CCIW

[GoThunder1]

All,

Let's be very clear here - there are 2 drivers for having a large roster.

1. Revenue for the school. There is not a single sport in D3 that is profitable. Therefore, the only way to generate the necessary revenue to make athletics sustainable is to bring in X kids per year, that otherwise wouldn't have attended said University. It is common practice for there to be "quotas" on coaches for the amount of kids that are brought in each year.

2. The more kids on the roster, the larger the budget provided by the Athletic Department. If NPU budgets $1k per athlete, per season (meals, transportation, jerseys, etc) - and you know that your JV players are only going to cost you say $500 each due to their limited travel/schedule - it allows you to funnel that money into the "varsity" budget - or perhaps, limiting the amount of fund raising needed. Also, the more kids you have, the more you are able to justify additional coaches. The JV teams are only playing 8-10 games per year and only practicing 2-3x per week, so if it allows you to add an additional assistant, it makes tons of sense.

Remember, everything is always tied back to the bottom line.

[Gregory Sager]

It isn't at the schools with which you're familiar, such as Kenyon and the NESCAC schools, but those schools are in a different category in terms of finances and applicant pools ...

I do think even the NESCAC schools are using athletics for enrollment management purposes, but it is not so much about finding students as it is about finding male students.

That's an interesting observation. I would think that some of the NESCAC schools would have a hard time finding new sports to add, though. I can't imagine that there's a male sport in which Williams doesn't field a team, unless somebody else is playing darts or yacht racing or kick-the-can as an intercollegiate sport.

As for varsity bass fishing, I think many of the colleges and universities that have added (or are looking to add) eSports as an admissions tool should also look at bass fishing.

I should point out that I wasn't making fun of Adrian or of bass fishing. It's just so ... unexpected to see it offered as an intercollegiate sport.

And while I agree that eSports is a big up-and-coming thing, with more and more D3 schools devoting resources to add state-of-the-art gaming centers as a draw for prospective students, quite honestly the last thing that I think Gen Z students ought to be doing is spending more time at the computer. When all is said and done, the best things that soccer offers young people are fresh air and sunshine ... and genuine real-world interaction with their peers.

Bass fishing could be perfect for a small college or university, especially rural institutions, as a way to add students if they can fundraise properly.

I certainly agree. And it would be in keeping with other regionally-based intercollegiate sports such as ski jumping, rodeo, lumberjack sports, etc.

[Gregory Sager]

All,

Let's be very clear here - there are 2 drivers for having a large roster.

1. Revenue for the school. There is not a single sport in D3 that is profitable. Therefore, the only way to generate the necessary revenue to make athletics sustainable is to bring in X kids per year, that otherwise wouldn't have attended said University. It is common practice for there to be "quotas" on coaches for the amount of kids that are brought in each year.

2. The more kids on the roster, the larger the budget provided by the Athletic Department. If NPU budgets $1k per athlete, per season (meals, transportation, jerseys, etc) - and you know that your JV players are only going to cost you say $500 each due to their limited travel/schedule - it allows you to funnel that money into the "varsity" budget - or perhaps, limiting the amount of fund raising needed. Also, the more kids you have, the more you are able to justify additional coaches. The JV teams are only playing 8-10 games per year and only practicing 2-3x per week, so if it allows you to add an additional assistant, it makes tons of sense.

Remember, everything is always tied back to the bottom line.

Good points. And I'd add that money can also be saved on JV competitions themselves, as opposed to varsity competitions -- fewer game staff, fewer in-house resources used, etc. I do play-by-play for nine NPU sports, but I haven't called a JV game in any of them for six or seven years now. The school doesn't bother webstreaming them. I don't think that any CCIW school webstreams or televises JV games. JV basketball games typically only have two referees rather than three. A varsity football game requires a minimum of six people in the press box alone, while I've seen three press-box game staff do all of the work in a JV football game. For JV soccer games at North Park, the only paid game staff aside from the refs, the trainer, and the sideline ball fetchers are the SID and his GA, neither of whom get paid on a per-game basis.

[WUPHF]

I should point out that I wasn't making fun of Adrian or of bass fishing. It's just so ... unexpected to see it offered as an intercollegiate sport.

I figured as much.

I looked at the list of colleges that host bass fishing and Adrian is definitely an outlier.

