CHALLENGE SOCCER RETURNS TO HCSA
December 21, 2012
The High Country Soccer Association has recently been accepted into the Triad Challenge League making Challenge Level soccer an option for HCSA travel teams once again. Challenge Level soccer is a more regionally organized competitive level of travel soccer league, where Classic Level is a state-wide competitive league administered by NCYSA. The Challenge Level is a considered a competitive travel level of soccer below the Classic Level. The Classic Level is composed of three division levels; Classic 2nd Division, Classic 1st Division, and Premier. Challenge Level soccer is compared to and referred to as Classic 3rd Division.
Challenge Level soccer is sanctioned by NCYSA but organized geographically into regional leagues which are self administered. Historically HCSA has been a member of the Western North Carolina Challenge League (WNCCL). However after consistent poor experiences for HCSA teams in the WNCCL, mostly having to do with extreme travel due to lack of participation of clubs in the Northwest North Carolina HCSA opted to cease participation in the league and push all competitive travel teams to Classic Level soccer.
Growth in HCSA participation numbers and teams have highlighted a need for HCSA to offer a level of soccer which bridges the gap between Recreational Level and Classic Level soccer. More youth soccer players are migrating from area parks and recreation leagues to HCSA programming looking for more structure, higher quality coaching, and a more challenging environment. However the environment Classic Level soccer offers has proven, in some circumstances, to be beyond what is most developmentally appropriate for players’ and teams’ first experience of competitive travel soccer.
As a means of filling the competitive gap between the Recreational Level and Classic Level, HCSA reevaluated it’s options to return to the Challenge Level but wanted to seek affiliation with the Triad Challenge League (TCL) as opposed to our affiliation with the WNCCL. HCSA President Chuck Serafim made the appropriate proposal to the TCL and NCYSA. At the December 3 NCYSA Challenge Council Meeting, HCSA’s proposal to adjust the Challenge League geographic boundaries to have HCSA included into the TCL was approved.
The Triad Challenge League is a much better geographical fit for HCSA’s membership with a geographic representation more comparable to the geographic region HCSA’s Classic Level teams participate in. The Triad Challenge League is also one of the larger and most organized Challenge Leagues in the state. HCSA now offers opportunities in every level of soccer administered by NCYSA; Recreational, Academy, Challenge, and Classic. The HCSA Board of Directors and Director of Coaching are excited to bring the Challenge Level soccer opportunity back to HCSA’s membership and we look forward to utilize it for the continued growth of youth soccer in the High Country when developmentally in the best interest of our players and teams.
Triad Challenge League Website
