Perhaps the best place to post is the Customer Service forum -- https://www.bigsoccer.com/forums/customer-service.5/
Whew! Such a long absence and now Big Soccer seems to be letting me post again. (Why I do not know.) With regard to the Heels traveling to England, I sincerely doubt it given the COVID situation. We will be lucky if a fall season is allowed, IMO.
Frustrations of a Fan with the COVID outbreak...... As an UNC Womens Soccer fan, The last several seasons have been great, but in the end a little disappointing. We UNC fans have seen our team make it to the national championship game twice and that is good! In the 2018 national championship game we lost by a lone goal, and then in 2019 we tied in double overtime and then missed the trophy via a shoot out. (The pride is still there as UNC lists that final 2019 game as a tie and a 24-1-2 season, whereas Stanford lists that game as a win in their W-L record for a 24-1 season.) But all is not lost, because in 2020 the Heels should be stronger than ever with potentially 5 seniors starting. We lost only one starter from the 2019 team (Bridgette graduated to the Houston Dash) and we should have Emily Fox for the NCAAs and also former starting defender Brooke Bingham, both with healed ACLs. (That totals 12 former starters returning!) And while we also graduated several great off-the-bench players (Ru, Morgan, Madison, and Zoe) the Heels have an excellent freshman class coming in with Talia DelaPeruta and Samantha Meza both able to immediately challenge for starting roles and 3 other players who could notch serious playing time. Then not to forget that we still have players who will also continue to get significant playing time such as Rachel Dowart, Lois Joel, Maggie Pierce, Alexis Strickland, and Aleigh Gambone. And, I am fond of reminding myself, there are always surprises (like Isabel Cox this last year) who were presumed to be groomed for the future when some starters graduated, but then turn out to be studs and start as freshmen. Whew! We should be very good in 2020! The problem is that I fear that there will be no fall season this year because of the COVID virus. All of the projections I see show that the peak of the COVID cases will be in May-June (assuming that the country continues to practice strict social distancing and the curve is flat) and then a possible second wave (like the Spanish Flu) in the September range if people think that the worst is over and we can go back to our usual close social contact behavior.) If that scenario plays out, perhaps the best hope is that the NCAA might allow the spring to include what would have been the fall season. Of course the best best scenario is that all possible things could go "right" with the virus. eg: the virus turns out to be a cold weather virus and the summer will tamp it down; the COVID-19 virus mutates itself out of infecting humans; wide spread medicines for successful treatment of the virus are available by this summer (June hopefully); and maybe if we're really lucky a vaccination will be available by the late summer (although al experts say that it will take until early or mid 2021); and the economy recovers enough that playing women's college soccer seems the right thing to do. ...Indeed hope spring eternal for the soccer fan!
Thanks for your correction. NCAA Soccer Rules state (7.1.1) that for tied games decided on kicks from the spot for both regular season to determine a winner and in the post season to determine which team advances in the NCAA tournament that for the record the game is listed as a tie for both teams. However, the single exception is for the Championship game itself where the the shots from the spot also determine the winner of the game for the record. Good catch.
You are absolutely right about the team UNC will have for the next fall though. They are stacked and could easily win it.
There may be a new addition to the team next fall. Madi Pry, who was a team manager last year may have been given a roster spot by all indications. I don't know much about her and i could be wrong but worth noting.
Sounds like a nice gesture to put her on the roster. I doubt that she will see much playing time given how strong the Heels are at this point and the projected incoming classes for the next three years are strong too. (BNut always the caveat that she will turn out stronger than her record.) She was a good high school player and came through with two ACL repairs. She comes from an athletic family (her brother is a pitcher for the Heels baseball team.) No scholarship involved as she is already a fully enrolled student. But she did apparently favorably impress in that she got the job as one of the student managers of the soccer team before she left high school.
