SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP SC Region / Club Superiority

On the "MPSC Ice" thread, one of the (many) topics that was raised was "upstate versus lower state" soccer superiority. A few folks had different methodologies for showing whether there was any difference between regions, with some claiming superiority for one region and others saying that there wasn’t much difference.

I began wondering about my own assumptions. I’ve always used anecdotal evidence, coupled with gotSoccer.com point ratings, to support my belief that the upstate was superior (note: I live in the midstate, so this belief at least isn't based on where my home is). However, I decided to spend an hour going back and revisiting my assumptions. Here’s what I did. I took the 2000-2003 challenge cup results from U11 to U18 for the teams finishing first and second. I assigned 2 points to the first place team and 1 point to the second place team. I then grouped the teams into clubs and the clubs into regions. While I have no doubt that I have some relatively minor math errors somewhere, I’ve double checked this and I think that the overall results are pretty solid.

The total of all points were as follow:

Upstate: 104
Midstate: 40
Lower State: 38

Breaking these down into girls and boys results

Upstate: Boys: 57
Midstate: Boys: 23
Lower State: Boys: 13

Upstate: Girls: 47
Midstate: Girls: 17
Lower State: Girls: 29

Of the 93 total points for the boys’ teams, three teams accounted for 65 of those points: SGU (34), GFC (20), and Aiken (11). CSC and NECSA had 6 and 5 points, respectively.

Of the 93 total points for the girls’ teams, five teams accounted for 65 of those points: SGU (19), GFC (17), MPSC (12), NECSA (9), and CGSA (8). Greenwood and SSC had 7 points apiece.

In terms of combined club ranking, SGU led with 53 points followed by GFC with 37 points and NECSA with 15 points. The point total for SGU and GFC actually should have been slightly higher – but I got confused by past mergers with those clubs of DSA (2 points, boys), UGSA (3 points, girls), and Sugar Creek (1 point, girls).

In looking at all of the numbers, one thing I could have done would have been to assign a higher rating for older teams. It appears that GFC (girls and boys) and to a lesser extent Aiken (boys) would be the major benefactor of this and SGU would have been hurt the most by this change in methodology. I could have also assigned a higher rating for more recent wins, but ran out of time to try this.

I'm posting this so that others can take shots and tell me fundamentally what I'm missing with this, and perhaps even show other ways of examining this issue that might show different results.

MC --

Thanks for taking the time to put together a concise snapshot of classic competition in SC over the last 4 years. I don't know much about club organization in the piedmont, but would be interested in knowing if there is much classic soccer presence outside of Metropolitan Greenville -- ie, do Anderson, Spartanburg, Clemson, Easley, Mauldin, Fountain Inn, Pumpkin Town, etc have organized clubs? Thanks.

LPAF

MC, that is some deep _ _ _ _! Thanks for the good information.

By the way, what ever happened to the Mid-State League? My son grew up playing the likes of North Augusta, Rock Hill, Hartsville, Orangeburg, and all the Columbia teams. Is it still in existence? If so, what level (recreation, classic, etc.)?

CF,
As far as I know there is no Mid-State league, unless perhaps you know have a Y-League. Almost all of the teams have either gone to a State League format, or to the premier league. Does anyone else know of any such a league?

Cola is referring to the Sandlapper League, which folded, I believe after the Spring 2003 season.

For the mid-state (actually state-wide), there is the Premier League (Region 3 East), the Challenge League (SCSCL) and the state-wide Pelham Masonic League (PMSL). In the fall, PMSL runs "A" and "B" divisions for U-11 thru U-14 and has "Classic" level divisions for U-15 thru U-18. In the spring, U-11 thru U-14 will have SCSCL and PMSL divisions. Don't know of any localized mid-state leagues.

You can check www.hotstat.com for standings, results and more on all 3 leagues.

No doubt that at present GFC and St Giles are the 2 top programs right now. They have benefitted from stability and professionalism at the top. Congratulations to Andrew and Pearse.

I am optimistic that Mt Pleasant (for one)has
put together a structure (and the right people)
to build a program for the future - after a few years of lack of direction. I went to Challenge league site as well as Pelham site and the younger teams from the Lowcountry ranked very high in fall season.

What Lowcountry has to deal with is the fractured # of clubs in a relatively small geographic area . Those darn bridges! I think this is what LPAF was aluding to in his post.

I agree that this approach doesn't really reflect gains that are being made by some of the clubs in our state. The weakness with this type of approach is that it shows "velocity" and not "acceleration".

For example, in the midstate, the merger of CSC/CFC has seemed to bring together a critical mass of coaching talent and players and from my perspective they are really accelerating. This is wonderful news in my book -- the midstate, and particularly the Columbia area, badly needs a club to step forward and increase the level of competition on a continuing (and not just one-off) basis.

Once you get past the intra-state competition, the sad fact is that SC is still ranked incredibly low (girls: 40 out of 50, source: gotSoccer.com). I'm hoping that we get a lot more acceleration from all of the clubs in the state so that we can really move up from the basement.

I believe the teams get to choose which division they play in. I do know that a team has to declare, by a specified date, whether they play SCSCL (Challenge) or PMSL (Classic) in the spring.