“Football is life,” as star football player Dani Rojas would say on the hit TV show Ted Lasso, where an American football coach, Ted Lasso, goes overseas to coach a professional English football team.
If football — or for Americans, soccer —- is life, why isn’t there a men’s varsity soccer team at the University of Nevada, Reno?
The issue of not supporting a men’s soccer team isn’t Nevada-specific. Schools across the country are unable to support or recognize men’s soccer teams. Notable universities without a D1 men’s soccer program include the University of Texas, University of Southern California, University of Alabama and Auburn University.
Most conferences don’t fund D1 soccer, but they allow some of their programs to have their own D1 men’s soccer programs under a different conference. For example, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) allows South Carolina and Kentucky to have D1 men’s soccer programs in the Sun Belt Conference.
The reason for a lack of men’s college soccer across the nation? Money, scholarships, and Title IX rules.
Title IX requires schools to give out athletic scholarships based on the percentage of males and females playing varsity sports at that college. It also requires scholarships to be roughly the same financially between men and women.
Schools around the country usually have a generic “set” of sports for men and women, such as football, baseball, and basketball for men, and softball, women’s basketball, and soccer for women. Co-ed sports include tennis, track and field, and regional sports, such as skiing. If men’s soccer were to be added to a school, it would take away from the pool of women’s sports, as well as athletic scholarships.
Roster limits for Nevada Wolf Pack sports
Men’s sports
Football – 105 players
Baseball – 34 players
Cross Country – 17 players
Skiing – 16 players
Basketball – 15 players
Tennis – 10 players
Golf – 9 players
Women’s sports
Track – 45 players
Swim – 30 players
Soccer – 28 players
Softball – 25 players
Volleyball – 18 players
Skiing – 16 players
Basketball – 15 players
Golf – 9 players
These roster limits mean that every player is eligible for a scholarship, and if UNR expands to support men’s soccer, it would take away from both men and women athletes’ existing scholarships. It would also mean that UNR would have to find and support another women’s team, due to the Title IX scholarship proportion rules.
Although men’s soccer would be a great addition to Nevada Athletics, the chances of a team becoming a reality are slim, but not impossible.
In the meantime, Northern Nevada will be home to a professional men’s soccer team. In the spring of 2028, the United Soccer League’s Reno City FC will kick off its inaugural season, with a brand new, 6,000 seat stadium being built near the Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
The team will be Reno’s fifth stint of minor league soccer, following the Reno Rattlers (1994-1998), Northern Nevada Aces (2001-2004), Nevada Wonders (2003-2005), and Reno 1868 FC (2017-2020).
