Big news for soccer

[Coug95man2]

at the lower field. Regents have approved the second phase for the field. Meaning, there will be an actual press box, actual stands for fans (not those horrible metal things from High School), and REAL bathrooms rather than port-a-pottys. Great news here.

WSU soccer is doing well and continually heading to the NCAA tourney and Moos knows (as does President Floyd and obviously the regents) that it's all about facilities. By 2016, our soccer field will be pretty awesome.

Next, baseball. SORELY needed there.

 

[Coug1990]

at the lower field. Regents have approved the second phase for the field. Meaning, there will be an actual press box, actual stands for fans (not those horrible metal things from High School), and REAL bathrooms rather than port-a-pottys. Great news here.

WSU soccer is doing well and continually heading to the NCAA tourney and Moos knows (as does President Floyd and obviously the regents) that it's all about facilities. By 2016, our soccer field will be pretty awesome.

Next, baseball. SORELY needed there.

There someone on here who was complaining only last month that Moos only cared about football.

Here are new uniforms as well

 

[SaveFerris]

at the lower field. Regents have approved the second phase for the field. Meaning, there will be an actual press box, actual stands for fans (not those horrible metal things from High School), and REAL bathrooms rather than port-a-pottys. Great news here.

WSU soccer is doing well and continually heading to the NCAA tourney and Moos knows (as does President Floyd and obviously the regents) that it's all about facilities. By 2016, our soccer field will be pretty awesome.

Next, baseball. SORELY needed there.

Great news!

 

[dgibbons]

at the lower field. Regents have approved the second phase for the field. Meaning, there will be an actual press box, actual stands for fans (not those horrible metal things from High School), and REAL bathrooms rather than port-a-pottys. Great news here.

WSU soccer is doing well and continually heading to the NCAA tourney and Moos knows (as does President Floyd and obviously the regents) that it's all about facilities. By 2016, our soccer field will be pretty awesome.

Next, baseball. SORELY needed there.

That field could be used for a different sport in the spring, like mens soccer or lacrosse. Of course that's a long way off.

 

[Coug95man2]

That field could be used for a different sport in the spring, like mens soccer or lacrosse. Of course that's a long way off.

If you look at this Facebook page of "WSU Lower Soccer Field", you'll notice they are already using it for the women's LaCrosse Club. In January they were playing U of I.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/WSU-Lower-Soccer-Field/153468771405656

 

[Coug1990]

at the lower field. Regents have approved the second phase for the field. Meaning, there will be an actual press box, actual stands for fans (not those horrible metal things from High School), and REAL bathrooms rather than port-a-pottys. Great news here.

WSU soccer is doing well and continually heading to the NCAA tourney and Moos knows (as does President Floyd and obviously the regents) that it's all about facilities. By 2016, our soccer field will be pretty awesome.

Next, baseball. SORELY needed there.

I really am looking forward to this years soccer team. I hope Coach Shulenberger can continue what the last several coaches have been able to do and even build the program to be even better.

Here is a video of him a few weeks after he arrived in Pullman.

http://www.wsucougars.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3982803

 

[COUGinNCW]

at the lower field. Regents have approved the second phase for the field. Meaning, there will be an actual press box, actual stands for fans (not those horrible metal things from High School), and REAL bathrooms rather than port-a-pottys. Great news here.

WSU soccer is doing well and continually heading to the NCAA tourney and Moos knows (as does President Floyd and obviously the regents) that it's all about facilities. By 2016, our soccer field will be pretty awesome.

Next, baseball. SORELY needed there.

Great news. Hopefully they will have a soccer game on a football weekend this year. I have a couple of girls who are soccer players that would love to go.

 

[kayak15]

Great news. Hopefully they will have a soccer game on a football weekend this year. I have a couple of girls who are soccer players that would love to go.

