The Division I Women's Soccer Committee studied current sponsorship numbers as well as probable membership expansion at its annual meeting January 31-February 4 in Indianapolis with an eye toward future bracket expansion.

Current sponsorship for the sport stands at 262 institutions, and the committee expects an eight- to 10-team increase this fall. In light of the increase, the committee hopes to receive an invitation from the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet to submit a bracket-expansion proposal in the near future.

In addition to studying potential bracket growth, the committee also spent a good deal of its meeting discussing current championship issues, including a request to the Championships/Competition Cabinet to seed the top 16 teams in the current bracket. The committee believes seeding the top 16 teams will preserve the integrity of the bracket. This request has been supported by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Regarding selections for the 2000 championship, the committee determined that selections will be made Sunday, November 5. The committee will recommend that the selection show not begin before 9 p.m. Eastern time. The committee will notify the membership that results not received by 4 p.m. Eastern time may not be considered for selection purposes.

Automatic qualification

In matters pertaining to the administration of preliminary-round games, the committee determined that sites without lights will be required to set game times to allow for a four-hour-daylight window.

The committee also agreed to create two new guides for preliminary-round competition, including a committee operations manual and a preliminary-round host manual.

The committee also reviewed potential legislation that may impact the requirements necessary for a conference to receive automatic qualification into a Division I championship.

The current legislation (Bylaw 31.3.5.2) demands that an eligible conference must be a member conference for two consecutive academic years, must conduct competition in the sport for two consecutive years and must have at least six members sponsor the sport.

Proposed legislation, however, could change the bylaw to provide automatic qualification to a member conference consisting of six "core" institutions that satisfy continuity of membership.

In this legislation, core refers to an active Division I member institution with eight consecutive years of membership.

Continuity of membership requires that a minimum of six core institutions have conducted conference competition together in Division I the past two years.

There would be no exceptions to the two-year waiting period.

Recommendations regarding automatic-qualification requirements currently are in draft form and are in the comment stage in the legislative cycle. The Division I Management Council is scheduled to review the package in April.

The women's soccer committee considered the effect on the women's soccer championship should the proposals be adopted. Currently, the committee recommended 22 automatic qualifiers with four conferences involved in play-ins.

Should the proposed legislation pass, this would allow the Mountain West Conference to be eligible for an automatic bid.

With the addition of the Mountain West Conference, the women's soccer committee would change its recommendation to 21 automatic qualifiers with six conferences participating in play-in games.

Other highlights

Division I Women's Soccer Committee
January 31-February 4/Indianapolis

* Identified a need to solicit additional administrators to serve as site representatives at preliminary-round games. Information on serving as a site representative will be sent to conference offices and senior woman administrators.

* Recommended that in preliminary-round competition, the precompetition meetings will be held the night before the game. With this recommendation having a potential financial impact on those teams that may choose to travel on the day of the game, this recommendation will be forwarded to the Championships/Competition Cabinet for approval.

* Noted that the current bid time line did not allow potential host cities sufficient time to prepare adequate marketing and promotions plans. In an effort to provide cities with more time to prepare these plans, the committee determined that the bid proposals for the 2003 and 2004 championships would be solicited between June and November of 2000.

* Heard three in-person presentations from potential host cities for the 2001 and 2002 championships. The committee will make its final recommendation to the cabinet on the sites of the 2001 and 2002 championships in July.