MAAC (D1) vs. NESCAC (D3)

[Guest]

This weekend, I had the opportunity to watch two college soccer matches one right after the other in Connecticut. The first was between two D3 teams in the top half of the NESCAC, and the second was between two teams in the MAAC (one in the middle of the standings, the other at the bottom). Friends from each of the games invited me to come watch their kids play, so I had no skin in either of the games.

Honestly, I thought there was very little difference in the skill and athleticism among all of the teams, and that actually the NESCAC game was the faster and more physical game than the MAAC game. Also felt like MAAC game was a lot sloppier, with more long-balls and turnovers. It was very surprising...I thought there would be a much larger disparity of soccer quality in favor of the MAAC teams, but frankly I think if you matched up any of the four teams I saw against any of the others, it would be hard for anyone to convince me that the stronger MAAC team had any clear advantage over the NESCAC teams (and quite frankly, the lower MAAC team looked pretty disorganized and not to the level of the other 3 teams).

[Guest]

This weekend, I had the opportunity to watch two college soccer matches one right after the other in Connecticut. The first was between two D3 teams in the top half of the NESCAC, and the second was between two teams in the MAAC (one in the middle of the standings, the other at the bottom). Friends from each of the games invited me to come watch their kids play, so I had no skin in either of the games.

Honestly, I thought there was very little difference in the skill and athleticism among all of the teams, and that actually the NESCAC game was the faster and more physical game than the MAAC game. Also felt like MAAC game was a lot sloppier, with more long-balls and turnovers. It was very surprising...I thought there would be a much larger disparity of soccer quality in favor of the MAAC teams, but frankly I think if you matched up any of the four teams I saw against any of the others, it would be hard for anyone to convince me that the stronger MAAC team had any clear advantage over the NESCAC teams (and quite frankly, the lower MAAC team looked pretty disorganized and not to the level of the other 3 teams).

Why would you think a D1 women's soccer program would be any better than a D3 one? These schools aren't D1 because of women's soccer so you have a TON of garbage play in D1, even by some "top" teams.

[Guest]

Why would you think a D1 women's soccer program would be any better than a D3 one? These schools aren't D1 because of women's soccer so you have a TON of garbage play in D1, even by some "top" teams.

Many reasons why I thought D1 women's soccer programs would be a clear step above a D3 one. From an individual player perspective, kids who play D1 soccer place a much higher priority on playing the sport than those who play D3; their families probably invested a lot more time, money and resources throughout their youth soccer careers to become better players, and they know going into a D1 program that the level of time/dedication commitment to be in that kind of program is much higher. Many D3 kids choose D3 because they don't want that kind of time/dedication commitment. From a team perspective, D1 teams train much more, spend more time on strength and conditioning, have more resources available for film review, etc.

In the games cited above, NESCAC is considered to be one of the two toughest D3 conferences in the country (along with UAA), while MAAC is a pretty mediocre D1 conference, so I guess it makes sense that the teams I watched appeared to be of similar quality. Not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised.

[Guest]

The biggest disparity is the time commitment. That’s why many athletes choose D3 because of the more well rounded college experience. With D1 you report in July while the preseason begins before many D3 arrive on campus. It’s a total different commitment. There are arguments with this TS crowd about quality of games and players so i will leave that alone. Let’s say i agree with your assessment as to what you observed in both matches. Where you are playing D1 soccer on the soccer pyramid does matter as to quality, the difference in athleticism, speed, quickness for the top 30 teams the elite level of skill and technical abilities. What you saw was basically club level college soccer.

[Guest]

Definitely a steep d1 and probably d3 pyramid. Some MAAC schools are underfunded so the soccer team has few scholarships, lack facilities, the coaches are poorly paid, and the teams don’t start practices until later in August. They don’t have the resources that you are assuming. Some wealthy NESCAC schools give generous financial aid to anyone admitted whose income qualifies (and I know that doesnt necessarily help the people in the middle), have good facilities, well paid coaches, and also start practices later in August. Good NESCAC players also focused on club soccer and had parents who invested a lot of time and $ in their kids playing soccer and were happy their kids could use soccer to get into a school with a <10 % admission rate.