SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Poverty, Affluence, and Soccer Success

I apologize for not getting to the boys side of things; I intended to for the exact reason you noted, T.! Thank you for adding that.

In studying school report cards and what schools fail, I have found that there are critical points of the poverty index that correlate highly with schools that pass and schools that fail. Somthing like a PI of about 86 and above is sure failure for an elementary school, for example. I believe W&E offers a sobering point above, but I think we could determine when the poverty index essentially cripples a school in soccer without the school and community taking steps above and beyond the usual. From that basis, we could see who wants to offer that help for those schools. This would improve the state of soccer acorss the state and everyone would benefit.

I am not very familiar with the club side of things, but I know that our success is based on the club involvement of our kids when they were much younger (OSSOC, I believe). Thanks for the recognition and kind words.

LC, you guys have been the exception and done a job that is to be admired.

Good job purpleandyellow. Another point about the poor rural schools, almost all of the soccer players play football and then basketball for their school before they play soccer. Almost allways the players can not afford to play club due to cost and transportation.

The school where I have taught and continue to help with soccer is rural and we have starters who play soccer ONLY during high school. They either have other school commitments during fall (other sports, cheerleading, etc) or they can't afford club or rec. These facts of rural and small schools, especially those with high poverty, truly separate our soccer programs dramatically.

>>[Whiskey & Easy] B-C is at #85 out of 205, correct? That's still in the top 41% so it's not like they're turning the world on it's side.<<

These guys had to create and run their club from scratch and have continuously been working to offer soccer to kids that otherwise wouldn't be interested. That has apparently offset some socioeconomic disadvantages. That's what's impressive to me.

>>I think more urbanized areas (Greenville, Columbia, & Charleston) can help negate lower poverty rankings.<<

How?

B-C and its yearly competitive program(s) are to be seen as model examples. I would offer any Heise a job as my JV coach anyday. That Smith girl, too.

If clubs don't start from scratch and expand, how do they get started? Surely they do not just appear with a rec team, 4 classics, and a challenge.

Large areas of population allow for greater chances of common ideas...for example club soccer. These large amounts of common interest backed by man power allow for such ideas to come to fruition. CESA didn't exactly start in Williamston, and MLS doesn't have a team in Barnwell. With more people, there are more opportunities. More opportunities create competition. Competition drives prices down. Lower prices allow for lower economic groups to become involved via more affordable options, club scholarships, or donating fellow parents.

I agree with the earlier post that soccer is simply a wealth driven sport, with the few exceptions (BC, which is not a poverty stricken area of Columbia by any means, go two blocks down the road and you have multi million dollar frat houses), you have to be finacially sound to allow your children and family to play club soccer. Typically the high schools with good club feeder programs are the more successfull ones. Driven by wealth!! As also mentioned earlier, soccer in other countries is a way out for a lot of kids. In the US its just a possible free college education. Women's soccer consists of high school, college, and OLYMPIC TEAM. Not much opportunity after college. Football and Basketball on the other hard, are negatively correlated with wealth just like soccer is in other countries. Look at the Rock Hill High, Gaffney High, Marlboro County. Consistantly dominant football and basketball programs at least when I played them, and consistantly bad SAT scores. This is the way out for kids in the US. You can go pro, if you aren't good in school, dominate on the football field, go to college, dominate in college, go to the NFL, get millions and can't count past 100. Soccer is like golf, a liesure sport that is enjoyed by the middle and upper classes of society. Just my opinion though, there are exceptions to every rule.

I feel a long one coming from Chico...probably graphs and pie charts...