This hit me like a ton of bricks... UC disbanded men's soccer

They offer two teams for the club. They are part of a club conference, like many other schools do the same.

Absolutely ZERO university club teams should ever step on the field against any pro team.

 

I see thanks for explaining.

I think I saw a scrimmage between a pro and college team... I think in PA? Don't recall exactly; I thought it was novel/weird... but some places do it apparently.

 

Yes, pro teams play university [varsity] teams all the time. It’s nearly the only way a pro team can play a preseason opponent that is easily accessible. Sure, the pro team can play other pro teams, and they do, but that increases costs due to travel but also is most likely an opponent they’d already see numerous times during the season.

Additionally, it’s a good “outreach” or “community” building friendly too. A pro team giving back to universities. Universities seek to do it to provide exposure to some of their players, as well as increase their recruiting profile.

 

I see, so if UC does not have a team per se, only club team, you don't think the MLS team would/should play them? What if it is a high caliber club team (made up of players that would have played on the Univ team had there been one).

 

It is extremely rare to have DI player ability at a school, and they play on the Club team. Some players who have been on the varsity team do go over to Club, but that’s often because they don’t get playing time, exhausted eligibility, or left/kicked off the team.

It would serve no purpose for a pro team to play a university Club team. The gap is way too big. Some varsity teams do grab some Club players during their spring seasons, but there’s probably fewer than 1-2 that can make that transition each year.

 

Big gap in the fitness (general fitness and match fitness) required for club versus DI (or even DII or III), too? The club team at the university near me doesn't appear to train at anything like the level of a full-time team, and I don't think they play the same kind of schedule.

 

If we were on a FIFA calendar, with a more traditional pyramid then sure, maybe a university club team could get some preseason against the local 3rd division/semi pro team - Basically 18-24 y.o. with class responsibilities who don't do beep tests /gym days against 18-35 yo with jobs/families who also don't to beep tests/gym days,.

But if you think about it, school starts during the drive for playoffs for MLS/USL, and the smaller adult leagues are done and have a large part of their roster made up of current college players in the summer.

I don't know if Ohio South runs open adult men's leagues instead of o-30/40/50 maybe they could supplement there.

If this is a trend it will be interesting to see what a college based club system becomes.

 

The top club teams can compete with D2/D3. The school I went to had a kid transfer in that had started for a final four team in D2 as a freshman and he couldn’t get off the bench at the club level. Most of that club team were kids that were lower end DA players or from very good USYS teams that decided their future was in a different profession than soccer and focused on that instead of playing low end D1 or D2/3z

That being said a professional team or D1 team would have smashed us. We had some D1 transfer but the main focus of the team was partying, school and then soccer where at D1 that order is a little different.

 

Big gap in everything. University club soccer is nowhere held at the same level of any college soccer. It's a blip on the radar. Sure, there will be a few players who can play, but even on the team itself there will be gaps as big as what exists in HS soccer.

There is little-to-no emphasis or care in university club soccer. Most times there's barely two referees. The crowd may not even be the boyfriend/girlfriend of the players, or even their parents. The season is barely 10 regular season matches, but also playing double-headers.

It's glorified intramural.

 

I think you are selling it a bit short. The teams in the Midwest typically have a decent crowd at the big games. Lots of Greek involvement so you get various frat/sorority support. Also there was always 3 officials for games on Big Ten campuses.

 

Okay. You can think whatever you want.

I'm around university club players, coaches, and games on a weekly basis. I've been to the regional tournament before -- which is where it actually is better. But, that's also because US has a fetish with tournaments. I've also heard tons of complaints that it's extremely hard to get players committed to going to these tournaments.

Oh, and I do know there's definitely no way that clubs should schedule any matches on football homecoming weekends. That is a recipe for disaster.

 

Any home game the weekend of a big ten home football game is a nightmare.

Some teams are more committed than others. I am sure players pass on attending regionals if they have better options for fun on campus and their teams is likely going to perform poorly.

 

I've seen some pretty ugly college soccer. There seems to be a very wide range in abilities if you line up all the colleges in the US, which is a lot.

And likewise I'd find it hard to believe that there isn't just as much variance in the skill level of the clubs. I'd find it hard to believe that the top club would not easily beat the worse college team. I'm no expert, but just from the "eye test" that is my hunch.

 

Sure, I went a little extreme by saying “any level of college soccer.”

But, back to what was originally brought up, no...university clubs cannot compete with DI programs nor would they even be close to competing with pro sides. Even more, these university clubs don’t recruit and basically “luck” into any talent that comes to the school just for school (aside from the other reasons I gave previously).

I’d venture to say that the top 25 of any college rankings would not have too many problems with most university club teams.

 

How long ago did you play on the club team? Because I agree with The Ponchat - no way a university club team could compete with a NCAA team. Maybe the first 15-30 minutes, but that's it. The university players' fitness will be superior for starters.

 

I played back in the 2000s so maybe things are different. I am somewhat familiar with players on the current team and most could have played at some level of varsity college soccer. The team wouldn’t compete with D1 teams but likely could hold its own with most D2/D3.

 

That is a big thing with some universities. It's easy to see that too. Most of these young players, especially those "lesser known" schools don't exactly have players (and coaches) who know what they're doing on the field.

That said, I do know a USL player who broke the leg of a DI player during their spring friendly.

 

Surely this isn't the case!!!!