

There is no doubt in my mind that Laura is not an awesome player and better than I.

Nicely put Region 1 Coach. I have no rebuttle cause our team's season will speak for itself this year.

My dear, I shall remind you that my intentions are not to promote Laura above yourself. My apologies if that was the sound of my horn. Allow me tune it. I simply feel that a coach can only do so much with the talent he has. I contain the highest amount of respect for your coach. Simply put, the players must play. Forgive me if this stings, but the truth was evident in the loss to a weakened Mauldin squad. I feel you can defeat 80%-90% of the teams in the state. 95%-100% could be right around the corner. The players got to play. Good luck with the rest of the year.

On a side note.. I had to sit the bench because of school issues during this Mauldin match. Oh it doesn't sting a bit because you personally I doubt was there to see our talented team play a team that has always been known to be good. Hmmmm.. maybe they just had a little more momenteum than us because of the name of MAULDIN that they carry. Talent is very evident with our team and sir/ma'am, you havn't seen us play i do doubt.

Wrensoccer,
Greenwood brought no midfield to the scrimmage with y'all and their sweeper was not playing either. Beaudrot and Smith are both very strong midfielders and weren't able to participate due to conflicts with other sports and May (sweeper) who did not play last year due to knee surgery could not play due to a dance team conflict. Laura Armstrong is a fantastic player who will contribute a lot to the team ( She made a huge impact as a freshman and didn't play soph. and jr. years because GHS had an athletic dept. policy that prohibited players from participating in club and high school at the same time - GFC or high school in a rural area - no brainer on the choice!)but, one player doesn't make a team! Greenwood is going to be strong this year! It is a shame y'all don't play during the regular season!

My point exactly. Greenwood will be tough this year. Region title?

The Region title may be tough. Mauldin does carry a certain mystique (not to mention considerable talent) that makes it hard to beat them, especially twice! Greenwood historically has been able to stay with the top teams for about a half and then fold after the first goal hits the back of their net or give up about four and then decide to get tough! If they are going to challenge, it better be now; a lot of their strength is going to walk across a stage in May!

I've heard positive things about the new coach. I hope he can get things together and make that push to the next level. Any other word on the rest of the region? Any other scrimmages besides Wren?

The new coach is going to be very good! He seems to be quite knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. He is facing the challenge of selling his program to a team that is not totally committed. Many participate in a variety of activities that take them away from practice and they and their parents get offended when they are asked to chose between a beach trip and soccer! Greenwood will continue to struggle to be a successful program long term until a stronger girls' youth soccer program evolves. ( If ever!) There is not enough competition to threaten these kids into playing year round or feeling a need to be at practice 100% of the time. Many are good athletes who play for fun and there is nothing wrong with that if that is your objective.

Coach,

You're being too coy! What about Hanna this year? The scrimmage scores I have seen look impressive.

BTW--Greenwood scrimmage scores: 10-0 vs Laurens, 0-1 vs Wren, and 3-0 vs Boiling Springs with most players eligible.

I agree with soccerparent, Mauldin is Mauldin. The first four games agaist Emerald, Aiken, Dorman, and Spartanburg will tell us a lot about Greenwood's season.

Sorry, I rambled and forgot the other part of your question. From what I hear, Mauldin will be Mauldin, Hillcrest is unknown although they had a down year last year, Hanna and Greenwood usually vie for third ( 2nd this year? ) but, Hanna is possibly young and green ( which makes them dangerous too ), as for Easley and Westside, I understand that they struggle these days to find experienced players. Forgive me if I am wrong. I just observe from the stands! What about the new region alignment?

Ridgeview is better than everyone seems to be aware of. They could be the black horse in the 4A State Playoffs this year. Everyone is making a big fuss about West Florence, when Ridgeview beat them 3-1 on March 2, 2004. Better watch out for those Blazers! Ridgeview