Chass (bow returned)
When I started at Hanna, we had a core of five or six club players. We found an old club charter and got our players involved. Along came ASA and we transferred our status there as it was more structured. The ambitious players moved to CESA in Greenville and from there the program has turned self sustaining with parents who have put in a lot of time and money (shout out to my former parents who made the program work!).
When dealing with soccer at a top 20ish level, you have to have the club players to make it go. If a parent is hoping their team can compete with the likes of Ft. Mill year in and year out - while having few club players to rely on...yikes. It's not going to happen. My comments were directed to address the over zealous hopes that magic will occur and the program will take off regardless of the other nine months of the season are spent. You play soccer to get better at soccer and since HS coaches are restricted in that area...it might fall on the family's shoulders.
It takes more work in my opinion to get a team off the ground than it does to take it from mid table to top 15. You should be commended for your efforts. It would be easy to interview and take another job in a soccer rich environment, but sticking it out and having to really, really work to keep them at that level takes guts. Take a look at what Ryan Roseberry has done at Westside.
Now, looking at Clover and evaluating what the coach has been doing brings us to this:
2005 6-8 (according to website)
2006 8-6
2007 13-5
I'm not a genius but that looks like progress to me. Lets not forget they were also in their transitional year from AAA to AAAA. You have a near .500 record in 3A, move to 4A, take Ft. Mill to OT, split with NW (losing at NW in pks), and lose by 2 to #4 Irmo in the playoffs.
I don't think she's making chicken salad from chicken feathers, but looks like she's doing one fine job of work in South Carolina and I hear she is going to be rewarded for it. Face it, sometimes fans can see program X over here and wish they could have the same thing. Even coaches see ODP and premier level players and think "what if?". These things take time. Sure, the kids could spend less time having lives and train more, the parents could vacation/tithe less and pay for private lessons/summer camps/high level far away clubs, and the coach could spend less time at home and more time planning every spare moment for maximum efficiency.
I'd imagine those kids, parents, and coaches are working hard over there. One could 2nd guess and complain, or do something about it. Like I told a parent 3 years ago after several failed attempts for increased playing time: "It's obvious you and your child aren't happy playing here. I don't want to see you unhappy so maybe you should go find another team."
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