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Post by brezus on Feb 14, 2024 9:58:29 GMT -6
From 1997 to 2017, St. Louis earned 13 State Championships. That is at least one state championship every other year...which is an INSANE statistic that may never be rivaled in Louisiana again.
But since 2017....
2018 - lost in semi-finals
2019 - lost in quarter-finals
2020 - lost in second round
2021 - lost in second round
2022 - lost in second round
2023 - lost in semi-finals
2024 - lost in second round
Does Lake Charles just not have the talent any more to put together a championship level team? Even during that big championship run...I don't believe Lake Charles was ever seen as some big talent pool for soccer, especially in the club / premier scene...yet they still managed to put together championship winning teams.
What has changed?
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Post by monspubis on Feb 14, 2024 10:25:02 GMT -6
From 1997 to 2017, St. Louis earned 13 State Championships. That is at least one state championship every other year...which is an INSANE statistic that may never be rivaled in Louisiana again. But since 2017.... 2018 - lost in semi-finals 2019 - lost in quarter-finals 2020 - lost in second round 2021 - lost in second round 2022 - lost in second round 2023 - lost in semi-finals 2024 - lost in second round Does Lake Charles just not have the talent any more to put together a championship level team? Even during that big championship run...I don't believe Lake Charles was ever seen as some big talent pool for soccer, especially in the club / premier scene...yet they still managed to put together championship winning teams. What has changed? just look at the census data. That will tell you everything you need to know. The population demographics have changed dramatically . In contrast, has their football and basketball ball programs grown? Take for example Independence high. My senior year in 1998 we made it to quarterfinals and got beat down by St. Louis. Now , independence doesn’t even have a functional soccer team. A similar demographic shift happened in that area. |
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Post by FromTheSpot on Feb 14, 2024 11:11:48 GMT -6
Thought about posting a thread regarding this topic as well. Will say it’s extremely hard to maintain the success they had for that period of time.
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Post by brezus on Feb 14, 2024 13:28:20 GMT -6
Thought about posting a thread regarding this topic as well. Will say it’s extremely hard to maintain the success that had for that period of time. Absolutely. I'm just curious as to what the catalyst was that seems to have ended the dynasty that ruled over Division III (and II for a period) for two decades. Demographics of what? St. Louis? Lake Charles? Louisiana? Independence is 1/80th the size of Lake Charles.... Maybe you can elaborate more? |
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Post by monspubis on Feb 14, 2024 14:01:09 GMT -6
Thought about posting a thread regarding this topic as well. Will say it’s extremely hard to maintain the success that had for that period of time. Absolutely. I'm just curious as to what the catalyst was that seems to have ended the dynasty that ruled over Division III (and II for a period) for two decades. Demographics of what? St. Louis? Lake Charles? Louisiana? Independence is 1/80th the size of Lake Charles.... Maybe you can elaborate more? I mean look at the racial makeup of where they pull their kids from. I don’t mean anything nefarious but different ethnic groups prefer different sports |
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Post by brezus on Feb 14, 2024 14:22:20 GMT -6
Absolutely. I'm just curious as to what the catalyst was that seems to have ended the dynasty that ruled over Division III (and II for a period) for two decades. Demographics of what? St. Louis? Lake Charles? Louisiana? Independence is 1/80th the size of Lake Charles.... Maybe you can elaborate more? I mean look at the racial makeup of where they pull their kids from. I don’t mean anything nefarious but different ethnic groups prefer different sports A google search shows that St. Louis student demographics are 14% African American. www.usnews.com/education/k12/louisiana/st-louis-catholic-high-school-324102Unless that stat is wrong, that doesn't seem wildly different than what it was 10-20 years ago, so I don't get what your point is. |
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Post by FromTheSpot on Feb 14, 2024 15:38:06 GMT -6
Also have to give credit to the rise in other schools in their division: Willow, UHigh moving to DIII, Bossier the last few years, and Vandebilt is always tough competition. I’m sure it’s a combination of a bunch of factors but still curious as to what those factors are.
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Post by monspubis on Feb 14, 2024 16:20:35 GMT -6
I mean look at the racial makeup of where they pull their kids from. I don’t mean anything nefarious but different ethnic groups prefer different sports A google search shows that St. Louis student demographics are 14% African American. www.usnews.com/education/k12/louisiana/st-louis-catholic-high-school-324102Unless that stat is wrong, that doesn't seem wildly different than what it was 10-20 years ago, so I don't get what your point is. ok that’s cool. Honestly I don’t care whatsoever. I was just giving my opinion. ✌️ |
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Post by monspubis on Feb 14, 2024 16:21:19 GMT -6
ok that’s cool. Honestly I don’t care whatsoever. I was just giving my opinion. ✌️ but btw. I wouldn’t trust google to make me a turkey sandwich . Also, dr mons never mentioned anything bout African Americans . In addition, that 23% minority could be Asian |
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Post by brezus on Feb 16, 2024 12:18:19 GMT -6
ok that’s cool. Honestly I don’t care whatsoever. I was just giving my opinion. ✌️ but btw. I wouldn’t trust google to make me a turkey sandwich . Also, dr mons never mentioned anything bout African Americans . In addition, that 23% minority could be Asian Google was not the source. I gave you the source. I'm not saying it is correct, but it is all I could find. You cared enough to provide your opinion, yet you don't want defend your opinion when someone challenges it? |
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Post by monspubis on Feb 16, 2024 13:03:22 GMT -6
but btw. I wouldn’t trust google to make me a turkey sandwich . Also, dr mons never mentioned anything bout African Americans . In addition, that 23% minority could be Asian Google was not the source. I gave you the source. I'm not saying it is correct, but it is all I could find. You cared enough to provide your opinion, yet you don't want defend your opinion when someone challenges it? we’ll like I said I don’t trust any data from anyone except myself. Because all data can be manipulated and cherry picked. So the only way I could comment is if I went down there myself and counted everyone. I was just making a comparison, which as far as I can tell , is probably spot on. Same comparison can be made as to why soccer isn’t popular in the inner city of New Orleans. |
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warrior16
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Post by warrior16 on Feb 16, 2024 21:27:45 GMT -6
I think it speaks to the incredible job Jason does as coach for a program like St. Louis to win 13 titles in 21 seasons, including 7 titles in 8 seasons from 2010-17. That’s insane, and in my opinion is the most impressive achievement in Louisiana high school soccer history.
