I know it's gridded off, and that's the reason I asked the question.

One idea would be for some of that retail space to use as general admission "bring your own lawn chair type" seating. That's how UK does it.

I like the idea of pushing the fences back and adding bleachers. I agree, if we are able to get maybe 3,000 conventional seats, and maybe sell an additional 500 general admission max out at 3500, that sounds about right. You could probably sell that out for years with the momentum we've built..

I also think tailgating in the Kroger parking lot is going to get wild next season.

(05-19-2021 11:59 AM)Nugget49er Wrote:  CLT plays on Transamerica Field, which is also home to our Track & Field programs. We have a natural grass pitch, and the teams practices on another field to keep this in great game day shape. The stadium seats 4000.

We have hosted foreign Olympic teams preparing for the games in Atlanta (1996), and several pro teams. We have plans to build a new soccer specific stadium.



Outside the stadium we have several of our collection of bronze statues for every sport we offer.

I really like those bronze statues.

(05-19-2021 07:01 PM)rileylives Wrote:  I really like those bronze statues.

Me too. I think it is a pretty cool to integrate art with sports. If you are familiar with Belk Department stores, the late Ike Belk and his family have been huge benefactors of UNC Charlotte. Ike went to Davidson, then transferred to UNC-CH, but as a member of the NC legislature he introduced the bill that created our university. He ran track in college, and funded athletic facilities around the state, and he loved sculptures. You can find his gifts of mascot sculptures at ECU, JC Smith U, and many others. Charlotte is unique in that he put statues of each sport with our facilities, and one of my favorites, the "Norm" statue. If you come to see a football game you will see a statue at each end of the stadium.

Those are beautiful

Also remember that in normal years, the top seeded team gets home field advantage during the NCAA Tourney. We could definitely pack the place out for tournament games too.

I'm pretty excited for the upcoming season. I will say though. I wish they would permanently move the season to the spring. I think the weather is better and its better to compete with baseball than it is football.

(05-19-2021 09:55 PM)herdfan129 Wrote:  Also remember that in normal years, the top seeded team gets home field advantage during the NCAA Tourney. We could definitely pack the place out for tournament games too.

I'm pretty excited for the upcoming season. I will say though. I wish they would permanently move the season to the spring. I think the weather is better and its better to compete with baseball than it is football.

When the NCAA meets again this year there is a vote on making soccer a split season. It was supposed to have been voted on last April and then everything hit the fan with the pandemic. I hope the split season passes. If it does then non-conference games will be played in the fall and in the spring you will have conference games and the tournament. This will then mimic most soccer leagues around the world.

If it passes we could have a split season as early as this fall.

For a student-athlete, a split season has to be extremely challenging, as you are always "in-season". I say this, full disclosure, with selfish intent as my oldest is HS Junior and elite soccer player being recruited by schools D-1 through NAIA.

I can easily see us averaging 1500 or more next season. I have already called about season tickets.

(05-19-2021 11:57 PM)ODUsmitty Wrote:  For a student-athlete, a split season has to be extremely challenging, as you are always "in-season". I say this, full disclosure, with selfish intent as my oldest is HS Junior and elite soccer player being recruited by schools D-1 through NAIA.

Should be better for them. No weeks with two games means more time in the classroom each semester, with no midweek games, and the main reason for the rule was far less injury limiting to one game per week maximum. Apparently, small injuries were not having time to heal before the next game and causing problems. This will help the student athlete much more than hurt and is the goal of the proposal.

(05-19-2021 11:57 PM)ODUsmitty Wrote:  For a student-athlete, a split season has to be extremely challenging, as you are always "in-season". I say this, full disclosure, with selfish intent as my oldest is HS Junior and elite soccer player being recruited by schools D-1 through NAIA.

I would think a split season would be easier on a student athlete. It should keep the small nagging injuries down as they would have more time to heal between games. You would only be playing one game a week, rather than 2 in a 9-10 day span. As a player there will be little time to sit still as they will have to be training year round. Will also give players less time to make stupid decisions outside the program or school.

The National Champions Sing Wonderwall By Oasis

(05-19-2021 11:07 PM)HerdZoned Wrote:  

(05-19-2021 09:55 PM)herdfan129 Wrote:  Also remember that in normal years, the top seeded team gets home field advantage during the NCAA Tourney. We could definitely pack the place out for tournament games too.

I'm pretty excited for the upcoming season. I will say though. I wish they would permanently move the season to the spring. I think the weather is better and its better to compete with baseball than it is football.

When the NCAA meets again this year there is a vote on making soccer a split season. It was supposed to have been voted on last April and then everything hit the fan with the pandemic. I hope the split season passes. If it does then non-conference games will be played in the fall and in the spring you will have conference games and the tournament. This will then mimic most soccer leagues around the world.

If it passes we could have a split season as early as this fall.

I really hope this happens. I think it would truly benefit college soccer.

(05-20-2021 10:59 AM)HerdZoned Wrote:  

(05-19-2021 11:57 PM)ODUsmitty Wrote:  For a student-athlete, a split season has to be extremely challenging, as you are always "in-season". I say this, full disclosure, with selfish intent as my oldest is HS Junior and elite soccer player being recruited by schools D-1 through NAIA.

I would think a split season would be easier on a student athlete. It should keep the small nagging injuries down as they would have more time to heal between games. You would only be playing one game a week, rather than 2 in a 9-10 day span. As a player there will be little time to sit still as they will have to be training year round. Will also give players less time to make stupid decisions outside the program or school.

The National Champions Sing Wonderwall By Oasis

I know a D1 soccer coach who has been a big advocate for the split season. I wondered about the implications for recruiting (especially since high school soccer can be a fall, spring or even winter sport depending on the state), but travel ball is where most of it's happening these days.

It'd make seeding and playing the tournament interesting. How much weight do August and September results have for a team entering the postseason in May? Teams can lose and gain players in between — look at Georgetown losing players to the MLS draft.

In favor, but how it plays out will be a huge x factor.

(05-20-2021 12:18 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  I know a D1 soccer coach who has been a big advocate for the split season. I wondered about the implications for recruiting (especially since high school soccer can be a fall, spring or even winter sport depending on the state), but travel ball is where most of it's happening these days.

It'd make seeding and playing the tournament interesting. How much weight do August and September results have for a team entering the postseason in May? Teams can lose and gain players in between — look at Georgetown losing players to the MLS draft.

In favor, but how it plays out will be a huge x factor.

That could be the only downfall of a split season, is losing players players to the draft or going pro overseas. But would that be any worse than NCAA basketball or football with the transfer portal its made collage athletics like the wild wild west with no consequences.

I know Ive heard Coach Grassie be in favor of a split season. Ive also seen where Coach Cedergren (Kentucky) and Coach Langan (Charlotte) are also on board with a split season.