SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP PMSL East/West vs I/II Divisions

We're pretty much through the fall PMSL regular season. We had some age/gender classes divided into and East/West (E/W) division and some classes separated into a I/II division this fall.

What is the message board's thought on the merit of running E/W divisions versus I/II divisions? My view is that there's a competing interest of travel cost (advantage:E/W) versus quality/balance of competition (advantage: I/II).

Do the lower E/W travel costs allow clubs to get enough commitment to form teams that otherwise wouldn't have been formed, or would these teams have simply stayed recreation? Or because of talent imbalance, will the lower level teams have a high resulting turnover, and just not be around for too long? Does the higher travel commitment in a I/II division prevent entry? How does the current economy, $4.50 (now $2) gasoline, and the early season gasoline shortage fit into this?

How many recreations teams do clubs field from u15 and up? not many!!State champoinship will be two teams that play each other three times and someone wins..Way to many classic teams out there..If teams were put where they belong development wise..All your questions would be answered.The league has become watered down..

A promotion system would fix this. Only the highest level is decided appropriately. Example: one local club took a classic team who was 4th in the league and 4th in the state cup, but "promoted" them to challenge. Guess what the result was, they have not won a match yet. The tail is wagging the dog, right now. We have enough in each age group for a system to work. It will cause a lot of the right things to happen.

CHT: So are you saying E/W division is a bad idea. In GA, the highest divisions are state-wide, but at some point they become regional in organization. What's your proposal? How about an 8-10 team challenge league, 8-10 team classic I, and then classic II-E/II-W depending on number of teams. Challenge teams that don't make state cup, go to President's Cup, and the President's Cup finalist are promoted (or retained) in the Challenge league the next year, everyone else is Classic.

Sounds like you have a plan..My point is that if you go thru each age group in classic play you will find two to three teams that have no wins or one win where they beat each other..So what I guess I am saying is I am for regulation..I want teams where they can compete and develop.When we as a family first started with soccer was about ten years ago..My child was cut from making the classic team..I can not speak for everyone but from my experience..we don't cut kids from classic anymore..If their parents are willing to pay then they are on the team and not putting players where they belong has to some degree watered down the league..If this has no truth to it then please tell me where the 15 thru 18 rec teams are..I know where they are..they are at the bottom of the classic standings..Same is true for some challenge teams..It's my belief that if you put kids where they belong first and allow them to develop then we will have more competitve leagues..Playing kids up is not in the best interest of all players..I never seen a kid learn anything from chasing around a better team..

CHT, I agree with the heart of what you are saying...it would be more fulfilling for everyone involved if players were consistently placed at levels where they can be competitive and see positive results on the scoreboards from their efforts. On the other hand, on the high school ball side of the equation (I know, almost taboo on this thread), where teams don't have any choice of where players are placed or who they compete against, I really have watched players develop significantly while learning how to try to chase down better teams. It's all in the attitude of whether they want to give up after being dominated, or whether they want to buckle down and figure out how to keep from being dominated over and over. Granted, it's a hard way to learn, and it takes a certain type of dedication and motivation to capitalize on it, but I can't say I've never seen athletes and teams come a long way in a short time using trial by fire rather than consistently even competition.

High School? How dare you!!

Sorry...I'm a hybrid coach...my alter ego takes over sometimes!