The 4A and 3A state soccer tournaments begin Wednesday under a new format that has made a few of the coaches and players unhappy.
Instead of a nearly two-week double-elimination tournament, the Utah High School Activities Association decided to condense the soccer tourney into a three-day single-elimination event.Both the 4A and 3A tournaments begin Wednesday afternoon and conclude Friday evening.
Dave Wilkey of the UHSAA said there were several reasons for the change. He said the addition of girls soccer in the fall as an official sport forced the UHSAA to make the tournaments equal under Title IX guidelines. And since the girls can't have a long drawn-out tournament in the fall because of the weather factor, the boys' tourney was condensed. But there's more, said Wilkey.
"There's been a lot of pressure to keep kids in school more," he said. "And this is also a cost-saving measure."
Many of the state's soccer coaches are grousing because the number of games are reduced and they're played on consecutive days, which is harder on the players.
Woods Cross will host the 3A tournament and the Wildcats have a tough opening game against defending 3A champion Judge Memorial at 7 p.m.
Other first-round games include Jordan vs. Lehi at 1:45 p.m., Bountiful vs. Sky View at 3:30 p.m. and Springville vs. Mountain Crest at 5:15 p.m.
In the 4A tournament at Hillcrest, Taylorsville meets Alta at 1:45 p.m., Hillcrest plays Viewmont at 3:30 p.m., Davis goes against Cyprus at 5:15 p.m. and defending champion Brighton plays Mountain View at 7 p.m.
Winners play Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. with the finals set for Friday at 6 p.m.