I won't re-hash the wisdom (or lack thereof) of the USSF creating a parallel competitor to its own ODP program. I will take issue with the wisdom of creating one state "super team" designed to better compete on a national level. The primary result of doing such a thing would be to greatly reduce the number of players having the opportunity to compete at a high level and to be exposed to college coaches.

Using my son's U-16 (rising U-17) age group as an example (the prime recruiting age) is instructive. His CUFC team is currently ranked 19 in the nation by Soccer in College, has competed quite successfully at Disney the past two years, is the current Region 3 Premier League Champion and will be competing at Regionals in June. The CESA team in that age group is state champions, finished third in R3PL, competes well at Disney, is ranked a spot or two ahead of CUFC by Soccer In College, and will also be competing at Regionals in June. The Bridge FA Academy team is leading its league and, by all accounts, is a very impressive group, getting lots of exposure to college and national team coaches.

So, we have three teams in this state, at roughly the same age level, competing successfully against the best teams in the country. All three are frequently playing in front of dozens of college coaches and the occasional national team coach. CUFC and CESA frequently play "showcase" friendlies against teams from Ga and NC in front of college coaches.

Why in the world would it be a good idea to reduce the number of kids getting this kind of exposure from roughly 60 to roughly 20? The notion (and I hear/read it frequently from "academy parents") that only the Academy matters anymore is nonsense. My son's team (and CESA) has been seen by scores of college coaches in the past year. They will be seen by scores more this year. Both of those teams play, and often beat, the best teams in the country. Any change in the structure of SC soccer that would take away those experiences for those kids is silly.