Beezer,
I could be very wrong, and if I am, I apologize...I am admittedly relatively new to the club soccer scene. From reading your post (and some others), though, it seems like your comments are more centered around "dominance" and championships than on overall player development. Granted, if everyone in a given area sends their most talented players to one club so that a team can be picked from the combined best, naturally that team and that club will have a better chance of being "dominant." However, does getting an edge through a larger talent pool necessarily mean that there is better player development going on? I question that. Seriously, what are our core values? Are we about winning championships with the handpicked elite? Or are we about developing the many to the best of our ability?
If you're going to say thumbs down to DOCs, individual players and parents from Charleston United and MPSC who could "add the little extra to Bridge FA teams," then you're going to have to say thumbs down to people who don't take dominance as an absolute measure of overall development. You're going to have to say thumbs down to those who realize that sometimes a small team of "underdogs" can actually progress farther in a season because they are required and encouraged to step up and compete. You'll be saying thumbs down to those who believe they can achieve more by learning to compete with the giants than by simply joining the ranks--that the way to become the best is by finding a way to beat the best, whether through team championships or just in individual effort on the field. You'll be saying thumbs down to the players and parents who have developed a loyalty through experience to their clubs and coaches, who recognize the effort they've put into their development, and realize that they still have more to teach. You're also saying thumbs down to the players who choose to remain leaders on their teams, who help their teammates become successful and to believe in success, rather than leaving them behind discouraged without their best players because they have been marked as "elite" while their teammates have not. You'll be giving a thumbs down to anyone who doesn't think adding that "little extra" to Bridge outweighs all of the other intangibles that can come from their other clubs and teams. And you'll be giving a thumbs down to anyone who thinks that someone who believes their show is the only worthwhile one in town, and championships are the biggest thing that matter, might just be a little too self-centered to provide the best kind of values and character development that our young people can carry off the field as well as on it.
Just one man's opinions...bring on the torches and pitchforks. I'm at your mercy.