There must be some back story to it.

And while I agree that eSports is a big up-and-coming thing, with more and more D3 schools devoting resources to add state-of-the-art gaming centers as a draw for prospective students, quite honestly the last thing that I think Gen Z students ought to be doing is spending more time at the computer. When all is said and done, the best things that soccer offers young people are fresh air and sunshine ... and genuine real-world interaction with their peers.

No kidding.

I think in 10 years, colleges will have addiction specialists and other initiatives that work only with device addiction and such.

I certainly agree. And it would be in keeping with other regionally-based intercollegiate sports such as ski jumping, rodeo, lumberjack sports, etc.

Lumberjack as a collegiate sport.  I love it.

[Gregory Sager]

The d3soccer.com preseason poll is out. North Park is slotted at #12, but NPU is the only CCIW program to get a notice. I was thinking that Carthage might at least get an "Other Teams of Interest" nod.

[PaulNewman]

I appreciate the discussion above.

My overall take is that there is an institutional viewpoint (based on institutional needs) and an individual applicant/student/recruit viewpoint.

I know you guys are right that at least a good portion of D3 schools have to come up with such strategies, but it still strikes as a bit counter-intuitive....the division where athletics is supposed to be less important and less of a driver of the whole school actually promoting recruit quotas and the like for revenue with the other sort of counter-intuitive idea that schools where sports generate zero revenue make athletics important as a way to gain revenue.

Anyway, as a parent, and that is the viewpoint I was coming from, I can't see letting my kids pick a school based solely on soccer.  Now perhaps this exposes real New England elitism, but the general rule of thumb has been "don't pick a school that you don't think you'll be happy at (and have other good reasons to attend) if the soccer doesn't pan out).

[Gregory Sager]

In their final scrimmage before starting regular-season play this coming Wednesday, North Park fell to Lewis, 3-2. Despite the final score, it was a very encouraging afternoon for NPU. The Vikings put more shots on frame than did the Flyers, and -- most importantly -- while the NPU coaching staff treated it as a scrimmage, the Lewis coach definitely did not. Kris Grahn and his staff determined before the scrimmage that they weren't going to play their starters more than 75 minutes, and the only starter who actually got anywhere close to that total (aside from GK Edin Sabovic) was left back Arian Cindahl. NPU ended up using 20 players, and there were no starters out there other than Sabovic in crunch time. Lewis, on the other hand, only used what is obviously going to be the rotation total of 15 players; there were nine Flyers starters still on the pitch when the final horn sounded.

Lewis, which was in the D2 Final Four nine seasons ago and the D2 Sweet Sixteen six years ago, hasn't been much to look at lately on that level, and they aren't picked very high in the GLVC preseason poll, either. But the Flyers did return seven starters, and they had a marked experience advantage on the Vikings. In terms of their combination of speed, size, and technique, Lewis definitely fit the bill as a scholarship team. But the Vikings basically played them even.

Stulen, Khoury, and Kemkers once again didn't suit up, although I expect the first two to be in uniform at Albion on Wednesday, with Kemkers to follow a week or so later.

This was a great test for the Vikings, especially as a final tune-up before the games count. I hope that they can make a friendly against Lewis into an annual occasion.

[Gotberg]

Thanks Greg - who scored the goals for NP?

[Gregory Sager]

The big news to come out of this weekend is probably Carthage's two losses in New Jersey. The Red Men lost at Rutgers-Camden yesterday afternoon, 1-0, and at Rowan today, as the Profs prevailed in OT, 4-3. The Red Men return home from the Garden State finding themselves immediately behind the eight-ball in terms of Pool C, and they still have to face a pretty decent Macalester squad and then Calvin and Hope before they even come to CCIW play. Today's result makes the upcoming September 15 visit by Rowan to North Park all the more intriguing.

Wheaton destroyed Wittenberg yesterday, 5-0; in just about any other sport I'll call that a shocking result, but men's soccer seems to be the one sport in which Wittenberg is characteristically subpar.

Illinois Wesleyan split a pair, losing at Calvin yesterday, 2-1, despite outshooting the Knights by 7 (4) to 6 (2), and then beating Kalamazoo on the home pitch of the Hornets today, 2-1, on a golden goal seven minutes deep into second OT, in spite of the fact that the Titans were badly outshot, 21 (12) to 12 (7) and had to play a man down from the 82nd minute onward after Zach Kokes, who had scored the first Wesleyan goal, drew a red card.

