SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP MPSC U13 and U14 Girls Teams

Everyone has their own ideas in what they use to measure success. In the sports world win/lose records are usually the starting point especially for those not directly associated with a particular team. Because those looking from the outside in do not always know the situations and challenges that are internal to a particular team. I would hope that each and every team is working to win games and wants to win when they show up for a game. I judged the success of the U14 team this past season from my perspective of success. My daughter’s responses when I asked these questions on this past seasons performance are in parentheses ().

1. Having Fun (occasionally but usually not during games… very frustrated with commitment level of teammates)
2. Competitive in league play (would have been nice to win a few games seemed we were always playing from behind early in games)
3. Meeting Team Goals (I can’t think of any that we accomplished…..she listed 4 that the team had set at the beginning of the season)
4. Meeting Individual Goals (She said she was able to accomplish 1 out of 5 that she had set for herself at the beginning of the season)
5. Did you learn anything this past season (not really)

So, using how I measure success the U14 team did not have a successful season. I believe that the soccer professionals that we as parents pay are responsible for ensuring that both the needs of individuals is met as well as the needs of the team as a whole. Sure it is a balancing act and probably almost impossible to achieve. But is that not what a coach does?

There is no magical solution for this age group in the Low Country but consolidation would not only benefit my daughter but 15 other true U14 players in the area. I do understand why MPSC is combining the 13 and 14 group but 7 or 8 younger players playing up at the challenge level may not be setting the team up for success. As a parent I just do not understand why 2 clubs can’t get together and do what is best for the girls. Maybe it is time for the parents of these girls to sit down together all together and come up with a solution instead of relying on the DOCs.

ODP is talked in length on another thread and from my vantage point is a program that is not working on the girl’s side in South Carolina. There are 4 to 5 girls in the 94 group that are very talented and deserve recognition from the Regional coaches. I also think that there is a lot more that SCYSA could be doing to train the entire 94 team. More training and more games for this group would help the team be successful at Regional camp and allow our top talent to get noticed. Better ODP players would trickle down to making for better club teams that could be successful in the region and help promote SC soccer.

The past few Seasons have put a tremendous strain on my daughter’s love of the game. But, I keep telling her there is always next Season.

1. These girls are 12 and 13 years of age. I'd say wait a couple of years before you spend countless hours on here writing a diatribe about the painstaking task that is 6th and 7th grade girls soccer. The "elite" level player is still in its infancy at that point.

2. What you're not getting is that club soccer is a business. It's ruthless at times with the picking off of some of the best players from teams and them going to these super teams etc etc. Unless you're willing to front the bill for 3 different clubs or start your own, good-luck finding the "best interest for these girls" or at least the best interests in your eyes.

3. Your point on girls ODP is well taken. It's pretty abysmal and has been for quite some time.

SoccerDad, Your daughter was given the opportunity to go to another club before this merger took place. Why aren't your bags packed yet? Are you one of these parents who, it is not going to matter where your daughter ends up, you will always have personal problems with teams/players and coaches? Sure does sound like it to me. Move up and on if you're not happy and just be done with it! I'm sure your daughter's team will be better off in the long run without the negativity that you obviously bring along with you.

Why doesn't your daughter convince three or four of the best players on her team to attend tryouts at the other club? The age group can "merge" without the clubs having to sponsor it.

Try-outs don't take place until May. Hopefully, this will happen in some form next year. Sould have happened last year but too many obstacles to overcome.

Several posts in this thread seem to allude to the idea of combining teams to form a new team in the middle of the seasonal year which runs August-to-August. Has MPSC gotten an exception to the SCYSA rule that only allows a select team to receive up to 5 transfers from another select team during the seasonal year? Or are 5 transfers each way enough to accomplish the purpose?

Sounds like this is just another reply of "As the Lowcountry Turns," except in this case, only regarding one team.

Anyway, regardless of whether he's complaining too much or too little or for the right or wrong reasons...the exact same things from every other discussion over it still stand. MPSC is a facet of the MP Rec Dept. Their DOC and Board pretty much don't have a say in whether or not to merge or do things because, inevitably, everything gets kicked up to the town level.

Now, someone said there may actually be some talks now that the DOC and leadership at MPSC has changed, but due to the hierarchy, I would be surprised if it were anything more than putting hard pressure on the town to let them go into talks. With the history of the rec dept. and the club, the only solution I can see them agreeing on is to accept Bridge FA as the "select" program under the banner and (maybe) colours of MPSC. I just don't see them as being willing to give up the prestige factor of competitive soccer.

Again though, the soccer here is a business model, in the end. You've got to pay coaches and DOCs and maintain fields, etc. and that is almost always going to trump a team or a few players and their best interests because at the worst, no one has a place to play.

In this case, I think the solution is for the parents to vote with their wallets, and feet, and get together and discuss what they want to do for the best of their girls. Nothing is going to happen midseason because, obviously, we have the transfer rule in effect and mixing up a team midseason can be a bad idea anyway.

But come spring, get together with other parents and make a unilateral decision to take your girls where they can get the best development they can. Assuming days don't overlap, try em out at MPSC and Bridge, evaluate the quality of players at both tryouts, and then, as a group, make your decisions when the rosters come in for both teams. Maybe it's only adding 4-5 players to a team, but added to the few solid players on the team already, it will be a definite upgrade and can possibly result in others making the decision to switch to the team next season.

Go to CESA, those that do don't come back.