First of all, “lexsoccer”, if you are going to post and publicly denounce an award and the associated process as being a joke or political, please get your facts straight. John Cooper was the NSCAA All American selection and state player of the year for last year (2002). I believe Costanza won the Gatorade player of the year. Different award, different selection process.
It is usually humorous and entertaining to read and to try to understand some of the subject lines and responses to various soccer topics on this forum. However, when you begin to see what appears to be derogative commentary toward a dedicated player of Corey’s caliber, whom certain posters admit to knowing nothing about, I fail to see the humor or logic. I do not know the specific names, but I do know for a fact that there were multiple players submitted for this award by the South Carolina coaches. I am assuming Charowski, Arrieta and Carlisle, at a minimum, were submitted based upon the fact that they won other NSCAA awards or were named to the Region 3 South team.
The specific selection criteria utilized by the NSCAA committee, to my knowledge is not published, but I do know, based upon watching the best of these players perform in both high school and interstate and region elite/premier league competition for many years (I have first hand witnessed many games head-to-head with Charowski and Arrieta), that Lugger was more than worthy of consideration. He is certainly much more than an “average player” as noted by “lexsoccer”. Awards of this nature, I am sure, are not meant to be decided solely by who scores the most goals during the high school season, especially if defenders and mid-fielders are to be given consideration. Other factors including work ethic both on and off the field, commitment to soccer, consistency, club experience and performance, high school performance and overall soccer resume as well as academic standing are critical factors. If this is in fact the nature of the award and if you compare Lugger’s experience and performance, as part of the GreenvilleFC U18 club team, I believe you will find his credentials to be outstanding as are those of many of his club teammates. Most of these players, who you may not know by name, do not spend a lot of time on these chat lines. They, for the better part of the last five years, have quietly committed a significant part of their lives to practicing, traveling, and competing at a national level. If you were to talk to them, it would be clear that they do it for their love of the game and the competition and not necessarily for personal recognition.
If certain individuals (they know who they are) would like to get informed, they should investigate the accomplishments of that group over the past five years. If they take a look, especially as it pertains to play at the State Cup Challenge level and also out of state in regional league play and national tournaments, they might get a feel for the very high level and caliber of competition Lugger and the rest of that team have been exposed to, consistently, for many years. The team, in Summerville this past weekend, won it’s 7th consecutive state Challenge Cup (Against Arrieta’s team where Lugger scored the winning goal) and has been ranked as high as 11th in the nation via the various polls that exist. I can guarantee you that experience base and resume along with the high school recognition Corey received as a junior, noted in Coach Quinlan’s post (all-Region, all-Area, all-State, Gatorade Team player as well as Super 18), were part of the overall decision making process as it pertains to the All-American award and the nomination to the Region 3 South team as well as his selection as the 2003 NSCAA Adidas Player of the year for South Carolina.
More importantly, the coaches, both in club and high school, know who he is and what he is capable of in terms of soccer performance. Several have been critical to his development and are undoubtedly the individuals currently supporting him as he decides what college he will attend. I do know that he has several D1 offers, and that he is definitely D1 bound as are many of his teammates on the GreenvilleFC U18 club team.
We often times talk about the gap that South Carolina must close to stay in stride with some of the more leading edge states as it pertains to soccer. I wish people would get better informed so as to support the state in this endeavor rather than promoting the sometimes idiotic commentary seen in some of these posts. It is one thing to believe that a player might not be worthy of an award because, in someone’s infinite wisdom, they don’t recognize their name or think, based upon having seen them once or twice in a high school game, that they are an “average” player. It is another to publicize those views as part of a thread specifically originated to congratulate and celebrate success, especially when those views are borne out of a limited knowledge base.
To follow a few of the other posters, I also say congratulations to Corey on an outstanding accomplishment and encourage him to keep up the great work!! He and his club teammates have helped to bolster the view of elite level soccer in South Carolina and I wish him the best of luck as he moves on to college to pursue the next level of soccer development and challenges.
