KELLY: IHSAA should consider putting another class into session

Soccer sectional may be in need of tweaking

BY AIDAN KELLY

Every year, there is chatter about whether the format of the IHSAA soccer tournaments should be changed.

And every year, it remains the same.

Now that the dust is settling on another high school soccer season, maybe it’s time for the powers that be to consider some alterations.

They’re probably happy enough with the way the state tournament runs, as an all-in, one-class, non-seeded affair. But there are a few soccer people out there that are not.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t exactly get too much of a thrill seeing certain schools getting their poor backsides smacked a dark shade of red in sectional championship games.

Nor do I like seeing the best teams fight it out against each other in the early rounds.

The IHSAA just held its 16th state soccer tournament. There have been nine different boys’ champions and six different girls’ winners.

Only 11 schools have actually won state titles. With the exception of Evansville Memorial and Castle, you won’t find too many of them from down south.

Apart from the decision to split the area’s boys’ sectional — which had grown to nine teams — in half in 2006, and to have a four-team regional championship instead of two, there haven’t been too many alterations to the tournament.

A class structure, determined on school size, is the obvious talked about change, similar to the likes of football, basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball.

Illinois, for example, has three classes (A, 2A and 3A) of soccer and also it seeds teams.

However, of the aforementioned 11 schools that won state titles, six are public and five are private, with enrollments ranging from 780 students to 4,000. They’ve either been large public schools or relatively small private establishments.

Rather than a system based on school size, maybe a flexible, divisional setup would be a better idea, with teams divided into two sections based on their strength. Maybe it would be a little similar to the current State and Challenge Cup setups in club travel soccer.

For example, locally, instead of having Floyd Central and Jeffersonville sectionals for the boys, why not have the traditional “powerhouses” like Providence, Jeffersonville, New Albany and Floyd Central in the premier division, with maybe Christian Academy of Indiana and Corydon in there, too, based on recent performances?

In the first division, you would have maybe North Harrison, Silver Creek, Charlestown and Henryville.

And the girls, which is currently one sectional of nine teams, could be divided likewise, giving the newer programs and lesser lights such as Charlestown, Silver Creek, CAI, North Harrison and Corydon a chance to blossom and have a real shot at hardware at the same time.

And depending on their performances each year during the regular season, teams could be promoted up or moved down, therefore preventing any lopsidedness.

You would get more competitive and appealing postseason games than there are now. You would also have first division champions at sectional, regional, semistate and state all over Indiana that would never get a look in at success any other way.

It would undoubtedly build more confidence within those programs and encourage more students to play the game at those schools.

Just a thought.

Any views? Share your opinions on our brand new soccer blog at: www.newsandtribune.com/blogs.

FIGHTING IRISH, EAGLES SOAR AT STATE

The Indiana high school soccer season wrapped up over the weekend and congratulations goes to the Zionsville Eagles and Indianapolis Cathedral Irish, respective winners of the boys’ and girls’ state titles.

Zionsville (20-3-1), runner-up last year after the heartbreak of a penalty shootout loss, won the school’s first soccer championship with a 3-1 win over Homestead (18-5-1) at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Homestead beat Columbus North (who knocked out reigning champion Evansville Memorial last week) by a 4-1 score. North had taken the lead after just two minutes, but the Bull Dogs found themselves behind 3-1 by the half and couldn’t find a way back.

The other semi saw Zionsville edge out Lake Central with a 66th clincher by Harrison Petts, who was later named winner of the 2009 C. Eugene Cato Mental Attitude Award for boys’ soccer by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee.

Petts, incidentally, is one to watch out for in the future, as he was a member of the U.S. U18 national team for 2008-09.

Cathedral (19-4-2), meanwhile, won its second girls’ title in three seasons by beating Fort Wayne Snider (17-4-3), 2-0.

It overcame South Bend St. Joseph’s (21-2-1) by a 2-1 score en route to the championship game, while Snider dispatched defending champion Evansville Memorial (21-3) in the semifinal game, 1-0. 

Katie Loehr of Evansville Memorial was named the girls’ winner of the 2009 Mental Attitude Award.

CARDS ARE RED HOT

For those of you that have been following the University of Louisville’s men’s soccer team this fall, you will be well aware of how well the program is performing.

In fact, the No. 5-ranked Cardinals are having their best year ever, after finishing the regular season last Saturday with a 5-0 victory over Villanova. The result brought them to 13-2-2 overall and 8-2-1 in the Big East, setting a new school record for wins in the process. It also secured the Big East Red Division title for Louisville — its first in program history.

Coach Ken Lolla took over the reins four years ago, and his freshmen at the time are now his senior class. They include midfielder Freddie Braun, defender Orthaniel Yanez and New Zealand defender Phil Edington.

Notable results included a 4-0 demolition of Indiana and a 1-0 victory over Kentucky.

The Big East Tournament will start this week and Louisville will receive a bye into Saturday’s quarterfinal, where it will play at home. The semifinals will be on Nov. 13 and 15 in Morgantown, W.Va.

The draw for the NCAA Division I tournament will take place on Monday, Nov. 16, with games commencing on Thursday, Nov. 19. The College Cup finals will be on Dec. 11 and 13 in Cary, N.C.

TRYOUTS ON SATURDAY

Southern Indiana United will be praying to the “rain, rain, stay away” gods this week so that it can finally hold its 2010 spring season tryouts for boys’ players from U15 up to U18 inclusive.

There will now be one tryout for all four age groups from noon-2 p.m. on Saturday at Prosser Field in New Albany. Players should arrive between 11:30-11:45 a.m. to get their shirt.

For further information, contact Debbie Webb at 812-945-5627 or check online at www.siusoccer.com.

Contact Aidan Kelly at aidokaydo@gmail.com.