Well........we in the midlands area knew it was gonna be bad, but did we think it would happen so soon - the first year of their merger? The CESA merger has begun the dominance of state club soccer. Congrats to their wisdom to merge and organization ability to succeed so quickly; and shame and regrets to the area Cola clubs for still lacking foresight to see our area soccer improve. Merger of all area clubs is essential, unless we just want continued average soccer successes. If you observe the number of teams from the midlands area that made it to the semis you see there were 11 teams between CRSA, NECSA and CSC and Lex. soccer clubs. CESA had 10 teams and MPSC had 4. With a merger of these midlands clubs you would have a large pool of quality coaching, the best and biggest facilities in the state, and a centralized organization to serve all kids in our area in their efforts to play at any level they can strive for. It must be done or else the dominance of upstate will be permanent as stated here in a re-post of comments from Cola fan at the time of the CESA merger - posted February 12, 2004 02:52 PM
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WOW! That is earth shattering news about St. Giles and GFC.
This eventually begs the question that 4soccer has asked, 'what happens in Columbia?' There's a fragmented soccer community in the capital city and some clubs are there for practical reasons, while others have been setup as self serving entities. Does Columbia have anyone on the par of a Charlie Slagle like CASL has? I ask, because looking around at the locals involved (see below) and I would say 'no'.
Columbia Soccer Club
Congaree Rapid Soccer Association
Lexington County Girls Soccer Club
Lexington Recreation Soccer Club
Lexington Soccer Club
Northeast Columbia Soccer Association
Some serious questions need to be asked about the purpose and growth speculation of a "merged soccer community" in Columbia and more importantly those that perceive themselves as the movers-and-shakers must be able to answer those questions! It will certainly be interesting, because if no movement takes place I think you will see the dominance of club soccer to the upstate become permanent.