Now, there is an excellent idea. Have a soccer game on the afternoon prior to the football game, Others have mentioned needing a second or even third source of entertainment during game day and this would fit nicely. Especially with an improved soccer facility. Maybe a number of young girls involved with the sport would put a few words in their parent's ears about attending such an event. Might just draw a few "soccer moms" or dads from Spokane for the weekend's athletic contests. The relatively brief drive down might not seem so daunting if it would please the daughter/daughters.

I have never lived in Spokane or played soccer but I have the honor of having attended the first Seattle Sounders game back in the 70's and have followed the game since then. Someone in the Spokane area would have better knowledge than me but I suspect that soccer involvement in the Spokane area reflects the growing interest in the rest of the country. This added attraction certainly could not hurt and might have some significant results. Give it a try, Moos.

 

[Coug95man2]

Now, there is an excellent idea. Have a soccer game on the afternoon prior to the football game, Others have mentioned needing a second or even third source of entertainment during game day and this would fit nicely. Especially with an improved soccer facility. Maybe a number of young girls involved with the sport would put a few words in their parent's ears about attending such an event. Might just draw a few "soccer moms" or dads from Spokane for the weekend's athletic contests. The relatively brief drive down might not seem so daunting if it would please the daughter/daughters.

I have never lived in Spokane or played soccer but I have the honor of having attended the first Seattle Sounders game back in the 70's and have followed the game since then. Someone in the Spokane area would have better knowledge than me but I suspect that soccer involvement in the Spokane area reflects the growing interest in the rest of the country. This added attraction certainly could not hurt and might have some significant results. Give it a try, Moos.

I looked into this a while back. Soccer has 2 things going on that hurt this kind of possibility. 1. Soccer is played around the conference on Fridays and Sundays. Just their "thing". To switch that up for our football game days would be switching that up for the conference foes as well… hard political move for little 'ol WSU, I would think. 2. For a good portion, there are volleyball games on Saturdays (hence soccer is on Fridays and Sundays) so for that time in the season to have football, volleyball AND soccer would be pretty extreme, I would think. Completely possible, depending on the ever loving "schedule" but you get the general concept. But I know they work pretty hard at getting Bohler filled for the volleyball games. EDIT: I also recall a couple times where there was a soccer match the next day (Sunday), after a football game on Saturday… But obviously that means staying the night and making a point to go back up the hill to watch...

 

[kayak15]

I looked into this a while back. Soccer has 2 things going on that hurt this kind of possibility. 1. Soccer is played around the conference on Fridays and Sundays. Just their "thing". To switch that up for our football game days would be switching that up for the conference foes as well… hard political move for little 'ol WSU, I would think. 2. For a good portion, there are volleyball games on Saturdays (hence soccer is on Fridays and Sundays) so for that time in the season to have football, volleyball AND soccer would be pretty extreme, I would think. Completely possible, depending on the ever loving "schedule" but you get the general concept. But I know they work pretty hard at getting Bohler filled for the volleyball games. EDIT: I also recall a couple times where there was a soccer match the next day (Sunday), after a football game on Saturday… But obviously that means staying the night and making a point to go back up the hill to watch...

Thank you for the quick response. I had not noticed the scheduling problem. I see your point about the "hard political move" and the volleyball games. This has got me to wondering how many of the other PAC12 schools have a sizeable number of football attendees traveling some distance and staying overnight or traveling some distance equal to that of Spokane or the Tri-cities to Pullman. I am not familiar with the numbers but the Oregon schools and Arizona State may have substantial overnight attendees. The U. of O. has no problem filling the stands for football for obvious reasons. This leaves only ASU and OSU with any possible desire to attempt this football/soccer combination. The rest are in or near metropolitan centers and most likely without interest in any scheduling change.

I am not "into" volleyball but enjoy watching soccer. I was unaware of the volleyball tie in and will check it out. If the school is marketing it I haven't noticed. I am too lazy to check the soccer schedule but wondering if the Sunday games are morning, afternoon or night. Those of us driving from the wet side and staying overnight might find a morning or mid-day soccer game appealing. Late afternoon or night timing would result in driving back late in the day and is the reason we stay overnight in the first place. The combination probably would not result in increased "butts in the seats" in Martin to any significant degree but couldn't hurt.

