It was a coincidence that the 1999 Division II Men's and Women's Soccer Championships were at the same site. If the Division II Men's and Women's Soccer Committees have their say, however, combined championships might become an annual reality.

Four sites recently were selected to be considered between now and the annual soccer committee meetings in February as possibilities for a combined championship. Pointing to a successful combined championship weekend last year at Barry University, the committees had the opportunity to see first-hand how such a plan might work. And the results were overwhelmingly positive.

"We wanted to create more of a championship weekend atmosphere for the teams," said Gary R. Hamill, chair of the Division II Men's Soccer Committee and head men's soccer coach at Wingate University. "Last year was just a coincidence; it was just an off-chance that it happened. But I think both committees were very happy with the results."

The committees received proposals from six sites bidding to host the 2001 men's and women's finals. Each committee reviewed the bids and compromised on four that will be reviewed at the February 5-8, 2001, annual meetings in Phoenix.

Two campus sites and two cities made the finals: Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina; the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg; Sanford, Florida; and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"We've been impressed by several different bid possibilities," said Brian Purcell, chair of the Division II Women's Soccer Committee and head women's soccer coach at Presbyterian College. "Each site has its own characteristic, what's different about this place compared to that place. We're looking forward to getting representatives to our meeting in person to see how they differ. Right now, we've only been looking at pieces of paper."

Successful dry run

Barry wound up as dual host last year after both Buccaneers teams qualified for the national semifinals.

"The committees had been looking at the possibility of a combined championship, and with both Barry teams qualifying it just seemed to be a natural fit," said Nichole D. Manning, NCAA assistant director of championships. "It wasn't an automatic selection for Barry, but the committees liked having the opportunity to have a combined championship that would enhance the experience for the student-athletes."

All parties say the goals were met, with teams taking advantage of the off-days to watch the other tournament games taking place. Women's games were Wednesday and Friday; the men's games were Thursday and Saturday.

"Last year was positive in a couple of ways, sort of a dry run," Purcell said. "It increased the crowd size with fans of eight teams instead of four attending the games over the first two days. But it also resulted in the teams themselves befriending each other. For instance, the Fort Lewis men's and Cal Poly Pomona women's teams were each very vocal in their support of one another, as sort of the western representatives at the tournament. That was a neat thing that happened, and something I didn't expect."

Soccer's study of a joint championship would align it in Division II with cross country, swimming and diving, tennis, and indoor and outdoor track and field as championships for both genders at the same site. The other sites are predetermined for 2000, whereas Barry, located in Miami Shores, Florida, was a sudden and fortunate happening.

"We tried to create a festive environment for everyone," said Mike Covone, Barry's director of athletics. "And we feel it was a positive experience. We've hosted many, many championships, and that was a big part of our success."

Hamill agreed, and pointed to the possibility for enhancement if a site had more than eight days advance warning.

"Barry did a tremendous job on such last-minute notice," he said. "We're hoping to give eight to 10 months notice and see if that would help with promotion, set-up, those sort of things."

Lights and practice fields

Purcell added that the committees also plan to consider awarding multiple years to a host site, in hopes of heightening community involvement and spawning ancillary events such as Youth Education through Sports (YES) clinics. "At least that's an issue to be discussed," he said. "People generally are more interested in discussing two-year commitments, and community support often is better if you're talking about two years of hotel reservations instead of one."

He also noted the lessons learned at Barry, such as the need for practice fields and preference for a facility with lights. The two semifinal double-headers prevented workouts on the championship surface for teams not playing on those dates.

Still, Division II soccer could be peeking into a new era of its championship history. Many argue that a predetermined site suddenly lifts a championship on the rung of respectability.

"It's not 100 percent that we will pick a combined site," Hamill said. "But we are committed to finding the best possible location for this event, and I honestly think we will come to some arrangement on a joint effort. It's got a chance to be a great event."