FanPost

Men's Collegiate Soccer- Massive Changes in the Works?

Will NCAA Soccer Become a Year-round Sport? - pac 12

Among the many takeaways from the World Cup this summer was the increasing lack of relevance of NCAA soccer as a vehicle for future USA team members. Now the powers that be want to change that.

As noted in a Washington Post article, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) is pushing a dramatic overhaul of the collegiate season. At present, men's soccer is a fall sport, with the title decided at the College Cup in December. After the season is over, the players revert to an off-season schedule, and fall behind their non-college contemporaries in terms of development.

Under the new proposal, the season would begin in the fall with 13 matches, would take a winter hiatus, and would return in the spring with 9 more matches, plus year-end conference and national tournaments. This would apply to the men's teams only. Women's teams would continue with the current fall schedule, presumably because they are not subject to the same talent drain.

UCLA soccer under Jorge Salcedo has been characterized by excellent recruiting, loss of numerous players to the pros (either before they set foot on campus or early in their collegiate careers), and underperformance versus expectations. It is not clear that fixing the schedule will solve the problems of the Salcedo era, but it can't hurt.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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