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Post by THEGREATEST on Mar 5, 2006 13:38:08 GMT -6
Why couldn't ULL fund a men's soccer team...Everyone witnessed last night that they will have a good amount of support from fans, it could easily be a top 50 team in D1 soccer...here's what I think and I would like people to help me out here to try and understand why these guys can't support soccer....
ULL is one of many school throughout the state that has TOPS...This being said Tuition at ULL is $3,324.00 for two semsters of school. This being said TOPS pays on average about $2,600 for two semesters...ULL could work on a soccer program with only 5 scholarships if not less because I know the main reason that the really good players from around Louisiana don't play college soccer is because there isn't any places locally and they don't want to leave the state and pay $4,000 dollars to attend another school 800 miles away and play soccer...We'll if ULL had a soccer program students that qualified for TOPS would only pay $724 for tuition...I guarantee soccer players around the state would play college soccer at ULL if this was the situation....Then ontop of that if you have 5 scholarships you could grant 5 full funded scholarships to out of state soccer players...or divide it up into pieces and hand out parts it just depends on the coach...But I think ULL is a good candidate for COLLEGE SOCCER since it has such a low tuition, good fan base, they already have facilities....The only thing missing is a coach and I'm sure you can find one of those pretty easy...oh yeah and approval from the director ;D....
Just take a second and think about all of the great players that have the ability to play at a top tier soccer program but don't get that opportunity because they aren't seen, don't want to leave home, or don't have the money...The Coaches wouldn't even have to travel out of state to find talent because there is enough here in Louisiana that get unnoticed that are easy and then they can fight for the ones that are debating about other bigger schools...and I guarantee ULL could fight for recruits all around Louisiana with other bigger college programs....If you have 19 players on the team you could field a 15 player Louisiana team and find 4 really good players from out of state and almost everyone would have a full ride....
Another thing is that with MLS coming to ULL could help show the directors that soccer in Louisiana is growing and same with the High School soccer finals...You can't sit here and tell me that they will not make money off of soccer if they even have half the turn out they will at the MLS game and High School soccer finals.....Its incredible, can be a great thing for soccer around here and I wish ULL will work on a soccer program in the next 4 years...
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Post by Mung on Mar 5, 2006 13:55:08 GMT -6
Then you'd have to fund a women's sport with an equal number of scholarships, and who would they play? Few other colleges in the state have teams. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see every school have a men's team, but title IX makes these non-revenue sports impossible to support. Football and basketball tend to be the only money makers(except at LSU where baseball breaks even or makes a little), and they support every other men's and women's sports.
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Post by THEGREATEST on Mar 5, 2006 14:16:51 GMT -6
so why can't they add some small b.s. womens sport like gymnastics or field hockey
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Post by on Mar 5, 2006 14:18:08 GMT -6
i'd love to see it too BUT ULL has the smallest or second to smallest athletic buget in all of Div I schools. there is no way the rest of the athletic dept would support another sport there. the cost to players is just a small part of having soccer there. they would have to have a coaching staff, travel expences and other cost that this university can't and won't spend. i wish it could happen but don't look for it in the near futher.
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Post by happyjack on Mar 5, 2006 14:21:47 GMT -6
it's not as easy as it sounds. soccer is considered a major sport, so if you start a mens major sport, you either must cut one for the men, or add a women's. adding mens soccer and womens swimming is a major sport/minor, so it would not work. soccer, football, base/softball, basketball, and track are the major sports. you used to be able to claim indoor track and outdoor track as 2 sports, but no longer, they are now one
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hunter_killer
All-District
Forza Steaua represented at LSU!
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Post by hunter_killer on Mar 5, 2006 16:10:46 GMT -6
Considering Lafyette has the best division in the state ULL should consider making a men soccer team. The only team in the state is Louisiana College in Alexandria b/c I'm considering to transfer there for the fall from LSU to help the program. I would like to see a men team anywhere across I-10. With that being said I mean either one in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafyette or Lake Charles. I am working hard with the people at LSU to start a team but I guess they don't want yet a team in town.
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Post by takeitdowntown1 on Mar 5, 2006 19:03:22 GMT -6
I do agree that Lafayette will support a Men's Soccer program. I would love to see them get one and I don't even like ULL. I am an LSU fan and since it is not feasible over here, I would support a ULL team and attend some of the games. However, I don't think you will be able to field a team, that will be competitive, consisting mainly of LA players. There are some good players in LA but not enough to be a competitive D1 program. Not many players in LA have gone on to play for top D1 programs so I think we will need to recruit out of state. Since ULL is relatively inexpensive, I think it would be easy to recruit.
