SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer 2005 Championship Picks 1A,2A, 3A, and 4A

This forum has always been played out. Every year this topic comes up and a lot of messages get posted and a lot of carpal tunnel evolves. Some people do go to the BE's and CC's for academics and others for sports. You can't tell me that parents (around that area) who have a gifted kid in a particular sport doesn't look at that school as a option for their kid to go to with the hopes (high hopes) in their kid being looked at (because of their recognition) getting a scholarship to a good school and having the best of both worlds in college, which is a sport the kid loves and academics for his future. Yes, I know it's expensive to go to these schools and sounds ludicrous to pay that much money just to play a sport, but if the kid is that good, he will get a pretty decent scholarship which is definitely a advantage!!! I mean come on; Christ Church (besides football) is dominate in every sport guys/gals. You can't tell me that you have a school of about 130 who are solely going to that school for academics when they win every state championship (soccer, basketball, and tennis). I mean, when did academic nerds rule the world of sports (no punt intended)??? You have to agree that there is a advantage and not every kid goes to those schools for just academics. If that was the case then why don't they just stay in their previous high school and be number 1 in their class....

Who accused anyone of going to a school to play a sport? That's not the point. The fact that a school can recieve any student that decides to attend is unfair in public school leagues. The average GPA of the soccer programs at most SC schools is tops, if not at least in the top 3 teams, among their respective athletic programs. Now we should all notice this correlation between academics and soccer in high school. If you have an academically successful school, then your soccer, golf, tennis teams are likely to be strong as well. Dexter i think mentioned the woefullness of private schools' football programs. Football tends to bring one of the lowest GPAs of any sports in SC high schools. CC and BE are prime examples of schools touting excellent athletic programs associated with better grades. Academics would naturally bring players that play sports known to bring the highest GPAs among high schools in SC. With soccer being one of those sports, it thrives at these schools. There's your advantage. If you are a private school, then be exactly that. Why come to public school leagues? Most would say for competition, but you guys can find all the academic competition you want in SCISA, since that is TOP priority for your students.

I don't see CC, BE, Pinewood, BL, and SSCS having any lack of competition amongst one another on the field anyways.

Since BE & CC will never be moved up in higher classification in HSL, the only solution to all this discussion is to move them back to SCISA and let them beat the crap out of the other SCISA schools. Why do CC & BE deserve to have the priviledge to qualify for HSL playoffs? If soccer teams can participate in HSL, then all of a schools' sports teams should have to do the same. They should be treated like all the rest of SCISA schools in all sports. Can any SCISA school decide to participate in HSL? Cardinal Newman, Porter Gaud, Pinewood Prep?

No, no, no, Conswayla B, you're missing the key point about the private schools' advantage here. The geographic areas the key private schools draw from are not to be found in the middle of an expansive and sparsely populated desert. They are all located in or near the three large metropolitan areas of SC, so they draw from a dense population base and can freely attract good players across established school zoning lines. Any public HS coach in the state would welcome this opportunity to have kids from "all over" be able to choose to attend his or her school and play on their team -- this would, in effect, give a model more like club structure. (The possible exception to this could be Wando which might well opt for the advantages of East of the Cooper social purity over the mongrelization of its soccer teams.) I'm not proposing that SCHSL change its classifications, only pointing out that a number of private schools have a clear benefit from their ability to work across the arbitrary lines that school boards impose on the public schools, and that as a result they are able to dominate their leagues in a way that is disproportionate to the size of their student enrollment. Don't you think this is true?

lpaf

I have a solution: Put BE & CC in the Red Neck League. The league could use a little class at times.

Alright, CCES does not dominate every sport other than football, by no means. Boys Soccer and boys Tennis are the only sports that have done this.

If CCES and BE has a advantage because there are not bound to certain areas, then why does the success not hold true in other sports? Also, why does everyone always talk about BE and CCES, what other private school are playing in the HSL? I know SSC does and them seam to be on a similar level as some 1A schools.

The fact is that unfortunatly soccer and tennis usually are sports for those more wealthy. Club soccer, and a tennis club/lessons are very expensive. CCES and BE are both school caonsisting of many wealthy people. This is the only advantage that I can see.
For soccer, the idea of chaning schools for recruiting purposes is insane. Recruiting goes on at the Club level, the USC coach told me one time that about 95% of all his recruiting he has ever done came from club.
Another thing to think about, most 1A soccer programs are new and developing. CCES has had a team for long time. Things may even out after soccer begins to catch on in some of the rural 1A schools. We will jsut have to wait and see

The real advantage that the private school have is they are located near bigger cities where club soccer is offered. Most players at private schools can afford to play club. The rural players can not afford the cost and the travel. I know some clubs offer scholarships to play but the travel is the big problem. Many rural players do not have transportation for all the practices and games. Therefore they do not play soccer year round and it shows during the high school season.
The private schools are only abiding by the rules that the high school league has approved. I think a rule change is needed so coaches can work with their whole team with the ball during the off season. Almost all the soccer players at the rural schools play other sports during the off season due the small number of available players. Allowing the coaches work with the team during the off season would help even the playing field.
I am sure the private schools would appreciate the better competition within their classifications. The athletic directors need to address this with the high school league. They are the only ones who can repair the problem and make high school soccer better. Talk to them.

lpaf, the base that BE and CC pull from does have more people but the advantage does not lie with the numbers. If you subtract all the people who can't afford these schools, the number of eligible students is reduced by a significant amount (reflecting the number similar to that of the general population in the rural school districts). Despite this fact, success of high school soccer has little to do with population size. The success of any high school soccer program is directly related to the number of players playing on a QUALITY club team.

The notion that soccer scholarships are awarded to players based on HIGH SCHOOL soccer performance is a naive one. How many players who do not play club get soccer scholarships? FEW if any. Plus, players for BE and CC are not awarded scholarships based on where the team finishes in the playoffs. Colleges do not award scholarships according the the all-tournament team format where 1st place gets 8 scholarships , 2nd place gets 4, etc. so classification in 1A or 2A gives these teams no advantage.

Why should private schools who meet all of the SCHSL requirements not be able to compete? It is the South Carolina High School League not the South Carolina Public High School League. Any schools who meet the SCHSL criteria are eligible to join, some schools choose not to.

lpaf, this entire post is not directed at you. I only pointed you out for the portion answering the question you posed.

Conswayla B --

I agree that the population of families who both want to send their kids to private schools and can afford to is restricted, even in a metropolitan area like Charleston. But they're exactly the right kids to make a successful team -- club trained, bright and affluent. And they're not restricted by the arbitrary zoning of school boards to have to go to a certain school. Don't misunderstand me -- I'm not being critical of a BE or CC, as they just follow the rules of the HSL. My original thought here echos Coach D's -- smaller rural public schools compete with them at a great disadvantage. What could be done about it is another matter, and any change in the way things are currently done would certainly create other inequalities. For soccer, at least, population size does seem to have a huge amount to do with a high school's ability to succeed. How often does a school of any size outside of greater metropolitan Greenville, Columbia, or Charleston win state? You're right that this is related to club structure, but the two go hand in hand. Have a great weekend.

lpaf

ps: You have a very friendly name, I think.

since nobody will give a nod to any 1A teams i will be bold and say that i belive SCS has a really big chance to upset christ church this year look at their roster they did'nt lose very many players at all