Why not make HS soccer a Spring sport?

Discussion in 'High School' started by Old Man!, Jun 29, 2010.

  1. Old Man!

    Old Man! BigSoccer Supporter

    RIP Chicago Fire
    Mar 11, 2000
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thinking back on my experience with soccer as a fall sport in Michigan, I'm starting to wonder if it wouldn't be better for the sport if it were played in the Spring across the country.

    What would be the barriers to this?

    I remember I met a guy from Iowa once who said that boys soccer was a Spring sport there and that at his HS they had the homecoming dance in the Spring for the soccer team, as well as one in the Fall for the football team.

    Seems to me this might be an opportunity to give some kids a chance to experience soccer without having to choose btw football and soccer.

    In my own experience, I can remember everyone would go to football games in the fall, basketball games in the winter and then that was it. Sure baseball was played in the Spring, but no one went, and I think that's pretty true for college sports too. Outside of MLB, I'm not sure how popular that sport is as a spectator sport nationally. Maybe soccer could fill that void?
     
  2. lowcountry1

    lowcountry1 Member

    Apr 3, 2010
    Charleston, SC
    Club:
    Charleston
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In South Carolina, high school soccer is played in the spring, and it is a big deal, as a lot of teams get about 1,000/game for the games. NC, however, plays it in the fall. Here, it shares the spotlight with baseball.
     
    SCSoccerGuy repped this.
  3. strikerbrian

    strikerbrian Member

    Jul 30, 2010
    Queensbury, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In NY it is a fall sport. Not sure it could be done in the spring. We often times have snow on the ground till early april and the fields just couldn't tak the punishment. I know we play baseball but the wear and tear on the field is not even close. I can remember playing baseball on soggy fields for weeks.. Wouldn't work for soccer. Just my thoughts.
     
  4. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    Some girls teams in Section I (Westchester) played in the spring until very recently due to limited field space until a few parents who had girls playing at high level clubs challenged it in court as a Title IX violation and won.

    We are about 50 miles south of you, yes there are times when there is snow, but we are on the fields by end of March the past couple of seasons.
     
  5. strikerbrian

    strikerbrian Member

    Jul 30, 2010
    Queensbury, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Really? I had never heard that. How long ago was that? I've been coaching High school soccer for over ten years and the game has always been in the fall. Doesn't mean it needs to stay that way, just saying that's all I remember. Were those schools public schools? Private schools and prep schools don't neccessarily follow NYSPHSAA schedules.
     
  6. cleansheetbsc

    cleansheetbsc Member+

    Mar 17, 2004
    Club:
    --other--
    Well time has been slipping by on me quickly. 2003 was the court case. They were public schools.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/17/n...season-shift-in-westchester-girls-soccer.html
     
  7. strikerbrian

    strikerbrian Member

    Jul 30, 2010
    Queensbury, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Wow! Interesting read. Of course it would have been only league play and there would be no participation in the NYSPHSAA organized post season. Not sure how important that really is but it does supply a greater chance at recruitment opportunities for gifted players. Scouts are usually busy with club and tournament ball in the spring, which is preety much inactive in the fall. Plus there probably wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to find competition from out of the area, which, I believe, stunts program growth. NY could probably make it work, but it would have to be all or nothing. And I just don't see it ever happening. It might mean I lose a few players to other sports like football but the fall season is where it belongs.
     
  8. Nacional Tijuana

    Nacional Tijuana St. Louis City

    St. Louis City SC
    May 6, 2003
    San Diego, Calif.
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Back in Pennsylvania, where I lived in the 2000's, fall was the main soccer season, but in recent years, I did notice spring matches being played, beyond the level of scrimmages. as in, an actual spring championship, but contested by less teams.

    I'm not sure why the change, but it's interesting. Spring season seems to be taken seriosly be different teams than fall.
     
