SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP South Carolina United FC - Information

As I type this, I know it's risky, because some will take it the wrong way.

I wouldn't necessarily call it a disagreement, but more a search for perspective.

I read this that you are talking from a point of view of the academy from the national point of view. I'm still talking from a state point of view. As you said people could ask several that have participated in the academy first hand. Or I think they could piece it together with some understanding of some of the dynamics.

The leap of faith I'm talking about is a little different than the initial leap. The initial leap was localized in the Charleston area. I believe that it may have been thought that this could/would attract more players to the low country, however, it appears the converse has happened. The movement into the academy has splintered the area even more. DISA immediately comes to mind, although that could be for different reasons. I don't know where the bulk of the current U17 players in the low country are, but I do not believe it to be with Bridge. With the formation of DISA, there is a gap between the current U18 and the current U16 players, this U17 group. It would be this group that could have/should have been the incumbent group for the U18 academy.

So it brings to mind something that I learned quite some time ago, the but for. But for the lack of this U17 group of players, would there have been a need for this partnership with CUFC?

That being the case, the leap of faith I'm talking about is the one for people to make to a group that appears to have not been able to hold it together, for whatever reason, in their own area, and now are going to try to manage it across a distance of in excess of 100 miles.

As for the ODP stuff, I don't disagree. As for the relationship between US Soccer and US Youth Soccer, I'm not real clear. I know that US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer are sanctioned by the same group, but I don't recall if that is US Soccer or USSF directly. So, I don't know if US Soccer is the parent for US Youth Soccer, or if they are on the same organizational plane.