By Adam Cooke
In March of 2020, a change six years in the making neared the finish line – a new schedule for NCAA Division I men’s soccer would be voted on just two months later.
Then COVID-19 tabled the vote, followed by numerous court rulings, conference realignments and the introduction of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
After over a decade of waiting, the policy passed, effective for the 2027-28 school year. Its co-architect and biggest proponent is Maryland men’s soccer head coach, Sasho Cirovski.
The NCAA oversight committee for soccer approved the two-semester schedule in May. Then, on Oct. 7, the Division I Cabinet officially voted to enact the change. Teams have the opportunity to schedule up to 18 regular-season matches for the fall semester between late August and the week before Thanksgiving, followed by a maximum of 10 matches beginning in late February, and then the College Cup.
“I swore when I first introduced it back in January of 2014 that I will not stop until it’s done. I’ve been relentless in the pursuit,” Cirovski said to the media on Wednesday.
To rally enough support to adopt the change, Cirovski enlisted the help of the MLS, U.S. Soccer, UCL, youth leagues, the Big Ten and countless coaches and administrators throughout the NCAA.
“I’ve played enough quarterfinals and Final Fours where the field is so frozen you can’t feel your feet,” Cirovski said. “That’s just not the way you should have your championship run.”
Since the cabinet vote passed with less than a 75% majority, the proposal is in a 30-day rescission window, in which any member school or conference can seek to kill the policy. With a two-thirds majority needed to reverse the decision, it is unlikely to be changed.
“Having any school stand up and oppose this tells me only one thing: they want to do what’s best for their school and not what’s best for their student-athletes and the game of soccer,” Cirovski said.
Cirovski, a co-architect of the policy, believes the schedule will improve athlete workloads and increase the sport’s prominence within college athletics.
NCAA men’s soccer will now align closely with the Premier League, MLS and other leagues –it will be a spring that Cirovski describes as “soccer paradise”.
“People don’t like change,” he said. “There’s going to be pain points. It’s the right thing to do, and when something is right, there’s never a wrong time to do it.”
Critics of the change worry about staff retention year-round, specifically information directors, trainers, and others who have commitments to different spring sports.
Cirovski has been willing to embrace staffing changes in order to allow for the change. He already works with coaches year-round, while there will be no increase to the 132 days of work, simply a redistribution.
The Division I women’s soccer Oversight Committee currently doesn’t plan to adopt the new schedule, though Cirovski invites changes to any sport that deem them necessary.
“We’re educators in leading global institutions, and we teach all of our students all the time to think about how to move things forward,” Cirovski described. “Why do we have to have the same playing and practice season that’s been in place since 1959, when one coach coached two or three teams, or one player played three or four sports?”
Cirovski, a three-time national champion and the active wins leader in Division I, is currently in his 34th season with No.14 Maryland.
“I could have been the first guy to shut this thing down because I have the top program of the 21st century. I have a good job, I have a good life, and I could have easily said I don’t want my life to change. But what we did was the opposite; I said I’m willing to sacrifice,” he said.
