SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Poverty, Affluence, and Soccer Success

W&E—Despite the bickering and natural gravitation toward competitive spirit found on our threads, I believe most of us who love soccer, who love high school soccer, and who love club soccer are genuinely inspired by young athletes and high expectations—and excellence. Many of us wish we could offer these wonderful oppotunities in the most fair ways to as many young people as possible. Let's hope something might get DONE concerning these issues soon.

The support (and sometimes , proximity) of the local soccer club is more important than the affluence of the community in determining the quality of the high school soccer program.

If CESA's best trainers and coaches were to move to the impoverished "I-95 Corridor" and started working with kids in that area, those high schools (some of which don't even have HS soccer teams now) would rise to the top and challenge for state championships.

The athletes are there....they just need to be nourished.

Hurst, agreed...but by that token, you usually find soccer clubs in your more affluent areas. Having a successful club team requires investment by the players...if nothing else, athletes with leisure time to play soccer, who don't have to get part-time jobs or help working parents take care of little brothers or sisters. Unfortunately, many good athletes in less wealthy areas just don't have the money or time to invest in playing club soccer.

I do agree, though, that with the right opportunities and training, athletes from any area can rise to the top...if some of them can do as well as they do without the advantages of feeder programs, you can imagine what would be possible. I just wish it were easier to provide those opportunities to all of the players who would benefit from them.

Hurst
Maybe we can have a "CESA I-95 Corridor" team (or CESA-Florence since it is the nearest "city") like "CESA-Columbia" since CESA has opened shop in Columbia to help the "underserved" kids in Columbia. The Florence FireAnts had better lock down their coaches to extended contracts now!

I wasn't picking on CESA, or knocking them for "Manifest Destiny". I chose CESA in my example because they are the largest and most successful club in the state.

To the rest of the world, soccer is a very inexpensive sport and third world countries are able to compete on the big stage. Here in the US, paid coaching and travel (primarily to get better competition) drive the cost up and skew the playing field. This isn't just the case with soccer.....all club coaches are getting compensated now.

Coach Chass, if we could provide free coaching and free training to the I-95 Corridor, would the level of play improve? You mention that many of these young student-athletes have commitments such as part-time jobs and watching the little ones so that the family can make ends meet....if we are talking basketball and the student-athlete is 6' 10", with point guard skills, could the AAU coach find a way to make it happen? Is it because in basketball in the US, the monetary reward at the end of the rainbow is potentially (or significantly) much greater?

nah man, i can back this up, some of us seniors were with our coach when we went and told our AD what he wanted for our team(keep in mind he did play in the NFL for 9 yrs, i think he knows what to get!!!) i was one of the senoirs, our AD said no to what our coach wanted, and told him what we were going to get, our coach wasnt happy, but he kept his head and didnt say anything!!! and yes, i checked online, those volley ball thowing thingers cost almost 5,000 a piece!!!

socdad,

The timing of a CESA - Florence expansion couldn't be better. The coach of the Florence Fireants, having completed the terms of a very lucrative three year coaching contract, has decided not to renew for the upcoming season. A successor has been named, but if any CESA coaches are interested in taking the job, I'm sure that FSA would gladly match the terms and conditions of the original contract, which was based on free Gatorade and L'il Debbies after every game.

socdad/lurker: CESA-I77?

Hurst, I think you've unfortunately hit the nail on the head...for a lot of people who have no choice but to focus on the tangibles in life, soccer isn't seen as a lucrative investment as much as basketball and football have been. There are plenty of real-life examples of people who have used those sports as roads to fame and fortune. In my own little hometown in SC, I went to high school with Troy Brown (of New England Patriots fame) and returned years later in time to teach his little sister. The effects of his career were obvious in that small town. Just a few miles up the road sits a large estate built by William "Refrigerator" Perry. It's a little harder to find examples of soccer stars sending home the big bucks to support the family, which makes it harder in turn to convince parents to support "following the dream." Soccer, for many people, is still seen as a purely recreational endeavor. I know at my school, I've lost a number of good, promising athletes because they just didn't feel they could make soccer a priority.

The good news is, as we continue to build the sport in this part of the world, we get more attention, more recognition, and more participation. I know that as my own team has fought to become more competitive in our region, more serious athletes have shown interest in joining in. Free or low-cost training and coaching on the club scene could only help that. I think anyone would agree that an athlete who has a foot on the ball year-round has a big advantage over an athlete who only plays during the high school season. And if we can make that training and experience available without a lot of expense, then yeah, maybe we can even change the perception that soccer is just a sport for people with money.

I for one would love to give it a try and find out.

I find it ironic that soccer is as basic as a sport can get equipment wise (cleats, ball, shinguards, goals) but yet we discuss the fact that the affluent areas nuture the most talent.