SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer 22-1

scwame - sorry for the long post, but a few thoughts on the whole question of playing in SCISA.

First, I think the reasons that Pinewood and the other schools remain in SCISA has almost nothing to do with women's soccer (or soccer in general). A few other reasons to consider:

SCISA is not simply an athletic league and provides numerous other benefits for the small private schools (primarily art, music, drama, etc).

From an athletics standpoint, the decision is made based on the level of competition across all sports not just soccer.

Location is a major factor. (I believe that this was a factor in St. Joe leaving SCISA. There are more 1A schools in the Greenville area (4-5) versus SCISA schools (0)). The exact opposite is true in Charleston (1 1A school, 6 SCISA schools).

Size of school – Pinewood and Cardinal Newman are two of the largest SCISA schools (Pinewood has about 250 high school students), but would be one of the smallest 1A/2A schools. Academic Magnet is three times as large and BE is almost four times as large. Even Christ Church is larger than both of them.

Second I think the idea that SCISA is less competitive is not accurate. There is no simple way to compare, but if we look at the massey ratings from last year – you can see that SCISA is just as competitive as 1A and maybe even 2A.

SCISA vs 1A (Top 10 Schools)
Pinewood Prep (SCISA) #12
Card Newman (SCISA) #21
Christ Church (1A) #22
Academic Magnet(1A) #31
Hilton Head Prep(SCISA) #33
St Joseph's (SCISA/1A) #40
Hilton Head Chr(SCISA) #55
Heathwood Hall(SCISA) #58
Porter-Gaud(SCISA) #62
Hammond(SCISA) #63

SCISA vs 2A (top 10 Schools)
Waccamaw(2A) #5
Pinewood Prep(SCISA) #12
Card Newman(SCISA) #21
Woodruff(2A) #25
Bp England(2A) #27
Hilton Head Prep(SCISA) #33
Gilbert(2A) #37
St Joseph's(SCISA) #40
Barnwell(2A) #41
Hilton Head Chr(SCISA) #55

It's not to say that some teams in SCISA are are not competitive..I think he was saying the competition within the league is not as competitive..

coldhardtruth - I think I understand scwame's point and it has been made many times on these boards. "SCISA has less competition than 1A" (sometimes the comparision is made to 2A, but none of the SCISA schools would be 2A).

But I don't think this conclusion is accurate. It is a fair point that I only presented the top teams in each division - so here is a more comprehensive look.

There are 12 SCISA AAA schools - 7 of them are listed above. There are 10 1A schools, only 3 are listed (including St. Joe - formerly SCISA). If you look at the remaining schools, SCISA schools are 12, 13, 14, and 19 on the list. 1A schools are 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21. (I know - too much information and free time on my hands!)

I think the best conclusion is that both 1A and SCISA provide good competition for smaller schools (less than 300 students) and that the top schools in each league have shown that they are willing to play (and win in many cases) against top schools in any division (ex. Christ Church, Cardinal Newman, and Pinewood have all beaten top AA, AAA, and AAAA schools this year).

There is no question that schools at the bottom end of both leagues are not as competitive as the top schools, but this is the case in most divisions. It may be more pronounced in 1A and SCISA - but you see it in every group. A quick look at league scores for the top schools in AA, AAA, AAAA will confirm.

scwame - I should have checked to see if you responded to my post before I posted another lengthy note! As regards to the Massey ratings - there always seems to be issues with head to head results. Thats what you get when you use stats. I am a big fan of deciding everything on the field. I would love to see someone do a "tournement of champions" where the top schools in each division could play. It would likely have to occur the following spring, but would be fun to watch!

.Mine played AA last year and with the exception of a couple of teams..The division left something to be desired..AAAA this year and the games have been one or two goals one way or the other..More level competition between the teams..Makes the games more enjoyable to watch..

Score as many as you can, the game is about scoring goals. The coach didn't do anything wrong. Please don't mention sportsmanship. Pinewood was the better team and you would hope the Northwoods just take it in stride and continue to work on getting better.
When teams are up and try to control the score the opposing teams get mad and try to hurt players. Why play numbers down, when you have girls that don't have a lot of playing time on a regular basis. How could you tell a player that only plays when their team is winning not to score when they have the opportunity?
Pinewood played a lot of good teams; they have lost some and won some. I don’t see any post about Wando beating teams 10-0 etc. Let’s get over teams scoring the chances that they create. This is not baseball or whatever sport that have the mercy rule, this is soccer. If you don't like it play another sport..

Regarding the original post of 22-1 where I think all this started. Pinewood has a very strong roster by most of our current A/AA/AAA high school standards (as well as a strong coach). At least three of the players I know are/were members of the '93 SC ODP team with my daughter including two that were selected to the '93 Region III ODP Pool last summer in Alabama. Not included in those three is the forward invited to the National ID2 camp. And that's just the four I know. There's no doubt they have a good team.

What "lit the fire" here was the 22-1 pounding they put on Northwood after 17-0 earlier. Hey, the winning goal was the second goal. Adding another 20 was a little over the top. I think the 7-0 result against OPrep after proving Pinewood could put 17 goals up against them earlier displayed a commendable change in sporting attitude and respect for the weaker team.

7-0 rather than 17-0 or 17-1 or 22-1? Congratulations on the win. 7-0? In fairness to Pinewood, BE has put 12 or more goals on opponents 5 times this year already, Christ Church, St. Joseph's have both put more than 7 on opponents this year, as have most teams in the "upper 3rd" of their conferences. 7-0, I can live with. I've seen my daughter's team on the both ends of a score like that this year. And, although they, OPrep, may not like the 7-0 result (hope not), at least it's not the embarassment of a 22 goal onslaught that could have the players questioning whether or not they should even participate. To those at Pinewood whose website includes lots of references to developing character, sometimes it may be the goals that are not scored that say more about the character of players and a team than the goals that are scored. Something one poster here, unless posting in jest (can't tell), obviously hasn't figured out... kind of a "pig at a trough" mentality.

Congratulations in more way than one on the 7-0 score.

SO, how 'bout those BE scores? What's up there?

And, of course, if my daughter's club team draws Team Boca or Ponte Vedra at regionals this summer and can put 22 on either... well that's different and you can call me a "pig at the trough".