A few comments.
Regarding Hungryneck and their merge with the city years ago. The main issue was fields. The club was growing by leaps and bounds & the club was "borrowing" use of the town's fields. This situation was no longer workeable so the club was faced with purchasing land and building its own fields to the tune of several million dollars. Big risk. Big commitment. So, right or wrong, the Hungryneck board decided to merge with the city. The city didn't force the board to do anything, but there were limited options.
Swimmer, I hear you but I respectively disagree with your conclusion. I think it would hurt their ticket sales. Maybe not a lot but I can see some. Back in the Super Y days, the Battery did field some teams for one year. When they didn't participate in year 2, I asked Tony myself why not and he basically said he felt parents whose kids didn't make the Battery team might not be so inclined to purchase Battery tickets. You probably wouldn't do that but you can't say that for everybody. The fact that any forum thread about a merger in the lowcountry results in thousands of posts tells me that youth soccer might be a bit of a volatile business venture.
My kids are all grow-ed up so I might be wrong on this but from where I sit, the Battery is/has been very involved with the local youth clubs, mainly at the grass roots level with many of the players helping out in the coaching department. My kids had many of the Battery players as coaches and trainers over the years. Also, the Battery hosts camps and other training sessions from time to time. They probably are more involved with the younger ages rather than the older ages, I'll give you that. They've made a decision to stay out of the "business" of the youth clubs but help out with teaching the fundamentals to players and coaches.
Last edited by Soccer Watcher; 02/07/08 02:23 PM.
