http://thesoccerobserver.com/2014/0...-full-year-schedule-to-bolster-its-relevance/ I came across the above article while reading mlssoccer.com. I think this is a great idea as it will give college kids a chance to play more and develop better. More college soccer = better soccer players. This is the least expensive pipeline for talent and in combination with the Home Grown initiatives by MLS we could have kids playing year round. Fall and Spring in NCAA and Summer with their MLS Academy teams. Harry Shipp in Chicago is the hottest young starlet in MLS and he is a product of college soccer as much as the Academy. system.
Would be huge but we'll see how the NCAA and school presidents react, this would increase some travel costs for a money losing sport. Although one issue for colleges would be losing players to MLS before the Spring season would start either via the SuperDraft or Homegrown signings.
There was an article stating what you just said that this probably will not happen because of the costs of additional games and so forth.
College golf runs basically that format, so it's not re-inventing the wheel. And if a couple extra games and fewer multi-game road trips mean more costs, it might also be sold to the university presidents by demonstrating that cutting down midweek games would mean less class time missed. But I've always thought the complaints about the lack of time in college soccer is a bit overstated. The complaint about the 20-hour week being available only in the fall neglects the 6-week period in the winter/spring where teams can do four days a week of full activity and still use two other days for conditioning, and that almost anyone who is a prospect to play further will also play in the PDL from May to August. It's not at all difficult for a player who plays PDL to be playing something close to full-time for nearly 8 months a year, and doing conditioning and other limited work for two additional months. Still less than a pro environment, but not as bad as some make it appear. And the PDL is the other interesting element of this idea. If the major teams are, as is suggested by the coach in the piece, playing until June, what does the PDL do? Perhaps college teams would start later, meaning the PDL season would simply run a bit later, but it's still something that would need to be sorted out.
Steven Goff's write-up including quotes from Sasho Cirovski, chairman of the Division I men’s coaches’ committee, and Kevin Payne, the former D.C. United and Toronto FC executive who is consulting on the matter on behalf of the USSF: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...er-about-to-undergo-big-changes-many-hope-so/
Thought this was interesting... NEWS: Virginia Beach City FC Women will not play a match on August 3 due to reasons out of our club's control.— Virginia Beach City FC (@vbcityfc) August 2, 2014 @andrewmyname12 Our opponent had too many players return to college and was not able to field a competitive roster.— Virginia Beach City FC (@vbcityfc) August 2, 2014
Why don't they get rid of unlimited subs? That is a major departure from international regs and surely must alter development and the manner in which games are played.