Quote:

The fundamental question is why is CUFC as a whole is not yet able to more effectively compete in SC challenge league.



I don�t have complete answers to the questions that have been posed in this thread and I am perplexed by the facts as well. However, here is one idea that may partially explain why Columbia United�s current Challenge League/Division performance is not what many of us expected.

Maybe we are overestimating the impact of simply merging 2 clubs. With the exception of a couple of teams, CUFC�s players have by-and-large come from CSC and NECSA. So, what should be the expected outcome of simply combining two sets of players/teams?

Let's assume the tryout process placed the best players from the merged teams on the Elite team and the next best players on the Challenge team. Given an age group where NECSA and CSC each had 1 team playing in the Challenge Division last year, wouldn�t you expect the Elite team to do better in the Challenge Division than either of the former NECSA and CSC teams while the Challenge team should not do as well as either?

As example, here is a comparison in the age group I am most familiar with, the current U14 girls. Last spring the NECSA and CSC U14 girls had the following results in the Challenge League:

CSC Burn 92 Navy: 4-7-1, 36%, 5th place out of 7.
NECSA Blazers: 1-10-1, 11%, 7th of 7

So far this season the two Columbia United teams have the following results:

U14 Elite: 4-1-1, 71%, 3rd place out of 9
U14 Challenge: 0-5-1, 4%, 9th of 9

The only other age group I could identify where both teams played Challenge last season and this season is the current U17 girls:

CSC Burn 89 Navy: 2-2-2, 44%, 6th of 8
NECSA Gunners: 0-4-2, 11%, 8th of 8

U17 Elite: 6-0-2, 81%, 2nd of 7
U17 Challenge: 0-9-0, 7th of 7

In both of these examples the Elite teams' results to date are significantly better than either of the CSC/NECSA teams� last season while the Challenge teams' results are below that of either of last year�s teams. Isn�t this what we would expect?

Last edited by Coach P; 10/18/06 01:15 AM.