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Hey Hurst i agree with you but Gaffney can get better if they want to. The problem is that the kids that play dont love it enough to committ to it year around. They can easily go to Spartanburg and get training. Gaffney is some poor broke town that cant afford it. I went there i know they arent. Its the kids and parents that dont care enough about it except for highschool season.

fut,

I agree. Gaffney's boys golf team is one of the best in the state!

Location vs. Finances,

Hurst is right in that most High Schools are located close enough to an established club that participation is possible, but perhaps not probable.

According to the poverty index attached earlier in this thread, Ft. Mill was ranked 3 or 4 out of all schools, meaning simply that money is not a problem. TL Hanna is ranked 30 out of all schools, again meaning that for the most part, money should not be a problem.

W&E mentions that Westside, Gaffney, and other schools ranked in the lower tier, Westside is listed as 94th, have programs that are debiliated due to the situation at home. Good point. At Westside, of 34 players, 21 of mine come from single parent or broken homes.

Hurst then states that "if you are building a foundation and starting from scratch...now you have a problem." Again I agree, and, like he says, someone looking to make a buck mining soccer talent in one of these areas is not likely to surface.

I don't think this makes initial success impossible in these "non-traditional" schools, it simply creates an entirely different growth curve. The head coaches at TL Hanna and Ft. Mill are both dedicated coaches that train their kids well and stress the importance of club. Both teams have posted successful seasons over the last few years, and I imagine club participation, or higher level participation is up for both squads. But neither coach is seeking to make a buck mining talent, they simply want to build a program the girls can be proud of.

A coach at a "non-traditional" school can endeavor to do the same thing, but he or she will be required to do a lot more leg work than the other coaches as far as recruiting, finding funds for kids, convincing parents that club is affordable if money is budgeted, etc. Their job is an entirely different beast than that of a coach at a school with a low poverty index, but I don't think one is harder than the other. Each takes vision, good programs come with fans that have expectations, bad programs do not, W&E and I know the difference of this firsthand.

I don't know why the extra practice time allotted High School soccer is not more effectively utilized by coaches. Perhaps it's that soccer coaches have a bit of an elitist mindset about their craft, and feel that running off-season practices like other sports is beneath them.

Ryan,

Here are two possible answers to what you present in your last paragraph:

1. Maybe some HS coaches (especially those that don't teach in the district) are not aware of the extra practice time allotted.
2. Coaches at high schools in the more fertile soccer beds may not think it's necessary due to high club participation.

Possible Solution - CESA has started a High School Prep Program that keeps the kids at high schools who can't/don't want to pay big bucks or don't care to play Premier or Challenge an option. Teams would be trained in their area twice per week (trainers TBA) and play games on Saturdays. Very low cost involved and if there's enough interest from high school coaches and players, the option will become a reality. At Eastside, we already have a boys and girls team lined up to play and we need more teams from across the upstate to get involved. Bottom line - if you want your high school team to get better you have to play more than just for your high school!

See link CESA High School Prep Program

Why wouldn't CESA just take these kids, train them, and put them on a classic roster and enter them in the classic league? Would it be that much more expensive? Would it require that much more of a travel commitment?

My admittedly very weak understanding with respect to the last two questions is "yes" and "yes." As I understand it, the high school prep program was designed specifically to minimize cost to players in terms of all facets of playing select soccer in order to increase the number of players participating.

As a followup to Hurst's question, isn't there a limit as to how many players from the same high school can participate on the same club team?

My admittedly even weaker understanding is that there is only a limit to how many of her or his own high school players a high school coach can coach in club.

A coach can train/coach no more than 8 (SCHSL 75% rule) of their own varsity, high school players. There is no limit to how many players from one varsity team may play club together as long as their HS coach does not coach them. Hence the appeal of the CESA Prep League: nearly entire HS squads can stay together for minimal fees, they can train at fields in their respective cities, and they do not have to travel outside of Greenville for matches.

CESA is trying to target the "classic" level players that are not being adequately reached by the club, or state for that matter, and offer them a cheaper alternative. The growth of this program would pull classic level players away from existing clubs, but such are the winds of change.