SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Justin Rhodes & Aiken Fire

I want to say Congrats to Justin Rhodes and all of the Aiken Fire Boys.

Jim Victor had the vision of bringing Justin in to Aiken and he turned good players into champions.

2005 Gerogia 3A State Champions - Richmond Academy - 4 Aiken Fire players

2005 Georgia 2A State Champions - Aquainis High School - 2 Aiken Fire players

2005 South Carolina 4A State Champions - South Aiken High School - 5 Aiken Fire players

not to mention Irmo - Sanni Hadz played for the Aiken Fire as well

What ever you say about Justin, he knows how to make good players into great players.

Congrats Justin on a job well done.

Your Friend

Mr. Rhodes may have brought them all together but they were all star power before that! Sanni I believe was ousted from the team along with a few of those so called boys quitting because of him. Kudos to all the winners. You proved you have what it takes. I do believe there were a few all- star boys besides those. How about that SA backfield> Great Job.

marcoefan: As you say, the entire South Aiken team and its coach deserves the credit for last night's win.

Justin Rhodes impact on Aiken soccer has been tremendously beneficial. Justin is one of the two coaches in the state that have won a regional title and he's helped a tremendous number of players get better by building a regionally and nationally competitive team in Aiken. I live in Lexington and I'm really pleased he's now working with a team here as well.

NA Coach: I think what you say above is absolutely correct -- and it's great to see this kind of thing on this message board.

Chico,

As usual, there is more than one spin on any story or post.

Justin Rhodes is a very good trainer and recruiter.

Jim Victor is a great guy, dedicated parent and has meant much to select soccer in Aiken.

Something closer to the truth than "Jim Victor had the vision" is that the Aiken Soccer Club was blind - presumably, unware - to the baggage that Justin Rhodes brought. Word has it that Justin has not left voluntarily from very many engagements. This is in no way any disrepsect to Jim Victor - he truly is a great guy.

Justin spent several years (maybe 2 or 3) at our club before he was "ousted". He then ended up at Aiken.

The Aiken Fire was already a good team, Justin did take them far, but the magic did run out. In their final year they were down to 11 or 12 players and lost in the state U-18 semi-finals to CSC. The CESA Premier team (with Sani Hadz) will be representing SC at the regionals.

Not that I know the complete history, but I have heard Lexington was one of the places he has already been (before CSC).

Justin has done agreat job with the Aiken Fire kids. Yes they had talent (he recruited more), yes they had ability (he made them better). We can all look back at things we did in the past which we're not proud of. He can look back at the player development and record he achieved with the Aiken Fire with a tremendous amount of pride.

Well done Justin, good job the Fire players.

why is he in lexington now and not Aiken?

I remember Justin and he's done a good job with the old Aiken Fire. But when he was a HS coach his teams were much less than spectacular, really not even good. Amazing what talent can do for you when the ball is rolled out and the players play.

Cola Fan,
Just wondering what team you were affilliated with and saw SA play against in HS?

S.A.'s talent then was a shell of what it is now. He laid the foundation and finished decent his last year. But still, you are right. Talent makes all the difference.

If I have to pick just one factor by which to judge a coach, then I pick whether he wins or loses on the largest stage possible. Rhodes is one of two South Carolina coaches of whom I'm aware who have won titles on the regional stage.

If I have to pick just three factors by which to judge a coach and wins/losses aren't part of it, then I pick the ability to attract talent, the ability to train ambition, and the ability to create and communicate strategy and tactics on the field. I've seen first-hand Rhodes abilities on the first two of these factors; I'm not a soccer coach and I don't feel qualified to comment on the third, so I tend to defer to what I mentioned in the first paragraph.

cscsoccerfan: There is no doubt that Rhodes is controversial. However, I've met very few very high quality coaches [or anyone else in any other walk of life] that aren't. I could go through a handful of the most successful coaches in the state and tell you the trash on each one of them, simply because their peers, parents, and players talk so much about them. CSC, which is my favorite club in the Columbia area, is not exempt.

My Left Foot: Couldn't agree more, I think we said the same thing but you said it better.

Lowerstate4A: As I understand it he's in both Aiken and Lexington; it's a 45-minute drive so not a very big deal -- but I don't know the "latest" of anything.

Cola Fan: You should remember Rhodes, it was only last September that you announced the Fire was basically dissolved. [Note: I predicted that Eastside would beat BC on the girls side, so I'm far from omniscient myself.] There's a lot that goes on between the times that the "ball is rolled out and the players play" and Rhodes seems to have a knack for making some of the best players better.

R1C: The ability to attract and train talent is huge. It might be bigger in club than high school, but I would argue that with the increasing amount of competition for the time of players [both from within high school sports and from outside of those sports] that it's of growing importance in the high school ranks as well.