SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Youth $occer is an eliti$t $port

While I have some sympathy with some of the arguments/comments made here, particularly regarding the desirability of increasing minority participation in soccer, some of the views strike me as bizarre.

The notion that it is possible to experience top-flight competition without travelling is, I have to say, silly. In South Carolina in any given age-group, between U-14 and U-18, there are no more than 30 kids whom an objective observer might consider very good players in a national context - and that's being generous. The number that might be considered excellent would be less than half that.

I don't intend to reignite a debate on the relative merits of Academy v. USYS play. However, some comparison is necessary to to make my point. The difference in the quality of the training and level of competition between the Development Academy and the SCYS Challenge League is several orders of magnitude. In nearly every instance, the Academy teams are composed of the best 18-22 players in the state (or major metropolitan area). Consistently playing against the best players from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Alabama, Washington, California, Illinois...has got to be more beneficial to the development of a player than playing against Challenge League teams. (There's nothing wrong with playing Challenge League, but the difference in the quality of soccer is vast).

In the question of cost, I am surprised at some of the numbers I've seen quoted here. This past season the cost to play for the SCUFC Academy team was $3,750. Included in that cost was: Club fee (which included all administrative and coaching costs); two uniforms; one warm-up; a minimum of three training sessions per week; trips to Florida (2) (one of which was a five day Showcase trip), Georgia, Alabama/Georgia, North Carolina (2), and Phoenix (five day Showcase trip); and a total of 30 games played. Parent travel was, of course, not included. While I grant you that $3,750 is real money, the return on the cost is pretty darned good I think.