Submitted by Jim Compton, Feb 12, 2007 09:28

Paul Gardner speaks the truth. I wish it weren't true but it is. One earlier poster suggested the problem is money. It is that and so much more. Anti soccer bias in the culture at large to start with. Consider this, the college football regular season runs approximately 14 weeks with over a month long postseason (the bowls, participants in which can get in nearly six weeks of extra practice, something football coaches consider as important to developing their players as the bowl game itself). College basketball's season lasts sixteen week leading up to its postseason and college baseball extends from February to late May, again at least sixteen weeks. Yet 'varsity' soccer teams have a regular season of merely 10 weeks. Obviously the importance of soccer to athletic directors is apparant by that one fact. Money has a lot to do with it too. Even with the continued development of MLS and USL the vast majority of paying jobs as soccer coaches is at colleges and high schools(another set of institutions whom routinely invent ways to keep soccer from intruding on the fiefdoms of football and basketball) I hate to admit it but I'm about to become part of the problem...sort of. My goal is to become one of those collegiate coaches. Not because I believe college soccer is better than the pro game, but because I believe the best professional managers(not coaches) are former professional players, something we're finally starting to see in MLS thankfully. Having never played at any higher level than the Kansas State club team I realize I'll never be able to fully engender the respect from a professional that comes from having been there myself. I hope to be part of the solution as well however. There is a place for college soccer and I believe it can go a long way toward developing fans of the game(people around Kansas City have no deeply ingrained love for the Wizards....yet. But they DO love the KU Jayhawks, whatever they're doing) My goal is to always steer players who belong in the pros to the pros and to try to make a dent in the NCAA's disrespectful treatment of the game. It's a lofty ambition to be sure, but being a rock star just isn't going to work out I'm afraid and I'll go crazy sitting in a cubicle. Wish me luck and if anyone feels like buying me one of those newfangled head gear I'd appreciate it...I'm probably going to be banging my head against a wall for the rest of my life.

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