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Post by chillcrunk on Mar 5, 2006 19:37:41 GMT -6
centenary in shreveport has a mens team
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Post by LafUnited on Mar 6, 2006 12:35:09 GMT -6
Yeah, ranked #197 out of 197 current D-1 programs by Soccerrating.com----They need to drop down to at least D-2 or to D-3. Programs like this that struggle hurt any chance for ULL to consider soccer. Success breeds success and that is what the ULL board will look at first. centenary in shreveport has a mens team
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Post by numbertwo on Mar 6, 2006 20:11:02 GMT -6
can someone explain what programs high schools have to be able to have a boys soccer program, what girls sport did they add to keep the numbers even
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Post by happyjack on Mar 6, 2006 20:22:26 GMT -6
high school is not impacted by title IX
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Post by coachray40 on Mar 7, 2006 11:26:38 GMT -6
Every year this time passion spills over for those to make the request for more college soccer in LA. Last year it was LSU, this year ULL. Its not going to happen at any Division I school in LA, now or ever. Besides the obvious title IX reasons, heres the financial ones:
1)Start up money for a program right now would run about $250,000 minimum--thats a lot of dough. Isnt going to come from within the schools athletic department, and wont come from the state legislature in a post Katrina Louisiana. Possibly a private benefactor could be found, but where will next years budget come from?
2) Next years budget--thats right, it will take an additional $100,000-250,000/year to keep the program afloat. Scholarships, training, lights, insurance, coaches salaries, travel requirements, recruiting, and equipment costs will balloon a minimal programs budget. Success will be determined by the amount of money spent on the program. Look at Centenary--not much money spent, #197 out of 197 D1 programs. A midlevel D1 HS program in LA costs $7000-10,000 to run when you consider all the costs including percentages on field upkeep, lights, training equipment, insurance, vehicles for travel(and fuel), fees, officials, tournaments, andmost schools dont have paid coaches (or those that do get whopping salaries for sure--NOT!)
3) Everybody says"Oh well look at the crowds for the state finals", "look at the crowd for the MLS game--we could support the team", "they'd make money, I would go to the games". Truth be told...NO. The State finals and the MLS games are novelty items that bring in good crowds (2000-3500). An average Friday night or Sunday afternoon college game in Lafayette will bring in maybe 250--500 max. We all swear we would go on a Friday night, but if a party comes up, or a concert or something else, then the average young fan will rationalize "Well I went to the game two weeks ago, I'm going to miss this one and go to the party". The novelty will wear off and the crowds will diminish. Think not? Can you say Swampcats? Or Bombers? Everybody was going to go to those games, "we can support them in this area", I'll get season tickets".....how long did that last? Once the initial novelty wears off, and the sport is no longer revenue generating(not that it ever was), it becomes another drag on a financially depleted athletic deparment.
3) When you begin to realize that almost all Athletic departments rely on football to fund the rest of the sports, and only the big departments make much money, you'll see why most schools dont want a $100,000 a year drain on their economics that cant be recouped. ULL football program isnt exactly overfilling the coffers right now, and athletics at ULL is probably break even at best. Any money made will go into upgrading football facilities first, so dont look for the soccer handout.
As you can see, none of this is about players or desire--its about money and the ability to fund a program. In a gender equity based atmosphere, the desire to take on this kind of burden makes no sense to any Athletic Director at any school. Right now our state is looking to find a way to pay $2.1 billion back in FEMA contributions to the Federal Government that it is obligated by law to do. Our $150,000,000 monthly notes (thats not a typo) became due at the end of January, and LA hasnt paid the first one yet (Its March people) Once LA becomes 90 days delinquent on these payments (we will), Federal matching funds will be revoked--this translates in money for Roads, Hospitals and education. The Education part of this equation will most likely cause the reduction or elimination of TOPS. Now would you like ULL to fund a soccer program, or help you find a way to pay for your college education? Most voting taxpayers would choose the latter.
Lets go and enjoy the level of soccer available to us, support our schools and club programs, and put our energy into things that are more tangible.
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Post by DREDG03 on Mar 7, 2006 12:16:26 GMT -6
i think this horse has been beaten before.
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Post by coachray40 on Mar 7, 2006 12:28:31 GMT -6
Dead as Mr ED
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Post by on Mar 7, 2006 12:56:18 GMT -6
Mr. Eds dead? when did this happen?
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Post by coachray40 on Mar 7, 2006 13:04:27 GMT -6
While back goat--you must have been so busy establishing Lafayatte as the center of the universe that you missed it
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Post by on Mar 7, 2006 18:56:39 GMT -6
man i'm sorry i missed that! i really liked that horse! coachray your post is right on ULL doesn't have the money or the support from the athletic dept. to start a mens soccer program. i wish it wasn't so but it is. i think we should do what you said support what we do have and make the most of it.
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Post by usasoccerboy on Mar 8, 2006 17:45:58 GMT -6
Believe it or not, before the USA qualified for the world cup in 90, during the lull period when there was no professional soccer in america, Louisiana had three good Division I soccer programs in the state. The three schools that played were Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, University of New Orleans, and University of Louisiana Monroe which at that time was called Northeast Lousiana.
There were severe budget cuts in those days to the colleges and they got rid of the programs. The one at Nicholls State was very successfull. ULL (USL) never did have a Division I team.
One thing you guys forget is that the budget at these schools is already weak. The schools do not realise that you can at least break even with soccer; whereas other sports they carry have no chance of generating revenue (i.e. golf). And, for college soccer to plant itself back into Louisiana, you need multiple schools, as well as multiple schools in neighboring states, like Mississippi, in order that your travel budget during away games is not astronomical.
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Post by justanotherperson on Mar 11, 2006 21:00:04 GMT -6
The SunBelt, which is the confrence that UL is in, does not have mens soccer.
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Post by acmilan on Mar 11, 2006 22:47:14 GMT -6
lol
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