The NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Soccer Committees are considering competition-date options for future championships that would accommodate schools with policies precluding their teams from playing on Sundays due to religious reasons.

Last year’s men’s and women’s championships – the first of a two-year run in Tampa’s Peppin Rood Stadium – were scheduled so that the men’s semifinals and final were on a Thursday-Saturday slate and the women’s on Friday-Sunday. One of the women’s semifinalists, though (Seattle Pacific), had a written policy against Sunday competition, prompting the committees to flip-flop the schedule so that the women’s semifinals and final would be played in the Thursday-Saturday slot.

While that was accomplished without much disruption to the participating teams or the host institution, the men’s and women’s committees nonetheless took steps to plan for similar situations should they occur in the future.

At their February 2-4 meetings in Indianapolis, the committee considered two options. One is to keep the Thursday-Saturday/Friday-Sunday format but not declare which gender gets which slot until the semifinalists are determined. The other is to adopt what the committee calls a “stacked” format in which all four semifinal games would be played on Thursday, with the two finals on Saturday.

The stacked option obviously renders the Sunday issue moot, but it could potentially stress the playing conditions with four games on one day – particularly if the weather is poor (however, committee members are pleased with the drainage capability at the Tampa facility). That option also requires the games to start earlier in the day, which some teams might not prefer.

Proponents of the stacked option, however, say that it could provide for a more exciting “festival-type” atmosphere with all eight teams competing on one day.

Supporters of the other option rely on its proven ability to work, since it is the format that has been applied historically in concurrent championships. The start times for the games also are more team- and crowd-friendly.

The committees expect to decide what they want to do for the 2009 championships later this winter or early spring.

In other action at the February meetings, the committees noted the NCAA’s new official-ball agreement with Wilson Sporting Goods. The Wilson NCAA Match Ball, to be used beginning with the 2009 championships, adds to the list of Wilson NCAA game balls in football, basketball and tennis.

The committees also made plans for more community engagement at next year’s championships – probably through an outreach effort rather than through on-campus clinics or events, given the space availability.

Both groups also recommended new chairs to the Division II Championships Committee once the current chairs’ terms end in August. The men’s committee recommended Lander men’s coach Van Taylor to replace Midwestern State Executive Associate Athletics Director Kurt Portmann, while the women’s committee recommended Kim Sutton of Cal State Chico to replace Montevallo’s Trish Hughes.