SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Lowcountry Finally United

I am sure the title has sparked major interest but sad to say it is not so at this time my quest is this. I have observed on this forum that there are so many supporters of a united lowcountry "soccer giant" to represent the lowcountry and even South Carolina for that matter.

In our "professional" opinions what do you feel we would need to do to accomplish this goal can we surpass personal "egos" (oh oh might get in trouble for this one hehehehehe)and make this happen or is this goal wishful thinking in reality????

hhhhhmmmm

Real quick, look at the CESA model. Find two or three successful clubs, merge with the ability to reach a reasonable geographic area, win and establish superiority.

Not being from your part of the state I will not pretend to know what divides you, but the word dysfunctional comes to mind. It appears that based on the local rivalries and mistrust it will take strong leadership to bring these clubs together. I thought that was what the "Bridge Club" was supposed to do, but recent postings suggest that this may not happen. I wish you luck!!

The egos in the lowcountry are the problem

Playing devil's advocate--which so often gets me into trouble, but it's hard to break the habit--

Is achieving dominance in state competition because you have the largest pool of talent to draw from NECESSARILY the same thing as providing the best possible training for the greatest number of players?

And if you happened to answer "no" to that question...then how would such a club NECESSARILY improve the overall status of Lowcountry soccer?

Just thinking out loud, not making a judgement.

Spiritdad,
The only way to get past the personal egos is for someone, probably, not currently in the low country youth soccer scene to step in and lead the change. It's not just egos, but it's also geographic and convenience to parents that gets in the way. Kind of like the "social soccer" that someone used to rant about in the mid state.

W&E,
The local clubs business models make it very difficult for a merge to happen. For example, SSC has a long term lease for it's facilities. MPSC, the town's rec department owns the fields. JIYSC owns their fields. CUSC has shorter term arrangements for field space with the City of Charleston.

Giggs,
Bridge FA was intended to do that. However, some of the decisions that Bridge FA has made, rather than bringing unity, have compounded the divisive nature and increased the mistrust in the area.

Beenaround,
Egos do abound in the lowcountry. However, it's not just with the soccer professionals, but the parent board members as well. Of course with the parent board members it's hard to tell whether it's ego, convenience, or mistrust.

Coach Chass,
It is extremely difficult for any lowcountry club to be everything to all segments of the soccer players. For the most part, the people that are on this board are either players or parents within the competitive sector. Further, if you look at the volunteer support, I believe that you will see in the lowcountry that the majority of the volunteers that are involved with the day to day operations of the club are from the competitive sector. Bridge FA was intended to allow for focused attention on all sectors by consolidating the competitive sector, and allowing other clubs to focus on the rec and classic level.

Wow so many avenues to go with this thing It will be interesting to see what direction soccer in our area will take over the course of the next year or two we might have to drive to CESA or CUFC just to have a place to play.

Bear,

I see what you're saying, and I agree. But again, as devil's advocate...it seems what people are trying to do is eliminate competition instead of trying to make more players and teams competitive. If we reduce the number of competitive teams in the Lowcountry, then we are also reducing the number of opportunities for players to actually be competitive.

I'd like to hope that with all of the talent we have in the Lowcountry area, we could train and field more than one competitive team in each age group.

Coach,

I've been to this dance before.

There needs to be consensus with what "competitive" means. Are you satisified with being competitive within the low country district, the state, the region, the nation? All of these are different levels of competitiveness, and all of them are different in requirements.

In response to your devil's advocate statement. I don't think people are trying to eliminate competition for the sake of players and teams being competitive. A different view is, to be competitive we need all of the players together, but at club x, not club y. I have said several times that all of the soccer folks know that to be competitive, consolidation needs to occur, but at my club, not the others.

Of course...after all, I'm not the only devil in the mix.

So, serious question...that is, if you don't mind dancing the old dance with a new partner for a few...and I'm really asking an opinion, not playing DA this time.

Do you think there is enough talent in the overall pool to field more than one Challenge team per age division, for example?

If so, what happens to the players who don't get one of the 18 or so spots on the one consolidated team...if they want to play true competitive soccer to challenge themselves and improve their game, what are their options?

If a single, consolidated club has enough competitive players and fields more than one team at the same age and level (for example, two U-18 Challenge teams), would they more likely try to balance the teams, or stack one team with the best of the best to get the wins and leave the sister team to struggle? (I have seen this happen.)

I'm really curious about the proposed logistics...not trying to be difficult.