HH,
Again, I'm just venturing speculation, but I think the idea is that the players in the areas you mention are already being served by CESA; another showcase team that would attend the same tournaments as CESA would be somewhat redundant in their own backyard. Like you, I can't imagine why a CESA premier player would feel the need to leave their team or even double-roster.
As for the path to the tournaments lying through a state title...well, SOMEONE is going to win state no matter how good or bad the overall quality of soccer here is. Winning state is no indication of ability to compete outside the state if there's no strong competition within the state to make the title meaningful--an empty crown that just says the best we've got all gathered in one place, not how good those "best" really are or how hard they fought to get that title--or how they will react to the pressure of competition with teams of equal measure.
So seriously...why not try to develop more than one competitive team in SC? You say that with SC's reputation, only the top team in the state is deemed "worthy" of these tournaments...so is everyone ok with perpetuating that reputation by creating that "one team" at the expense of all others, or can SC dare to spread out and make competitive soccer available to more players, roll up the collective sleeves and train them (yes, I said "train," not "collect"...that's where the non-easy yet long-run-productive part comes in) and possibly have more than one competitive team in the state? Again, the overwhelming assumption seems to be that South Carolina only one roster's worth of players at each age level who can compete at the regional or tournament level, and the emphasis seems to be on how to gather them together, not how to create more.
Quality attracts quality, drive inspires drive, and commitment draws those of like minds to commit as well...those top-notch players folks seem to want to uproot and collect all in one place might just be the seeds that help grow quality, competitive teams in their own areas of the state, which has the potential to elevate the level of competition across the state.
Higher overall level of competition means the state champ has to work harder to maintain that title, which theoretically means they will be better prepared to face stiff competition from elsewhere.
Seems that's the way to go to change the reputation, but again, I'm speculating...feel free to tell me if I'm talking nonsense.
