SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer St. Joseph vs. Blackville-Hilda

GlobalSufi did you read what you said before you posted it??

This is high school soccer and sports we are talking about!!

The idea is for the kids to be able to compete PERIOD! This is not about winning state championships or being the best team in the state. This is about building character and leadership and team work skills that will last a life time. (FYI every president since Eisenhower has played sports.) It is also about fairness and equality and letting children compete on a level playing field.

To turn around and tell kids that they can't compete because they suck is horrid!!!

And what kind of commitment do you expect a town of 3000 to make?? How do the 248 kids at BH compete against an elite private school with rich parents?? Do you really think there is anything they can do to overcome a life time of support and competition at a high level the private school kids have had??

And did you know that the median household income in Blackville is $21,000??? Verse the one year tuition at St. Josephs being $10,000!!!! What's the average income of a St. Joseph parent?? Again, please tell me a plan for Blackville or any other rural 1a school to compete against a school like St. Josephs.

Please tell us how a school with one of the highest poverty indexes in the state completes with an expensive private school? I would love to hear an answer about.

Finally, you come across as an elitist and privileged parent (or student) who gets to pick where they live and pick which school your child goes to. If I had the power within me I'd LOVE to make your child spend a year at a school like Blackville and then see if you change your tune about who should or should not be allowed to compete at sports. And which teams they compete with in sports.

FYI Blackville was 6-0 in its region and 17-6 overall.

Their most lopsided win was 6-0.

St Josephs was 11-0 in region and 18-3 overall only losing to JL Mann, Eastside and Chapin.

They won their playoff games 10-0, 11-0, 5-2 and 12-0

Pjay-Did you read my post. The answer to your question is the same way BH did in in 2002! Nobody made the comment about kids competing and sucking but you. Around the world the best soccer players come from poor backgrounds. What makes the difference is an organic and knowledgeable development process that, yes, sometimes is harsh by nature. Please do not assume you have me identified in any way shape or form. It then becomes personal and your argument is useless. How do you know I have no idea what Blackville is like?

This isn't around the world.

The best players in the US almost all come from wealthy backgrounds, especially at the high school level. The best teams in the state almost ALL come from wealthy areas with good club programs in place.

And you did say the suck, but not in such an outright way. Instead you said "If a school and community can not or will not make the commitment necessary to develop and maintain a competitive program, in any sport, than it should not field one." In other words if they aren't good enough to play against elite private schools then shouldn't have a team at all.

Answer this for me: how many of the St Joseph's kids play club ball? How many of them go to soccer camp over the summer? How many of them have had private coaches?? How much money have their parents poured into soccer over the years.

You think any of the BH kids have the same opportunity? They don't even have a club in Blackville. The closest town with a decent club system is probably Augusta a 45 minute drive.


Finally, you should read up on the difference between soccer development in the states and the rest of the world. The US is unique in that the higher the lever of competition the more it cost to compete.

In the rest of the world it is opposite because big club teams sign kids to development contracts and the clubs pay all the cost of the coaches and games etc etc. In return the kids who make it to the pro-level are 'owned' by the club that supported them.

That is why poor players in the rest of the world are able to succeed, because they have system does not require money to succeed. But in the US if your child doesn't play club the chances of them even starting on an elite school is almost non-existent.

So neither one of you have bothered to notice the fact that more competitive teams from areas like yours have been developed, including Blackville. Whining about socio-economic disparity is well and good but it does not reflect what great coaches and leaders have demonstrated. As stated earlier 2002for Blackville, Lincoln high school and others have demonstrated the this. I sincerely hope that the good kids and people of Blackville do not buy into this "victimization" mentality. From what I see they are extremely proud and have a rich history in sport. If you want to make excuses for what happened on Saturday and you want to take pride in beating teams that were a little worse that yours than so be it. It is also obvious that you do have something to do with Blackville like coaching maybe?

doesn't seem fair that schools that pay tuition should be able to compete for state championship's against teams that have to use what shows up to make a team. seems this only occurs in 1A and 2A If i need a right wing and don't have the talent I can't go out and get one like school's that have tuition that can go find one and offer it to a kid that is a great wing on a club team. People deny this happens but I just don't believe it. I have nothing against the kids at these schools because the are very talented guys and could play at any level.
I just don't agree with the system that allows this to happen.

Darn, I like to think my son's a pretty good player, and I'm decidedly middle class. Dollars may create opportunity, but they do not a player make.

Figure I will weigh in on the subject since I have both played for a private school and started a program in a 1A/2A community.

I cannot speak for all the private schools (especially the Greenville and Charleston areas) but when I attended Ben Lippen (2003-2006) there were NO special offers made to athletes to attend our school... None. In fact, only a handful of my teammates ever played club soccer - we, like all public schools, had to make do with what we had. Now, unlike BE, St. Joes, and CC, we played in SCISA - not because we felt it was the "correct" thing to do since we were a tuition school... but because overall (football, baseball, basketball) we couldn't compete within the 1A/2A SCHSL ranks. I personally would have loved to compete in the SCHSL while attending BLS, that's why we scheduled teams like AC Flora, Dreher, Dutch Fork, Irmo, etc. during my time there - because we felt we could compete and wanted to play at the highest level possible. I applaud the private schools that are able to be competitive and successful across the board in the HSL and I don't feel that we can hold their decision to compete at the highest level against them. Should they (based off of skill) be moved to a higher classification? Yes, of course; but they don’t get to make that decision – their attendance numbers do that for them. SIDE NOTE: That’s why I think relegation / promotion system should be used!

Now, onto my next point: I knew going into starting the program at Calhoun County (450 students, NO recreational / youth program “close”) that IF we ever made it deep into playoffs we would face the likes of CC, St. Joes, and BE (moved from 1A to 2A during second year of program) – and I had no problem with that. I didn’t start the program expecting to come out of the gate and win championships or expecting to compete with the likes of the dominant 1A/2A teams. I started the program (and hope it continues) to give the CC community something other than Basketball / Football to experience – to allow for the kids to be a part of something new. I know the Blackville coach and he takes the same approach as me when faced with a GIANT… plan for success but don’t lose sight of learning through the experience. The win for Blackville was only being down 2-0 at half in the state final; just like the win for CC vs. Magnet was going 12 minutes without being scored on (my kids were ecstatic to not be the biggest win of the season for AM).

Sorry for the long post… the main point is this: Don’t crucify the private schools for where the SCHSL attendance #’s place them and don’t feel “sorry” for the little guys… we take the defeats in stride, hoping to learn from them and build because of them.