TheNextBattalion t1_j0ia0k0 wrote on December 16, 2022 at 9:06 PM

Reply to comment by IIIllllIIlllIIlllIIl in Charlie Baker will become the next NCAA president in 2023 by jgeorge20

Schools have to offer roughly as many scholarships to women athletes as they do to men. Football takes up 85 of those at D-I schools, and there is no corresponding women's sport, so that's three to five fewe other men's sports they can give scholarships for.

IIIllllIIlllIIlllIIl t1_j0ktvvv wrote on December 17, 2022 at 12:16 PM

Yes that’s exactly the reason I brought it up. How does Ironman fix it?

The rule unintentionally makes the NCAA irrelevant for baseball, soccer, and other sports for men. In men’s soccer they don’t even consider college part of the development pathway. It sends many men to club soccer rather than college.

TheNextBattalion t1_j0l941u wrote on December 17, 2022 at 2:48 PM

Men's soccer is like that because of market forces. The US players are competing against guys from other countries. Federal law (Title IX of the Civil Rights Act) never had anything to do with it. In Europe clubs often form their own vocational high schools (academies) and players get advanced training from early days, play against pros on youth squads, and the best are thrust into competition sometimes as high schoolers. The rest never go to college and are full time pros on minor-league clubs right off the bat.

For decades the college stop has been known as the major reason why US players never make it big in major foreign leagues, except as goalkeepers. First, it takes two to four years off their pro development while they fumble around part-time against low-level amateurs. The NCAA rules do contribute here. College years limit player growth with strict practice rules, a short season that only lasts a few months, and on-field differences, not to mention lost earnings.

The best US players now find clubs in Europe and go to their youth squads or academies. US clubs are forming their own academies too, to keep up and keep young talent from going overseas.

Same issue as the US pro sports, honestly. The NBA and NFL make rules that essentially force young players to go to college. Otherwise, most wouldn't bother. Those sports are popular only because the college game's popularity predates the pro game's.

MLB, historically, plucked or drafted most players out of high school. College was for winding down careers and getting degrees, until the 70s, when they found that baseball skills developed well in college. Today most players go that route, even though high schoolers now turn out as good. There are 299 baseball schools just in DI.

IIIllllIIlllIIlllIIl t1_j0mmu3n wrote on December 17, 2022 at 8:43 PM

Thanks for the information. I had forgotten about the NCAA rules limiting practice time (and other nonsensical rule changes to the game itself). I do think that the NCAA unnecessarily prevents many good players from wanting to play college soccer, which only exacerbates the problem of how terrible college soccer for men is. I watched some games on TV and it was pretty low level, looked like high school sports to me. With the countdown clock it also had a weirdly American feel that almost resembled football. NCAA seems to just want football for the time being, even to the point where soccer is meant to play like it.