SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Bridge FA

MBSOC,

Thanks for the clearing. There's always more than is "widely" known.

To further expand on your comment, "it was an effort on the part of many people to bring together the best talent on the coast where the 88's were concerned. Parents with serious players recognized where the best coaching and development was happening." Bridge FA will provide this for all age groups, U13-U18, so individual groups of parents won't have to do it in the future. Not only is it intended to pool the players, but also the coaching, therefore, adding stability under an organizational structure, where all clubs, parents, and most importantly, players, have the potential of playing with the best, and being trained by the best.

Kevin,
I think I said somewhere that I was familiar with the Columbia area. I honestly think the model that we are putting in place down here would also work in Columbia.

>>[Cornerflag] This will give serious Columbia players two choices, each only about an hour and a half away, to go to if things don't work well for them in Columbia.<<

Respectfully, have you seen any mention or discussion from anyone about Bridge attempting to attract anyone other than highly ambitious low country players? I ***am not*** criticizing Bridge; I think it's incredibly important when you start any entity to have a focused vision. But as the parent of a midstate soccer player, I've read all of the Bridge material on this message board several times to understand if Bridge is attempting to be a solution for the highly ambitious soccer player who doesn't live in the low country -- and I don't see anything that would make me suspect that this is the case.

2004striker: I think that you confuse "drunken stupor" with my normal, less than intelligent, state. It's a favorable comparison, however, and I thank you.

My requested comments:

1) Great name; very Charleston oriented but with a meaning that could extend beyond that. Logo design will be interesting.

2) As someone who hopes to see South Carolina become more competitive regionally and nationally, my hat is off to those doing the heavy lifting to try to change the SC status quo.

3) On the girls side at least, not having MPSC and CUSC as full participants makes short-term success problematic. Getting MPSC [first priority] and CUSC [second priority] would seem to be a critical inflection point of success for Bridge for the next several years.

4) Long term, the incredibly strong focus on the "low country" or coastal regions surrounding Charleston has the underpinnings to be a very strong strategy if you can increase youth participation rates at the same time; U.S. coastal areas are projected to show tremendous growth over the next 10 years.

Demographics are the engine that propel good clubs to become great clubs, and allow good teams to become great teams. Demographics here implies not just numbers of kids, but also kids with an interest in soccer, and parents willing to and financially able to support these interests. I am, and always have been a proponent of local soccer and community focused clubs. I live on James Island and take pride in driving by the JIYSC fields on any given afternoon or weekend and seeing the fields full of young people learning the sport, dedicating their effort to becoming better players. But small or medium community driven clubs can not, as a rule, support the upper level play of Premier or Challenge league soccer. Exceptions exist, but remain exceptions.

I think an umbrella organization such as Bridge FA is a solid approach to how to harness the demographic power of the lowcountry and yet maintain local club structure -- a federation of clubs supporting upper level play in a combined fashion. Swimmer 1 proposed a similar idea a couple of years ago with the idea of a Battery sponsored umbrella club.

I agree with Chic0 that Bridge FA will not be fully effective unless it extends across all the major Charleston/Summerville area clubs. I disagree as to which club, MPSC or CUSC, should be the priority club next. Bridges, like Rome, are not built in a day. Mount Pleasant, for a variety of reasons I think, is not ready to make a commitment to the Bridge FA concept. But CUSC can and would bring the girls side of the equation into equilibrium with the strong boys programs of Summerville and the solid rec orientation of James Island. Every effort possible should be made to bring CUSC and the expertise DOC Andy Grist has to offer to the Bridge FA table.

lpaf

lpaf: I certainly bow to your knowledge of youth soccer in the coastal areas and believe that you understand much better than me what is possible and probable in terms of the next set of moves. The reason that I stated that I would prioritize MPSC [on the girls side] is simple: last year they achieved state championships in the U11, U12, and U14 age groups. Thus, to an ignorant person with absolutely no knowledge of the inner workings of coastal area youth soccer, the prioritization went to MPSC because of the developing strength of their younger program coupled with several high finishes this year in some of the older groups. However, as you note, I'm sure that there are reasons that this prioritization is impractical in terms of execution.

I dont know where to post now that we have 2 sites on Bridge FA! That shows you the level of interest for high level soccer among low country soccer fans. So I posted this message on both sites: (you don't have to read both, unless you just like to hear me rant!) -
I applaud the new Bridge FA concept and club. I am a midstate soccer fan too, Chico and I desire to have teams from this area play at the highest level possible. But with Bridge FA I foresee (and I have been humbly ranting about this for 2 years) that quality club soccer in Cola will cease to exist...... I know CSC is doing a great job seeking area players to field quality teams, but they need more interest from the other area clubs in order to compete with CESA and now with the 'new lowcountry' concept for quality soccer. We may have 2 Lovefests to contend with at the conclusion of state finals! The level of talent and coaching is diluted with the too many area clubs in Cola. With all the facilities in place here at LSC,CSC,CRSA,NECSA (at least 20 quality fields), with all the quality coaching in place, with 4 financially sound small area clubs, and with enough quality players in Cola. and surrounding areas; what is now needed is quality leaders to take the next and final step forward. A Cola. merger of some type is no longer a risk or rocket science. It has been done and done well at CESA and I foresee that it will be successful at Bridge FA. There are too many merger successes to mention here; but when one occurs, just look at the results: CESA took all, as in ALL, the state titles after 1, as in ONE year. In Atlanta Concorde Fire was formed in 2003 with merger between Concorde and Atlanta Fire clubs. After only 1 year, the new club sent 6 state championship teams to the regional finals. CASL, our capitol counterpart, has achieved much success after it mergered all Raleigh area efforts to seek the highest level of play. With a merger of efforts here, Cola. could also organize a large quality national tournament on par with Atlanta Cup or Raleigh Shootout. That would be a financial success for the city and be an avenue to obtain club grants or other funding.
It can be done Cola. area soccer fans......
If something is not done within 2 years, the level
of club play here will not warrant fielding any challenge teams, let alone a premier one....
Or do you want adequate, nice, social, convenient soccer in Cola?

Chic0 --

Bridge FA should vigorously pursue both MPSC and CUSC ties. If neither of these clubs can be brought into the picture this year then the greater Charleston area's girls picture will remain as splintered as it is today, but with a new club still working to consolidate things at the upper levels. If either MPSC or CUSC joins then Bridge FA would have a strong position for attracting the best girls' talent from the hold out club, eventually.

lpaf

Good Luck to Charleston.
Going to keep my new years resolution and not talk about any other mergers until after they happen

A couple of editorial comments, since there were no real specific questions:

Are low country players/parents the only ones that read this message board?

Discussions are still taking place with Mt Pleasant, and to a lesser degree, CUSC.