With three games left in the regular season, Ball State's soccer players may be competing just to make next season's roster.
Coach Craig Roberts said the 2011 Cardinals will have 25 players, compared to the 29 on this season's team. There are six seniors graduating from a program without a win in its first eight Mid-American Conference games this fall.
Roberts said he's adding more than 10 recruits, meaning eight current players could be in danger of not making next season's team.
"I think the players on the team know where they stand," Roberts said, who added no spot is guaranteed. "Expectations were clearly laid out at the beginning of the season. Players were given a chance to earn their place on the team."
After taking over the program last winter, Roberts was unable to complete basic coaching tasks such as scheduling and recruiting. Roberts brought four transfers with him from his last job at Tennessee-Martin, where he led the program to its first Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2009.
Next season will be the first time Roberts introduces a full class of his recruits.
"The hardest part of being a coach is separating emotion from program decisions. You have to make first-year coaching changes that get you up and running," he said. "This is way I have done it with other programs. It has always been successful in the past."
It seems like the situation would be less than ideal for players. But freshman defender Kelsey Shapiro, who has started the past two games, said she embraces the open competition.
"It is kind of a new challenge, something you have to work for," Shapiro said. "Everyone starts at the same level. It isn't based on seniority."
Along with the incoming recruits, there is a nucleus of returning players making up this year's squad. Seven underclassmen have played in every match this season, and four out of the top five goal scorers will return next season.
Players left off next season's roster will have the opportunity to transfer to another school.
Throughout the season, Roberts gave out evaluations concerning game performances, strength and weaknesses as well as where each player stood with the team. Now that the season is winding down, Roberts said he's taking a step back to evaluate the program as a whole.
"We have a very good foundation with the players here to work with," he said. "It is all about combining appropriate players with them to be successful. We want to get the ingredients to contend for a MAC championship."
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