The Florida State women’s soccer team will play Saturday for a berth in the quarterfinals of the N.C.A.A. tournament, having made a provocative tactical decision that raised intriguing questions about sportsmanship, integrity and the autonomy of a coach to choose a lineup.
To provide rest amid a grueling travel and playing schedule, Coach Mark Krikorian kept seven starters home from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament earlier this month as he planned for the more important national tournament. Florida State’s athletic director approved the decision.
When Florida State lost its opening A.C.C. match on Nov. 3, conference officials ruled that the Seminoles had compromised the integrity of the tournament. Krikorian was suspended for a game, Florida State was fined $25,000 and the university was denied a $15,000 reimbursement for travel costs.
“F.S.U.’s action is disrespectful to our teams, players, coaches and fans,” John Swofford, the conference commissioner, said in a statement. “It undermines the purity of the competition that a conference championship deserves.”
Krikorian, a highly regarded coach who has guided the Seminoles to the national semifinals three times and to the title game once, has received support from many colleagues. Some argue that no rule was seemingly broken and that the A.C.C.’s decision undermines the ability of a coach to judge what is best for a team.
From a strategic standpoint, Krikorian’s decision has so far paid off. The Seminoles (15-5-1) won their first two N.C.A.A. tournament games at home and will play a third game in Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday against Marquette (16-4-3).
Florida State’s action is not uncommon in sports, said Mikki Denney Wright, the women’s soccer coach at Minnesota. She noted that athletes in swimming, wrestling and track and field incorporate tapering into their training and do not try to peak for, or even participate in, each competition.
“I thought it was innovative,” Denney Wright said of Krikorian. “If a conference regulates that you have to play these players or those players, I think that’s a slippery slope. Ultimately, it’s a coach’s call. They have to trust us. I don’t know any other place where a conference has stepped in and said you have to play the starters.”
The Florida State incident underscored the widespread debate about the value of conference tournaments when numerous teams from the A.C.C. and other leagues are eligible for postseason play in sports like soccer, basketball, baseball and softball.
The debate is whether conference tournaments are necessary competitive events or primarily a means to provide additional financing and television showcases at a time when the vast majority of colleges are losing money on athletics. Only 14 of the nation’s 120 major athletic departments reported making a profit in the 2008-09 school year, according to the N.C.A.A.
Several soccer coaches said they suspected the A.C.C.’s main concern with Florida State was that another university might try a similar tactic in the far more visible and lucrative men’s conference basketball tournament.
“I don’t blame them for being scared,” said Becky Burleigh, the women’s soccer coach at Florida, who guided the Gators of the Southeastern Conference to the 1998 national title. “Who would pay to watch the Duke reserves and the Carolina reserves in basketball?”
Generally, the winner of the conference tournament in various sports receives an automatic bid to the N.C.A.A. tournament. But long gone are the days when only one team per conference could qualify for the postseason. In women’s soccer, for instance, eight teams from the A.C.C. qualified for the 64-team N.C.A.A. field. The tournament concludes with the national championship game Dec. 5.
The A.C.C. tournament meant little for Florida State; its berth with a high seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament was already assured. Of bigger concern for Krikorian was the health and fatigue of his players.
The Seminoles played their last two regular-season games at Maryland and Boston College, on Oct. 28 and 31; after a short trip back to campus, they traveled to Cary, N.C., potentially to play three more games in five days in the A.C.C. tournament. Thus the Seminoles, whose depth was depleted by injury this season, faced five possible games in 11 days, an onerous task for a soccer team even with college’s relaxed substitution rules.
So Krikorian left seven starters home and participated in the A.C.C. tournament with only one goalkeeper and one outfield player as substitutes. When the Seminoles lost to Wake Forest, 3-1, on Nov. 3, Krikorian told reporters, “It seemed to us that the lineup we put out today was in our best interest.”
Tony da Luz, the Wake Forest coach, told The News and Observer of Raleigh, N.C., that he understood Krikorian’s strategy of resting his players for the N.C.A.A. tournament.
“If it works out well, I totally respect his decision,” he said.
src: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/sports/soccer/19seminoles.html?ref=sports
After Reprimand, College Coach Receives Support From Soccer Peers
