>>[Beezer] Let me simplify: [...]
2) South Carolina is towards the bottom of Region III in terms of teams and individuals. Region III ODP selections and Region III Championship results show that. Those numbers are finite and objective.<<It depends on whether you choose to denominate this with numbers such as population or not [as Coach P demonstrated]. However, if you choose not to denominate, then there's no doubt that SC has a low number of pool selections, region team selections, national team selections, and RIII semifinalists and champions.
>>3) I believe, to have consistent teams win in Region III competition, all the best players from the state need to be together. But, if responses from this topic on here indicate SC's view, there's not enough commitment.<<I actually believe that you hit the nail on the head here -- that there's not enough commitment. I'm not arguing that people shouldn't be more committed; I've simply been trying to argue that they are not. In addition, as I'll discuss below, there are structural issues with respect to our affiliating organizations and their recent rulings.
>>4)South Carolina teams in semifinals and finals of Region III Championships is very low no matter what "logic" or "number" you want to use. Again, those numbers are finite and objective.<<Again, it depends on whether you choose to denominate this with numbers such as population or not. If you choose not to denominate, then the count is very low. Even if you choose to denominate, you can find examples that prove what South Carolina clubs and teams
could do, but don't.
Let's go further in this. When you look at Oklahoma, you find that they have a much better RIIIPL presence in terms of ODP and championships and the like than you'd expect from their population. Why? Well, it turns out that Oklahoma City and Tulsa both are hotbeds of soccer. These cities are approximately 90 miles apart, and when you talk to parents you find that both cities compete with each other for players. It has resulted in good performance even when compared to wonderful programs like North Texas's Dallas Texans.
However, you need to understand that this is not the model that South Carolina has chosen to enact. Last spring, the SCYSA actually created a ruling that over half of the players from any team in a club must come from that district; thus, having 51% of the players of a team based in Columbia [for example] come from Greenville and Charleston [again, for example] would not be a valid SCYSA team.
The problem isn't only one of commitment, it's also one of top-down structure. It speaks to a strong bias against highly competitive soccer in South Carolina.
>>5)I'm sitting with 3 DOCs (from NC and GA) at the Score at the Shore female event in Greensboro as I write this. Off the top of their heads, they estimate over 75% of their top U15-U18 players travel at least an hour, one-way to training which is 3 times a week. It's not always distance but with traffic it's still very time consuming.
1.5 hours a short distance in traffic vs. 1.5 hours a longer distance in no traffic. Is there a difference?<<That's fascinating...thank you for sharing this...I absolutely love information like this. Several comments with respect to it:
- My guess is that those DOC's are from Atlanta, Charlotte, and/or Raleigh [totally a guess here].
- I've found people in larger metropolitan areas to be more tolerant of time spent commuting than people in smaller areas due to the feeling that they have little choice (at least that's how I've felt when I lived in larger cities.)
- I'm not sure if there's a difference between 1.5 hours in traffic versus non-traffic besides the obvious fuel consumption differences; however, there is an actual 50% difference between 1 hour and 1.5 hours and there may (or may not be) an even larger perceptual difference. As an actual example, my guess is that there are kids that are commuting 45-60 minutes to play on the LCSC U17B team coached by Berson. My guess is that those kids, and their parents, view that commute across Columbia very differently than commuting to Bridge or CESA.
- Please note that the SCYSA has actually created a ruling at the request of NECSA to prohibit this if that 75% of kids were to come from "out of district." Thus, not only do you have a possible commitment problem, you have a structural problem from the state-based USYSA organization as well.
Here's the issue we're both having -- you're preaching to the converted. My kid asked to commute when she was 13. But I've seen, over and over, that many very good players just aren't going to do it. Should they? It's a personal decision -- but I don't see it occurring for the top 20 players in SC in each gender and age group. Could it eventually occur? Sure! But attitudes would have to change quite a bit, in my opinion.
>>6) I don't want super ODP teams. Just SC club teams with all the best players. Will it happen? No. Will South Carolina teams win with just talent from an hour or less? No. Is it really unreasonable to say the best need to be with the best because we don't have enough quality to be seperate?<<I'm with you. I'd like to see the best players commit the time and energy to go to the best teams within a 100 mile radius of their home. I don't think we disagree on what we'd like to see -- however, I don't see it occurring.
>>I hope that was simple and logical this time.<<Thanks...absolutely great post!
