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

I think stability is the key to any club to get traction. St. Giles and GFC have had that for a number of years. CSC and NECSA are setting up in the Mid-State. Lower state is still contending with three clubs which is one two many. I know that the SCYSA has tried to discourage that easy formation of new clubs so that Coaches and parents can't just start up a new club because they get mad. Of course I say all that and even the host of this site starts up his own club instead of working with the other two.

Why doesn't gotsoccer.com show the state cup as a tourney but it shows other tournaments after that? Just wanted to know. And another thing what are the three clubs in lower state? I am not aware of them all.

Here are some of the Charleston area clubs ( just the ones with at least 1 classic team):
Mt Pleasant
Carolina Girls
James Island
Summerville
Charlestowne Soccer Club
Goose Creek

I bet I have even missed a few.

Myrtle Beach has:
OSSOC
Coastal

Beaufort County:
Beaufort
Hilton Head

Chapindad --

On the girls side of things Charleston area upper echelon soccer is divided among 4 teams, counting the Summerville Soccer Club, James Island, MPSC and Carolina Girls. The most successful lowcountry girls' teams over the last few years have been formed by blocks of talented players who decided to move away from their traditional club in favor of a highly qualified coach from a neighboring club.

lpaf

What do you learned soccer watchers in Charleston think would be the ideal set up? 2 clubs? 1 club? In my opinion I think Cola would be best served by 2 clubs.A westside (CSC/Lex/Chapin) and an eastside(Northeast/Congaree/downtown) club setup.I know some want 1 club in Columbia, but that won't happen any time soon.Your thoughts?

S1 --

Your post came in ahead of mine but the thinking is the same.

Another thing besides the question of the bridges that geographically affects the lowcountry is the 180 degree rule. If you draw a line from Edisto Island to Awendaw and use this as the diameter of a circle centered more or less on the peninsula of Charleston, almost all participating soccer players come from the north west half of the circle.

lpaf

BDad11,
As I sit here watching some sailboats out in the harbor, I will attempt a grand solution for the Lowcountry.
We have a natural leader for a consolidation in our National Champion Professional team - Charleston Battery. The Charleston Battery could sponsor 1 (possibly 2) teams in each age group ( and sex) at the highest level of state wide competition available. They could hire the coaches, sponsor the uniforms, and provide some fields for just these limited # of teams. Their base of operations on Daniel Island is quickly becoming the center of the greater Charleston metropolitan area ( geographically speaking).
Since the Battery has no geographical territory to speak of, it could argue that its player selection would be unbiased.
The local clubs could continue to run their own recreational leagues, in house programs, and possibly sponsor a team at the classic level (not challenge) or American Cup level if there was the player demand. There would have to be operating agreements between all the clubs and the Battery
that the elite players would be fed to the Battery.
In exchange, the Battery would provide pro players and coaches to help in develop training sessions on a broader level.

problems to overcome:
1- Pride, Ego, Turf - whatever you want to call it.
2- If successful, they do not have field capacity at their training facility for a large # of teams.
More fields in this area would be needed. Possibly teams could rotate practice time and game field availability based upon this magical harmonious relationship between the feeder clubs.
3- Historical opposition to this type of idea is that Battery did not want to risk alienating possible season ticket holders when the kid gets "cut". In fact, I think the contrary would happen. Battery would have more exposure and everyone would aspire to be part of a "Battery" Team.

Isn't this vaguely similar to how International clubs run youth programs?

A couple of nice posts swimmer. I think you're right in saying that the organization at the top has to be in place for a club to be successful. I said that earlier when I said that soccer guys need to be making the soccer decisions, but I was called an East German for making that idiotic comment so I'll tread, but tread lightly. The clubs in Greenville are also in fairly small markets, so a priority is on keeping a professional staff and attracting the best players from all over the state. The problem of fragmentation occurs throughout the state. In Spartanburg alone there are three clubs. In Greenville you have GFC, St.Giles and smaller clubs such as Foothills, Clemson, Team Mutiny,Greer etc .. There is also little margain of error in Greenville because the environment is very competitive, so each club has to always be on top of its game.

That's good stuff Mark.

I'm not making a judgement one way or the other but we sometimes get so caught up in the having to have the best team or club (seems most want to use winning as a measure of that). The quality of a club is more than winning and the size of the club. I've seen posts berating Mark Berson for not having more SC "local" players on his team (which I personally wish he did) and yet many of us wish clubs were combined locally or even at the state level or at least "recruit" statewide. So eventually you could at some point with a "local" club team with few players from the local area that wins all its games and now you have the best club in the state? I'm not sure that will make club soccer as a whole better in SC. We may have a couple of elite teams which would consist of a small number of top players but what does that due to participation in the sport itself. I'm afraid many of the other players drop out of playing the sport because they feel like second class citizens. If we push our programs to be at the "professional" level then the overall sport of soccer may suffer. Just something to think about.

Common' Dex, I didn't call you an East German. What I said, I think, was that very authoritarian athletic organizations can be very efficient and win with consistancy, ie. the East Germans in the cold war period. This was in the context of my suggestion that parents could have a useful voice in team decisions. Water under the bridge.

I haven't had much useful to say here because I'm not a club person. I have great respect for the professionals, coaches, parents and others who put in the hours upon hours needed to keep the clubs running and improving. My focus is undoubtably self serving and short sighted but remains a bottom up approach. My daughter, her team, her club.

In looking at Mark's analysis of the last four years it seems clear that GFC and SG have come up with a more successful formula for consistantly producing classic soccer champions and runners up than the other clubs of the state, though clubs in every region seem able to produce this same product at different times. The list of serious competitors extends statewide, though not with the same frequency.

R2's idea that a very restricted number of very elite teams may not best serve the broader interests of soccer in SC is a fertile field to plant thoughts in and see what they grow into.

Have a great second half of the weekend, everyone.

lpaf