Nationals

Disagree with a lot of this. I for one prefer games where it's "too hot" outside to those where it's "too cold". Though again, I'm a parent watching from the sideline and not playing! But those December-February games where you have an 8 or 9 AM kickoff and it's 28 degrees really suck, for both players and spectators. And if you're playing on grass that time of year, the surface is going to be awful probably 75% of the time.

As far as dragging the spring season out further past the end of school, I think that's a bad idea. People want to have time off to do things other than soccer in the summer- at least most sane people do! I know this board is populated with people who put soccer above just about everything else in theirs & their kids' lives, but the vast majority of the soccer-playing community is involved for fun & the enjoyment of the game, not because they're trying to turn their kid into the next Messi or Alex Morgan, or even get them a scholarship. When summer break starts- and yes, in the South, it starts earlier than it does in much of the rest of the country, so either deal with it or move- most people want to have flexibility and freedom to travel, do camps and other activities, etc., not be tied down to soccer for half of the summer. We already get enough of that during the school year, when even taking a simple weekend trip (sometimes even a day trip) has to be cleared around the almighty soccer calendar. Players & parents need a break, and aligning it with the school calendar as much as you can makes the most sense, at least to me.