I too ventured over to West Columbia to watch a few games in the Palmetto Cup this week and was amazed at the poor officiating.
My daughter, who played at RNE, constantly commented that the officials were making the wrong calls. Particularly in the Wando/Hanna game at Airport when the center official called a pk on the Wando goalkeeper who had come off his line, got two hands on the ball and the forward collided into/over him, but the referee was literally at midfield and came flying in to make a game-changing call. One, he was out of position, and two it was the wrong call as the keeper had every right to the ball and claimed it going straight ahead and leading with his hands. Geesh, since when can keepers not challenge for a 50/50 ball?
In another match, the center official seemed extremely whistle-happy and simply wanted to see how many times he could blow his whistle. He blew it non-stop in a distinctively irritating shrill and postured around like a banty rooster. He clearly does not abide by the "best official is one that is not noticed" moniker.
All in all, I thought the few games that I watched were quite good and I continue to be amazed at the better level of play now in comparison to just 5-7 years ago when my kids were active. I would agree that the players and coaching have improved, but the officials have refused to do so.
