What Are The Best States For Girls Soccer???

I will take the bait.

I did some research and posted it under another thread on this site that counted the number of national champions (girls only) and finalists over the last four years and it overwhelmingly showed that Texas (specifically North Texas) and California (slight edge to SoCal over NorCal) produce the most champions and finalists. Some would say that as the two most populous states they should have the most, but both of these states have been divided into two states by USYSA...so that argument is diluted, if not completely off base. One other observation was that the overwhelming advantage for those states are in the younger ages and as the girls get older...it starts to balance out a little bit more outside of those states. The string is here https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1507376.

 

Being from Nor-Cal I would say a factor in that assessment is the weather in those states. I know her in Nor-Cal we can play pretty much all year around. My daughter is in U8 right now and has been playing for the past 18 months straight. Like everyone says 'it's hot in Cali, but it a DRY heat'. That is completely different form say Texas, Kansas or the East Coast.

We have a great indoors soccer field to play on and one at the California Family Fitness Centers, plus a number of artificial turf fields with-in walking distance from our home.

Jason

 

I think you need to answer this question relative to population of the state (i.e. % of top players relative to population).

When you look at it this way, either Missouri or Colorado would be on top and have great soccer relative to their population size. Both have many fewer players in the population (1/7th the size of Cali, 1/5 of NY&Texas, and 1/2 of Ohio,Illinois or Michigan), but turn out just as many competitive teams and high level players.

 

We can also use another "highly scientific" source on NSR based on their rankings of the top 25 girls clubs. This should generally be accurate given the consolidation of talent towards the top clubs.

Here are the totals by state from 2009 top 25 clubs from NSR:
CA 7
TX 3
MI 2
HI 1
IL 1
IN 1
KS 1
MN 1
MO 1
NC 1
NJ 1
NY 1
OH 1
OK 1
WI 1

Independent of my population argument from my prior post, I think the top 3 above are probably accurate, but I'd still say MI-CO-MO are very close.

Also interesting to look at what the top regions are, here is the summary based on these NSR club rankings.
Region II: 9
Region IV: 8
Region III: 5
Region I: 2

So, while CA might be the obvious top state, Region II is CLEARLY the top region!

If things stay slow at work today, my next project is going to be going into the TDS top 100 recruits and summarize which states them come from ... sorry, am really bored this afternoon.

 

Well...I like that we finally have someone chiming in with thought-provoking assertions...but I am going to have to disagree on one of McLovin's statements. How can Region II possibly be considered the top region with only 4 National Champions from the region in the last four years when Region IV has 11 and Region III has 7? Because NSR says they have more top clubs? Sorry...NSR is far from the utmost authority? How about Top Drawer or Soccer America? Soccer America has 11 top clubs in IV, 7 in I, and 6 each in II & III in their Top 30. Top Drawer has 6 in Region !, 6 in Region II, 4 in Region III, and 9 in Region IV. So...the club rankings are all over the board...but the National Champions...well hard to be subjective about those.

 

PensionersFan12, note my tongue in in cheek reference to NSR, I agree that the ranking sites are now way to settle this.

USYS Natl Championships is a little too narrow for me, since each region sends only one (plus the bluebirds who get the natl league spots at some of the ages), but let's look at the data from this last summers natl tourney, teams that advanced to semis and then won.
CA: 3 advance, 3 win (well done Cali)
TX: 3 advance, 2 win (also well done Lone Star state)
IL: 2 advance, no wins
VA: 1 advance, no wins
NY: 1 advance, no wins

Region 1: 2 advance, no wins
Region 2: 2 advance, no wins
Region 3: 3 advance, 2 wins
Region 4: 3 advance, 3 wins

Interesting leaning, but not enough separation in the data for me to throw in the towel.

Ranking sites too subjective, Natl Championships too narrow, any other suggestions?

 

Great fodder...no matter what the opinions may be!

