RUMOR: Some DI teams/conferences considering leaving NCAA for US Soccer

[SierraFD3soccer]

I'm curious how this would look in the colder regions of the US, especially at the D3 level. I'm in MN, and you generally can't play outdoor soccer from December-March here. Even April can be iffy some years. There are full-size domed fields available, but there are only a couple I know of (Augsburg and St. John's) that is owned and run by a D3 school. The rest of the schools in MN would have to find a way to rent space in a dome which is typically $300-$500/hr for a full field. Not to mention that many of these domes already have very high demand between youth club sports and community activities. The cost alone would be pretty prohibitive for a lot of these D3 schools that are already spreading their athletic budgets pretty thin.

Not sure that this would extend to D3, which I am pretty sure it won't. D1 has previously proposed for D1 was playing half a season in the fall with one game or so a week and then the rest of the season in the spring with d1 playoffs in the spring. This is old. https://povichcenter.umd.edu/sasho-cirovski-continues-to-look-towards-the-future/

[Kuiper]

US Soccer's Next Gen College Soccer Committee has released its white paper with recommendations for reforming DI college soccer.

Nothing on DIII, which some had suggested would be part of the larger recommendations, but the committee did provide this statement about applying some recommendations to all divisions:

While the focus of the Committee's scope was Division I soccer, we believe that many of these recommendations can be adapted for the benefit of the tens of thousands of additional men's and women's players who compete in other college leagues/divisions.

The major specific recommendation is that men's college soccer adopt a regionalized, two-tier competitive structure and a full academic year calendar and some opportunities for promotion-relegation between tiers (sounds like I-A and I-AA from the old football classifications).

A couple of specific recommendations (or recommendations for more study) that caught my eye and how they could possibly apply in DIII:

College soccer eligibility rules should be modernized to reflect today's environment and build more
integrated pathways with domestic professional leagues. 

They suggest the possibility of permitting players who have signed rights agreements with pro teams or had gone the professional route to restart in college after their careers have stalled.  I don't think many of these types of players are going to end up in DIII (although you never know, especially after injury or a change in their academic or career aspirations), but any increase in DI eligibility would reduce roster options for graduating high school players, which might increase the pool of players interested in DIII.

Participation by players over the age of 23 should be scrutinized, while international
participation should be supported

They justify that in terms of the U23 classification for international tournaments such as the Olympics and also suggest the possibility of capping overage players or allowing limited exceptions for injuries etc.  I don't know that this is a significant issue in DIII (Emory's 24 year-old Ignacio Cubeddu aside) or one that DIII schools would want to restrict, but, as with the eligibility rules for former pro players, anything that restricts the pool at DI could mean those players look elsewhere, like DII or DIII.

[Freddyfud]

This just seems like endless competing interests.  US Soccer, the arms race that is now MLS vs USL, coaches...everyone with a financial interest it seems.  One notable group seems to be absent from all of these discussions though.  The students.

Maybe student athletes are perfectly fine just enjoying playing NCAA in the fall and USL2 or other club teams in the summer as they do today?  All while knowing they will earn a degree?