Colorado University Athletics
With Spring Start Date Set, Buffs Soccer Ready To Resume Preparation
October 02, 2020 | Soccer, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Thanks to a recent decision by the NCAA, University of Colorado women's soccer players now know when they will actually be able to open their season.
But still up in the air is exactly who the Buffs will be playing once they begin competition next February.
The NCAA announced on Sept. 22 that the dates for the spring soccer season — which will replace the normal fall season postponed by the coronavirus pandemic — will be Feb. 3 through April 17, 2021. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced April 18, with the tournament set to be contested from April 24 through May 16.
That was a solid step forward for Danny Sanchez's Buffs, who now at least have a concrete date for their opener.
Sanchez and his fellow Pac-12 coaches engaged in a conference call with league officials earlier this week. A high priority was exactly what their schedules might look like once they begin playing.
"We expressed how we'd like it to look in the spring," Sanchez said. "There's still some uncertainty about who we can play and when we can play them, but at the end the day, we know we'll be playing. That's been great for the players. Obviously we would have loved to have played a game or two this fall, but that's not going to happen. That's fine — we're excited for spring. Hopefully Feb. 3 or Feb. 4, we're playing someone somewhere."
Indeed, one of the questions yet to be answered is whether Pac-12 teams will be able to play non-conference opponents. Those are typically valuable games as Pac-12 teams prepare for competing in what is perhaps the toughest league in the nation.
"Our coaches are unanimous in that we have the opportunity to play non-conference," Sanchez said. "That's understanding travel restrictions, understanding Covid testing, understanding budget. But I think if we can check all the boxes needed to play non-conference, there's no reason we should not be able to. If every other school in the country that is playing now or is playing in the spring has the opportunity to play non-conference, I don't know why the Pac-12 should be any different."
But the Buffs likely won't see a soccer schedule anytime in the immediate future. Conference officials are still working out schedules for football (set to begin Nov, 6-7) and men's and women's basketball (Nov. 25 start date). Once those are established, the spring sports will be next in line.
Meanwhile, Sanchez's team will begin the process of getting ready for a season that now at least has an established start date.
But it's not like the Buffs have been sitting idly by, waiting for an announcement. Most of the team returned to campus last summer when the NCAA began allowing voluntary workouts, and they have been engaged in allowed team training activities since school began.
"I really want to praise the commitment of our players," Sanchez said. "They all got here either before the July 4 weekend or right after. That was a big commitment to get here then … We've been limited on the contact stuff, but we're able to do a lot of functional training, individual stuff and small group stuff. It's been good. But obviously the team is excited to hopefully ramp it back up next week."
Indeed, the Buffs hope to be able to take their workouts up a notch in the near future. Currently, however, all of CU's programs are waiting for the Boulder County Health Department's recently instituted order that eliminates group workouts to be lifted.
The Covid-19 shutdown no doubt took its toll on every collegiate program, and women's soccer was certainly no exception. The Buffs did not have the opportunity for their normal spring session, which always includes a couple of games.
But, the shutdown cloud may also actually provide a silver lining. When the Buffs begin play next February, they could have a complete healthy roster — something that wouldn't have been the case had they played this fall.
CU had two key players — Hannah Cardenas and Libby Geraghty — undergo knee surgery early last spring. Normally, that would have eliminated their availability for the fall season. Now, however, both should be ready to play in February.
"This extra time of not having to push through is good in that regard," Sanchez said. "Hannah came here (in the summer) knowing she wasn't going to play in the fall, but now it turns out she will probably be able to play in the spring because of all the hard work she put in during the summer and fall. The same with Libby. I think there's a silver lining that we have been able to get everybody healthy. If we were to play a game in November, odds are we'd probably have every single player available, which is unique."
And, while the Buffs won't have the luxury of a couple games this fall to prep for the regular season, they will at least have more preparation time than normal.
"We haven't had to go charging into preseason, which is usually 17 days from first practice to first game," Sanchez said. "That's not a lot of time. Now we have plenty of time to get ready."
One other obstacle presented by the pandemic has been an added responsibility placed on student-athletes' shoulders — that of being extra careful not to place themselves in unnecessary situations that might increase their chances of contracting the virus.
Sanchez said he's happy with the way his players have responded in that regard.
"I'm really proud of how they've carried themselves on and off the field during this time," he said. "I've told them that. They've been fantastic … We don't bury our heads in the sand and say it's not difficult. It is. We were all college students as well, so we understand it is a challenge and there are sacrifices to be made … But if these are sacrifices we have to make in the short term so we can do what we all love to do in the long term, they've bought into it. We're proud of them. If we want the opportunity to play, we can control what we can control, and that's what we focus on. So far, they've done a good job with that."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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