SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP District Play for Club Teams???

I have a question for our soccer forum ... I met with five high school soccer-aged families tonight about classic league soccer and everyone of them cited "travel" as the primary reason that they 'hated' club soccer ... After further investigation, we arrived at the following for their disdain:

(1) USC/Clemson football (as well as other in-state schools) play on Saturday and thus interfere with the family agenda;

(2) Traveling to Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Spartanburg, etc. (from Columbia) is ridiculous for PMSL or Palmetto League play because those teams can get the same level competition from Aiken, CSC, Discovery, Florence, Lexington, etc. in the Midlands area alone (Mid-District), without traversing the state "in search" of this competition. They all could understand "Premier League" play for this reason, but not the other -- I could not disagree.

(3) Tournaments, albeit, great in their intent are not much more than severe money-makers for the hosting clubs ... Although I feel that tourneys serve a great purpose for U10-U14 (more play, variety of competition, etc.), I feel that the high school aged tourneys are simply money makers as you often have to play at least two teams from 'league play' in group competition at many of these tourneys and rarely play 3-4 "new teams" ... I know that I'm dating myself, but it used to be that you attended tourneys for out-of-area competiton ... I can remember going to the Charleston Thanksgiving Shootout in 1988 and playing Northern Ohio Inter-Premier, James Island, and Hilton Head ... Needless to say, that these were three teams that we did not face from the Mid-District and it was 'exciting' to play teams from elsewhere ... Nowadays, if we played the same sides, only the Ohio team would be in non-league play.

I just want to know how many other clubs/areas battle this problem/phenomena? ... I personally have no problem with their argument in that I value college football and view that as a fabric of our Southern culture. At the same time, I know that if my "high school kids" are not playing club soccer, that Brookland-Cayce HS will be the first team to pay for it.

What is the happy medium/expectation?

I ask (some read: demand) that the kids play club soccer in the off-season ... I can certainly tell the ones that play club versus those that play recreationally or don't play at all ... I also know that our greatest high school success has resulted from those kids that played at the highest level year-round ... I could easily "mandate" that our kids play year-round, but I fear that would run the majority off ... Instead, I ask that those that desire to be better high school players sacrifice for the team (and fortunately we've had more than enough kids/parents to buy into this) ... However, the bottom line is I'd like all of our prep kids to benefit from club soccer, but the travel, costs, commitment, etc. often interfere.

I'm not sure what tournaments which you've had teams attend, but at the risk of sounding like a marketing guy, the RBC Liberty tournament last year had 56 teams from Georgia, 16 teams from Tennessee, 15 teams from North Carolina, and a team each from Florida and Alabama. Of those, an appreciable number were U15 and up. As a complete guess, I would anticipate even more out-of-state teams coming this year due to the higher ranking of the tournament by the ranking services.

[Admitted bias: I have a kid that plays for the club that runs RBC Liberty and I think they operate the most competitive tournament in South Carolina.]

As you know, there are currently four levels of competition for club youth soccer in South Carolina, with different goals for teams competing at each level:

• Recreation
• Classic League
• Challenge League
• Premier League

It seems to me that what these families are looking for is a bit more competition than recreation but a bit less involved in terms of committment than classic league.

Here's the issue I think they face: there are teams in classic league in South Carolina that are now competing not just within South Carolina but regionally as well. This year, South Carolina had several classic teams competing in Arkansas for the Director's Cup and had two semi-finalists and one finalist. South Carolina has a classic U13 team going to Minnesota this week to play a tournament in the middle of the summer. The level of play of some of the teams in classic are amazingly high compared to just a few years ago.

Trying to coax parents and players into higher levels of competition who want to prioritize soccer as low as possible seems to me to be a losing proposition...you end up with parents and players who resent the coaches and the game because they feel like they were somehow tricked into spending more time and money playing soccer than they really want. Trying to build some restricted version of classic play is moving in the opposite directin of much of South Carolina; to my mind, these players need to play in a recreation league. The best short-term answer might be to play recreation but have a coach that schedules friendlies with classic teams, men's teams, etc. You can, for a very reasonable price, also register the kids on the team wth US Club Soccer and thus be able to play in their tournaments as well.

