SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums SCHSSCA SCHSSCA Proposals for Jersey Rule & USC's Stone Stadium for Finals Info

Seems to me there are several factors at play here.
1) Cost. Is there a significant difference in rental fee?
2) Pitch quality. I suspect Stone is "better."
3) Stadium capacity.
4) Spectator safety. Seating on both sides, with fans separated, not the worst thing.
5) Geographic fairness. Should there be a rotation?
6) Recruiting fairness. If one university hosts, will others want to, in order to gain some perceived recruiting edge?

Good points from everyone. And, I am glad to hear of people getting on board. Recruiting fairness is not a factor. The move to Columbia was because it was a central site. Attendance is very good because of that and no teams have to stay overnight. An issue, among others, is the turf quality. Memorial vs. Stone is a no-brainer. Benedict is turf which would take some getting-used-to and may put a team that has not played on turf at a disadvantage. Additionally, I just checked their web site and don't see soccer listed as a varsity sport at Benedict. I am not sure if that matters.

If it came to recruiting issues and the other schools wanting in I could see that being to our advantage as a committee. Then the decision should be made on which school could help us out the most financially.
ie. cheaper rental fee, possible accommodations, laborers, etc...
I see nothing bad from competition!

The initial move in 2009 turned out to be "genius" in that Enzo vs. Irmo drew an unbelievable crowd. I assume Stone would not have been able to hold all of those people. 2009 was the extreme exception however, I don't think we'll see attendance like that again.

The finals belong back at Stone.

I will say that I have more fond memories at Stone than at Memorial so that makes me a little bias towards Stone; however, there are a couple of things that Memorial offers...

1. Seperation. I personally hate, hate, hate being on the same side with the other team. I do not want to hear what the other coach is saying, and i don't want him to hear what i'm saying. It also offsets the benches so much that it makes it almost impossible to yell instructions to your defenders or GKer when your team is defending the goal opposite your bench. I also think the seperation of fans at the bigger games is important.

2. Concessions. The concessions at Stone are under the bleachers while the concession stand at Memorial is right there next to the field.... meaning that while you are in line for a hot dog at Memorial, you can still watch the game while at Stone, you are going to miss several minutes of action.

I have grown to like the central location. Early on, I was a proponent of rotating the site from Charleston to Columbia to Greenville, but the logistics especially for the 1A and 2A games would mean that someone would have to stay overnight not to mention the gas expense.

Now do those together out-weigh the obvious field quality disparity that Stone has over Memorial?!? I don't know. That's why some people get paid the big bucks! lol

Anybody heard how the vote went this weekend?

From what my principal told me this weekend, they were told by the SCHSL that opting out of the white jersey rule was not an option, and they were too busy dealing with the playoff seeding issue to bother much with such trivialities.

Our SCHSL employee, Bruce Hulion, clearly has no idea about the procedure. He was the league rep at the meeting where my AD was openly ridiculed and I, in abentia, was referred to as "just a coach talking." Hulion was asked what the SCHSL position was and, in his ignorance, stated that it was a federation rule and could not be changed. His unprofessional and inaccurate dismissal of our concerns should not be tolerated.