SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP South Carolina United FC - Information

Good metaphor, Bear (well, actually, simile); I think that's a pretty apt description from what I've seen.

Now, turning a diseased tree into a healthy one players can climb on...there's a metaphor I could get behind.

bear, regarding your question: "With Rob Strickland moving to train/coach the U18 Academy group, anyone care to speculate what will happen to the CUFC 91 Elite, arguably one of the best teams in SC history?"

i don't know much about this team personally, but i would imagine that at the beginning of each previous season, players who wanted to be on that team tried out for a position. i would also imagine that most of the players from the previous year's team made it, while maybe they added one or two new players.

why would the upcoming season be any different from previous seasons? i mean, obviously they would be playing in a different league, but why would the makeup of the team change so much because of that? do you think players are going to refuse to play in a different league?

I have no idea with what some people will decide to do. I put that out there because there has been no discussion about it, which I don't understand. Maybe there has been and it's just not here.

It's a matter of perspective. Yours is from the academy side, mine from the other. No right or wrong, just different. I doubt that the team make up will drastically change, and the bulk if not all of the team will move over to the academy side. This move will lessen the competitive posture of CUFC as a club, within the USYS structure, and impact the 92 SC and Region ODP team.

Do I think players will refuse to play, not really, but it's asking people to take a pretty big leap of faith for the last year of their son's competitive soccer. Some may not be willing to do it, and some may not be able to do it.

i have to disagree somewhat (that's a shocker, huh?)

the people who played academy the first year of its existence took a pretty big leap of faith.

those joining now can talk to numerous people who have experienced academy first-hand.

since its first year, academy has added 15 teams to the original 64. for the upcoming season, 5 teams were chosen out of 250 applicants. sure, this is just year 3 (coming up) but the academy program does not appear to be losing any steam.

i agree that the move will lessen the competitive posture of cufc as a club within the usys structure, but not within the overall us soccer structure (which i believe both usys and academy fall under - please feel free to correct me if i get any of this wrong); and state and region odp teams across the country have been (and will continue to be) weakened by the academy.

but i have to believe that was expected from the beginning - after all, the academy was created by us soccer as a method to increase our level of play as a nation. one of the stipulations of playing for the academy is that you cannot also play odp. i'm not sure how else you can take that.

As I type this, I know it's risky, because some will take it the wrong way.

I wouldn't necessarily call it a disagreement, but more a search for perspective.

I read this that you are talking from a point of view of the academy from the national point of view. I'm still talking from a state point of view. As you said people could ask several that have participated in the academy first hand. Or I think they could piece it together with some understanding of some of the dynamics.

The leap of faith I'm talking about is a little different than the initial leap. The initial leap was localized in the Charleston area. I believe that it may have been thought that this could/would attract more players to the low country, however, it appears the converse has happened. The movement into the academy has splintered the area even more. DISA immediately comes to mind, although that could be for different reasons. I don't know where the bulk of the current U17 players in the low country are, but I do not believe it to be with Bridge. With the formation of DISA, there is a gap between the current U18 and the current U16 players, this U17 group. It would be this group that could have/should have been the incumbent group for the U18 academy.

So it brings to mind something that I learned quite some time ago, the but for. But for the lack of this U17 group of players, would there have been a need for this partnership with CUFC?

That being the case, the leap of faith I'm talking about is the one for people to make to a group that appears to have not been able to hold it together, for whatever reason, in their own area, and now are going to try to manage it across a distance of in excess of 100 miles.

As for the ODP stuff, I don't disagree. As for the relationship between US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, I'm not real clear. I know that US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer are sanctioned by the same group, but I don't recall if that is US Soccer or USSF directly. So, I don't know if US Soccer is the parent for US Youth Soccer, or if they are on the same organizational plane.

not sure why anyone would look at it from a "state" point of view. both odp and academy were created for us to improve as a country, to identify players for the national team. i doubt that any player's ultimate goal is to make the "state" team.

maybe in your mind, this "gap" group of players "could have/should have been the incumbent group for the U18 academy" but that is assuming a lot. assuming that there would be no new players from the lowcountry other parts of the state, or new players from outside the state. you are assuming that the players currently on the u16 academy team are the only players that would normally make up the next year's u18 team. does cesa normally use that type of logic when preparing for a new season?

do you ask that "but for" question with everything you do? that's kinda like always asking "what if." i could do that all day long – what if mt pleasant had joined the bridge, what if ssc and bridge were still buddies, what if i had bought stock in microsoft all those years ago. just not sure what the purpose is.

so, with your "leap of faith" comment, you are now questioning the abilities of a coach, who apparently has been fairly successful so far, the abilities of the largest soccer club in the state, which has been fairly successful so far, and the abilities of a group of players (most of which you are assuming will be on this new team), whom have been, according to you, "arguably one of the best teams in SC history." whether you meant to question those or not, you were.

the last part, i gotta say i'm shocked about – you know more details about more soccer-related stuff than most people on this board. yet, it took me approximately 2 minutes to find the org chart for soccer in the united states.

it is located here: http://www.ussoccer.com/about/soccer/index.jsp.html

now, maybe you just didn't want to assume anything about the intricate legalities of the relationships, but i've always been taught that these charts usually go from top to bottom, which, by the looks of it, us soccer is clearly above both usys and us club.

I am enjoying this discussion as a lurker and no longer have a dog in this fight. However, I was very interested in the statement that 'i doubt that any player's ultimate goal is to make the "state" team'. What are club, or HS players ultimate goals in soccer? In my experience, none of the girls I have known were interested in making the national teams. Most would not have had the time. Of those interested in going beyond U18/U19 levels, all were interested in college play. I fully understand that playing on a national level team could enhance a players chances of being selected for the college they want but where should our focus be? In reading player profiles in media guides or SoccerBuzz, or TopDrawer, state level players are often very successful, as are national level players. What is the definition of success?

sorry...i'll try to clarify. i am by no means suggesting that the goal of every player out there is to make the us national team. my statements were specifically regarding academy and odp players. the purpose of both of these programs (don't quote me exactly) is basically to increase the overall level of play of the us as a nation, but also (and mainly, i believe) to identify players for selection to the us national team(s).

so, again, i believe that players trying out for odp and academy teams (typically) have the ultimate goal of making a us national team. not realistic for the vast majority of players, but a goal, nonetheless. soccer63, while i agree with you that eventually most players' goals change to something more realistic, if they continue to work hard, i imagine many still hope in the back of their minds, and would jump, if given the chance.