Another perspective from a local who has the highest regard for the students, athletes, and families of Bishop England (and Wando). Many are my neigbors and friends.
Bishop Englnd sits in about the best soccer environment you can get so not sure why it is a shock they are so succesful. Heavens you have the Charleston Battery next door, MPSC, DISA, Coastal, and us training within minutes of the campus. OK SCUMP now but you still had coach Champ and her U11 girls on the Battery practice ground, DISA training on SPA land, MPSC on the other side of the Wando at Trident and Patriots and us at Codners Ferry park or Cainhoy School. Clearly we don't affect BE today but I know many of our U10 and U12 girls who are destined to wear the Green in a few years (or are they - more to come). At least two of Coastal group live on Daniel Island and countless other players with MPSC or DISA live on Daniel Island. Now someone said earlier BE is in Charleston and while that is true (City annexed the whole Clements Ferry corridor and Daniel Island), we are actually in Berkeley County (and school district) and zoned for Hannahan High School. Today Bishop England certainly benefits from this with many DI/Cainhoy parents (including me) looking to private local alternative HS and avoid the drive. In the same way until Daniel Island built the public elementary/middle school over 80% of DI residents sent their kids to private K-8 like First Baptist, Christ our King and PCA.
What I find interesting is what will happen over time. I see in another post speculation that Wando will see the fruits of all this great East Cooper youth soccer over time but I'm not so sure. The landscape is changing.
Notwithstanding the economic downturn and slowdown in growth, the Cainhoy peninsula is still one of the areas destined for most growth in the lowcountry.“Hot spots” for residential development in the greater Charleston region that were mentioned by Charleston City planners included as number one The Cainhoy Peninsula—including Daniel Island.
This fall we will see the opening of Palmetto Scholars Academy (South Carolina’s first public charter school for gifted and talented students) at the old Navy base with over 200 students in grades 6-8 and later extending to High School grades and this has gained a lot of attention on Daniel Island and area as an alternative to private tuition. And of course, most of us in this area with young children are desperate for news of the new public High School planned for Clements Ferry Road and just around the corner from Cainhoy Athletic. I heard rumors paper has been signed and tracts of land on Guggenheim tract has been set aside. Recent articles suggest doors opening as early as 2013 and I quote from Daniel Island News from December.
The greatest "hot spots" in the region for growth, based on data collected, are ...and the Cainhoy Peninsula, where a number of developments are either on the ground or planned for the near future. In the Cainhoy and Daniel Island area alone, another 4,000 plus residential and multi-family units are possible. That number doesn’t include potential development of the 8500-acre Guggenheim Tract (an area the size of peninsular Charleston), where as many as 16,000 units could be constructed off Clements Ferry Road...The tract is still being considered for a possible new high school that would serve the Daniel Island and Cainhoy/Huger areas, said Cooper. Currently, the majority of students in these schools are zoned to go to Hanahan High School after completing eighth grade. Berkeley County is expected to issue a bond referendum for voters next year that would cover the construction of three to four new schools in the district, one of which would likely be placed along the Clements Ferry corridor. "We need a high school offload for Hanahan," said Cooper. "…(Assuming) we can be successful with a referendum in 2010, I would say 2013 is the earliest we could hope to see doors open on any new facility," said Cooper.
Sorry to interupt this thread Marta,et al but wanted to put this out there as I find it somewhat relevant and very interesting. HIgh School soccer in 5 years as our U10 and U12 girls (and boys) age up might look very different than today, but know BE will still have a very good program wherever they play.
