A Message From the Executive Director …

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The month of March will hopefully mark the beginning of spring weather after a long, tough winter.  Not only are we looking forward to alleviating our cabin-fever, but we are also looking forward to track, golf, tennis and soccer seasons taking advantage of better weather as all four sports kick off their seasons this month.

As a part of its strategic plan, the Board of Directors will review all aspects of our sport seasons over the upcoming months.  As a result of this review, it is safe to anticipate discussion concerning the best time of year for the sports of golf, tennis and soccer.  There has been little discussion of fall golf or tennis over the years, but today, we hear more advocacy for fall seasons than ever before.  However, it is the placement of the soccer season that has been a subject of discussion every year since the implementation of the sport.  And, it is the soccer season I anticipate will continue to receive a majority of the discussion.

A few years ago, the Athletic Union did some analysis of a potential move of the soccer season from the current spring season, to a fall season.    That analysis ultimately resulted in the soccer season actually beginning and ending earlier in the spring.   That move virtually eliminated the possibility of students participating in both soccer and track, although a few schools still allow this simultaneous participation. 

The recent move of the start of the softball season to early May created such an overlap with soccer, that the soccer/softball double will be virtually impossible as well.  Given that track and softball are the most common “other” sports that soccer participants also desire to play, it seems the time is right to review the current placement of the soccer season to determine if it allows maximization of student participation,  and if a fall season may not only be in the best interests of the sport of soccer, but also in the best interests of students who wish to participate in a wide range of interscholastic programs.

There seems to be some obvious advantages to a fall soccer season.

1 – Crowded spring season.   In addition to the above mentioned conflicts with other sports, many schools lose time associated with spring breaks, along with graduation and final exams at the end of May.

2 – Weather.  An August through October season would allow the entire season to be played in weather that is typically better than is found during the first half of the current season.

3 - Coaches & Officials.  A season opposite of boys soccer would allow the limited pool of officials to be better utilized.  The split season would also permit a school to hire one coach to guide the boys and girls team.  We see this with swimming currently, and this is quite common in states that have boys and girls playing soccer in opposite seasons.

4 – Potential for growth.  The number of schools playing soccer is relatively stagnant.  Many schools cite the conflict with existing track and soccer as a reason why they do not offer soccer.

For every problem addressed with such a move, new problems could be created in the fall.

1 – While attempting to address track and softball conflicts, new conflicts with swimming, cross country or volleyball may be created.

2 – Facilities will continue to be a concern, but now the majority of schools either play matches off of football field, or have turf facilities.  Facility conflicts lessen each year.

The Athletic Union has asked the Iowa High School Soccer Coaches Association and the Iowa Youth Soccer Association for their input on this subject.  We also hope for input from other stakeholders after reading this message.  Your comments via email at soccer@ighsau.org are appreciated.  The Soccer Coaches Advisory Committee will have the issue on their agenda this summer, and the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association will be asked for input this spring.  The Board of Directors will have this subject on its agenda during a summer retreat, and will have the chance to review all input and correspondence.

We all share the objectives of optimizing participation, while reducing conflicts for students who wish to have a broad-based, multiple-sport participation experience.  Your input will provide guidance to the Board of Directors as it considers the best way to meet these objectives.