Ticket sales for football will be limited to those of us who are highly interested or just idiots until such time that Leach has the program hitting on all cylinders. As others have mentioned, an extra attraction or lure might boost sales- admittedly mildly- in the meantime.

Thanks again for the information. At least you, myself, NCW and others are rolling around ideas in our heads.

p.s. Anyone have any knowledge concerning the number of overnight travelers at other PAC12 schools? Just might shed some light on how much support Floyd and Moos would receive regarding soccer scheduling adjustment they would receive if any.

 

[Coug95man2]

Thank you for the quick response. I had not noticed the scheduling problem. I see your point about the "hard political move" and the volleyball games. This has got me to wondering how many of the other PAC12 schools have a sizeable number of football attendees traveling some distance and staying overnight or traveling some distance equal to that of Spokane or the Tri-cities to Pullman. I am not familiar with the numbers but the Oregon schools and Arizona State may have substantial overnight attendees. The U. of O. has no problem filling the stands for football for obvious reasons. This leaves only ASU and OSU with any possible desire to attempt this football/soccer combination. The rest are in or near metropolitan centers and most likely without interest in any scheduling change.

I am not "into" volleyball but enjoy watching soccer. I was unaware of the volleyball tie in and will check it out. If the school is marketing it I haven't noticed. I am too lazy to check the soccer schedule but wondering if the Sunday games are morning, afternoon or night. Those of us driving from the wet side and staying overnight might find a morning or mid-day soccer game appealing. Late afternoon or night timing would result in driving back late in the day and is the reason we stay overnight in the first place. The combination probably would not result in increased "butts in the seats" in Martin to any significant degree but couldn't hurt.

Ticket sales for football will be limited to those of us who are highly interested or just idiots until such time that Leach has the program hitting on all cylinders. As others have mentioned, an extra attraction or lure might boost sales- admittedly mildly- in the meantime.

Thanks again for the information. At least you, myself, NCW and others are rolling around ideas in our heads.

p.s. Anyone have any knowledge concerning the number of overnight travelers at other PAC12 schools? Just might shed some light on how much support Floyd and Moos would receive regarding soccer scheduling adjustment they would receive if any.

While I hate(d) playing soccer, I do tend to keep up on WSU soccer pretty well. I can appreciate the sport, anyways. I went to 4 (or maybe it was 5 or 6) games last year so I was able to watch.

Looking into the schedules last year, after the CAL game, the Lady Cougs played Stanford the next day at 2pm. After the USC game, the soccer team played USC at 1pm the next day. Now that was just the Sunday matches. There is just as much luck that you had a Friday match, as well. I thought there were more than that but that's what the schedule bears out. My memory sucks lately. Also note: There was 1 game that started at noon. Otherwise, 1 or 2 pm were the remaining times. Anyways, I think this really shows that there is room for Moos to work the schedule, too! Not a bad idea to maybe shoot Mr. Moos an email to suggest!

I don't know how/where you'd get numbers of "travelers" that stay the night. Maybe some hotel numbers that show room sales, kinda thingy? I can see that even though we might be the smallest school in the PAC, we'd have the highest numbers of overnight stay/travelers of hard-core miles. Easy.

 

[kayak15]

While I hate(d) playing soccer, I do tend to keep up on WSU soccer pretty well. I can appreciate the sport, anyways. I went to 4 (or maybe it was 5 or 6) games last year so I was able to watch.

Looking into the schedules last year, after the CAL game, the Lady Cougs played Stanford the next day at 2pm. After the USC game, the soccer team played USC at 1pm the next day. Now that was just the Sunday matches. There is just as much luck that you had a Friday match, as well. I thought there were more than that but that's what the schedule bears out. My memory sucks lately. Also note: There was 1 game that started at noon. Otherwise, 1 or 2 pm were the remaining times. Anyways, I think this really shows that there is room for Moos to work the schedule, too! Not a bad idea to maybe shoot Mr. Moos an email to suggest!

