From my knowledge of the history of the club, we need to go back to what worked for us. Hungryneck International Soccer Club was very successful, in fact, most of the banners of state champs up on the fields are from original HNISA clubs. I think the Rec Dept. should go back to fielding their in house rec teams and the select/academy teams need to have their own private club that's completely dedicated to the players and not the town.
MPSC has had an awful revolving door history with DOCs back to Thorsten Path and during the initial merge. Some may not have been doing their jobs, but I suspect that most of them just got very frustrated very quickly with the way the town is dealing with them.
Obviously, there's some difficulty here when you consider the field factor. Renting the fields would cost an arm and a leg from Mt. Pleasant just to deter the formation of a private club and the fields HNISA used aren't enough to hold all the teams. Fields we used back then included Trident Academy, Long Point Homeowner's Association Field, etc.
If adequate field space can be found, it needs to be a coordinated effort between the coaches, players, and parents of MPSC AND of Bridge FA to unite in one single private club. I'd suggest mixing board members and coaches to half satisfy each side and choosing a third club name and colour set so as to not play favourites. Even just going back to the white, blue, and red of Hungryneck would work, but something that's not associated with either.
Obviously, to compete with CESA and on the regional stage, we have to unify the Lowcountry soccer scene in some way to make sure that the best players are competing WITH each other and not against each other and we need a club that fosters player AND team development at multiple levels. We can't afford to have DOCs or coaches with hidden agendas or vendettas; we need coaches interested in playing smart soccer and in fostering a love of the game in kids where they want to practice outside of practices and games, not where they're miserable and don't want to see a ball unless they have to be somewhere.
Unfortunately, unless the field issue is resolved and unless there is a solid grassroots effort amongst the parents and coaches and players of the Lowcountry in coming together to do what is best for the select and academy players, we will always have the issues with the Town and with egos between Bridge and MPSC. That's a lot of people to mobilize and a lot of work, but it only takes one raindrop to raise the level of the ocean. If the right person came along to galvanize the move and recruit people into the initiative, it could happen.
