The Division I Men's and Women's Soccer Committees are exploring the possibility of a combined championship site as early as the 2006 College Cups. Both groups discussed the concept at their February 9-13 meetings in Indianapolis.

Division II has gone to the combined-site approach already, and Division III announced it would begin the practice in 2004 (see story, page 12), but Division I has held its men's and women's soccer finals at different sites ever since the women's championship began in 1982.

"The advantage of a combined site is that it presents an opportunity to increase the exposure for the sport by showcasing two premier events on the same weekend," said Jeffery E. Cupps, senior associate director of athletics at Virginia Commonwealth University and chair of the men's soccer committee. "It's also a chance to conduct some advance marketing and allow those administering the event to be more prepared and efficient."

The 2004 Men's and Women's College Cups will be held at Carson, California, and Cary, North Carolina, respectively. The 2005 Men's College Cup already is slated for Cary, North Carolina, while the women's committee has recommended a site for 2005 to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and is waiting for approval. Thus, the 2006 season would be the first opportunity for a combined championship.

Committee members plan on meeting with ESPN representatives to discuss the feasibility of the combined event as well. The potential format could be for the women's championship to be conducted Friday and Sunday, with the men's championship semifinals and final being held Saturday and Monday.

The men's and women's soccer committees also are funneling the concept through the National Soccer Coaches Association of America to garner feedback from Division I head men's and women's coaches. The committees will have a joint conference call later this spring and could be ready to make a recommendation for the cabinet's June meeting. The bid process could start shortly thereafter, and in-person bid presentations would be made at the committees' 2005 meeting.

Men's committee actions

In addition to working on future site selection, the men's and women's committees conducted separate meetings throughout the week. Among actions the men's committee took was to establish start times for the 2004 semifinals and final. The group determined that the semifinals would be conducted at either 6 and 8:30 local time or 7 and 9:30 local time December 10. The Men's College Cup final would be at noon or 1 December 12. These times are contingent upon discussions with ESPN, which will once again broadcast the events.

The men's committee also voted to allow additional nonparticipating student-athletes on the bench. This does not affect the maximum travel party of 24 (teams can choose to have any number of that 24 suit up and participate in warm-ups, but only 18 can be designated to play). The additional nonparticipants would need to purchase tickets, and they must be on the team's official roster in order to qualify.

In other actions, the men's committee:

Recommended that officials selected to work the tournament must have officiated at least six regular-season games. Currently, officials selected for the championship are required to have worked at least 10 regular-season games. The committee is recommending this change in an attempt to broaden the pool of available and qualified officials.

Discussed but took no action on a proposal to eliminate or decrease the minimum financial guarantee for hosts of preliminary-round games. More information is being gathered and the committee will conduct a conference call this spring to determine if any changes will be made for the 2004 championship.

Determined that a format change will be recommended for the 2004 and 2005 championships in which the second-round Wednesday game would be moved to Tuesday. The current format calls for first-round games to be held either Friday or Saturday, November 19 or 20, then for the second-round game to be November 24, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This would be for a two-year period only, in order to avoid playing a Wednesday game before Thanksgiving. With the championship beginning a week earlier in 2006, the Wednesday game will be played the week before Thanksgiving week.

Discussed the possibility of permitting air transportation for officials in the second and third rounds, if necessary. Currently, air transportation is not an option until the quarterfinals. The committee will make this recommendation at the next available opportunity, which is September 2005 (to be implemented wth the 2006 championship at the earliest).

Women's committee actions

The women's soccer committee also reviewed television start times for the 2004 championship and recommended that the semifinals be conducted at 4 and 7:30 local time December 3. Committee members also recommended that one semifinal be televised live and the other tape-delayed. The 2003 semifinals were both shown live on Friday and the committee felt that the first game did not reach as broad an audience as possible.

In other actions, the women's committee:

Recommended that all score reporting be done online.

Voted that the home team bench used all year be designated as the home bench in the tournament. Also, the committee will designate the home teams in the first and second rounds.

Agreed that the RPI will be released twice next year, once immediately after tournament selections and again after the first of the year. This is the same practice used by the men's committee.