Choosing between Richmond, VA and Palmetto, SC Regionals

[ttldomination]

I cannot speak to the VA Regional, however, I have attended the Palmetto regional for the past two years.

The venue, location, and the teams are all excellent. You're playing in a great venue at the heart of Myrtle Beach. Along with your basic "beach town" attractions, rides, and shops, you have the actual beach, which is remarkably close to the stadium.

The stadium itself is fairly nice. The seating is plentiful, the pits are spacious, and the lighting is nice. The practice field could use some work, as in the past, they've just been basic wooden pieces shoved in a corner.

I will say, however, that our experience with the refereeing at the Palmetto regional has been less than positive. While I understand that week 1 regionals have issues and last year's game was particularly brutal, the reffing at the Palmetto regional has consistently been below par.

To address the regional difficulty, I definitely think that the regional is average, if maybe slightly above average. The regional powerhouses have a strong showing, and the Palmetto regional usually draws powerful teams from all over the south east region plus a few teams from the north who think they're going to get the easy win. However, if there is another event is added in the SE, the competition level at the Palmetto regional could drastically decrease.

Overall, I'd recommend the regional, but Palmetto comes with its set of week 1 and reffing issues.

- Sunny G.