{Warning: another long post}
Mr. Underhill, to answer your post about why someone from downtown would drive to Ballentine to play for CSC, I'll give you my perspective. (My son played 3 years at NECSA, 2 years at CRSA, and the last year at CSC and plans on playing again at CSC)
He wanted to be on a team that could compete for a state title and play at the highest level (Region Premier League). For his age group the team that had the best talent and opportunity to achieve this was CSC. He has enjoyed playng for every team he has been on and never felt lacking for a quality coach at any club. Tripp and Kevin do a great job at their clubs and Eddie has and will at CSC also. My son started at NECSA because it was closer than Irmo and CRSA was just beginning to come on line (my decision). He moved to CRSA to play with his school friends (his decision). Every time he moved it was a tough decision on his part. And he finally moved to CSC (his decision) for a chance at playing at the highest level.
Other than his first year (classic) I have let him make his own decision on where and if he wanted to play. These kids are intelligent and the ones who have competed against each other know who the best players are in their age groups. (despite what they sometimes say about each other on the posts). I believe if the parents would support what their kids wanted to do, then the kids who truly have the "fire in their belly" to compete at the top level will migrate to the team that has the best chance for achieving their goal. For me, carpooling for a 30 minute drive to Ballentine is a small sacrifice to pay for my son trying to achieve a goal(no pun intended). (I might reconsider my stance on that if he comes to me tonight and tells me he wants to play at GFC or St Giles, so far I've been lucky)
One club in Columbia whose sole purpose is to compete at the highest level sure would make it easier for the kids who want to achieve that goal. But we the parents have not achieved that yet.
So on your post about why don't all the kids from BC and Dreher play together to form a good team for CSRA, the facts are to be on a great team from the Columbia area you need the kids from Irmo, Chapin, the Northeast, and downtown to achieve this. At his age group the CSC team has the most core talent.
As for the cost at each club, there isn't much difference in the basic fees, except the better teams usually play in more and better tournaments and obviously those tournaments cost more.
