2022 NCAA Soccer Rule Changes

Started by CC United, March 17, 2022, 01:32:35 AM

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stlawus

The argument against the split schedule has nothing to do with the game itself but everything to do with the logistics.   A split schedule is going to stretch athletic departments very thin.  Most won't have the resources to handle an added sport on top of their full spring sports slate.

Hopkins92

Quote from: stlawus on April 25, 2022, 09:41:43 PM
The argument against the split schedule has nothing to do with the game itself but everything to do with the logistics.   A split schedule is going to stretch athletic departments very thin.  Most won't have the resources to handle an added sport on top of their full spring sports slate.

I'm not just being argumentative, because I really don't know the nitty-gritty/inner workings of a D1 AD, but...

Wouldn't the fact that the fall season would see a dramatically reduced schedule, with a correspondingly shorter spring schedule, result in a less strained staff? I don't have the proposal in front of me, but off the top of my head it was 3 pre-season and 12 regular-season games in the fall, and then 1 pre-season and then 8 regular-season games in the spring. Tack on whatever post-season respective teams are eligible for...

Genuinely curious. I know guys like Sager have talked about the stress of multiple teams being in post-season and hosting complications. But I don't know that you can compare a D3 AD to a D1 situation. Not saying it's not an issue (split schedule), but I don't know that jamming 25+ games into 3 months, on top of football and the beginning of basketball and hockey is any less stressful.

Kuiper

Quote from: Hopkins92 on April 26, 2022, 10:23:45 AM
Quote from: stlawus on April 25, 2022, 09:41:43 PM
The argument against the split schedule has nothing to do with the game itself but everything to do with the logistics.   A split schedule is going to stretch athletic departments very thin.  Most won't have the resources to handle an added sport on top of their full spring sports slate.

I'm not just being argumentative, because I really don't know the nitty-gritty/inner workings of a D1 AD, but...

Wouldn't the fact that the fall season would see a dramatically reduced schedule, with a correspondingly shorter spring schedule, result in a less strained staff? I don't have the proposal in front of me, but off the top of my head it was 3 pre-season and 12 regular-season games in the fall, and then 1 pre-season and then 8 regular-season games in the spring. Tack on whatever post-season respective teams are eligible for...

Genuinely curious. I know guys like Sager have talked about the stress of multiple teams being in post-season and hosting complications. But I don't know that you can compare a D3 AD to a D1 situation. Not saying it's not an issue (split schedule), but I don't know that jamming 25+ games into 3 months, on top of football and the beginning of basketball and hockey is any less stressful.

This is probably an issue where it varies greatly from school-to-school, or conference-to-conference, depending upon financial strength and support.  It also depends upon what expense you're talking about. 

Personnel is likely the easiest to move around, even though they would complain about it.  At top D1 programs, for instance, the revenue sports have their own dedicated athletic trainers and then there is a pool of athletic trainers who work for multiple non-revenue sports.  It's not all that difficult to arrange schedules or juggle sports to make that work with fewer soccer games/practices in fall and more in spring, especially since some of the AT's are part-time and you can just change the semester in which you have a larger pool available.  Some of those AT's already pick up extra hours working for the school's rec dept or doing private training, so they are definitely available and willing to shift things around.  It's harder with other dept personnel, like sports information directors, where there are small staffs, but some of the hue and cry about that is simple resistance to change.  Universities are typical bureaucracies and staff always have trouble envisioning how they can possibly do things differently than they have always done it. The AD's job is to figure out a way.  Schools already have imbalances in sports events in semesters, so a decline in one and an increase in another, as you say, does create some opportunities.  It's certainly better than just adding more sports and growing roster sizes, which lots of schools have done over the years, often with only minimal increases in staff sizes.

