Expanding college soccer season

[kwyjibo]

There has been a major proposal to fundamentally change the college soccer season from a fall sport (17-18 games) to a fall-spring sport (13 & 9 games).  The goal is to keep the overall time commitment to the same (the proposal lowers the amount of in-season practice time per week from 20 to 18 hours).  The coaches are 90% in favor and the players polled are 80% in favor.  It seems like the primary motivation is to get the NCAA tourney into May and the final in early June.  As a fan I would like it but I am not sure about all the ways players are impacted.

Here is Sasho Cirovski, Maryland coach explaining the proposal:

 

[Pistol]

It also matches the model of international leagues, stretching out the season like that. I like it.

[Bobby Metzinger]

1 hour ago, kwyjibo said:

There has been a major proposal to fundamentally change the college soccer season from a fall sport (17-18 games) to a fall-spring sport (13 & 9 games).  The goal is to keep the overall time commitment to the same (the proposal lowers the amount of in-season practice time per week from 20 to 18 hours).  The coaches are 90% in favor and the players polled are 80% in favor.  It seems like the primary motivation is to get the NCAA tourney into May and the final in early June.  As a fan I would like it but I am not sure about all the ways players are impacted.

 

 

Moot point if the NCAA is in 0% favor...

[slufan13]

Wasn't the college cup a huge flop a few years back when it was held at SLU because we got a major ice storm that weekend or something? I didn't watch the video, but would they play games in December/January/early February and risk games getting canceled because of weather?

[Bobby Metzinger]

21 minutes ago, slufan13 said:

Wasn't the college cup a huge flop a few years back when it was held at SLU because we got a major ice storm that weekend or something? I didn't watch the video, but would they play games in December/January/early February and risk games getting canceled because of weather?

Flop doesn't begin to describe that College Cup. I was volunteering with the Missouri Athletic Club during the weekend and it was miserably cold. Final pitted UC-Santa Barbara and UCLA, two warm-weather schools. UCLA lost, then got a catered meal en route to Lambert; consequently, a number of Bruins got food poisoning at 35,000 ft., adding insult to injury. Their benches looked like Edmund Hillary's first expedition team. Just bad timing, bad planning, bad luck. Put it in the EJ Dome, then just Alamodome-style drape off 40,000 extra seats.

[WVBilliken]

Don't like it.  Too much strain on the student athlete.  My daughter ran D1 cross country in the fall then 5k, 10k track in spring.  The stress on the student and their studies was too much.  Training is year round but keep the competition in one part of the year.

[William Iken]

3 hours ago, WVBilliken said:

Don't like it.  Too much strain on the student athlete.  My daughter ran D1 cross country in the fall then 5k, 10k track in spring.  The stress on the student and their studies was too much.  Training is year round but keep the competition in one part of the year.

It's a good point @WV_Billiken but don't forget there is spring soccer anyway. It's just limited organised practices and a few games against local competition (there's limits but I am unsure of the current details) but nevertheless it takes time away from studies (and coeds). So it's a fallacy to say soccer season is only fall. In my day, which was 20 years ago, we also had captain's practices which while not technically organised and overseen by the coaches it was made very clear these were not optional. 

One thing to note with this proposal is the impact on the MLS draft and players turning professional. Teams will have to draft and wait for the players season/studies to end. Not a big deal for seniors, but underclassman may be in a bind as declaring for the draft may render them ineligible for the rest of the season. Thoughts?

[billikenfan05]

One issue raised is the effect on academics. While counterintuitive, the extended season would allow for games to be played only on the weekends. This means less time spent on the road during the week and more time spent in class. Right now there are 12 weeks in the season: 8/20-9-5. if you play one more weekend you play every Saturday night. You should be able to logistically leave for road games Friday morning/afternoon and miss little to no class depending on distance and method of travel.

[davidnark]

This is a great idea. It is really about pulling college soccer out of the dark ages and getting the training and schedule in line with major club training and the international training. It allows the coaches opportunity to train with the players through the year, not just heavily weighted in the fall. It greatly decreases the density of games relative to practices. It better prepares the top college players to transition to professional clubs. It will be good for the players, coaches, fans, and US system. It is also protects the college game from losing all of the top talent to every-growing academies and an increasingly-popular multi-tier pro system in the US. Running college soccer like a glorified fall high school sport didn't serve anyone's interests. The US Soccer Federation was a big proponent of these changes.

