>>[Chapindad] I have learned from you that all SC players, except CESA players, stink including my daughter and none deserve to play college ball.<<The more I've thought about this over the last few days the more it's bothered me. The reason it bothers me is that I wonder if the statistical evidence I showed a few months ago is simply misunderstood by some. This post is an attempt to clarify what that statistical evidence means.
To recap, there was a wonderful discussion a few months ago that first started in the "College, Pro, and International Soccer" thread. I became engaged when
this post appeared. This led to a discussion of local versus national recruiting and it was posited that USC needed to recruit more locally (both in the state of South Carolina and also in the midlands.) I advanced a theory at least part of the "problem" with respect to midstate girls recruiting was in my opinion the quality of the services that the midland clubs offered, at least on the girls side.
I then went off and did some research for a few weeks. What I found was fascinating (at least to me.) A
post in this thread is a consolidation of the results.
What this data shows is that statistically the midland area
clubs (note: not midland area
players) have shown over a four year sample period to be at a significant disadvantage to upstate and lowerstate clubs in terms of girls who played their last year with a club signing and staying with college women's soccer programs.
Does this mean that "all SC players, except for CESA players, stink"? No. First, it has no meaning to the boys side at all -- I don't have that data but my guess would be that there would be more parity between the regions on the boys side. What it means to me on the girls side is that midland area clubs have not been offering the types of services to midland area girls that help them be recruited, signed, and stay on playing that the upstate and lowerstate clubs have been offering.
There is further proof of this if you take the time to study the girls region pool for the last few years or the Gatorade girls POY award; you'll find the lists dominated by upper state and lower state girls and while you'll find some midland girls on these lists, in every case I've seen they play in the upper state or lower state (e.g., Stacy Simpson, Gatorade 2002 girls POY, lived in Columbia and played at RNE HS but played for GFC.)
