The Good Ol’ College Try

There are many things that differentiate football in the United States – economics, cultural and sports market, to name just a few. However, one of the more unique factors in the significant role of college sports in the development of professional athletes.

 

It is no different with football, as universities play a prominent role in preparing soccer players for a possible professional career. Soon, the major U.S. national college championship tournament will begin. In advanced of that, we will be taking a look at college soccer in the U.S. and in future installments provide some coverage of this year’s tournament.

 

Throughout the U.S. sports landscape, major college sports serve as a feeder to professional sports leagues, whether it is the primary source, such as for American football and basketball, or as just one of two or three feeders, as with the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.

 

The primary U.S. football league, Major League Soccer (MLS), obtains young previously amateur players through a combination of team academies, such as is common in many European leagues, but also with a draft of rights to college players who declare to become professionals. There are even hybrid players who were trained through a team’s academies, but then chose to play in college. That player’s rights remains with the professional team, if they end up playing in the MLS.

 

The major college organization is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the far majority of future professional players come from colleges playing within regional associations in the NCAA. However, due to the constraints of university schedules, the season is limited to August through November. As a result, some collegiate players may also compete with a club during the summer in the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL), which is viewed by some as a higher level of amateur competition with a longer season. In fact, Brigham Young University in Utah even abandoned playing against other collegiate teams and purchased a PDL franchise.

 

In addition to a longer season and improved competition, BYU may have also been driven away from NCAA competition by the rules as collegiate soccer deviates significantly from FIFA rules. One of the most noticeable to fans is that college football has a running countdown clock that only stops when a referee signals usually for injuries, player substitutions, or a team being penalized for wasting time. Also, all games are played with a two 10-minute periods of overtime, but with a golden goal rule. The other most significant rule deviation from FIFA is the unlimited substitutions for each team. The only limitation is that a player is not permitted to return in the same half that he left.

 

Next Installment: A look back at U.S. college football, impact on MLS and a look at the 2011 NCAA tournament.

 

Image Credits: College Soccer Recruiting