Louisiana Soccer 2015

[ulforlife]

Louisiana isn't a soccer hotbed, not even an air mattress. Every few blue moon the state produces a national team caliber player, male or female.

We can always do like Akron and go all in for one of the soccer programs and maybe get a NC like they did. But it forced Akron to give up baseball.

Not justifying the results, soccer is a very expensive sport if you're going to recruit and compete, and doesn't have a great rate of return. Refineryville (our unfortunate Louisiana benchmark) has 8 international players from multiple continents. They are usually competitive/good but they don't sniff the NCAA college cup in the fall. I'd like to see our program do better, but I know our conference champ usually is first round fodder. Our league doesn't have the money.

That and title IX is why UL won't field a men's team other than a club team. The kids that play give up their weekends where they could be tailgating or whatever. As with any sport, it's the love of the game.

Great summary. I for one would love to see UL soccer compete for a conference championship. I think Scott does well in trying to attract talent from around the country to play here, I've known (and played with) a number of girls on the team over the years and they are good players. I am not convinced though that we shouldn't always be beating Southeastern and Nichols.

[MetryCajun]

The UL soccer team seems to fit the Farmer Sun Belt model well: very comfortable where it is.

This post seems to fit the ragin pagin model well: complaining about a setback and blaming the AD.

[cajun4life]

This post seems to fit the ragin pagin model well: complaining about a setback and blaming the AD.

Scott is the soccer coach.

[MetryCajun]

Scott is the soccer coach.

I know. Reread the post.

[ulforlife]

This post seems to fit the ragin pagin model well: complaining about a setback and blaming the AD.

When did I blame the AD?

[ZoomZoom]

Losing in ANY sport to Nicholls is totally unacceptable. Even a game of jacks.

SLU is becoming the new UNO. They are competitive at that level.

[MetryCajun]

The UL soccer team seems to fit the Farmer Sun Belt model well: very comfortable where it is.

I guess I incorrectly thought you were comparing a loss and the direction of our soccer team to the direction of our AD. My bad.

[CajunEXPRESS]

I have been reading the bios, of our soccer coach, and truly expect a lot, and volley ball too. If that is not accurate I would be very disappointed. I mean the USF bio on Harris is glowing, and we are buying into it with gusto.

[jcstewart]

The kids that play give up their weekends where they could be tailgating or whatever. As with any sport, it's the love of the game.

Many parents as well, myself included.

[ManAboutTown]

Louisiana isn't a soccer hotbed, not even an air mattress. Every few blue moon the state produces a national team caliber player, male or female.

We can always do like Akron and go all in for one of the soccer programs and maybe get a NC like they did. But it forced Akron to give up baseball.

Not justifying the results, soccer is a very expensive sport if you're going to recruit and compete, and doesn't have a great rate of return. Refineryville (our unfortunate Louisiana benchmark) has 8 international players from multiple continents. They are usually competitive/good but they don't sniff the NCAA college cup in the fall. I'd like to see our program do better, but I know our conference champ usually is first round fodder. Our league doesn't have the money.

That and title IX is why UL won't field a men's team other than a club team. The kids that play give up their weekends where they could be tailgating or whatever. As with any sport, it's the love of the game.

Over the last 10-15 years, LA has definitely come a long way. May not be a hot bed, but its not bad either. Hell, the Bradley's are from Louisiana!