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UCA ELIMINATES MEN'S SOCCER PROGRAM

CONWAY, Ark. _ University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin and Athletic Director John Thompson announced the elimination of the men’s intercollegiate soccer program on Friday.

Thompson said the men’s soccer team did not receive an invitation to join either the Missouri Valley Conference or Conference USA. As a result, the team would be without a conference again and would have had to remain independent.

UCA joined the Southland Conference and moved to NCAA Division I effective July 1 of this year. The Southland Conference offers women’s soccer, but does not offer men’s soccer as a championship sport. Thompson said that UCA would continue to play women’s soccer as a competitive intercollegiate sport.

President Hardin stated, “I am very proud of the accomplishments of our men’s soccer program, and how successful the program has been. We have some outstanding young men who participate in this program and should these students decide to remain at the university, they will continue to receive their present scholarship through their senior year.”

Thompson added, “We are very proud of the achievements of the men’s soccer program and, while we are disappointed that a conference invitation to the team was not forthcoming, we will certainly keep our options open, should the Southland Conference offer men’s soccer in the future.”


Tommy Jackson
Vice President for Communications

I know they probably tried everything they could to get into one of those conferences, but that really sucks if you're a player. This may be better for a player than only having one home game though.

Until this season's move, the program was one of the best on campus. Hopefully the players will be taken care of and Coach Flanders and Rensing will find new positions soon. I wish it had turned out better for everyone.

not a very informative release there either...

I'm SHOCKED! I hate that for the university.

With all the people with connections on this board...no one told us about this early? I mean I go to class and come back and we no longer have a men's soccer team!! WTF?? Why can't the SLC just start sponsoring men's soccer...surely there are enough schools in the league that can start it!

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but didn't they have great difficulty scheduling games ? Didn't they have just one home game ? If that it is the case, this may be for the best.

I hate it for the players and coaches, but if it wasn't working, I think it should be discontinued.

Burly Bear

Yes, I agree that it is for the best if we couldn't schedule more home games, but it still stinks, but at least the current players, if they decide to stay at UCA will get to keep their current scholarships while here at UCA!

Welcome to business 101. I agree with you Burly. If it is not feasible then difficult decisions have to be made. It's all about the budget. I'm sure that most of us live on a budget in our own households and when we can no longer afford something, well you pretty much have to get rid of it.
We all knew that "stepping up" was going to be more costly than what we had incurred just basically travelling Arkansas. I don't know exactly how many mens or womens sports we have to carry to be 1A eligible, but don't be surprised if one or two more sports fall by the wayside.
I do have sympathy for the players being affected, but the school has made good on their scholarships as Josh mentioned above. That in itself is worth quite a lot. Just ask some student who is having to pay their own way if retaining a scholarship is adequate compensation.
Let's hope ways will be found to keep what we have. Basically what this means is that we, alumnus and athletic patrons of the Bears, are fixing to have to step up and reach a little deeper in the ole pocket. If we want to see this 1A program succeed, we fans will have to do our part just as fans at other universities do.

Since when are we a 1A program??? We are simply Division I now (part of the Championship Subdivision in Football )

Actually...there are no schools that can start mens' soccer...

In the last few years, a majority of the schools have added womens' sports (several at that) just to stay compliant with Title IX. Soccer and womens' golf have been added throughout the conference. A new womens' soccer team at UTSA began play this year, a new one at Lamar next year. Womens' golf had recently been added at UT-Arlington. SFA even added womens equestrian in the last two years.

Lamar adds softball in a few years and I think you may see SLC schools determining if equestrian or bowling is best for their Title IX needs.

No mens soccer in the SLC in the near term...especially if any of these non-football schools start up I-AA...

You make an A I just put that in there to see if you were paying attention

Lots of info about this decision in the Echo today, if you have access to that I'd recommend reading.

Tomorrow from 2 pm - midnight, there will be a protest at Lu Hardin's lawn if anyone is interested in going. There are already a couple hundred students who plan on attending.

This is kind of exciting --- as an outsider.

And my only access to the Echo is online. It hasn't been updated yet.