Gee, I can't imagine why there might be a shortage of refs. Having been to a gazillion soccer games over the last 20+ yrs. and seeing how parents, and various other spectator's treat the refs during a game, it makes sense to me way they might be having a tough time getting people to subject themselves {for very little monetary compensation} to that crazy nonsense. Just sayin.

I believe that in all the states that border KY both boys and girls HS soccer is a Fall sport except in TN boys soccer is in the Spring. If you were going to move one to Spring in KY, why not boys?

Gee, I can't imagine why there might be a shortage of refs. Having been to a gazillion soccer games over the last 20+ yrs. and seeing how parents, and various other spectator's treat the refs during a game, it makes sense to me way they might be having a tough time getting people to subject themselves {for very little monetary compensation} to that crazy nonsense. Just sayin.

From the refs I have had the chance to talk to the KHSAA does a poor job of supporting officials in almost any way. Making it increasingly cumbersome to be a high school Referee. Particularly with soccer. Someone told me they have restrictions on jersey brands they can buy so those that do Ussf and high school have to own two sets of shirts. What sense does that make?

So they're {refs} getting it from all sides. Like I said, can't imagine why the KHSAA is having a hard time getting refs. It's really too bad. The refs try so hard to do a good job!

Would be awful for the H.S. version of the sport if the season moved. The players with interest in playing college soccer would not play H.S. (at least in NKY). College coaches recruit club. If OH, IN, MI, IL all play move H.S. to the spring, then the move makes sense. If KY kids miss all the spring showcases, how does that benefit the players? You are forcing them to travel much further to find states to play in U15-U18 fall showcases for college coaches. Someone will have to show me how this benefits the players.

 

You are still splitting the refs with club, the move would make the shortage worse. Spring would have boys club, girls club, and H.S.

 

Reducing the max # of games from 21 to 18 would make a lot of sense. Reduce the number of refs needed by 10% and you offer players more recovery time. Not perfect, but it helps. Quite a few teams play 20-21 games.

Would be awful for the H.S. version of the sport if the season moved. The players with interest in playing college soccer would not play H.S. (at least in NKY). College coaches recruit club. If OH, IN, MI, IL all play move H.S. to the spring, then the move makes sense. If KY kids miss all the spring showcases, how does that benefit the players? You are forcing them to travel much further to find states to play in U15-U18 fall showcases for college coaches. Someone will have to show me how this benefits the players.

 

You are still splitting the refs with club, the move would make the shortage worse. Spring would have boys club, girls club, and H.S.

 

Reducing the max # of games from 21 to 18 would make a lot of sense. Reduce the number of refs needed by 10% and you offer players more recovery time. Not perfect, but it helps. Quite a few teams play 20-21 games.

 

How has the split affected recruiting in the states that already split the seasons?

I can't speak intelligently about the recruiting in AL,GA, VA, and TN. What I do know is like most sports, KY does not have a ton of Division 1 players relative to other states. The kids need to be playing in major cities in neighboring states.

 

You eliminate the opportunity for KY kids to be seen at Crossroads in Indy, Bluechip in Cincy, etc. The events have hundreds of college coaches and are filled with teams from LFC, Javanon, KFJ, NKSA, and Kings Hammer. Those kids will all have to travel to Atlanta, Raleigh, Memphis, Greenville S.C., etc. if high school moves to spring

It doesn't matter if it's Div. 1,2,3 to NAIA schools, these kids {boy's & girl's} have to travel everywhere to play & be seen. That's just the reality of Soccer. Staying close to home won't get it. If the player really has the talent, and want's to play in College, they travel ! Been there, done it. West Coast, East Coast, and everywhere in between. It's tedious, and very expensive. But hey, that's life.. right.

Power 5 Div 1, agree. Tons of kids have played mid to lower D1,and D2, and D3 without having to play every other game 5 hours away and going to CA and Vegas. Not saying it should be this way, but many families can pay $2-3k to get their kids noticed. Having to pay 4-5 times that, and miss many days of school is an entirely different level of commitment of both time and money. KY kids would be forced to do that or not play H.S. if the state went to spring high school soccer.

I can't speak intelligently about the recruiting in AL,GA, VA, and TN. What I do know is like most sports, KY does not have a ton of Division 1 players relative to other states. The kids need to be playing in major cities in neighboring states.

 

You eliminate the opportunity for KY kids to be seen at Crossroads in Indy, Bluechip in Cincy, etc. The events have hundreds of college coaches and are filled with teams from LFC, Javanon, KFJ, NKSA, and Kings Hammer. Those kids will all have to travel to Atlanta, Raleigh, Memphis, Greenville S.C., etc. if high school moves to spring

 

I agree with what you are saying, except I see a different outcome. You are right about the conflict it creates.

 

You are assuming the kids will chose to play high school soccer and skip all of the local exposure opportunities. I think it is the opposite. The better players are going to quit high school soccer for the sake of being available to play in the Spring Showcases.

 

I don't even see it being that close of a decision. To play club soccer in the fall is not easy to do I think you even underestimated your "5 hours away" comment. There would not be any (many) teams in a 5 hour radius playing high level fall club soccer.

 

The Development Academy is already creeping in on the Northern KY High School teams and pulling kids out of KHSAA soccer. Some kids are playing DA as far away as Lexington.

 

Moving soccer to spring would in essence be the end of high level soccer in KHSAA.

My niece was a pretty good High school soccer player. She Was asked to play on a club team and if she did 'she would play in college'. But she would have to forfeit playing for her HS team.

She did not want to give up the High School experience.

Ended up playing at Transy for a year than went to UK and played on their club team for a year, than decided it wasn't worth it and gave up the game.

It's really kinda' sad what has happened to boy's & girls soccer because of how much emphasis is put on playing club ball in the "off-season". When exactly is the "off-season" ? These kids are playing year-round, and never really get a break, absent an injury. Then they hear {during the injury down-time}, you better suck-it-up cause Mom & I are paying a fortune for your club fee's, training, travel, games, etc. Unfortunately, this is the mindset of sports today. Grab the golden ring, at any cost. Like it, or not. How was this allowed to happen ? Hey, that's a topic for another discussion. Anyway, try and have fun boy's and girl's. Good luck this season, whichever that may be.

I understand all the recruiting concerns. But, again, almost half the states in the country play girls soccer in the spring. Do their girls just not play college soccer? And considering over 90% of girls high school soccer players don’t play college soccer (and 98% don’t play D1), is it really that big of a deal? Yes there are some that might have to make a decision. But the to vast majority, this won’t have any affect, since a college scholarship is simply isn’t going to be on the table.

I believe that in all the states that border KY both boys and girls HS soccer is a Fall sport except in TN boys soccer is in the Spring. If you were going to move one to Spring in KY, why not boys?

 

I don’t know numbers, but it could be related to participation. I don’t know how many schools have girls freshman soccer, but many schools have freshman boys teams. I think moving the girls (if my assumption is correct), would impact a smaller number of athletes.

I understand all the recruiting concerns. But, again, almost half the states in the country play girls soccer in the spring. Do their girls just not play college soccer? And considering over 90% of girls high school soccer players don’t play college soccer (and 98% don’t play D1), is it really that big of a deal? Yes there are some that might have to make a decision. But the to vast majority, this won’t have any affect, since a college scholarship is simply isn’t going to be on the table.

 

And those are the girls I am thinking about most - those girls who will not play on the next level. If those girls (the 90%+) want to play other sports in addition to soccer, is it better for soccer to be in the spring or the fall? That is the key question for me.