State College Comment, October 1989, Page 8 ee i ry Se Rees, w Paap eee bees Ri aie ‘ acetee ee eee SAL. Bea. Ys Yost os Weber WSC (dark) and U of Colorado players fight for ball control PA Aas 5 ANS Ca SEINE LOR EE EI See ccer arr ves at WSC Men's coach Tom Vadhivadhana encourages his team. Soccer, as a sport, has taken the country by storm in the last 10 years. WSC's soccer team is no exception. Since 1983 soccer at the college has grown from a small local team to one that is contending for NCAA status. “Last year we were only one vote away from becoming an NCAA team. We're hoping it will happen this year,” said Henry Ibarguen, a professor of history and volunteer advisor of the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Weber State. “We have 38,000 people who play soccer in Utah from children to adults. It’s by far the largest sport in the state in terms of participation,” Ibarguen said. NCAA status is given by the college’s athletic board, and Weber State’s teams have grown in calibre and reputation to a point that Ibarguen said he is hopeful varsity status will be given this year to the team. “Varsity status means we are recognized as an NCAA team so we can play NCAA colleges,” he said. Right now the college can try to arrange games with other NCAA teams, but those teams are often reluctant to play Weber State, which has a reputation of a strong team. Should an NCAA team lose to the college it would eliminate their chances of going to the National Finals, and most teams are not willing to take that chance, Ibarguen said. Take the recent game with Air Force Academy, for example. Weber State lost by one goal to that NCAA team, but had the college won the chances of ever getting a rematch were pretty remote, he said. The change to NCAA status would not cost the college, Ibarguen said. Student fees already subsidize the program with $7,500 a year, and community groups have pledged to match that amount should the team receive NCAA status. “We could run a very good program for $10,000 to $15,000 a year,” he said. But the real benefit of varsity status comes from the fact that Weber State A WSC LEH women's QQ soccer player waits for the ball in a game with the U of U. WV \\ QQ A WSC player fights with a U of Colorado player for possession of the soccer ball. Soccer Association and intercollegiate games on Saturdays. They have a spring season that lasts from March to June and a fall schedule from August to November. In the winter months they run an indoor soccer league and sponsor clinics, he said. “Soccer is not a season sport. We play all the time,” he said. The members of Weber State’s two men’s teams and one women’s team are all dedicated players, often sandwiching practice and games between school and full-time jobs. “For all of our away games the team members provide their own travel. About half of our total expenses are would be the only soccer NCAA team in the state. “We would attract good, quality players from all over the state who wanted to play. They would pay tuition, and typically soccer players are very good students. Many of our current players are on academic scholarships,” he said. The men’s team had an impressive 13-6-1 record last year, “and we played a number of NCAA teams so we know we are ready to be competitive.” Last year’s women’s team ended up third best in the state, and the two years before that they held the number one spot, Ibarguen said. The mainstay of competition for both men’s and women’s teams comes from club and intercollegiate teams. The teams play Wednesdays with the Utah paid for by team members,” Ibarguen said. Varsity status would bring recognition to the players and the college, and would also help legitimize the sport as a collegiate activity in Utah, he said. “It would be a win-win situation. It would cost the college virtually no money and would allow us to play NCAA teams,” he said. “We have such a tremendous demand to have a team here. When former soccer players come to college they want to keep playing. They don’t want to give it up,” he added. Soccer Photos by John Shupe