Another Division I men's soccer program has been dropped. The University of Central Arkansas has announced the elimination of the men's intercollegiate soccer program, which played its first season of Division I ball in 2006.
The move stems from UCA's failure to find a D1 soccer conference in which to play. Athletic Director John Thompson said the men's soccer team did not receive an invitation to join either the Missouri Valley or Conference USA. (MVC coaches had supported a move to expand.) UCA had also approached the Mid-American, which is in danger of losing its automatic bid in 2007 because it will have only five teams playing men's soccer.
Faced with the alternative of again playing as an independent, UCA chose to drop the program.
UCA joined the Southland Conference and moved to NCAA Division I effective July 1 of this year. The Southland offers women's soccer, but does not offer men's soccer as a championship sport. Thompson said that UCA would continue to play women's soccer.