SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Can any school match Mauldin's number of premier players

That is a Highly Valid Point. There are at least five Challenge players on one team at CESA that I know were recruited heavily D1, and each had a chance to sign with great D1 programs (Clemson, Iowa State, UNC Asheville, etc). Some played Premier at one time or another, some missed the last chance by moving here late or by Charleston kids moving into the club, etc. Before you knock UNC Asheville, their coach might be the best balance between Coach/Soccer Expert/Human/Mom that I have ever met. I would send my Mom, daughter, wife to play for her.

When you come bearing down on a defender (Premier or not) one on one, just matters whether you score or not and not what level you played at. I know a kid (several) like that. Just matters if you succeed.

Economics and time commitment also become factors when you get above State Premier.
The cost of a player competing in R3P/ECNL is pushing $9500 for club Fees and travel costs,and personal incidentals for each player. I am including all of the R3P travel, Tournaments, flights, Food, Hotels, equipment, etc. Add another $2000- $4000 in depreciation and maintenance to your car for all of the extra miles and the cost alone rules out many players being able to make the commitment. Many player take additional training at an additional cost and play ODP which is not free. Add it all up and you can spend $15000 to $20000 per year on soccer. Lets not forget the cost of injuries??

Time is another factor with travel days missing school and giving up vacations and other activities for soccer. It also involves studying in cars, late nights, airports, and in some cases lots of make up work.

Delta Dog: Did you compare your list with Tri Navy, too? Did you, also, include Columbia United and Carolina FC in your comparison? Let's look at the U18 age group, which, is most likely going to be considered for GPOY. I am just making sure that York County is not being overlooked. It is more difficult to earn a Region III spot in NC because, first, you have "win" your way to play in the top bracket. Second, there is group play that you must "win" your way out of to make it to the final four.
To trump all of this, there are built in rules so that a "fluke" (I do not mean any disrespect here) doesn't happen. (As it may in SC by making it to the finals of state cup play.)When you are at regionals you will see a difference in the level of play between the NC teams (and their results) and the SC teams. It is important not to just make it to regionals, but, to play well there, too.

I would not argue against anything you said I was just pointing out what I had seen in looking at the ENCL web page (should have looked at the R3 list but did not think about).

I do not think the Charlotte teams even dominate in the NC state rankings. What I think would be fair to say is that at the NC classic/ SC challenge level NC teams are at a slight advantage because of the size of the pool they draw players from.

Once you progress to a premier level things start to even out. Of course if you said for example players must live with in say 20 miles of the club home, well then SC would be in trouble as we tend to have to pool talent from around the state while they (NC) tend to have teams that are more local. This of course is not unexpected when you pit a more rural SC vs the metro areas of NC.

I guess another way to look at NC vs SC would be to see how the NC teams that play in SC HS touraments fair (and who SC fairs up there) would give a basis for comparng girls from one small area to another. I guess if Mauldin or Riverside clean up in the Cups against NC team we will know.

CSA and CASL are Region 3PL teams. CUFC was in over their head in u17 region 3PL. Look at their record in the league (1-10), and look at the scores. CESA 4 - CUFC 0. The only team they beat was Bridge, and Bridge was not a Region 3 Premier Level team last year. They should only be taking 2 teams from NC and 1 maybe 2 (2 is a push) from South Carolina. The 2nd team from SC has never done well as long as I've been watching the girls u17 age level.

You are right on the money. I was trying to be polite earlier when I said look at the records without listing the teams and records. The facts are that even with the recruiting, CESA is has one team at the R3P/ ECNL level, and that takes into account players from other parts of the state making the drive to Spartanburg. CASL and CSA have B and C teams that can beat the A teams on any given day. CSA had their U16 A team playing their U16 C team in the state semi final last fall and I believe it was a 1 goal Game. The U16 A girls won the State Championship.

FYI: In ECNL, each of the clubs attend three events and the finals in Seattle, for a total of 12 games. Every team will play 12 games, no more or no less. That is the basis for the standings at posted and it is based on points.

The top four teams in the A/upper bracket play for the ECNL National Championship. U 18 teams do not play in the ECNL. ECNL has a upper and a lower division. CESA has attended one event and CSA has attended two. The level of play is exceptional. CESA is in the "B" division, and CSA and CASL are in the "A" division.

In the U15 age group CASL U15 is leading the ECNL, and CSA U15 is 5th. CASL won R3P, CSA was 5th, and CESA 6th. CSA beat CESA in R3P 2-0 and Carolina FC 94 4-0 and it should have been worse. CASL beat CESA 2-0 and FC 8-0. In ECNL CASL is 6-0, CSA is 3-1-2, CESA is 0-3. At Disney, CASL won their final 3-0, and CSA lost their final 2-1 to R3P rival NASA.

You are also correct on CUFC in R3P. with respect to U15, the SC #2 kids shared the same fate as CUFC, scoring only 1 goal all season and loosing every game. When you look at NC, you have CASL and CSA, with TFC, GYS, Winston Salem, Lake Norman, and Cape Fear fighting it for number 3. There are many in NC and GA that wish each state only got one spot, as both states could field more competitive teams than SC #2 with a 5th entry.

CASL and CSA dominate NC soccer,like CESA does in SC, just look at last falls NC state cup results. CUFC is falling on hard times at the state/R3P level, with Lake Norman making strides at the state level.

You can also look at the Fort Mill results last year and and the Manchester Tournament results to get insight and a possible answer into your NC/SC question.

Outside of CESA, SC is a house divided, and we know that a house divided does not stand. The Fort Mill Varsity has Three players from CSA, 1 CESA, 3 CUFC, and the rest Carolina Select. All of these kids are premier players regardless of which team they play on or what league they play in. That is what I like about HS Soccer, it is the kids having fun, and the best kids getting a better shot at success than just club soccer.