This past season, Dalton, the powerhouse of north Georgia soccer, returned to the form they had from 2013-2015. During that time period, they won three straight state titles and sixty-three games with just one draw and no losses. This season, they got back into that form with a 23-0 season and finished #1 in the AP’s Super 25 National Rankings.

Once you leave that super talented region and head back into Chattanooga, there is not much of a drop-off if any. McCallie won the state title this season. In 2018, McCallie and Baylor played each other in the State Championship game. At least one of the two schools has appeared in six of the ten state title games since 2010. The other two big schools in the area, Chattanooga Christian and Boy Buchanan, played each other in the 2010 State Championship game. Chattanooga Christian would come up short that year, but would win state in 2011.

Red Wolves General Manager Sean McDaniel gave a great reason as to why the area is so good when he said, “There’s so much talent, so many pathways. I think there’s a lot of potential here.” But that isn’t all there is. Talking to coaches at the high school level, a lot of them point to the impact of Chattanooga FC.

“We’ve had a big impact from the CFC Academy,” says Baylor’s boy’s soccer coach Curtis Blair, “Not just us here at Baylor, but all over Chattanooga is reaping the rewards. They’ve just raised the level of play, which is really really good. They brought the brand and it’s gotta be something higher here.”

“When Chattanooga FC came they really galvanized the community around soccer,” says McCallie’s boy’s soccer coach Chris Cushenbery, “They were able to pull together more of the clubs. It has really benefited our kids.” “By bringing the community together, they also brought the clubs together and our kids are really the beneficiaries of a better club system.”