Nice metaphor. When do we break out the cold ones?
Many of the people who endlessly cite enrollment and demographics are the same ones who blame every loss on the quarterback. It's what they see, what they know, and what they have the capacity to quantify ... especially when they haven't seen a team play all year, then struggle to form opinions based on a one-game sample.
Not to write off those issues. But in reality, once two competitive teams advance through four playoff games to a single-game championship match, enrollment has little to do with the outcome. It's about form, fitness, coaching, strategy, field conditions, officiating, "intangibles" and a bunch of other things.
If you look at Wando's boys, they lost two of their final seven matches: one to Class AA Bishop England and one to a comparatively small-enrollment J.L. Mann side. Both of those programs have great traditions and long-time professional coaches. One of Wando's late-season matches was a 2-0 (1-0 until late on) win over a James Island side that likely will slip to AAA classification in the next go-round.
Now, to get back to the Wando girls' "achilles," I could give you several: inability to replace graduated players over several years; potential loss of a proven, successful coach; etc. But that's the same at EVERY high school in EVERY sport, regardless of enrollment.
