SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums College, Pro & International Soccer Foreign Players are Better?

It has generally been the thought process of many college soccer coaches that to be competitive and win, you must have foreign players on your roster. Think again. The NCAA final match pitted a private Jesuit school, Georgetown, against a Midwest state school, Indiana. Of the 54 rostered players (25 GT, 29 Indie) there was only 1 foreign player(Ind). 17 of Indiana's players were from Indiana. A total of 22 of the 29 players(76%) hail from the 4 states of Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana.
The other two teams in the final four: Creighton, another Jesuit School has 28 total rostered with 5 foreign and Maryland(state supported) has 27 rostered with 6 foreign.
Look at 8 of SC's Men's Soccer programs at State supported Colleges: Francis Marion, Winthrop, Coastal, College of Charleston, USC Columbia, Clemson, Lander, and USC Upstate.
Four of the schools have double digit foreign players. Lander has 18 out of 27 total with 2 from SC. Winthrop comes next with 13 of 29 with 4 SC, Coastal 11 of 22 with 2 SC and Francis Marion 10 of 23 with 4 SC. USC Columbia has the most SC players with 12 followed by College of Charleston 10 and USC Upstate 8.

SC Men's Soccer Programs
Number of Players

SCHOOL Foreign Total SC
Lander 18 27 2
Winthrop 13 29 4
Coastal 11 22 2
Francis Marion 10 23 4
College of Chas 6 28 10
Clemson 5 27 6
USC Upstate 5 27 8
USC Columbia 1 27 12

the better foreign players go to the pros not college

I think you missed the point!

That has been a pet peeve of mine as the quality of soccer in SC continually improves year to year. Georgetown has almost as many SC players as Lander and Coastal! And Coastal is a state school. Charleston is probably going to drop this year with the DSC players graduating as that was their big year. I give kudos to any program that looks in before looking out. You should add Wofford to that last and feel they do a good job at looking at local talent.

I fundamentally agree, but it's a tad more complicated than you think.
Let's assume, for example, that the SMALL handful of prominent developmental programs statewide produce MAYBE 30 D-I or D-II caliber student-athletes a year. Let's assume (incorrectly, I might add) that ALL of them decide to matriculate in SC. Then, divide those among all the programs in-state.
Now, drill deeper.
Let's say the D-I programs peel off the best 10-15 players. That leaves a much smaller number from te original group, plus any "unidentified" high school athletes, for ALL of the lower-division programs. So, where do those coaches look for players?
Answer: It's darn tough to attract high-quality student-athletes from out-of-state (much less out-of-region) to our lower-division schools. Which is why many ambitious college coaches look overseas for kids who'd die for an underwritten college education and a chance to play sports ANYWHERE.
Not saying I like it. Just saying, I see why it happens.

ALL the schools originally listed are SC State Supported Schools. Updated list to include Wofford and Furman (both private colleges):

SC Men's Soccer Programs
Number of Players

SCHOOL Foreign Total SC
Lander 18 27 2
Winthrop 13 29 4
Coastal 11 22 2
Francis Marion 10 23 4
College of Chas 6 28 10
Clemson 5 27 6
USC Upstate 5 27 8
USC Columbia 1 27 12

Wofford 2 34 11
Furman 2 25 1

Note that Upstate would have 6 foreign players. One recruit from Germany attended Newberry this season and will join the Spartans in the spring. Do not know of any other situations like this with other schools on the list. If anyone has info, please post.

It would be interesting to know how many scholarships each school provides to men's soccer and how many were given to foreign players.

Interesting article related to recruiting foreign athletes and the effect on Olympic competition:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303830204577448620436755502.html

Backscreen 30 players * 4 yrs = 120
which equates to 12 players per the 10 teams listed by dropkick. Their avg.= 6. I would still say a little short. And don't forget its state money paying those schools.

I played college soccer for 2 years but don’t really know the ins and outs of the recruiting process. Here is what I think is true from what I have seen happen from my experience as a player and now as a high school coach:
1- I THINK it’s easier to recruit a kid from out of state because a coach can offer them in state tuition and it only counts a small amount against the total scholarship dollars. For example if a school cost $10,000 for out of state and $5000 for in state, the coach can say “I’ll give you $5000 to come here” and it’s not actually costing the coach that much. I COULD BE WRONG…it has happened once or twice in my life.
2- Some foreign players that come here are coming to use our education system to work towards a career that probably doesn’t include being a professional footballer. IN MY EXPERIENCE, I have found that the foreign players have a much higher value on the education they are getting to try to better themselves. I know that isn’t true for all and we are not all lazy Americans.

Just one guy’s opinion/observations