From June 27, 2008 to July 1, 2008, 17 of the best West Virginia soccer teams competed in the 2008 US Youth Soccer Association Region I Championships in Maine. West Virginia teams, both boys and girls U12-U19, ended with a combined record of 5 wins, 36 loses and 7 ties.
None of the West Virginia teams made it to the semi-finals or finals. However, teams from Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Massachusetts did a lot better than our West Virginia teams.
My question is why? Why are we not more competitive in these regional championships?
Please do not think that I am bashing our West Virginia teams. We have some incredibly talented teams competing at these events and I respect the work they do as well as the heights they have reached. My goodness….they are the BEST teams in the state that we send to regionals.
I’m just trying to figure out why our state doesn’t do better at these regionals.
Is it talent? Is it coaching? Is it facilities? Training? Equipment? Are we limited because of the size of our state and lack of a major metropolitan cities like Boston, Philly, or New York City?
I’m originally from New Hampshire, a state that has about 500,000 people less living in the state than West Virginia according to 2007 population reports. West Virginia has more major cities, like Huntington, Charleston and Morgantown, than New Hampshire (Concord and Manchester).
However, New Hampshire teams competing in the 2008 regionals had a far better combined record than West Virginia. New Hampshire had 17 wins, 18 loses and 6 ties….with two teams making it to the semi-finals and one team making it to the finals.
I know this may be an apples to oranges comparison, but I believe we need to begin a dialog about how our teams can be more competitive.
The 2009 & 2010 USYSA Region I Championships are coming to Barboursville. I would love to see West Virginia do better when it comes to our backyard.
I welcome your feedback to this article as well as your thoughts.
Filed under: Soccer Nation | Tagged: Championships, Region I, soccer, USYSA, West Virginia
Part of the problem is competition from other sports and a lot of parents not understanding soccer. What do you suggest to increase the talent of play.