U.S. Soccer publish new whitepaper - Potential big Changes to College Soccer

The NextGen College Soccer White Paper just dropped from U.S. Soccer, built in collaboration with college coaches, athletic directors, and pro club leaders. You can read the full thing here 👉 https://www.ussoccer.com/collegesoccer

It’s a plan to modernize college soccer — making it more sustainable, competitive, and connected to the pro pathway.

Who’s behind it:

The NextGen College Soccer Committee, chaired by Dan Helfrich (Deloitte CEO & U.S. Soccer advisor), with members from Seattle Sounders (Adrian Hanauer), Kansas City Current (Angie Long), Penn State (Patrick Kraft), Davidson (Chris Clunie), Maryland (Darryll Pines), Wasserman (Richard Motzkin), and others across pro soccer, college sports, and business.

The goal: keep college soccer strong for the future by fixing key issues:

Financial pressure on programs

Too much travel from conference realignment

Overloaded fall seasons hurting academics & health

Weak media/commercial reach

More players skipping college for pro routes

Key recommendations:

Closer partnership with U.S. Soccer (shared data, events, player tracking, coaching development)

Modernized eligibility (allow pro-affiliated players to still play college ball)

Defined transfer windows (less chaos)

Bigger push on streaming, content, and sponsorships

Men’s game changes:

Move to a full academic-year season (Aug–April) with a winter break

Create regional divisions to reduce travel and costs

Expand to a 64-team national tournament

✅ Result: less burnout, better academics, stronger development, global-style calendar

Women’s game changes:

Keep the 2026 format

Launch a new elite spring competition in 2027 with top college, pro reserve, and youth national teams

Review whether a full academic-year model makes sense later

Next steps:

Continue gathering feedback through 2025

Target rollout for 2026–27 season

U.S. Soccer to help drive funding, scheduling, and media structure

Bottom line:

College soccer isn’t broken — but it needs to evolve. Longer seasons, less travel, better player care, and closer ties to the pro game. A big move designed to help the college game thrive for the next generation. ⚽🔥