SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Junior Varsity Soccer JV Results

Watcher, where do you draw the line? What detrmines a major school froma minor school? And why only 4A? There are some very good 3A teams that can beat most 4A teams (Eastside and Riverside for two). Only playing upper classmen is nice theory, but the fact is that most coaches want the best players on the field and sometimes that means that a younger player will beat out an older one.

I'm not drawing a line, I'm just making a general comment and it certainly can apply to other divisions. I'm simply saying that Wando (or fill in the blank with whoever you want) should have a field full of junior and senior players at tryouts. If they don't, then they need to look in the mirror and ask "why".

And yes, I'm saying that maybe one, or some, of those upperclassmen are maybe not as talented as a few of their younger classmates. But as I said, the upperclassmen have no other school team to play on and in my opinion, this is one reason high school is different from club. Every decision shouldn't be made with winning as the only goal in mind. Should it be the top goal? Maybe, even probably. But, high school athletics or any high school extracurricular activity for that matter, are supposed to add some spice to the education equation. It's not always about wins and losses.

It's nice theory, but I can only see that happening where you have a large number of strong players tryout for the team year after year. A coach can then make an "in house rule" to where only Seniors and Juniors make Varsity unless there aren't enough to go around. If you have a program that has been struggling or is not an Irmo or Wando, then I doubt the coach will do that if he has some strong young players to pick from.

Monday Scores:

Dorman JV: 1
Riverside JV: 3

First: Pendleton defeated Palmetto 2-1

Second: Watcher, I understand what you are saying about extracurricular athletics adding spice to education but at the same time the reality is that it's not rec league anymore. By the time you hit the JV and Varsity ages it does move from everyone gets to play who wants to play and everyone should play every game into more of a let's get the best players playing and try to win. That being said I still try to get every one of my players in each game (almost to a fault, nearly cost me tonight). I think you'll find that the best and most successful programs year in and year out not only play their core group of starters but also some of their younger players or even back ups so that the program keeps their playing experience up regardless of injury or graduation.

Let me leave you with this question: If you bump a ninth (or even tenth) grader down to JV simply to save a spot on varsity for an upperclassmen what 7th or 8th or other player are you going to cut who then loses out on the opportunity to play for the school team? If you keep a senior just for the purpose of keeping the senior you could be squeezing a player out of soccer who might have ended up being a contributor to your program.

Girls: West Ashley 6 - Hilton Head 0

Boys: Hilton Head 3 - West Ashley 0

Just to add my unasked for 2 cents to the argument, I come down solidly on JoeyG's side here. West Ashley won state two years ago with a team built around a core of exceptional 9th graders. Their coach, having watched these girls come through the club program recognized their talent and used it to the team's advantage. To blanketly state as Soccer Watcher did yesterday "IMHO, none of the major 4A schools should have underclassmen on their varsity squads" is an odd approach to building the best team -- and building the best team has to be the coach's chief responsibility.

I do think there is a place for keeping a dedicated upperclassman on a roster even if it means keeping a slightly more talented 9th grader at the JV level. Such decisions rarely affect the overall quality of the team in terms of quality play and this rewards that senior's years of contribution to the team. Leadership can come from such a player and a sense of fairness is demonstrated to the team.

lpaf

SW --

A sidebar about Radio:

I was on the sidelines with Radio during my less than illustrious high school football career a million years ago. Now I attend most of the Stratford HS home games, again mostly on the sidelines. What I find interesting is that there is not just one "Radio". A sizeable percentage of teams has a ball boy who meets the generic description in terms of age, mental ability, friendliness, and obvious devotion to his team and coach. Hollywood took more than a few liberties with the filming of Radio, not the least of which was to decide that downtown Walterboro looked more like Anderson circa 1976 than Anderson does. But the basic story is accurat and heartwarming and, I think, repeated in scores of football programs around the state.

lpaf