One other thing that I did note in my review of the National Champions is that as the girls get older...Region 2 does very well. Most of the National Championships for IV and III are at the younger ages. Region 1 & 2 have a lot of top clubs and a great deal of population...but I believe the weather does indeed help the South and West as it really has become a year round sport in those geographies.

 

You can't discount the bigger states, but people need to recognize New Jersey for its production relative to its size. Christie Rampone, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd to name a few. UNC has had a virtual NJ pipeline with O'Reilly, Tobin Heath, Meagan Morris and Yael Averbuch. Not bad, right?

 

I agree with you. The states with the best weather seem to have the best teams!!!! I wish Ohio did not have 10 below weather after December and maybe our girls could practice outside all year round.

 

I have heard that in New Jersey most (or all) of the clubs only have one team per age group. Is that correct? If so...I like the concept...because there are no perceptions that dues from other teams are just to pay for the marquee teams...which for some is a big issue in Texas.

 

I don't know about Texas but in Ohio and most every other state I think this is the norm. Look at Crew Jr. Academy.... there is no tuition and of course they only have it for the boys...

 

Interestingly enough, PDA, the top girls club in NJ (though there are town teams and smaller pseudo-academies with good teams), has in the last few years started to fold in independent teams, without dissolving their old team. Now PDA (and Matchfit Chelsea, another USSDA club with decent girls teams) has three or more teams in some girls age groups.

In the last year, PDA has also gone to three or four boys teams per age group. Maybe NJ academies are learning from the Texas model.

 

Agreed. See new book on College D-I and D-III soccer recruiting -- "It's all about the club: a Parent's journey through the wilderness of girls' youth soccer" available through kindle/amazon. Says New Jersey is pretty good.

 

Do you have a stake in that book? You have recommended it on several threads.

 

I realize this is an old comment but Missouri? Are you kidding?? Colorado per capita is a good choice but I don't get Missouri. Cal South, Texas North, Cal North, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington, and Massachusettes would be my top 10 without putting a ton of thought in it.

 

Michigan, Georgia, and Texas South should be in there too.

 

South Texas does not come close to having the depth of North Texas, they are way behind in number of quality programs especially at the high school girls level.

 

Warm weather states do the best.

NJ, Conn., and Long Island NY have some good girl players and in Georgia

 

Personally I think the states mentioned would be in the running. Also, I agree with the assessment of Texas North versus Texas South. My daughter played in South Texas for a good team, but when they went to North Texas it was tough. Some states such as MA and NC I'm not sure I would put in there- get outside the RDU area of NC and it drops off. MA has some good clubs, but not the depth.
Don't get me wrong, I think some states have some good clubs. But if you one wants to hand out a term such as "best state" I think you need to look beyond just one club and at the depth of the club systems.
As for clubs having more than one team per age bracket, I know at least in ECNL that is a requirement for the clubs.
Finally, warm versus cold. I do agree that the cold climate clubs have a tough time, but the better clubs find a way around it. Many of the better clubs have built indoor training facilities so they can play/practice year round.

 

I think MO is in there because of the two extremes- KC and St Louis. But that is not too different from NC. Get outside of the RDU area and it drops off quickly.
MA is good, but not sure I would put it in the top 10, same with PA.
The others I agree with.

 

Thanks to the involvement (from the very early 1970's) of the Dallas Tornado players and coaches of the old NASL in getting the word out, doing clinics and involving themselves in the community, North Texas had a 20 year 'head start' on South Texas, a gap that has not been closed. As an example, the SPC (Southwest Preparatory Conference) Championship on the girl's side has been won by a North Texas school for the past 16 years in a row. Last season, North Zone Schools finished 1,2,3, 4 at the SPC Championship Finals held in Houston with the South Zone Schools nowhere to be found.... Similarly the TAPPS (Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) Division 1 Championships have been won by Dallas area (mostly Ursuline Academy) schools for over 20 years in a row.

South Texas schools, at this time are generally not competitive at the Top State Level.....and I did say 'generally'...