Field/gym/workout space is probably the biggest nut to crack from shifting schedules.  Some schools are in the middle of nowhere and have acres of fields, while others are in urban or suburban settings and field space is at a premium.  Even there, the change over the years from natural grass to turf and the addition of lights for night games and practices makes it somewhat easier to handle than it might have been when sports were first allocated to the various seasons.  Plus, it's only absolutely mandatory to have space for games and there aren't really that many of them. Practices are the harder part, but schools can shift some practices, or portions of practices, to alternative sites to make things work.  For example, first 30 minutes of practice is on the track while the lacrosse/field hockey etc team is finishing up or they can do hill work or practice on the beach sand volleyball court once in awhile or inside even when the weather is good etc.  In addition, they can be required to practice at unpopular times once a week or be forced to use smaller spaces if they are unwilling to shift to those times.  Youth clubs have been doing all of of those things for years, but college coaches have been used to getting exactly what they want and some may not be able to do so.  It's do-able in most cases.  Plus, if it's really bad, then the AD can view this as a fundraising opportunity and try to get money for more fields. 

A school could even demand that soccer pay extra (basically levy an additional overhead tax or reduce their budget for other things) for extra staffing/space to cover the additional costs, which soccer teams would cry about, but they too could shift around budgets or try to raise funds from alums.  If the change increased revenue for soccer teams (e.g., because the spring games attracted more ticket sales than the fall or because the Spring championships got more TV money than the Fall championships), that also could help pay for any extra costs.

The transition would be painful, but in the end, everyone would adapt and might even come out better off in terms of staffing and facilities.  The bigger issue from a two semester schedule might be that students are under the gun in terms of practice/game pressure for a longer part of the year, but that's already a difference between D1 and DIII that students are signing up for when they go to D1.

jknezek

I think the real issue might be that once soccer does it, other sports might want to follow. And I really don't think the NCAA wants that. It would make a ton of sense for baseball, especially in the northern half of the country, to play part of their games early fall and part late spring. How many northern baseball teams start with long southern road trips or tournaments in warmer climates?

Field hockey has as compressed a schedule as soccer, so why wouldn't you switch if it makes sense for soccer. Lax, though they tend to play fewer games, could make a case. Volleyball is pretty compressed because they want it done in one semester though weather is obviously not a factor.

On the other hand, you already have sports like tennis and golf that play events fall and spring, so...

Hopkins92

The B1G baseball and softball programs have been kvetching about that issue for decades.

justakidfromakron

Does anyone know If with the rule change taking away overtime are they going to add extra time added by the ref on top of the 90 mins or any type of clock stoppage. If they just play the 90 minutes down to the buzzer and end the game then that's just like high school soccer. I personally hope they give the ref to ability to add additional minutes at the end of ninety, especially since they are trying to mirror European soccer.

camosfan

 They don't need to add extra time,when the clock is stopped the time showing reflect the true time of play.

College Soccer Observer

Quote from: justakidfromakron on April 28, 2022, 01:51:47 PM
Does anyone know If with the rule change taking away overtime are they going to add extra time added by the ref on top of the 90 mins or any type of clock stoppage. If they just play the 90 minutes down to the buzzer and end the game then that's just like high school soccer. I personally hope they give the ref to ability to add additional minutes at the end of ninety, especially since they are trying to mirror European soccer.
Timing rules remain as they were last year and similar to HS where the official time is on the scoreboard clock.

Hopkins92

Quote from: jknezek on April 26, 2022, 01:30:56 PM
I think the real issue might be that once soccer does it, other sports might want to follow. And I really don't think the NCAA wants that. It would make a ton of sense for baseball, especially in the northern half of the country, to play part of their games early fall and part late spring. How many northern baseball teams start with long southern road trips or tournaments in warmer climates?

Field hockey has as compressed a schedule as soccer, so why wouldn't you switch if it makes sense for soccer. Lax, though they tend to play fewer games, could make a case. Volleyball is pretty compressed because they want it done in one semester though weather is obviously not a factor.

On the other hand, you already have sports like tennis and golf that play events fall and spring, so...

I'm not really disagreeing, as this is a logical post. I'd just point out that it's guys like Sasho Cirovski at MD that are pushing these changes so they don't have as many players "poached" by MLS and their academies. Those other sports don't have that type of "pressure," unless I'm missing something.

