Sasho Cirovski Continues to Look Towards the Future
By Eli Davis
Sasho Cirovski has seen tremendous transformation during his 22-year tenure as head soccer coach at the University of Maryland, but he continues to look towards the future to create the best possible product for the game of soccer and for his Terrapin squad.
His vision includes continuing to expand college soccer, making the game as safe as possible for student-athletes and keeping Maryland’s soccer tradition at an elite level.
“We have four words that describe our philosophy, building champions, pursuing championships,” Cirovski said. “Building champions is the process of not only recruiting good people, but helping them be the best they can be here. We’ve always been very tuned with the needs of our players.”
Cirovski, who has been the chair of division I coaches committee for the past 12 years, is heading a project called the academic calendar season. “Now there is a great opportunity,” he said. “The NCAA is looking at transformational change.” The goal of the project is to spread out the soccer season to benefit the health of the players and enhance the fan experience.
Currently, division I programs play 20 games in the fall season and five exhibition games in the spring. The 20-game season is too many games in too short of a time period, according to Cirovski. “It’s unfair to student athletes’ health and well being and academic well being,” he said. “Our players will miss 10 days of school in the fall and zero days in the spring. It makes more sense to miss five days in the fall and five days in the spring.”
Additionally, he is pushing to eliminate games with less than three days between them. This would also force the NCAA to redesign its championship weekend from its format of semifinals on Friday and championship on Sunday. Cirovski envisions moving the NCAA tournament from December to the spring when it could serve as a warm-weather event for fans.
The academic calendar season would also serve as a tool to remedy concussions. Student-athletes tend to lie about their condition and there is pressure on the coaching and training staffs to get them back into games, according to Cirovski. “Typically you need between five to seven days of rest and recovery from a concussion,” he said. “If you spread out the schedule, spread out the games, it’s a win-win for everybody.”
As changes are made to the game, Cirovski is confident college soccer has the potential to be a revenue sport for universities throughout the country. “20 years from now I expect that our stadium will be way too small,” he said. “You have to offer a good product and a good experience.”
His goal is to have a 10,000-seat soccer-specific stadium and sell 2,500 season tickets. “That alone would put us almost at a revenue producing standpoint,” Cirovski said.
Although Cirovski is disappointed in his team’s 6-5-2 record to begin the year, he purposefully scheduled a strong schedule to get the most out of his players. “We’re now seeing the benefits of the group being toughened and coming together,” he said. “We’re playing our best soccer of the year right now.”
Since an overtime loss to Northwestern, a match that led to a one-game suspension for Cirovski for inappropriate action towards an official, the Terps have reeled off three straight wins and have not surrendered a goal in that span. With five regular season games remaining, they will have to keep momentum going to secure the program’s 14th straight NCAA tournament appearance. Anything less would be a disappointment for the team, university and its loyal fan base.
“We’ve built a culture now that is real. It has a lot of substance,” Cirovski said.
