The Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance (SCSA), also referred to as NIRSA Region II, is a NIRSA-affiliated, structured, divisional play for men's and women's collegiate club soccer programs in the US which seek to qualify for the Region 2 Soccer Tournament which is a qualifier for the NIRSA National Soccer Championships. Region 2 Soccer consists of non-varsity club teams representing accredited colleges and universities from the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. While NIRSA has had an official region 2 for soccer since 1995, the current SCSA wasn't created until 2010.[1]
History
Initially developed to help NIRSA determine the best teams in the nation to send to the national tournament, NIRSA appointed regional coordinators in 1995, the year following the first national tournament. These appointed coordinators were in charge of generating rankings that NIRSA could use to select the teams most deserving of a bid.
For the first 7 years, the region II coordinators used their own ranking system from games that teams played locally. However, coordinators began finding it more and more difficult to accurately rank teams due to the growth in the number of teams. To solve this issue, NIRSA encouraged coordinators to host a regional tournament to not only gauge skill, but to also find teams that were willing, and able, to travel since collegiate clubs generally receive little, to no, funding from the university they represent.[2]
During this time, a separate league began in 1999 called the Southeast Collegiate Soccer League (SCSL) that was exclusively for men's club teams in NIRSA's region II area. Despite not being created by the coordinators NIRSA appointed for the region, this league was still affiliated with NIRSA. Each year, the league hosted an end of season tournament that all teams were required to attend and the winner of the tournament would receive an automatic bid to the national tournament, a system that's currently used by the SCSA. Three years after this, in the 2002 season, NIRSA's region II division began holding a tournament of their own for both men's and women's teams. The first two seasons, the tournaments were on separate weekends, but in 2004 the tournaments fell on the same weekend, forcing teams to choose which one to attend.
Following the 2004 season, in July 2005, it was announced that the league would end due to a lack of communication from participating club teams and no longer host a tournament. After the dissolution, all SCSL clubs were allowed to participate in NIRSA's Region II league and tournament.[3][4] In 2010, the league was renamed from NIRSA Region II to the current Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance.[5]
Current format
Regular season
The SCSA is currently divided into 6 divisions for women's teams and 8 divisions for the men's teams. Each team must play at least 6 games against current SCSA teams to be eligible for the end of season tournament.
To help decide who gets to attend the regional tournament, the winner of each division receives an automatic bid to the regional tournament with the remaining invitations given to wild card teams that are determined by RPI. Each team plays the same number of intra-divisional games as each team within its division. Once the regular season is concluded, divisional standings are determined on the double three-point system (six points for a win, two points for a draw, no points for a loss). Only divisional games are included in the tiebreaking criteria.
Tie-breaking criteria for divisional ranking
The ranking of teams in each group are based on the following criteria in order:
In a tie breaking scenario involving more than 2 teams, the tiebreaker procedure would begin. If one team is identified as different and both remaining teams are still tied, the tie breaker procedure is restarted.
While only intra-divisional games will be counted in the division standings, all regional games are counted in the overall record used for the League RPI ranking.[6]
Regional tournament
Each year, the SCSA hosts, what they call, the Region II Regional Tournament consisting of 12 women's teams and 16 men's teams. The tournament is two stage beginning with a round-robin group stage followed by a single-elimination knockout stage
For the men's division group stage, the 16 teams are split into four groups of four teams each. Each team plays every other team in their group meaning a total of 6 games are played within a group. The top two teams from each group advance to the round of 8.
For the women's division group stage, the 12 teams are split into four groups of four teams each. Each team plays every other team in their group meaning a total of 3 games are played within a group. The top two teams from each group advance to the round of 8.
To determine group standings, the three-point system (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a loss) is used.
Tie-breaking criteria for group play
The ranking of teams in each group are based on the following criteria in order:
In a tie breaking scenario involving more than 2 teams, the tiebreaker procedure would begin. If one team is identified as different and both remaining teams are still tied, the tie breaker procedure is restarted.
If a tie still remained after the first 5 criteria, the following is used to break a tie:
If there was a three-way tie, a coin-flip would be conducted. The two teams that chose the same outcome would compete in kicks from the mark between each other. The winner would compete with the last remaining team in kicks from the mark
If there's a four-way tie, a drawing of lots would be conducted (only could occur in open division)
The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament, in which each team plays in a one-off match. In the event of a tie, one 15-minute, sudden-victory overtime period begins. If still tied, a penalty shootout is used.
Games consist of two 35-minute halves. For pool play, round of 16, and quarterfinals halves are separated by a seven-minute halftime while the halves for the semifinals and finals are separated by a ten-minute halftime.[7]
Champions
Men's
SCSL (1994–2002)
The first 4 years that the region existed, the region itself relied on rankings and an outside, pre-existing league, the Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance (SCSL), to help determine national tournament bids. The SCSL typically hosted two tournaments: the "Final Four", consisting of the top two teams from the east and west divisions, and a 16-team invitational tournament the following week. The "Final Four" became the main qualifier for the league but notably, no men's team in region II attended NIRSA's national tournament until 1996 with teams generally participating in the NCSA tournament or opting out entirely.[8][9]
Beginning in 2002 for both the men's and women's division, the region II coordinators decided to host an end of season tournament where the regional tournament winner received an automatic bid to the national tournament. The first two years, the tournaments were hosted on different weekends, meaning teams could compete in both but in 2004, the tournaments were on the same weekend, forcing teams to choose which tournament to participate in.
NIRSA's region II was rebranded to the current Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance. Teams began to get divided into divisions within the region, with each divisional winner receiving a bid to the regional tournament and the remaining participating teams selected using RPI.
The first 7 years that the region existed, no regional tournament was used for the women. The winner of the league was crowned as the team with the best record at the end of the season according to the coordinators, similar to what other soccer leagues do in Europe.
Beginning in 2002 for both the men's and women's division, the region II coordinators decided to host an end of the season tournament due too a rapid growth in participating teams. The regional tournament winner received an automatic bid to the national tournament.
NIRSA region II was rebranded to the current Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance. Teams are divided into divisions within the region, with each divisional winner receiving a bid to the regional tournament. The remaining participating teams are selected using RPI.