I see this as VERY roughly analogous to D1 college hockey, which has made a number of alterations to eligibility rules so that college is a viable option for NHL-caliber prospects.

Kuiper

Quote from: Hopkins92 on May 04, 2022, 12:16:20 PM
Quote from: jknezek on April 26, 2022, 01:30:56 PM
I think the real issue might be that once soccer does it, other sports might want to follow. And I really don't think the NCAA wants that. It would make a ton of sense for baseball, especially in the northern half of the country, to play part of their games early fall and part late spring. How many northern baseball teams start with long southern road trips or tournaments in warmer climates?

Field hockey has as compressed a schedule as soccer, so why wouldn't you switch if it makes sense for soccer. Lax, though they tend to play fewer games, could make a case. Volleyball is pretty compressed because they want it done in one semester though weather is obviously not a factor.

On the other hand, you already have sports like tennis and golf that play events fall and spring, so...

I'm not really disagreeing, as this is a logical post. I'd just point out that it's guys like Sasho Cirovski at MD that are pushing these changes so they don't have as many players "poached" by MLS and their academies. Those other sports don't have that type of "pressure," unless I'm missing something.

I see this as VERY roughly analogous to D1 college hockey, which has made a number of alterations to eligibility rules so that college is a viable option for NHL-caliber prospects.

Baseball definitely has that pressure, with HS kids deciding between college and the opportunity to get a bonus and start playing minor league ball through the draft.  Having said that, I think kids are making the decision in baseball to go the college or minor league route based on the $, not the length of the season per se. 

What I think has happened is that soccer has gone from a game played during a season (different times in different parts of the country) to a game played year-round, including indoor in colder places, in most of the country at both the elite and merely high club level.  There isn't much money in going to MLS Next Pro, for example (as compared with top MLB draft picks), but a lot of kids who don't even really think pro is a realistic option like the idea of playing year-round.  It's how they structure their lives now and they can't really imagine giving that up.  Others have always played multiple sports or have taken time off during the winter months etc.

For D3, it would be helpful if coaches and players explain to recruits, in a pretty detailed fashion, how their days/weeks/months will look when they aren't in-season or in the short spring training window.  That is where I think D3 men's soccer programs has such a huge variance and how some schools can differentiate themselves, attracting kids with different interests.  Some schools have regular lifting and conditioning schedules, as a group, plus captain-organized pick-up three times a week, and their coaches help place them with a summer USL League 2 or UPSL team before training resumes in August (Washington & Lee's coach talks about that in an interview with Simple Coach or maybe another video on their website).  Other schools seem to just give their kids an exit plan at the end of the season and maybe some conditioning expectations upon the return to spring practice and summer training camp and just kind of hope that the kids are working on their own, without much of an ingrained student culture that offers some of the structure they had during the season.  Some schools in that latter group actually take ownership of the flexibility they offer to their players, bragging to their recruits that they encourage their players to take semesters abroad or do internships or even play other sports, while others basically sound like they really don't know (or perhaps even care) what their players are doing as long as they come back in shape. 

I think there are D3 programs out there for the wide range of player interests, but it's not easy for kids to figure out where each schools fall in that spectrum when they are picking the schools to target early in the process.   It wouldn't be hard for D3 programs to record videos and post them on their websites giving kids some insight into what their programs are like year-round.  It would also help them self-select the kind of players they want.  I've heard coaches say that whether things are really organized outside the coach-led sessions depends upon the kids in their program any particular year and the type of captains they have, but if that's something a program wants, it can also consider that as part of recruiting and try to attract the types of kids who fit the type of program they are selling.


Kuiper

This is data from D1 games - possibly men and women - and from one small set of games on Day 1 that are the first of the season.  Nevertheless, I thought it would be interesting to get an early peek at how the No OT rule may be affecting outcomes.

https://twitter.com/tom_hindle_/status/1560649681708888065?s=21&t=m10lJwFG3JwJXY8XSmjlBQ

Day 1 without overtime in college soccer, there were 8 draws, of which 4 finished 0-0.