RSO Spotlight: Soccer Club
The GHC Soccer Club is a club sport that seeks to provide opportunities for students to play the beautiful game. Members will practice, train, and play soccer in a variety of local, state, or regional leagues, tournaments, and other game settings. Opportunities to play are available to both male and female players.
The team has had active players from all GHC locations.
Faculty Advisor: John Spranza, jspranza@highlands.edu
Student Leaders: There are several team leader positions open and available for both the men’s and women’s teams. Please contact the advisor/coach if you are interested in filling one of the roles.
Pre-COVID:
Practices were held at the Cartersville campus on the intramural field beside the Student Center, with the men’s team practicing on Wednesdays at 4pm and the women’s team practicing on Thursdays at 4pm. Games were played primarily on Saturdays and Sundays, with Home games being played at the Floyd Campus on the intramural field behind the Gym.
The men’s team qualified for full membership in the Southeast Collegiate Soccer Alliance (SCSA) in Region 2 of the National Intramural & Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). The women’s team were affiliate members still working to qualify for full membership. For the Fall 2019 season, the men’s team had a record of 3-5 in SCSA league play; while the women’s team were only able to play 2 matches (1 loss, 1 tie) due to lack of consistent number of players. In Fall 2018, the men’s team achieved a record of 5-3, while the women’s team had a 3-5 record, both as SCSA affiliate members.
The men’s team earned a lottery spot in the NIRSA National Soccer Championship Tournament, Open division in Round Rock, TX in November 2019. The team finished with a tournament record of 1-2 in group play, beating Xavier University 2-1 and losing 2-0 to Utah Valley University and 3-2 to the University of Minnesota. The team was recognized at the tournament by being named the winner of the Sportsmanship Award.
Post-COVID:
It is unknown whether the SCSA will hold a league season in Fall 2020. If a league season is not supported, the team will likely seek out other club sports teams to schedule friendly matches if possible under current pandemic social distancing guidelines for athletic contests. We will defer to NIRSA guidelines as well as local and college policies as appropriate.
Team photos:
Action during the Women’s team draw with Emory.
Men’s team celebrate after their victory over Xavier University at the NIRSA National Soccer Championship tournament.