  9. JetShadez66

    JetShadez66 New Member

    Oct 18, 2010
    Gower, Missouri
    Club:
    Kansas City Wizards
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Here in Missouri we've got it kind of balanced out:
    Fall: Men's High School Soccer (reason why it isn't larger than it is, it fights with football); NCAA Men's Soccer; and NCAA Women's Soccer
    Spring: Women's High School Soccer-because of volleyball, cross country, and softball being in the fall season in Missouri, placing Women's Soccer in the spring is a no brainer. The only issue is this: You start practice in Feb, that means the beginning of your season, if you're not careful, can result in illness and injuries from the cold weather (and the darn teams that don't take stretching seriously).
    We enjoy it for the most part, especially having the two women programs seasons apart, it is great for recruiting. I could definitely go for men's hs soccer move to the spring. It'd be great for double headers (like basketball), and you'd only fight with track and baseball (in some schools). And recruitment would be much easier on the college level.

    -D-
     
  10. fire123

    fire123 Member+

    Jul 31, 2009
    We play soccer in the Spring in South Texas, from Jan to Mar or there about. At night once the sun goes down, it can be close to freezing. With the wind, it is. We wear 3,4 layers of clothing just like when we go skiing, better still we're also covered in blanket but it does not help. When you ski, you get to move about. Watching the game, you get to sit in one place on cold hard cement stadium seat. The cushions we bring help little.

    We watch the game only because our daughter plays and we even wonder why we are out there sometimes. You can not pay us to go watch somebody else play.
     
  11. boomheadshot45

    boomheadshot45 New Member

    Jan 27, 2007
    US
    Where I live girl's high school soccer is played in the Spring. If both genders played high school soccer in the spring, a lot of problems would rise (fields, coaches, etc.)
     
  12. cayleejo

    cayleejo New Member

    Oct 24, 2010
    At my Missouri high school Boys' soccer is played in the fall, and Girls' in the spring. So besides winter, we have soccer going on year-round:)
     
  13. BMxJoga

    BMxJoga Member

    Feb 27, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Peru
    Here in Florida, both girls and boy high school soccer are played in the winter, few field issues ever arise.
     
  14. nine

    nine New Member

    Jul 16, 2010
    Club:
    Atlanta Beat
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    GA HS soccer is spring for both girls and boys. We have a lot of schools in our metro Atlanta area (this is my experience, I don't know about outside of metro ATL) and some places are fortunate enough to have their own stadiums, but as you get more inner/urban, lots of schools have to share 1 stadium. There has never been any issues with fields, coaches or scheduling. Games are played almost every night except Sundays, usually with a girls-boys game back to back of the "home" school.
     
    SCSoccerGuy repped this.
  15. Val1

    Val1 Member+

    Arsenal
    Mar 12, 2004
    MD's Eastern Shore
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Over here in my neck of the Maryland woods, we play soccer in the fall, and our bigger competition is lacrosse, which is a spring sport. We'd get killed if we went head-head with lacrosse. Field hockey for girls is the only competition we have with fall sports and I'd much rather compete for bodies with field hockey than lacrosse.
     
  16. rhrh

    rhrh Member

    Mar 5, 2010
    Club:
    AC Milan
    That's my understanding too, that individual states vary based on weather and competition from other sports. Snow cover has been a huge issue in NJ and NY, but there are a lot of HS turf fields that just need to be shoveled to be presentable.

    An interesting point - isn't DA soccer in the spring only? How does that work out with spring HS soccer? I know DA allows HS soccer to be played, which is easy in my state as fall is HS soccer season, but what about the spring soccer states?

    (PS, thanks for rubbing in your great winter weather, Florida...)
     
  17. nonya

    nonya Member

    Mar 2, 2006
    In the Savannah area we played usually on Tue, Thur and Fri nights with an occassional Saturday and some of the private schools play on Wed. Our biggest issue is getting referees we have only 60 in the area (I am one) to cover all our schools and we try to use 3 man crews. I lived and refereed for many many years in NJ where they play in the fall. IMHO its football. Football is not a big deal at all in the north east so you can play soccer in the fall. However, in GA, TX (where I also lived), FL, etc. if you even tried to play soccer during football season no one would come out. Because I also do college in the fall, I enjoy doing soccer all year round for the exception of the summer.
     