I don't think that it is coincidental that Columbia-area club soccer has become increasingly less competitive over the last few years at every level. Even if we ignore the state challenge league results, I don't think that it's coincidental that none of the classic league teams at semi-finalist or beyond positions in the Arkansas Director's Cup were from the Columbia area. The soccer infrastructure of the Columbia area [by this I mean the plethora of clubs serving recreation and select players] has seemed to me to do a poorer overall job of attracting younger kids to soccer and keeping them interested by challenging each player; instead, the focus seems to be on squabbling among the clubs for what talent already exists. Thus, the talent pool in Columbia seems to me to have grown a bit more shallow.

I respect that you sat with these families and tried to understand their positions. But I submit to you that you're fighting the wrong long-term battle. The answer for Columbia-area soccer is to engage more children in playing soccer at younger ages so that by the time they enter high school there are enough serious soccer players such that the competition for positions on the team is so fierce that players don't think twice about the level of committment needed to play high school soccer.

How do you do this? The only way I know how to do it is to engage the resources of all [or at least, most] of the clubs in the area in terms of building programs that promote soccer to elementary school children and middle school children. It's not easy, and it won't be cheap; but it might help take Columbia-area club soccer beyond the quagmire in which it currently seems to be struggling. But the advantage is that this doesn't just help club soccer, or high school soccer -- instead, it helps get a bunch of kids who otherwise might not ever be engaged in anything athletically to get engaged in something that could change their lives in a positive manner.

How many U16, U17 & U18 boys and girls teams played in the classic (PMSL) league last season?

I think it's a great idea to provide an opportunity for kids at this level (below challenge and premier, above rec), but will the numbers allow a "regional" or "district" league to cut down on travel. In order to play enough games at the higher age groups the league must be state-wide. One option might be to double-up the age groups. No U-15's or U-17's, roll everybody up to U-16 & U-18 in order to create more teams in each age division.

Chico,

I think currently the RBC is probably the most competitive tournament in the State, however, the MPSC Select is gaining every year, and who knows what attention Bridge FA will be able to draw to the low country.

Much of the RBC competitiveness, other than host teams, comes from the proximity to the Atlanta teams. I would imagine that many of the 56 GA teams did not require an overnight stay. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy the tournament, and will be applying again.

Bear: Location, location, location...

A bit more seriously, when I first began investigating Greenville clubs a few years ago, I was amazed at how teams in Greenville drew from not only the Columbia/midlands South Carolina area but from Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee as well. I remember getting out a map and realizing that Greenville was centrally located to among Charlotte, Ashville, Columbia, Atlanta, Knoxville. I think you're right -- this location gives RBC Liberty a geographic advantage.

My only point was that there are tournaments in South Carolina in which there are appreciable numbers of out-of-state teams.

Besides, I don't want to hear any complaining from anyone who has the beach, the ocean, and Charleston as geographic advantages!

One thing that was not mentioned was the wear and tear on some coaches. One of the biggest reasons I am not coaching club this year is the travel to Columbia for almost every match from Bluffton/Hilton Head area took alot out of me. Also, the time away from my family was tough. Combined with the demands of the high school season, it was too much.

jwoodring: Do you coach recreation instead or do you do other things than soccer in the Fall?

Chico,

You're right. In addition to the 5 in state tournaments we also went out of state. Summerville to Greenville, vs Summerville to Atlanta (depending on complex), or Raleigh, is relatively the same. A point to be made here is the understanding that these are fund raisers for the host clubs and if we collectively can draw non-leauge teams to more local tournaments, then I'd rather support a state club than say an Atlanta club. It's all about competition level you're seeking though. That being said, it would be good to see more in state teams supporting other in state clubs in their endeavors to support the SC soccer community. That being said, I also understand the reciprocal arrangements that get formed between clubs supporting each other.

Now for my marketing pitch :-). In addition to the items you mentioned about location, the low country also has the Charleston Battery. So, if there are any teams that are looking for a Labor Day tournament, the SSC Labor Day Kickoff registration fee includes tickets to the Charleston Battery vs Seattle Sounders match on Friday, September 2nd. Go to the SSC web page for specifics.

jwoodring: I think you brought in another one of the elements that I was trying to get to about the out lying clubs. It's a tough nut to crack.