Want more college soccer? Coaches from top men’s programs are trying to fulfill your need, according to a report from TheSoccerObserver.com on Sunday.

The report states that college soccer coaches “are finalizing plans and canvassing support for changes that would extend the men’s season over the full academic.” This would entail splitting the college soccer season between the fall and spring semesters with the championship scheduled for June.

The idea of expanding the college soccer season is not new and has been on the mind of coaches seemingly forever. The reason this report may have some significance is the weight of the Federation behind it.

“The Soccer Observer understands that senior figures from the United States Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer are supportive of the plans. U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati gave his backing to representatives from Division I soccer programs during a meeting at January’s NCAA Convention in Philadelphia.”

At the center of the argument for switching to a longer schedule is time. College coaches want to replicate the Development Academy formula with more practices and less games.

As the report points out, the current structure has strict limitations on out of season contact between players and coaches. Expanding the season would curtail those holds and offer a better environment for players to train year round.

In reality, there are multiple hurdles to clear and NCAA is not an easy governing body to dance around. Financially, this would add to the cost of a non-revenue sport. There is also the situation with women’s college soccer, which follows the same schedule of the men now.

One matter is certain, there is a growing voice about the state of college soccer from every level. 

Update: John Infante, a former Division I compliance office and an expert on NCAA bylaws, dropped the hammer on the plan on Monday afternoon. 

"This is a reasonable and well-considered plan to improve college soccer’s ability to compete for talent and remain a valuable, even unique part of the American soccer development structure," Infante said on athleticscholarships.net. "It also has virtually zero chance of ever being enacted."

It is not going to be an easy path for soccer to move away from the current setup. 

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