  18. england66

    england66 Member+

    Jan 6, 2004
    dallas, texas
    Strikes me that Lacrosse is the new "elitist" sport....and a total waste of time.
     
  19. GoDawgsGo

    GoDawgsGo Member+

    Nov 11, 2010
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No. The DA schedules their games based on HS season dependent on when those states are playing their HS ball, for the most part.

    So take State A: they play their HS soccer in the fall, and so DA would schedule almost all their regular season games in the winter/spring.

    State B: plays spring HS soccer, and DA games during the fall/winter.

    There will be some overlap, but overall the DA does a good job of facilitating to players in this respect.

    Just go look at the schedules for yourself and you'll see who plays their DA games when.

    Some of the DA teams hadn't played a single DA regular season game before the winter showcase in Phoenix, while others had already played 10-20 of their games.
     
  20. edwardwayne

    edwardwayne New Member

    Sep 29, 2011
    Club:
    DC United
    Val1 - You can say that again. Most HS soccer players in MD - if they play a 2nd sport, it will be lax.

    With College soccer a fall sport, wouldn't it make more sense from a recruiting stance for HS soccer to also be a fall sport, freeing up college coaches in the spring to recruit club tourneys?
     
  21. saabrian

    saabrian Member

    Mar 25, 2002
    Upstate NY
    Club:
    Leicester City FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I live in the same area as strikerbrian and Westchester is actually about 200 miles south of us. We don't expect to get on the fields until early April (even if the snow's off, it's still a mud pit). With two weeks practices required by state law, that means you're not even starting games til mid-April... even later when you get up into the Adirondacks and Northern NY. The fall regular season lasts about 6 weeks and that's with 3 games a week. Compress it to four weeks (to allow time for sectionals and states) at 4-5 game a week? No way.
     
  22. GAZZA821

    GAZZA821 Member

    Apr 6, 2011
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    He's not from Westchester. He was just referring to Westchester.
     
  23. matherold

    matherold Member

    Oct 2, 2011
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Well said Saabrian. Too many players already overdo it in this country because no one is there to manage all the activity- club, high school, olympic development, and Lord knows what other sports. I remember in high school having X-Country practice, then playing soccer with my hs team, then going to club at night. I was fit, but slow, tired, weak, and ended up getting hurt. It is about intelligent development and playing.
     
  24. News Director

    News Director New Member

    Jan 7, 2012
    Here in Arkansas both high school boys and girls soccer are spring sports.
    I used to think I would prefer high school soccer to be played in the fall to align with college soccer.

    However, I have noticed a lot of football and basketball players trying out for soccer teams. Most are not as technical as the club players. But the squads are bigger. I've appreciated the extra athletes. And we've had some nice crowds at games we may not get during the fall competing with football.

    Arkansas does not allow high school players to participate in club showcase tournaments during the high school season. I wish there could be a compromise made to allow high school players to participate with their club teams in a maximum of two college showcase tournaments during the high school season.
     
  25. RevsLiverpool

    RevsLiverpool Member+

    Nov 12, 2005
    Boston
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Here in Massachusetts soccer is a fall sport for both boys and girls. One problem, a lot of high school players play in spring leagues and aren't allowed to play club in the fall (at least that's how it was in the late 90s when I was playing). Similar to other states baseball and lacrosse (the latter rising in popularity) are the biggest competition to spring soccer. My high school has always dominated in soccer, while we've always been terrible at football. So there really wasn't a battle - soccer already got all the good athletes!

    I like the idea of a spring season but just like NY, weather wise in New England it would be pretty dicey to play in the early spring but probably could parallel baseball/lacrosse. Then again, with global warming and all maybe we'd be fine. :)
     

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