SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - Soccer's growth in the Schuylkill County area has extended to the collegiate level.
Penn State Schuylkill will add an intercollegiate women's soccer program, starting in fall 2015, the school announced recently.
John Cooper, Penn State Schuylkill athletic director, is working closely with Penn State Schuylkill Chancellor Dr. Kelly Austin and his AD counterparts at four other Penn State campuses on this startup program.
"We feel at this time there's probably a need for women's soccer at Schuylkill, and there's been a bit of a demand the last couple years," Cooper said. "We're going to take the approach and get it up and going."
The task of finding a suitable coach and at least 15 players will present challenges and bumps in the road.
"To be honest, I'm a little apprehensive at the time," Cooper said. "I really think we can do it as long as we get interest from women in and around Schuylkill County."
The plan is to have women's soccer as a full sport by the 2015 fall semester. A home-and-away league schedule would be played against four other Penn State campuses in the Penn State University Athletic Conference - Mont Alto, Brandywine, Beaver and New Kensington - and non-league games would be scheduled against other small colleges in the area.
Cooper is looking to hire a head coach by this Labor Day. He would like the coach to be able to recruit around the area during the 2014 high school season, which runs through October.
"We're looking to hire somebody that's pretty knowledgeable in soccer, but will be able to understand how things work at a small college," Cooper said. "We want a coach that's friendly, able to get along with 18-22-year-old students and is very personable."
The addition of women's soccer gives Penn State Schuylkill a total of 10 intercollegiate sports. PSU-Schuylkill campus currently offers baseball, basketball, cross country, golf and soccer for men. For women, they offer basketball, cross country, softball and volleyball.
It marks the second time in four
years Penn State Schuylkill has added a sport, with baseball having just completed its second season as an intercollegiate sport.
Twelve sports are needed for Penn State Schuylkill to compete at the NCAA Division III level, but Cooper isn't concerned about that.
"At the time that's probably not a goal. It would take a lot of doing to add two more sports," Cooper said. "We're focused on the sports that we do have right now, but maybe in the future we will add more."
The women's soccer program will allow any student to join the team. The season will begin on the first day of classes in fall 2015 and go until the end of October. Practices and games would be held on the main athletic field adjacent to Route 61.
Being that it will be a full team sport, Penn State Schuylkill would be able to play in a PSUAC championship game held every year at Penn State's main campus in State College.
"I would just love to see a viable women's soccer program going and to make it fun and interesting for the girls to stay here, play soccer and get an education," Cooper said.
"Dr. Kelly Austin is very sports-minded and sees adding a sport as an opportunity to increase the amount of students and overall better the campus."