D1 college soccer in jeopardy as NCAA moves to eliminate spring competition Includes interview with NSCAA director of college programs Rob Kehoe.
Horrible headline. D1 college soccer isn't going anywhere any time soon. It certainly isn't in jeopardy. How hard it is it to write a meaningful headline? And, yes, I realize that's the headline of the linked article, you just parroted it.
Article wasn't that bad till the quote at the end about how players will spend their newly found free time...
The cause and effect issues I have with the tired logic laid out in this article are mainly these points. -You don't need college soccer to get an education. -Soccer Development and education do not always have to be simultaneous they can be consecutive endeavors. -If only 9.9 college scholarships are awarded and as they say 'most soccer players are not on athletic scholarships nor on the first string' what is the true value of college soccer to get a free education. -Conversely College soccer already puts heavy restrictions on training even with spring training and in no way resembles professional development standards then how much does it really affect professional soccer. If thousands of 18-22 yr olds are not playing first team football on hundreds of D1 schools then it will have minimal affect to professional soccer. At some point we have to realize they are not professional quality. Not every D1 college player needs to be grouped together. -College Soccer can exist in almost any form with or without spring training. The point shouldn't be how it affects the development of professional players but rather what structures take the place of elite youth development so college soccer can exist for those who do want to pursue education and the educational component of college soccer simultaneously and deemphasize their immediate pursuit of professional soccer. These type of articles try to overstate the case that these rules will affect thousands of players and rock the foundation of college athletics and professional sports when in reality it will only affect 30-40 of the truly elite players a year.
"In jeopardy" may be a bit harsh. I think soccer will continue to exist in college. Virginia isn't about to let weeds grow over Klockner Stadium. But we are seeing the beginning of a war on nonrevenue sports. A serious, well-researched Sports Illustrated piece suggested that nonrevenue teams may be better off as clubs rather than varsity teams. Proposals are bandied about to take some of the football and basketball revenue (which isn't necessarily profit) to pay football and basketball players. We've seen the University of Maryland get stars in its eyes and spend wildly on football and basketball, only to wake up with a large deficit and cut several nonrevenue sports. Wrestling, track and swimming have been bearing the brunt of it so far. But will soccer remain immune? No, that might not affect the pros in the long run. Most successful MLS players who have come from the college ranks have come from a handful of programs, and they're the ones who are most likely to stick around. But it's always sad to see soccer lose a foothold anywhere. College scholarships encourage young players to stick with the game, and college games might entice a few more fans to check out the game and perhaps move up to check it out at the pro level.
Let's think for a moment about what losing, or significantly reducing the availability of, college soccer scholarships will do to the current model of youth soccer in this country. Without the allure of the potential scholarship as the ultimate reward, the value of paying thousands to an "elite" club virtually dries up. That could have a ripple effect that would cause MLS teams to have to do more themselves to develop professional players. This is a completely hypothetical discussion, of course, but one worth having, IMO.
You are absolutely right that this discussion needs to happen, IN DEPTH. We need to find out the true benefit of the 9.9 scholarship basis point for the development of the elite player and foundation of the shifting 'club soccer scene'. We often just assume that all players get full rides, but soccer journalists won't really investigate who really gets full rides and how they get them for soccer. Is it a combination of athletic scholarship and 'academic' scholarships and for how many players at how many programs? I can not fathom how many top players at top programs really get full rides and how many of them are truly professional prospects. Do we have an infrastructure where families pay out thousands of dollars through club soccer whereby they are only recouping a fraction of that in true scholarship money. I don't know but the true 'investment' of this model has to be known. And now I think its smoke and mirrors. Your comment that the MLS now has to do more to develop players is fine with me. Either professionally or as amateurs if MLS intensively train more players for the benefit of signing only the top 30-40 a year our system makes an incredible jump in the advancement of a true professional system.
Must spread rep, etc. Granted, I've always worried that there are thousands of parents spending tons of money for a chance at a college scholarship that's much smaller than they realize. BUT -- today, the incentives for top-flight players are the pros and college. Take away college. The incentives are smaller. Pretty simple.