OK.. Clearly I was wrong in my prediction a month and a half ago that there would not likely be a fall season college sports. I have read the details regarding how UNC will be handling the fall season for its various athletic teams, and it it clear that they are planning on a fall season. It is also clear (and they say this directly) that UNC has coordinated in its planning with "peer institutions" (which I interpret to mean ACC schools) and I presume that the other ACC schools will be using the same schedule and protocols. Various teams players will be reporting at different times. See: https://goheels.com/news/2020/5/29/general-return-to-campus-roadmap-for-carolina-athletics.aspx The UNC M & W soccer teams will be reporting on July 13 for COVID and other testing and will begin. Athletic fitness testing starts on the 15th (presumably followed by practice sessions, although it does not specifically say that.) So basically the team will be arriving two weeks early as compared to past "normal" seasons. In the document, there is significant detail about athletes wearing masks, hand hygiene, and other protocols regarding isolating in pods and distancing and eating expectations, etc. What is not mentioned is anything about the actual season schedule. All of this planning across the country seems to be predicated on part on the fact that younger people (perhaps under 40 which would certainly include college age kids) are infected less seriously than those of us who are above 65 and consequently could play the season just fine. I'm not sure I would risk that even if I was younger. It certainly will be an interesting fall. If a fall COVID-19 wave sweeps across the country, then anything could change. As is pretty common knowledge now, until a effective and safe vaccine is widely available, all projections of the the future will look like are subject to instantaneous change. NOW... the team itself. Does any one know if the British players on the team will be allowed to return this season. We have seen that NCSU is worried that they will be without 6 internationals for the season and if that is true for the Heels too, then we will be without two of the best players on the team, and two others besides. For purposes of whatever the fall regular season will be, the Heels should do just fine with regard to any non-conference and conference games without those players IF all of the rest of the team shows up. Is there any chance that some parents of players will not allow their kid to travel to Chapel Hill (especially the freshmen?) And will there be a NCAA tournament? If so, bumping the season up by two weeks and playing less (or none) non-conference games, would allow for a tournament to wrap up by Mid November. Is that the plan? (And will there be a strong COVID-19 wave by that time risking canceling the tournament?) Anyone in the know?
Currently, it looks like there almost surely will be a full NCAA Tournament. The tricky part of scheduling is that the amount of time needed before actual games can begin may be longer than in the past. So, an earlier start in the summer may not translate into an earlier start of games.
With many colleges having announced plans to start and to finish the fall semester earlier than historically in order to get as many students as possible off campus by Thanksgiving, I think the NCAA will be under pressure to finish its fall championships by Thanksgiving. Conferences will have to adjust to meet that schedule. Football bowl games are another matter.
Nah ... Baseball and Softball have always played beyond the academic calendar. Same with winter sports. They play through the winter break. The NCAA soccer calendar doesn't need to change, because if they are playing at that time, there are no obvious problems ... if problems were happening, they would have suspended the season by that point anyway.
The 2020 roster has been made official per the school's website. Will be interesting to see how Anson decides to play things. Losing Bridgette, Zoe, Ru, and Madison will hurt and the team looks pretty thin up top. The Midfield is once again the strength of the team. Meza and DellaPeruta should get alot of looks especially DellaPeruta because she's coming in a very seasoned freshman having played in Germany. Happy that Bingham is back. Might take her sometime to get up to speed but once she does she'll be a good asset to the team. Maybe this is the year the curse is broken? we shall see..
Keep your eye on Ruby Grant, the player from Arsenal Academy. She played some for the big club last year and in fact scored three goals in an FA Cup game. The opponent was quite weak; still, that's an accomplishment in what may have been her first (or second) appearance for the club. Arsenal were racked with injuries at the time (and had a thin roster to begin with). Still, you aren't getting on the field with the first team at Arsenal, at age 17/18, unless you've got some talent.
Ruby Grant will indeed be interesting to watch. I personally am not convinced that we will see her as a starter, but certainly at the beginning of the season she will get some time as the coaches see how she does in game situations. While no one can predict how Ruby will turn out (remember this last year we had three starting freshmen, and only one of those three (Maycee) coming into the season was predicted as a starter by the coaching staff, much less us fans) and consequently my personal view of her starting status could be wrong. I have two worries about the 2020 season. First, I worry that the COVID virus will really reek more havoc in some teams than is now apparently expected. While this could be UNC's year to go all the way in the NCAA tournament, the team can't take too many hits with illness. Second, I am not even sure that key players Alessia, Lotte, (much less Lois and Ruby) will be able to get into the country. Does anyone have any insight into the policy for out of country travellers coming into the US?
I believe Lotte might be in the USA right now. She has a social media post with HAO's baby in her hand. The other three are in England for sure. Donald Trump has closed the door unfortunately. Only US citizen and lawful permanent resident are allowed in the country. I think there is an exception to that rule allowing people coming from the UK only.
I know there has been student athletes that cannot even return from Canada at this time. So only time will tell on the international students returning.
they should be able to get in. They just may be a little late getting over. The boarders are open for people deemed essential. Students studying for academic purposes are considered essential so they should be allowed to return for school. They just might not be allowed in until its closer to the schools start date. I don't think preseason counts as essential
About 90 percent of the colleges in America would be thrilled to have UNC's second 11. Maybe 95 percent!
See that the Heels have added another player for 2022...that would be Madeline Dahlien a forward from Minnesota. Pretty hard at this time to get much info on players abilities, but it appears that she showed well last November and December in ECNL play. She is the 7th commit for the 2022 class which should be a fairly strong class following an atypical weak class in 2021 for the Heels.