Millikin beat Principia down in Elsah, 1-0, on a Trey Knighton tally in the 57th minute. The interesting thing there is that the reigning All-CCIW first-team goalkeeper, Isaac Hopper, didn't play. In fact, Hopper isn't even on the roster anymore -- and he still has a year of eligibility left.

The rest of the results around the league were dismal. North Central fell at Rose-Hulman yesterday, 1-0, spoiling Enzo Fuschino's debut as the head coach of the Cardinals. Augustana lost at Thorson-Lucken Field to Simpson yesterday by a 2-0 score; the Storm played a man down for the last thirteen-plus minutes after losing a player to a red card, but Augie couldn't take advantage of it. All-CCIW midfielder Salah Aglaf didn't play for Augie, although he's still on the roster. Elmhurst lost at St. Norbert yesterday, 2-0. And Carroll blew a 1-0 lead it had held deep into the second half at Dubuque, losing 2-1 as a result of a man-advantage winning goal by the Spartans after CU's Teegan Van Gheem had been sent off with a red card.

[Gregory Sager]

Thanks Greg - who scored the goals for NP?

NPU got tallies from Gustav Ericsson, on a beautiful through pass up the middle by Patrick Knap, and from William Sandkvist, who banged home a five-yard rebound after a Peder Olsen shot had proved too hot for the Lewis keeper to handle on the save.

[tjcummingsfan]

I watched a bit of the Elmhurst v Wittenberg and Wheaton v St. Norbert yesterday.  So here are some very simple observations. 

The Elmhurst and Wittenberg game was tough to watch.  It was so scattered and chaotic.  I don't remember seeing either team string together more than 3-4 passes.  Maybe that's just some early season challenges of not gelling as a team yet, but it wasn't impressive.  I suppose Elmhurst looked like the better team, but neither looked particularly impressive in that match. 

The Wheaton v St. Norbert match was much more enjoyable an much better soccer.  Both teams were pretty solid, it seemed to me.  When I first logged in, I thought SN had much better chances, and looked like the better side.  I think they were petty evenly matched despite the 4-1 score line.  Wheaton was gifted a penalty (that from my position 2000 miles away definitely didn't look like a foul), and SN missed the penalty shot that they were awarded.  Wheaton looked like a very physics team.  I'll be interested to see how they do against real solid teams like Ohio's wesleyan, Chicago, and Kenyon.  After what Greg mentioned about Carthage's poor start it's quite possible Wheaton May be the second best team in the CCIW (assuming NP is as good as I hope they are). 

[Gregory Sager]

North Central and Carroll each got into the win column with convincing three-goal victories today, as the Cardinals upended Ohio Northern, 3-0, at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium while the Pioneers buried Coe in Cedar Rapids, 5-2. That gets the CCIW up to a cumulative .500 (7-7) on the season and ends a bad weekend for the league on a high note.

[Gotberg]

It looks like Albion has a video stream for tonight's game against NPU:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icvjgu_gnQc

[Gotberg]

It looks like Albion has a video stream for tonight's game against NPU:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icvjgu_gnQc

Final  NPU 8, Albion 0.

7 goals in the second half
4 goals by Peder Olsen
3 goals after NPU cleared the bench

Also, congrats to Coach Grahn for his first win as a head coach for the Vikings.

[Gregory Sager]

I called the women's soccer game at NPU, so I only got to see the last ten minutes of this massacre. It would've been fun to see the whole thing. Nevertheless, I echo the congrats to Kris Grahn on his first head-coaching win. Incidentally, Shatil Khoury must still not be fully healthy yet, as he was a scratch. Starting right back William Bostrom-Rydfjall, who was limping after the Lewis scrimmage, was a scratch as well.

Everybody else was at home tonight. The only winner was Illinois Wesleyan, which knocked off Aurora, 3-1. Elmhurst and Dominican drew 1-1 at Langhorst, Millikin dropped a shutout loss to Knox at Lindsey, 2-0, and Concordia (WI) toppled Carroll at Schneider, 3-1.