SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Southern Regionals

GVL SoccerDad
Boys HS state cup final was May 19th that was 32 calendar days before the first regional game. Out of those 32 days, how many days did your team train?
Seems like more than enough time and days to get ready. College training camps are shorter.

Many variables come into play @ regionals as you know. Weather, injuries, and of course the initial all important bracketing. For example, U-18 boys were in the bracket with last years National Champions, DSC u-17 boys lost in the quarterfinals to this years Regional Champions by a score of 2-1. I would guess when examining the scores of the SC teams, the majority were either won/lost by a slim margin. This makes SC competitive.

A few other things happened at regionals this year which may have given an advantage to certain teams. For example, a NC team in its 3rd game knew they were advancing regardless of the outcome. In the 2nd half they began pulling off their players one by one until only 5 were left and the ref called the game. Not only did it benefit them but also their opponent. Another bracket had a team that had to forfeit midway thru their 1 game since the coach got a red card and no backup on the roster to coach. Therefore, every other team in that bracket got a day off.

32 to days to train as compared to 5 months with tournaments, etc. No comparison. Team chemistry and roles/positions players have on their HS is totally different than club. Level of play is totally different on club vs. high school.

While I understand the logic of having a team together for a period of time leading up to Regionals, our experience has been, by the time a player is U17 or U18 age, if they can't receive a ball or pass accurately, it makes little difference how long a team is together prior to Regionals. The same players will make the same mistakes.

Younger & less-experienced teams - say U14/U15 - ok, I'll agree with the board's consensus. But the older kids - it makes no difference. If a kid has had strong fundamental training at a young age, those skills will still be prevalent regardless of how much time a team spends together. An older player should be able to walk into any playing situation and play with minimal exposure to the team environment.

I agree with dad's comments..but it would be interesting to see how the teams would do if everyone did play club ball leading up to regions..Some states age groups are calender year like odp and not from july to june..Rosters should be frozen at the same time for everyone..The playing field should start the same for everyone..Our rosters have been frozen since last fall...ODP is the same way..when our teams are trying out..other states already have six months of training under their belts..How do you compete with that when our numbers are not favorable? Yes..there will be a successful age group here and there but for the most part we are at a disadvantage

>>[Coach P] However, individual technical skills are typically not the deciding factors for high level teams above U14, especially for teams that have qualified for regionals.<<

Having attended the last four regional tournaments and watching a lot of games on the girls side, I very respectfully disagree.

Do the better athletes ever win?

All other things equal (skill, technique, coaching.....), doesn't the team with the best athletes win?

>>[Coach P] So are you saying that games are decided at that level by poor first touch, inability to pass accurately, etc, as opposed to being decided by good play off the ball, combination play, set plays etc? I must say that surprises me.<<

Yes. This may absolutely change in the regional finals or in national play, but between South Carolina and the states that consistently go to regional finals and national play, I'm respectfully stating that that is my opinion.

If you slow the speed of play down, most players have an okay first touch, they can pass pretty accurately, etc. As the speed of play increases, the best players at the regional/national level are able to "scale their game up." The more competitive states have far more players per team that are able to scale their game up, and demonstrate superior technical skills, than South Carolina.

Most South Carolina parents think a player is wonderful when they are fast, or when they are big and physical, they can score a lot of goals against weak competition, or they can carry the ball against weak competition. The problem is that when you get to regional/national level competition, there are a lot of players who are fast (etc.) The best players are those that combine superior athletic skills with superior soccer skills -- and South Carolina has far, far fewer per team than the states that typically go farther in regionals and nationals.

I'd love to blame the coaching...but I can't. I don't see smarter coaches (on average) than are in South Carolina at regionals. However, I do see better players (on average) than are in South Carolina at regionals.

If you want to make South Carolina soccer more competitive, there needs to be more kids starting at the foundation -- in recreation, then academy, then classic, then challenge, then premier.