Wisconsin Soccer Central

The WIAA Board of Control approved four recommendations from its Soccer Coaches Advisory Committee at its January meeting Wednesday in Stevens Point, including changes to its tournament seeding format and the state tournament schedule.

Starting in the 2016-17 school year, all but one sectional in each of the four divisions of the boys and girls soccer tournaments will be seeded as a whole bracket. In the past, some sectionals were split in half and then seeded; under the plan approved Wednesday, only Sectional 1 in each division will follow that format.

Also, the days and times of the semifinals and finals of the state semifinals and championship games will rotate on a four-year schedule. In the current format, the Division 3 and 4 semifinals are on Thursdays and Division 1 and 2 semifinals are on Fridays, in advance of the Saturday finals played in a 4-3-2-1 order. The schedule adjustment will be re-evaluated following the 2017-18 school year.

The Board also approved recommendations to allow soccer teams to play scrimmages after three days of practice and to have higher-seeded teams wear white uniforms and be designated as the home team through sectional semifinals.

A large portion of Wednesday's meeting focused on conference realignment in southeast Wisconsin. Forty-five teams would be affected by the proposed changes, which will be discussed by the Board again in April. View the proposed plan (pdf)

• Mark your calendars: The first day of practice for WIAA girls soccer teams this year is March 21, with the season's first games March 29.
• A Wisconsin native with no soccer playing experience has made quite an impact on the Arizona prep soccer scene. Roxanne Taylor, whose family left the Fox Valley community of Berlin and relocated to Tucson in the 1970s, recently earned her 400th career victory as coach of the Rincon-University High School boys team. Taylor, who starting coaching soccer 30 years ago because her oldest daughter wanted to play the sport, has led the Rangers to three Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II state championships and two state runner-up finishes. Read more about Taylor from the Arizona Daily Star