College soccer
College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Korea, Canada, South Africa, and the Philippines. The United Kingdom also has a university league. The institutions typically hire full-time professional coaches and staff, although the student athletes are mostly amateur and are not paid. College soccer in the United States is sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the sports regulatory body for major universities, and by the governing bodies for smaller universities and colleges.[6]
College soccer teams play a variety of conference and non-conference games throughout the fall season, with the season culminating in the post-season tournament called the College Cup. The St. Louis University Billikens is the most successful men's team, having won 10 College Cups while the North Carolina Tar Heels led by head coach Anson Dorrance is the most successful women's college soccer team with 21 College Cup wins.
The best men's and women's college soccer player each year is awarded the Hermann Trophy.[7]
After their collegiate careers, top men's players often go on to play professionally in Major League Soccer or other professional leagues while top women's players may play professionally in the National Women's Soccer League or in other professional soccer leagues around the world including the Women's Super League in England, Division 1 Féminine in France, Damallsvenskan in Sweden, Germany's Frauen-Bundesliga, Australia's A-League Women, or Japan's WE League.
United Kingdom[edit]
In the United Kingdom, the BUCS Football League governs association football in colleges and universities.[33] There are currently 450 teams spread across the league.
Asia[edit]
India[edit]
The Khelo India University Games is a national level multi-sport event held in India, featuring men's and women's college soccer tournaments, where athletes from universities across the country compete.
Japan[edit]
The All Japan University Football Championship and the All Japan Women's University Football Championship are the main tournaments for universities across Japan. Both events are attended by 24 colleges and universities that have qualified. A different qualifying series will be held each year.The 2022 edition of both men's and women's tournaments are taking place between December 2022 and January 2023.[34][35]
In addition, there is the Prime Minister Cup All Japan University Soccer Tournament (ja:総理大臣杯全日本大学サッカートーナメント), which has a completely open format regarding the competing teams.
There are also university soccer leagues in each region of Japan. In addition, there is a tournament called the Denso Cup(ja:デンソーカップサッカー), which is divided into eight regions in Japan, with each region organizing its own university student teams, and the teams play against each other.
In Japan, sports introduced from overseas during the Meiji era (1868-1912) were introduced as part of education, and schools and other educational institutions had their own teams. Soccer is no exception, and the vestiges of this tradition continue for a long time.
Until the establishment of the old Japan_Soccer_League, which consisted mainly of amateur adult players, after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Japan national football team consisted mainly of university students and their graduates. The Japan League teams also did not have training academies, but instead recruited players who had played for high school(see also:Japan_High_School_Soccer_ja:高校サッカー) or university teams. In other words, Japanese university soccer teams were a valuable source of supply for Japan League teams.Therefore, from 1993, when the professional J.League was founded and had a training organization, until 1998_FIFA_World_Cup, many of the members of the Japanese national team were university graduates.[37]
Many college soccer players in Japan, which has a similar "college soccer to national team" pipeline as found in the United States, have gone on to represent their national teams. Nine players of the Japan national football team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup have a college soccer background.[38]
Since 1993, the majority of the players who joined the J. League clubs came from the developmental organizations and immediately after high school, rather than from the universities. Japan_national_under-20_football_team was also composed mainly of university soccer players for many years. However, the under-20_football_team that reached the final of the 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup had only three university soccer players. The rest were players who had already joined J.League clubs.After 1993, the majority of players who join university teams are players who were not scouted by J.League clubs. However, there were still cases where players were selected to the Japan_national_under-20_football_team or scouted by J.League clubs after developing their skills in university soccer teams, Universities remained the source of players.
In the 2022 national soccer team, college graduates will have more opportunities to play for their teams than immediate high school graduates. If a player is good enough to be selected for the national team, he can be an immediate asset, whether at university or when he joins a professional club, even if he has just joined.This meant that they could gain more game experience. Following this, Japan_national_under-23_football_team that competed in the 2020_Summer_Olympics, on which the 2022 national team was based, was also going to employ a large number of university students.Kaoru_Mitoma, a member of the Japan national football team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, chose to go to university even though he could have joined the J.League team.School of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences University_of_Tsukuba, where Kaoru_Mitoma went to school, has produced many Japan_national_football_team players. It is also a national research institute that has reigned for many years in Japan as an institution that researches soccer.[39]
When Japanese players go abroad to play soccer, they generally pass through the J.League, but since the 2010s, an increasing number of players have joined soccer leagues outside of Japan immediately after passing through a developmental organization. Even in this case, many players go abroad after graduating from high school. However, in the case of Kein_Satō(ja:佐藤恵允), a member of the Japan_national_under-23_football_team that is aiming to participate in the 2024_Summer_Olympics, his previous club was Meiji University, which also produced Yuto Nagatomo, before he joined the Bundesliga club.
The Japan Universiade National Team (ja:ユニバーシアードサッカー日本代表) won the Football_at_the_Summer_Universiade in 1995, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2017, and 2019, The team has won a total of seven times in the Football_at_the_Summer_Universiade.
Regarding women's university soccer in Japan, as of December 2008, 64 universities are members of the Japan University Women's Football Association, and 1,261 players are registered with the Japan Football Association (JFA). Until then, the registered players in university soccer were not of a high level, as many of them started playing soccer at university. However, since the late 2000s, the number of registered players has increased, and top-level players from high school teams have chosen to play at the university level due to their success in the Universiade, and the level of university soccer has improved.[40]
In the case of women's soccer, past Universiade results show five runner-up and two third-place finish, indicating that Japanese women's university soccer is at a level where it is always in a position to challenge for the world championship.[40]
The All Japan Women's University Football Championship, one of the main and most prestigious university women's soccer tournaments in Japan, decides the university championship, with teams that have won their regional and playoff rounds competing for the championship in the preliminary league and then the final tournament. In addition, the "National University Women's Soccer Tsukuba Festival" is held every August with the participation of more than 30 teams. In addition, there are regional tournaments that were started with the aim of strengthening the 2001_Summer_Universiade. These regional tournaments have developed from the East-West tournaments in the past and have played a role in strengthening university women's soccer.[40]
South Korea[edit]
The university association football competition is called the U-League.[41] Created in 2008, it is the first organized league competition for university association football teams and operates outside of the regular Korean association football league structure.
Many college soccer players in South Korea, which has a similar "college soccer to national team" pipeline as found in the United States, have gone on to represent their national teams. Historically, a majority of players who represented the South Korea national under-20 football team played soccer in college.[42] The team's most successful result was reaching the finals of the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Similarly, the South Korea women's national under-20 football team also has players from college soccer. In the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, 16 players of the 21-woman squad were in college.[43]
Philippines[edit]
The UAAP Football Championship is contested by the eight members schools of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. NCAA Philippines also sponsors a football tournament.
Vietnam[edit]
The university association football competition is called the SV-League, which is held annually among teams of university students.
South Africa[edit]
Varsity Football is a yearly tournament contested by South African universities in the intercollegiate league Varsity Sports (South Africa). As of the 2022 season, 8 teams participate in each of the men's and women's divisions.