The Division III Men's and Women's Soccer Committees discussed automatic qualification and regional alignment during their annual meetings February 1-4 in Indianapolis.

Though the committees conducted separate meetings, part of the time was spent in a joint meeting during which the groups reviewed the automatic-qualification procedure and selection criteria established by the Division III Championships Committee.

Both committees plan on having a joint meeting annually to share information and to discuss the possibility of having combined championships in the future.

The combined championship discussion was fueled by the success of the combined Division II Men's and Women's Soccer Championships at Barry University last fall. Although no decisions were reached, the committees agreed that the interaction was a good step in opening up channels of communication, specifically in avoiding site-selection conflicts during the championships. The committees hope to prevent the selection of duplicate sites for the same date of competition in all rounds of their championships.

Men's committee actions

With several new conferences forming, the men's committee discussed where new automatic qualifications would be awarded and how this may affect teams situated in Pools B and C in the allocation of berths to the championship.

The committee also discussed regional alignment, noting that the selection criteria emphasize the importance of in-region competition. It also voiced concerns of the impact on institutions situated in a region's border area.

The committee believes the in-region-play selection criterion creates a financial burden on those teams whose closest geographical competitors are located outside of its own region. Though the committee made no decision, it agreed to consider future regional realignment to address teams situated in border areas. The committee noted that any regional alignment discussion would continue to center on eliminating additional travel costs and missed class time.

The committee also discussed strength of schedule as a selection criterion and raised concern that the software for determining strength of schedule needs to be updated to reflect more accurately the criteria that the committee needs to identify selections into the bracket.

The committee reviewed the current championship format of having first-round games on the Wednesday after selections, particularly how that affects institutions that have written policies against Sunday competition. With the regionals held on the weekend after Wednesday's first round, those institutions are faced with playing a Friday-Saturday format, which presents a challenging time frame. The committee decided to maintain the current format for the first-round games, however, because moving the first-round games any earlier in the week was not feasible.

In other actions, the committee discussed the role of the games committee at championship sites and decided to make that a point of emphasis with its regional advisory committees in the fall. The committee wants the games committee to be a highly functional group with particular attention to issues of misconduct on the site of competition. The games committee may be looked at to develop recommendations for appropriate reprimands and will be responsible for gathering the facts of any misconduct issue forwarded to the soccer committee for review and penalty determination.

The committee also addressed the possibility of obtaining facility-evaluation forms immediately after a round of competition with the intent of using the information presented to make an informed decision in assigning sites for the next round of games.

In addition, the committee discussed implications of technological advancements made in synthetic grass-like surfaces. The committee deferred from making any decisions at this time pending a study that FIFA is conducting on the subject. The committee reviewed the information in response to concerns by schools considering the purchase of the newer surface and the impact that decision could have on hosting championship competition.

Women's committee actions

The women's committee looked at possible modifications to the existing selection criteria and forwarded a recommendation to the Division III Championships Committee to eliminate the primary selection criteria of results against teams already selected to the championship. The committee is concerned that these criteria may conflict with other primary selection criteria that emphasize in-region results.

Another recommendation the committee will forward to the championships committee is the elimination of the present restriction of permitting only 18 squad members to dress and warm up at a championship game. The committee, with support from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, would like to allow any number of student-athletes to dress and warm up with their team as long as the bench area does not exceed the 26-member limit, which includes coaches, managers, athletic trainers and team administrators. The 18 players listed on the roster and presented 30 minutes before game time would not be altered.

The committee also reviewed the strength-of-schedule criterion and noted that it does not accurately weigh the results. The committee would prefer to see some measure added to reflect that some wins are worth more than others and all wins should not be treated as identical. The committee feels the existing method does not provide an accurate strength-of-schedule index.

In other actions, the committee reviewed those applications submitted for automatic qualification and identified those teams that could qualify as Pool A candidates.

The committee also recommended the realignment of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference from the Great Lakes to the Central region, effective for 2001.