Patrick Schaal’s latest post:
According to a new article recently completed by The Washington Post, changes have been proposed to the operations of the men’s Division I college soccer season. Currently, the program runs on the same schedule it has held for over fifty years. The season is jammed into just over three months in the fall, with very limited practices and exhibitions allowed in the spring.
However, the proposed changes would allow the number of official team days to increase from one hundred and thirty two to one hundred and forty four. The season would start in late August with training camps. Between mid-September and Thanksgiving, the teams would play two friendlies and thirteen matches. Winter break would fall from Thanksgiving until late February, during which time teams would be allowed to hold eight hour long training sessions. In late February, spring training camps would begin. By mid-March, the season would be in full swing once more, including nine more season matches, in addition to conferences and the NCAA tournament games.
The reasoning behind lengthening the season from three months in fall to an academic-year-long activity involves several issues. The Division I soccer competition structure is outdated; the format doesn’t match the structures set by youth and professional leagues which, in turn, does not prepare players to go forward in the sport. This becomes a factor, as the sport continues to grow in popularity in the United States with fewer players truly equipped to face off in an international competition due to lacking training practices. As a result, players of the sport often elect to skip college entirely in light of pursuing professional playing. To those who have designed the proposed changes, a college education is invaluable and, therefore, these moves must be made to present players with a reason to attend college and play in Division I; it allows players to not only expand their soccer experience, but their life experiences as well.
Fundamentally, the issue is a matter of time. In the current system, the season has too many matches on too short of a time period, resulting in injuries, substandard performance in the sport, as well as substandard academic performance. A less strict schedule would allow for less stress on the students and more focus on schooling.
from Patrick Schaal http://ift.tt/1vfaTAb
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