I don't know how/where you'd get numbers of "travelers" that stay the night. Maybe some hotel numbers that show room sales, kinda thingy? I can see that even though we might be the smallest school in the PAC, we'd have the highest numbers of overnight stay/travelers of hard-core miles. Easy.

That is about what I expected- mid-day starts on Sunday. That would work out fine for me. Speaking of Friday games, since I am retired leaving early Friday is doable and opens up the possibility of taking in a late game Friday night or late afternoon. I seem to recall that they put in lighting for night games last year. This would not be feasible for those on the wet side still employed nor would it or the Sunday games affect those from Spokane unless they were staying overnight and I am not sure there are many of those other than the RV people. The RV folks are already following the home football games so this would not effect butts in the seats in Martin. Rescheduling dates is problematic, as you pointed out, but the timing within those dates could be finessed without conference complaints. Six or more- let's say eight- home football games played and since the soccer team is bound to be on the road half the time then that means about four possible football/soccer combination weekends. Could be boosted a bit during the OOC schedules for both teams. That might be something that Moos could finagle.

Yes, I am equally sure that we lead the league in overnight stayers. I suppose that one would have to have access to data from Expedia or a similar reservation service to get a reasonably close idea as to the actual numbers.

Nobody has our problems and that would be the title of a good blues or C&W song.

I will send Moos an email inquiring about this. If he replies then I will post a summation of his thoughts.

 

[kayak15]

That is about what I expected- mid-day starts on Sunday. That would work out fine for me. Speaking of Friday games, since I am retired leaving early Friday is doable and opens up the possibility of taking in a late game Friday night or late afternoon. I seem to recall that they put in lighting for night games last year. This would not be feasible for those on the wet side still employed nor would it or the Sunday games affect those from Spokane unless they were staying overnight and I am not sure there are many of those other than the RV people. The RV folks are already following the home football games so this would not effect butts in the seats in Martin. Rescheduling dates is problematic, as you pointed out, but the timing within those dates could be finessed without conference complaints. Six or more- let's say eight- home football games played and since the soccer team is bound to be on the road half the time then that means about four possible football/soccer combination weekends. Could be boosted a bit during the OOC schedules for both teams. That might be something that Moos could finagle.

Yes, I am equally sure that we lead the league in overnight stayers. I suppose that one would have to have access to data from Expedia or a similar reservation service to get a reasonably close idea as to the actual numbers.

Nobody has our problems and that would be the title of a good blues or C&W song.

I will send Moos an email inquiring about this. If he replies then I will post a summation of his thoughts.

Finally got back a response from the athletic department. Not from Moos but from one of his assistants which says something about their perceived effect on Martin attendance that the football/soccer combination would have.

In a nutshell: The response pointed out that there were three weekends during the 2013 season with both sports active in Pullman- two with a game within 24 hrs. of the football game and one with two soccer games bracketing, before and after, the Martin event. Last year had one occasion with a bracketing pair. Conference rescheduling is a nonstarter. No comment was made about the soccer OOC games. Interestingly I noticed that most of the OOC games were on the road the last two years. 2013 had 9 OOC games, six on the road and three at home. 2014 had seven OOC games, five on the road (one was in Moscow vs., the U. of I., which barely qualifies as an away game) and only two in Pullman. The email with our inquiry was forwarded to the soccer coach.

The responding email was brief and I got the distinct impression that the athletic department could see no effect on Martin's attendance but maybe might have a small uptick in soccer attendance during the respective weekends. Just a gut feeling on my part with no evidence to support it. Maybe something will come of this regarding announcements about the soccer games availability but we all know that marketing just doesn't seem to be their strong suit.

 

[ElComanche]

Nice to hear abut the improvements in soccer which is a growing sport. I would like to see the dying sport of baseball dropped entirely and the money and resources used elsewhere.