Yesterday, the MCAL Athletic Directors and Board of Managers discussed the possibility of moving both boys’ and girls’ soccer to the winter. Results of the meeting were not available as of press time, but Redwood Athletic Director Jessica Peisch said that if the issue were moved to a vote, it would take place at the next meeting on March 7.
Peisch said that although the issue usually comes around every two or three years, it has garnered more attention this year.
“I’ve been AD for eight years, and we’ve discussed it probably three times,” she said. “The other times, they didn’t give us the opportunity to talk to the community. Some of the ADs are very passionate about moving it to the winter, so I feel like this is the biggest push we’ve had. Everyone’s really doing their research and getting prepared for those meetings.”
Boys’ soccer currently plays in the fall, while girls’ soccer takes place in the spring. Peisch said that the push to move both to the winter has largely originated from a lack of field space.
“We’re lucky, we have field space for the four lacrosse teams that we have,” she said. “But a lot of schools in MCAL don’t have a lot of field space, so they are having a hard time managing it, and you can’t move lacrosse into the winter. Soccer is the only sport allowed by NCS to play in a different season. The only option is to move soccer.”
Moving soccer to the winter might also allow more athletes to play multiple sports, as the only winter sports as of now are basketball, wrestling, and cheerleading. Winter is also the official NCS season for soccer. However, Peisch said that because it gets dark so much earlier during the winter, athletes would have to get out of school earlier to play games.
Peisch said that Principal Sondheim would make the final call on how Redwood votes, but that neither of them have decided whether or not they support moving soccer to the winter.
“It could give kids opportunities to play, but getting out of class early is a huge issue,” she said. “It’s really stressful to miss class. The ADs are sports minded, league minded, but the principals do look at the overall educational experience.”