It’s one thing for programs like Catholic, Jesuit, and St. Paul’s to put dominant runs together, like we’ve seen over the past 20 years or so. Those programs have the luxury of being able to field Varsity teams entirely of upperclassmen who are experienced club players, and often top-tier club players, at that. The JV squads at those schools would beat most D-I Varsity teams. You don’t even see the field until your junior year at those programs, unless you’re an exceptional talent. What St. Louis has achieved is far more impressive in my opinion, and I say that with no disrespect meant to the three programs mentioned. They deserve praise, as well.
But the typical St. Louis championship teams weren’t stacked with upperclassmen veteran club players, like the three D-I schools I mentioned. The 2012 team was a notable exception, since that team had a senior class of 16 guys who were mostly club players. But that wasn’t the norm. Most St. Louis teams had a couple exceptional talents, a few more decent club players, and then the rest of the guys were developed into being contributors by the time they were upperclassmen. It’s taking a football player and developing him into a great center back or goalkeeper, or taking a track guy who hasn’t played much soccer and developing him into an All-State forward as a senior.
Coach Oertling does an incredible job of training, developing, and motivating his players. The discipline and attention to detail is high. Every player knows his role and executes it at a high level. They have always been very dangerous on set pieces, and I have learned a lot from observing them over the years. If you conceded five set pieces to them, it was a near guarantee they’d score at least once, and probably more. The way they warm up is very professional and game-like.
I played against St. Louis multiple times from 2012-14. Their teamwork and tactical execution was so strong that it felt like we were playing against 21 guys, instead of 11. As a forward, it was difficult to even get close to their goal with the ball, much less actually get off a shot on goal. And their pace of play in the attack was very fast. Usually within 15 seconds of gaining possession back, they were taking a good shot on goal. And it was demoralizing to see them sub on fresh players six at a time when we were running out of gas!
If anything, the past few years is just St. Louis regressing a bit to the norm of what “should be” achievable most years for a school like that after many years of maxing out their potential. The recent hurricanes haven’t helped, either, as their new campus is still under construction, from my understanding. Other programs in D-III have also stepped up, as was already mentioned.
While St. Louis does benefit a bit from being the only private school in the Lake Charles metro, I don’t think that quite carries the same benefits that Catholic/SJA, the New Orleans Catholic League schools, St. Paul’s/SSA, and STM all enjoy from being the well-established private schools in their metro areas. Although Lake Charles is phenomenal at developing baseball talent, I think it’s fair to say that the Calcasieu soccer club system typically doesn’t develop players quite to the level and consistency of other club systems.
In terms of school history and demographics, St. Louis is quite similar to schools like ED White, St. Michael, Teurlings, and even Hannan. We’re all relatively young, co-ed, Catholic schools of a similar size that don’t benefit from always getting the lion’s share of elite athletes in our areas. The soccer dynasty St. Louis built and maintained for two decades is a remarkable achievement. And I’m certainly not counting out another title in the future with Coach O at the helm.
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Post by gallstar on Feb 19, 2024 15:11:06 GMT -6
The decline had started and then Hurricane Rita blew them apart. Literally
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Post by brezus on Feb 20, 2024 12:45:22 GMT -6
The decline had started and then Hurricane Rita blew them apart. Literally You mean Hurricane Laura...right? |
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Post by uhscubs1 on Feb 21, 2024 4:47:20 GMT -6
Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020. As Gallstar said there was already a decline and these two hurricanes dug a deep hole that they are climbing out now.
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Post by socceregirl69 on Feb 26, 2024 15:03:46 GMT -6
i agree that saint louis soccer has been in a slump the past few years and have not been an elite contender in the division III playoffs like they used to be, but as a coach, even though they are not the team they used to be, they still worry me and can compete with anyone with the effort they put into the game. saint louis catholic has the effort and dedication, but are missing the talent and skill they they used to have.
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Post by Bish on Feb 27, 2024 10:29:06 GMT -6
I hope they can turn things around. As a former player, I can say there have been some iterations of championship teams that were full of elite club / premier players. But there were probably more championship teams that just had an average pool of talent, with few big time players. My team in particular only had 3 club players (1 was a freshman), and the rest either only played rec or only played high school soccer. In other words, the team was bigger than the sum of its parts.
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Post by biggerdo on Mar 4, 2024 21:29:45 GMT -6
I hope they can turn things around. As a former player, I can say there have been some iterations of championship teams that were full of elite club / premier players. But there were probably more championship teams that just had an average pool of talent, with few big time players. My team in particular only had 3 club players (1 was a freshman), and the rest either only played rec or only played high school soccer. In other words, the team was bigger than the sum of its parts. I think they will have success in the future |
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