If you find an article about college soccer in the newspaper, it focuses on Division 1 schools like the University of Missouri, University of Kansas or Nebraska. If you read an article about men’s soccer you may read an article about Indiana, Creighton, or locally UMKC or in recent years, occasionally Rockhurst. You rarely see Park, Baker or other local NAIA schools covered unless they have a tragic accident or reach nationals. Even in publications like Soccer America, only rarely are schools other those playing in NCAA, Division I mentioned. 

This lack of coverage stems from the ignorance of many sports reporters at major newspapers. They assume that soccer is like football and basketball; that there is a drop off in quality from Division I to Division II. This lack of knowledge is compounded with only Division I teams receiving ink, readers also tend to believe that the quality of soccer is lower outside of Division I ranks. Many transplants to America from Europe or South America believe that the division ranking in college corresponds to the divisions of professional soccer in Europe; that the worst first division teams are better than the best second division teams. Both ideas are wrong. The truth is that the best Second Division teams are every bit the equal, and as often as not beat, Division I teams.

The NCAA classifications of Division I, Division II and Division III have nothing to do with the quality of a soccer program. Rather the classifications reflect the schools commitment to the number of varsity sports that are offered. Division I schools must offer more varsity sorts to maintain Division I status than Division II schools. They also operate under different rules when it comes to player recruitment and play outside of school. Generally, Division II schools offer fewer athletic scholarships than Division I programs; however, if you examine each program you will find comparable levels of financial aid. At Division II schools it comes in the form of grants and non-athletic scholarships more frequently than at Division I programs. 

The equality between top Division I and Division II programs is demonstrated every year when top Division II teams such as Seattle Pacific square off against Washington or Southern Connecticut meets Connecticut University. For example, two years ago Washington was ranked 4th among NCAA Division I schools and Seattle Pacific was ranked 8th among Division II programs, yet Seattle Pacific defeated Washington at Washington 1-0. Similar results occur every year. 

NCAA Division III programs do tend to be less competitive than Division II and Division I programs, but this is more often a reflection of the fact that Division III schools have opted not offer any athletic scholarships. It would be a mistake to underestimate the top Division III programs, however. Division III colleges such as Wheaton, outside of Chicago, have produced many players who are now in the professional ranks.

NAIA programs match well against comparable NCAA schools. Top ranked NAIA schools such as Lindenwood, St. Gregory’s or John Brown, are the equal of most NCAA Division I or Division II schools. The NAIA programs may not be at the level of the very best soccer programs in the country, like Creighton or Indiana, but good NAIA schools are an equal match with most NCAA Division I programs.

If you want a comparison of the quality of Division I, Division II and NAIA programs, you can observe top schools from each category playing in Kansas City. The final game of the season for Division I UMKC is against Division II Rockhurst. Earlier you can watch Rockhurst play two NAIA schools: St. Mary and Park University.

Kansas City is also blessed with top talent playing at the Junior College level. Colleges such as State Fair in Sedalia, Johnson County, in Overland Park, and Cloud Count in Concordia, Kansas are ranked in the top fifteen in the country year after year. Players at these institutions travel to Arizona, Texas, and across the Midwest each season. They often have preseason scrimmages against top NAIA and NCAA programs; scrimmages that the Junior Colleges win a fair percentage of the time. These scrimmages not only allow the players valuable experience, they afford the coaches at the four year schools a chance to scout potential players. As a gauge of the quality of local junior college programs compare the number of alumni from Johnson County Community College that have gone on to the pro ranks with those from area Division I teams. In the last ten years more players from Johnson County Community College have gone to the pros than from UMKC, Drury and Southwest Missouri State – combined – all quality NCAA Division 1 programs. 

So the next time you hear a player, parent or coach brag about playing Division I, you will know that the boast is meaningless. What matters is not the category, but the quality of the program. 

© Kansas City Soccer Scene