I'm going to be a self advocate for my team here. And I know this will cause some flack, but here goes...
Blue Ridge finished the season 14-7, and in second place in our region (and I realize we aren't in the strong regions 2 or 5). If you do the quick math, that is a 67% winning record. Of the 7 losses, 4 were in tournaments. Tournaments are over and above your normal 16 game schedule, and not every team elects to play in tournaments.
I know our opponents records are weak, and that is probably the one thing what ultimately hurt us. You also have to consider that not every game is reported on scsoccer. I know that a few teams in my region had other games that are not reported and had a few more wins. But because they did not report them to scsoccer, that hurts my team. Is that fair? Some of the games you cannot control (region opponents) others I did have control of. However, it is difficult to get teams to play you sometimes and you have to get what you can get! I am already working on our schedule for next year and hope to have a much different looking opponents record. If anyone is looking for a match, send me a PM.
However, we had 3 significant wins. Defeated Mauldin twice. They are a #9 4A team who made it to the 3rd round of play-offs. We also defeated Wade Hampton. Wade Hampton is a school with a strong soccer history, and had they not been in region 2 would have made a very significant play-off run!
We did lose to Riverside by 1, and then by 4. We also lost to Boiling Springs and Clover who each flirted with the top 15 in 4A at least one or two weeks. We also lost to Walhalla who played for the upper-state in 2A. Our play-off loss to Seneca in the first round was in "golden goal."
If you look at schedules, we not only beat the teams we should (according to win-loss records) we had wins over teams with winning records. There are some teams ranked in the top 15 that have very few wins, if any wins, over teams with a winning record. So in other words they only beat the weak teams...they pulled no so called upsets!
A few of you made very valid points. Are rankings difficult? Of course! And I know that Kyle & Kevin spend several hours each week working on the rankings. If you look at other ranking systems, high school, college, etc... they typically are done by more than 2 people. Look at the AP college poll. That is done by writers from all over the nation. Does each writer have the opportunity to see all teams play? No, but when you have so many voting it all balances out. Could a committee be done in SC? I'm sure those of us that care about high school soccer would be willing to analyze what we can and send an email to a central location.
Before this season, most people think of Blue Ridge and they mentally think, "that's another win." Coach Sumwalt (ROH) and myself are committed to making Blue Ridge a school with a respected soccer program, both girls and boys. My boys are working very hard to change that! This season we were fortunate enough to start a JV program, which we hope will only help to make us better for the future. I have a senior on my team who won only 1 game his freshman year! This year he could proudly say, "we won 14 games!"
There's my soap box for the night. If I am out of line by advocating for my team...well then get over it! But like I said, my boys are working very hard and I felt that others in the soccer community should know about it. We look forward to next season...see you guys on the field!
