>> [2004striker] [...] I did not know if you saw my below prior post in which I revealed the secret cloning which is taking place at CarolinaFC.<<
I am trying my absolute best to only talk about CESA on applicable threads so as to avoid irritating people who have other "irons in the fire". To answer your question, I did see your post, but I didn't want to distract from what the Bridge folks were talking about by posting any replies to it.
>>I only wanted to gain your wisdom into such activities and to see if your 'Evil Red Monster' is knowledgeable of such. I don't want CESA, as evil as it is, to miss out on yet another state championship in a particular age/gender group, if you have to compete against a cloned team. If you are already aware of this cloning, what measures will you take? If you could take a brief pause in your respectful debate here, I will await your comments. Please excuse the interruption.........
<<Therefore, it is refreshing to see that lowcountry soccer has seen the success of the 'evil CESA machine', and has not cowered in the face of the 'Red Monster'. Even SYSA is rising up to some unknown level with the new CarolinaFC to go to battle with their dreaded western neighbor. Since that club cannot hope to attract top CESA players away from the 'land of all the state championships', I have heard sinister rumors that CarolinaFC has obtained DNA samples from top CASL and Concord Fire Elite teams, and is attempting to clone top soccer players for their new club. So the battle is on between north and south, while the midlands social soccer society produces pleasant, mediocre yet adequate, acceptable and yet, occasionally challenging, soccer teams.>>
Seriously, everyone I've spoken to in CESA thinks that what CarolinaFC and Bridge are doing is great. I've been publicly supportive of everything that they're doing; I believe that the more options we provide to South Carolina players, the better off we'll be.
I've been pretty consistent about what it is that I like about CESA; the fact that they are providing services that you can't get elsewhere in South Carolina. The spring college program is a great example of that; I'm working on something now that describes that in more detail -- but the bottom line is that it's wonderful that CESA allowed both CESA and non-CESA players to participate in something that you can't get anywhere else at this time in South Carolina.
I've heard of a team or two in the state that played some smaller schools as well -- I think that's great. This isn't a zero sum game where there's one winner and one loser -- each club that provides additional services is a winner and the true winners are the players in South Carolina.
The "evil CESA" stuff -- I guess I understand, even though you're being a bit facetious, where that comes from -- because state championships are a win/lose proposition. Again, the folks I talk to in CESA are much more focused on how to better compete regionally and nationally than they are about how many state championships that are won -- and in fact are much more focused on providing services to all players, from recreation to premier, than on any thoughts of "sweeping" anything.
I do realize that you're frustrated with the Columbia-area soccer environment. As I've noted before, I was [and occasionally still am, particularly as gas prices increase] frustrated that I live five minutes from arguably some of the best soccer fields in SC and I have to drive 200 miles round trip to take my daughter to Greenville practice [thank goodness for Columbia-based practices]. But I think that what is clear is that almost all Columbia-area players and parents are happy with the Columbia-area environment. I'm just pleased that there are choices -- even if they aren't in the Columbia area.
Bottom line: bless these folks at CarolinaFC and Bridge -- they are working hard to provide more options to our youth.
