I recall reading an online article dealing with conference realignment and Virginia and thought it rather odd that one of the cons of Virginia joining the SEC was no varsity men's soccer and no men's or women's lacrosse.
I am not sure how popular lacrosse is in the Deep South (apparently it's popular enough for every SEC team to have a club lacrosse team) , but I know for a fact that soccer, both men's and women's, is a sport with growing popularity in the Deep South, and I really wonder why only Kentucky and South Carolina have men's varsity soccer.

(10-06-2022 02:20 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I recall reading an online article dealing with conference realignment and Virginia and thought it rather odd that one of the cons of Virginia joining the SEC was no varsity men's soccer and no men's or women's lacrosse.
I am not sure how popular lacrosse is in the Deep South (apparently it's popular enough for every SEC team to have a club lacrosse team) , but I know for a fact that soccer, both men's and women's, is a sport with growing popularity in the Deep South, and I really wonder why only Kentucky and South Carolina have men's varsity soccer.

Due to defections, C-USA no longer sponsors men’s soccer. It was a decent conference for soccer with some good rivalry games. S. Carolina and Kentucky are now SunBelt affiliates for soccer. So is West Virginia. Central Florida joins for soccer in 2023.

It is not clear what other SEC schools are planning to upgrade or implement soccer. It is my understanding that Alabama has moved to upgrade their program from club level. One may think that places such as Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Missouri, and Florida would consider it. If 5 or 6 schools did so, the SEC conference could have a formidable league in a short period of time. Some conferences, women’s soccer is better established.

I doubt lacrosse will get embraced in the SEC for a long time, if it ever happens. ACC schools, such as Virginia and Duke, value their lacrosse. It won’t control expansion decisions, but compatibility in sponsorships is a considered factor.

(10-06-2022 12:30 PM)OdinFrigg Wrote:  

(10-06-2022 02:20 AM)DawgNBama Wrote:  I recall reading an online article dealing with conference realignment and Virginia and thought it rather odd that one of the cons of Virginia joining the SEC was no varsity men's soccer and no men's or women's lacrosse.
I am not sure how popular lacrosse is in the Deep South (apparently it's popular enough for every SEC team to have a club lacrosse team) , but I know for a fact that soccer, both men's and women's, is a sport with growing popularity in the Deep South, and I really wonder why only Kentucky and South Carolina have men's varsity soccer.

Due to defections, C-USA no longer sponsors men’s soccer. It was a decent conference for soccer with some good rivalry games. S. Carolina and Kentucky are now SunBelt affiliates for soccer. So is West Virginia. Central Florida joins for soccer in 2023.

It is not clear what other SEC schools are planning to upgrade or implement soccer. It is my understanding that Alabama has moved to upgrade their program from club level. One may think that places such as Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Auburn, Missouri, and Florida would consider it. If 5 or 6 schools did so, the SEC conference could have a formidable league in a short period of time. Some conferences, women’s soccer is better established.

I doubt lacrosse will get embraced in the SEC for a long time, if it ever happens. ACC schools, such as Virginia and Duke, value their lacrosse. It won’t control expansion decisions, but compatibility in sponsorships is a considered factor.

Meant to comment on this awhile back. Yes, one would think that UGA would have men's & women's soccer by now!!! The pitch (aka soccer field) doesn't have to look fantastic, but definitely somewhat professional and incorporates some of the university's landmarks around the field.
Two examples: at my alma mater, the University of Montevallo, our soccer pitch has some of the residence dorms in the background. I like that!! Pensacola Christian College has a big giant building (probably a dorm, but not sure) that is a part of the landscape of the pitch. I really love that!!!
I would be fine with a UGA soccer pitch that had the baseball stadium and Dooley-Sanford Stadium as well as some dorms in the background. It's who we are!!!

I would stream UGA soccer games like I do for my Montevallo Falcons and the PCC Eagles as well. I already stream highlights of UGA football games because my seven years old son isn't into football yet. However, he is starting to warm up to basketball, so there is hope.

Just here to add that Alabama women's soccer team is sitting at #2 in the country.

The girls are getting at it. Don't see why we can't add a men's team. It is a growing sport.

The REAL question is what men's sport to kill or women's sport to add for Title IX?

(10-11-2022 06:57 PM)Guardian Wrote:  Just here to add that Alabama women's soccer team is sitting at #2 in the country.

The girls are getting at it. Don't see why we can't add a men's team. It is a growing sport.

The REAL question is what men's sport to kill or women's sport to add for Title IX?

I'm tired of killing men's sports in the name of Title IX. So, let's look at adding a woman's sport: what about rugby?? I've been hearing more about women getting into football these days, let's see how they like rugby.

Women’s field hockey is very prevalent in the northeast and parts of the midwest. Title IX has too often been used to make impractical decisions rather than offering and developing sports options that are sensible and can become popular for women. There have been multiple times a University wants to get rid of a particular men’s sport due to lack of interest and/or cost, and have used Title IX as the excuse. On the other hand, particularly during the earlier days, there were schools with much lower female enrollment comparatively, and it was rather absurd to create women’s sports teams whereby finding women players had been quite difficult.