BDad11,
I probably should have worded that one a little better, by no means am I slamming The Citadel or any of the other D2 and NAIA teams I listed.
I'm going to limit the scope of my discussion to the womens side. I have long been an advocate of NCAA Division III soccer and found it very interesting when I moved to South Carolina eight years ago that no D3 programs existed in the state. If just one school would step up (or down) and go D3, I strongly feel that the program would be nationally competitive. Right now, no NAIA or D2 schools in the state are NATIONALLY competitive. Some may be regionally competitive, and hopefully challenge for a SAC, Peach Belt or CVAC conference championship, but none make a mark on the national level. I believe NCAA D2 bids are expanding next year, but right now only four teams in the region get a bid to the national tournament. When was the last time a South Carolina D2 team got a bid? I don't know. My guess is that it was PC some time ago....but I don't know.
As for D1, we are all more familiar with these schools. Clemson went to the Final 8 and year in and year out, they are nationally competitive. But what about everybody else? USC, Furman and College of Charleston are great programs but I don't believe any of them earned a bid this year despite having pretty good seasons. Winthrop had their best year in their history, and Coastal Carolina is always strong in the Big South. Unless they win their conference, they stay home. If they are fortunate enough to advance it's generally one and done.
If we had a D3 school in South Carolina I firmly believe that they could harness some very good talent within the state and challenge the Messiah's and College of New Jersey's out there that field very competitive teams year in and year out. Again, on the women's side, I have found that many very good club and high school players decide not to continue playing at the college level. I'm sure there are many reasons but a common one is that the player has made a year-round commitment to soccer since they were 9-years old, and now they are looking ahead to the "college experience" without the commitment that a competitive D1 or D2 team requires. Many of these girls stay in-state, where it is affordable, and go to schools such as Clemson, USC and CofC. Some might play club soccer at the university.
I've always thought that if a competitive player, who doesn't want to make the year-round commitment, or, who perhaps is just a small notch below what a coach of one of our competitive D2 programs is looking for, had other options....these girls could be recruited to form a nice, competitive team.
Here are the selling points:
1) Palmetto and Life scholarships (you don't need athletic scholarships to attract in-state players when they can qualify for this type of aid)
2) Close to home (an opportunity to play regionally/nationally competitive college soccer without leaving "home")
3) The D3 commitment (bust your butt from August - November and then be a regular student for the remainder of the year, with a modified spring season)
4) Talent pool (we have a lot of good players right here in SC, coach should focus on them and let the D1's and D2's mine Florida, Georgia, Texas and North Carolina)
5) The weather (coach will attract prospects from northern states simply because this is a great place to attend college and play college soccer)
Again, I'm not being negative toward The Citadel or toward any of the other programs mentioned. I'm just saying it could be real interesting if some school went this direction.