[HoosierPal]

One negative, and I will call it a small negative, is that for the two to three dozen college players drafted by the MLS in the January college draft, they would have to decide between dropping out of school to go to MLS camp (which they do already) and missing the spring season, or delaying their professional career until after the spring season.  Taking the top tier of college players out of the spring season and tourney would diminish the product.

However, should this change be made, the MLS would undoubtedly make some alterations to their agenda.

[Tilkowsky]

55 minutes ago, davidnark said:

This is a great idea. It is really about pulling college soccer out of the dark ages and getting the training and schedule in line with major club training and the international training. It allows the coaches opportunity to train with the players through the year, not just heavily weighted in the fall. It greatly decreases the density of games relative to practices. It better prepares the top college players to transition to professional clubs. It will be good for the players, coaches, fans, and US system. It is also protects the college game from losing all of the top talent to every-growing academies and an increasingly-popular multi-tier pro system in the US. Running college soccer like a glorified fall high school sport didn't serve anyone's interests. The US Soccer Federation was a big proponent of these changes.

Why does the college game have to mimic the international game? The number of players that go on to play professional soccer are small. 

Are they going to change the substitution rule to copy the international game? I would be more in favor of that.

[davidnark]

1 minute ago, Tilkowsky said:

Why does the college game have to mimic the international game? The number of players that go on to play professional soccer are small. 

Are they going to change the substitution rule to copy the international game? I would be more in favor of that.

They should definitely conform the substitution rules and the clock to the international game. The fitness and strategy associated with limited subs is a big part of the game and coaching. The reality is that college soccer is now in a competition with the academies and pro system for the best US talent. If college soccer doesn't conform its training, schedule, and rules, the overall quality and relevance will drop.

[Tilkowsky]

2 hours ago, davidnark said:

They should definitely conform the substitution rules and the clock to the international game. The fitness and strategy associated with limited subs is a big part of the game and coaching. The reality is that college soccer is now in a competition with the academies and pro system for the best US talent. If college soccer doesn't conform its training, schedule, and rules, the overall quality and relevance will drop.

 

2 hours ago, davidnark said:

They should definitely conform the substitution rules and the clock to the international game. The fitness and strategy associated with limited subs is a big part of the game and coaching. The reality is that college soccer is now in a competition with the academies and pro system for the best US talent. If college soccer doesn't conform its training, schedule, and rules, the overall quality and relevance will drop.

To me the college game is played too fast because of the unlimited substitution rule. There is not an ebb and a flow to a game, players don't learn to pace themselves.

I think you see the lack of relevancy with SLU. Look at how many foreign players are on the roster.

Limited substitution would also necessitate limiting rosters.

 

 

[shempie]

18 hours ago, WVBilliken said:

Don't like it.  Too much strain on the student athlete.  My daughter ran D1 cross country in the fall then 5k, 10k track in spring.  The stress on the student and their studies was too much.  Training is year round but keep the competition in one part of the year.

This. My daughter played D1 tennis which has a relatively short fall and a full spring season. You start practicing as soon as school starts in August, play 3 or 4 fall tournaments into October or early November. Go back a week early on Christmas break (unlimited practice time when school isn't in session) and then play from mid January until mid April (or later if you make the NCAA's). Add in weight and agility training 3 days week plus practice 5 days a week and matches. It is a lot. And you play ITF tournaments in the summer. This is for a sport where basically no kid that goes to college plays professionally. Yes, they get a scholarship, but they are expected to keep up academically and would like some semblance of a social life. 

[moytoy12]

Shorten the season.  Foo foo sport.  90 minutes.  0-0.  Exciting game has 2 shots. Sissy boys always rolling around on ground.  USA still ranked #30 and gets beat by small island countries. 

[davidnark]

Soccer trolls are the worst kind of trolls.

[slufanskip]

35 minutes ago, davidnark said:

Soccer trolls are the worst kind of trolls.

He's not trolling ... you didn't recognize the format of the post?  Just some MB humor. I thought it was funny