The Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance (SCSA) is the new home for the women's club soccer team. The SCSA has some big name schools that Longwood will face this year. The teams include Duke University, East Carolina University, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina Wilmington. The Conference is split into two divisions and Longwood is in the Northeastern Division that consists of eight teams.
According to the SCSA website, for each game teams will receive points and at the end of October. The top two teams from each division go on to play in the regional tournament. Then, there are three bids for the national tournament given to the number one power ranked team from the regular season, regional tournament winner and the next highest power ranked team.
With entering a conference, there come new policies that Longwood has to follow. One of the most important policies and changes the club team will have to follow is every game must have certified officials. On the website the certifications acceptable are FIFA, NFHS, NCAA, and USSF. For example, they cannot just grab a campus recreation official or someone off the street to officiate the game. Another change the club faces is the annual dues to be in the conference. The website says the dues are $200 with an extra $300 for the teams that qualify for the regional tournament. There are many more changes, but for Club President and Co-captain Rosella Sheehan the biggest change is, "Actually playing for something … you can't just lollygag around because it counts for something now."
Longwood's former rugby player Dustin Meadows is the coach. Meadows was an assistant coach for Prince Edward men's soccer in 2008 and 2009 and switched to being the woman's assistant coach last year. Meadows explained, "I've been playing soccer since I was five … my father has been a coach for 25 years. Coaching is in my blood."
Longwood kicked off their season on Sunday, Sept. 11 against the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Longwood lost 4-0 in their first taste of conference action, but had a great turn out for support. It was a good first game to gauge what they need to work on, according to Meadows, "Fitness probably being the biggest thing."
The woman's club team will get back in action Sunday, Sept. 18 at North Carolina State. For more information about the Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance go to http://nirsaregion2soccer.webs.com/.
