Well, if you aren't cherry picking teams... We certainly cant exclude teams either. Gps didn't play their top teams in the Challenge League (except the 05's since there was no 05 piedmont on the Spring)...
Of course you will see many more CBSC teams in the Challenge league next year. They played their top teams in the PMSL against other clubs 3rd teams in what was a very watered down league. So naturally they would move up, well except for those 04's and 05's.
The irony is that when all the teams pull out for the SCCL, that challenge may be the same teams from the PMSL last year. Look at the the Challenge list for the 06 boys next year--6 of the 7 teams will be in the SCCL. Each other age group will be more than half leaving.
But we can compare CBSC to Gps
03's finished 1st in Piedmont.. 2nd in state cup
04's finished 3rd in Piedmont...3rd in state cup
05's finished 5th in Piedmont (Fall). Tied for 1st in
Challenge (Spring) and 2nd in state cup
06's finished 3rd in Piedmont... 3rd in state cup
07's finished first in Carolina Premier.
I honestly do think that CBSC has some good things going on and will probably improve in time (as long as their first team is able to stay around),,,,,, but I just dont understand the motivation of many CBSC members on this board or in the community. In the past year there have been entire pages devoted to criticizing USMAP, Cainhoy, GPS and even DISA a little for tons of things. (lack of field space, prices, coaches licenses, focusing on team development vs. individual, and even outright implied that usamp was being dishonest).
I just simply pointed out the CBSC had 2 of their 2nd teams move backward instead of forward.
I think that CBSC spent a little more time improving their own product instead of discrediting clubs that have been working successfully in this area for years, it might be better for everyone.
Fair enough, although they were not the only club with teams to move backwards. Speaking only for myself, my criticism has less to do with any specific club. I simply responded to what I thought was an unfair comment and showed the entirety of the placements. Every metric that has shown CBSC in a positive light is always discredited here (League results, tournament results, rankings, etc...). Sure, each may be flawed, but they are more objective measurements than the tired League X > League Y because that's the one my sons club chose, and of course they would choose the better league.
My criticism has always been about what I believe is a negative overall league structure for the state by dividing a very limited resource into two separate leagues, one of which is purely exclusionary with absolutely no tangible qualifications. As parents, we will see things through the eyes of our sons or daughters lens. I work with parents of kids at USA/MP, Chas Utd, GPS, and JIYSC and I listen to what they say. Parents of daughters want more competition. The team pool at the younger ages is too small.
I have yet to meet a parent that doesn't want CBSC in their league, or at least the opportunity play against them (maybe shut a few of us up :-)', but perhaps they are being untruthful. Time will tell how CBSC does. I would say on the whole, they are happy with their retention rate, but would feel better if they were not so isolated. It is up to CBSC management to determine why they have been excluded and if a viable working solution can be made. I would say it is unreasonable of any CBSC parent to expect solutions to come from outside their own organization.
