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

Mark --

Another theoretical way to analyze overall success in soccer in South Carolina is to assume that clubs and coaching have little to do with state cup victories, but rather raw demographics drive the overall picture. By this I suggest that it is not unreasonable to assume that an area of 500k population should produce twice as many State Cup championships as an area inhabited by only 250k people.

For testing purposes I decided to use Greenville, Richland and Charleston counties as the center points of analysis and take the three most populous contiguous counties as the "surrounding area". (US census data http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/45/45045.html) This may not be a perfect model but serves as a reasonable starting point for discussion.

Rounded to a reasonable Saturday night level of math this yields the following:

Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens = 925k

Richland, Lexington, Sumter, Newberry = 684k

Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, Georgetown = 612k

With this in mind we would expect the Greenville metropolitan area to produce around 1.5x as many State Cup victories as the Charleston area given exactly equal club organizational skills (and roughly the same differential for metro Columbia).

I recognize that GFC and SGU outperformed this model, but would suggest only that they are aided not only by a solid club organizational structure but also by the fact that the upstate has a lot more kids to draw upon to form their upper echelon teams. Add to this the recruitment phenomenon for club play and the pendulum swings even further in the Piedmont's favor.

Food for thought.

lpaf

Not to knock the Aiken Fire (they are a very good team) but the GFC 85 Black boys have a cumulative record for the last two seasons of 12-3-1 in premier league. The won the league last year and came in second this year. Both of these teams have been very competitive the last few years.

Also, the GFC 85 Black girls won the premier league this year.

That would be at least 3 teams in the top 2 of their respective age groups. That is 3 out of 8 age groups that we had a team in the top 2.

It could be better depending on how the U14 do in the spring.

LPAF and soccer Taxi-
Using population numbers and statistics to try and justify a lack of quality in the lower and midstate clubs in absolutely bullocks, or shall I say, B.S.
Yes, the upstate has more children. Does that necessarily mean that more kinds are playing soccer? Its not numbers, its quality. You can have a billion kids playing soccer, but if they aren't commited to being better, then it doesnt matter if you are comparing them to a smaller city more dedicated players.
Another thing to take into consideration, probably more important than my last fact, is that players from the lowerstate and midstate travel to the upstate to play with St. Giles and GFC. Are they part of the upstate population? No, but they are looking for quality clubs. It is understood all over the state that places like Charleston and Columbia don't have the best clubs; therefore, better (or smarter) player from those areas choose to play for the upstate. Your excuses are ridiculous. Population is a poor excuse for having poor clubs. If the local clubs were more organized, then these players wouldn't have to travel 1-4 hours to play. But they do, and its not because of a mere population gap.
If you do research and tell me that there are more kids, ages 11-18 playing classic competitive soccer in the upstate who actually live there compared to the lower state, then I would back down. But there aren't such statistics, because the only people who would use them are lowerstate and midstate people who can't accept that people from their own areas are leaving to play for the upstate clubs. Lame excuses, folks. Lame.

sccrstd18,

I actually agree totally. You are making my precise point. As I said, "the fact is that the upstate area is not better demographically, just better organized." I DID mean that the Greenville/Spartanburg area is better organinized club wise. I also intended to point out that numbers-wise, Columbia/Aiken/Augusta HAS the talent, they just can't get their act together.

I really think it is silly to have so many clubs in one area around Columbia and Aiken. I can think of at least 6 or more in the area, all trying to pull talent together. What you end up with is a lot of mediocre teams with a few good teams sprinkled in amongst them. When you think of a huge city like Raleigh/Durham that really only has two clubs - the behemoth CASL that is 8000+ players strong, and TFC, also very strong, you know why the Raleigh area consistently fields national championship teams.

SOccer Taxi-
I'm sorry I misinterpreted your post; apparently we are both on the same page, unlike some people on this thread who are using population for lack of a better excuse. I couldn't agree more with you. If the Charleston/Columbia area were to come together, then maybe a strong club would result; however, with headstrong club directors who want to be the best without any of the resources that the upstate has, the lowcountry and Columbia will get nowhere.

I agree that there are too many clubs in Cola/Aiken area. Too much division of the talent pool. But Aiken/NECSA/CRSA/CSC/Lex. will never merge. One club has decided to step forward and not wait on a merger: ColumbiaSoccerClub. Midlands area players need to give CSC a fresh, serious, new look in the spring and next fall.They now have eight great fields and now 2 with lights, paved parking and a clubhouse/consession is almost finished. Under Eddie Crosby's direction and other exceptional coaches, that club will do great things on the field in the next few years in many age groups. They are drawing players from Aiken, Sumter and Myrtle Beach. From the Field of Dreams: "if you build it, they will come."

One thing to consider in the upstate/lowerstate debate is the demographics as well as population. The better soccer players tend to come from more educated and financially secure families. The upstate has the upper hand there. The lower state tends to be more rural and less educated.

Now, y'all can get off your high horses, I didn't just call the lowcountry a bunch of stupid hicks. There are plenty of affluent, well-educated people in the lowcountry. Just making a point about the overall makeup of the population.

AND I did NOT say that all soccer players are spoiled rich kids!

Paruthed-
Isn't it sad that everytime you make a point you have to justify your intentions so that you don't hurt they're little feelings? It's sad that no one can give their opinions on an opinion-based board because all you-know-what will break lose. Someone's always feeling offended, aren't they

Wow - 23 posts on a topic before it started going downhill with teen aged chest thumping. Is that a record?
Even Dexter and I were able to have a reasonable exchange of ideas. Dexter - not only does a club need a good director but also a strong organizational support structure ( i.e. parents and boosters). I think, in fact, the reason MPSC sank for a couple of years was that everyone wanted the club director to take care of everything without any oversight or support.
Not knowing a lot about GFC or St Giles , are there Board of Directors at those clubs?

LPAF - insomnia strike over the week end? 2:00 am posts?