W hen people think about UNC athletics, they’re usually thinking of the teams that play in the Dean E. Smith Center and Carmichael Arena.
But featured a stone’s throw from Carmichael on Fetzer Field are two teams who have hauled in a combined 23 national championships: men’s and women’s soccer.
Despite their dominance, the soccer teams don’t generate revenue and, unfortunately, it seems their sport is underappreciated.
Proposed changes to the NCAA soccer season, which would split the schedule into fall-spring halves, could enhance the sport’s standing.
In an interview with The Daily Tar Heel, men’s soccer coach Carlos Somoano said he supports the adoption of the split-season schedule. The NCAA should listen.
For years, the structure of college’s version of the beautiful game has kept the U.S. from being competitive with much of the soccer world. Student-athletes cram an entire season, including playoffs, into a miniscule four-month window between August and December. To Somoano, this system leaves much to be desired.
“We can spend a lot more time in training to really grow as players,” he said, “as opposed to coming into one match and going into another, which is basically how our fall season is set up.”
Support and attendance will also increase if more games are on Friday nights, which an extended season would allow.
The women’s team only plays five more home games, and two of them will fall on a school night. At present, teams play as many as three games a week, a rate even Somoano questions.
