I believe the Greater Columbia YMCA's numbers have been pretty steady in downtown Columbia, with between 900-1000 players each season. Enrollment at the Lexington and Irmo branches has been a good bit lower, but there has been more growth. Most are between u6 and u12. Enrollement drops of sharply after that. The Y has its own insurance, and is not SCYSA affiliated. I doubt they believe it to be cost effective. Also, the Y coaches are not licensed, and requiring even minimal licensing requirements would wreak havoc. However, the Y has stepped up training with clinics etc. lately.
One Saturday morning last fall I had a chance to observe several CUFC Polo Road rec games and the level of play was similar to the Y's. The fields were a little bit nicer and of more appropriate size, but the level of play and coaching seemed similar. Overall, it appeared that CUFC did a good job for its rec level players. Still, I think these rec leagues would do well to move towards some uniform training curriculum, although the SCYSA framework may be a little too cumbersome.
