Lynch doing leg work for move to NCAA

By Jessica Ecterling

ByThe switch to NCAA Division II has men’s soccer coach John Lynch seeing a promising future.

The men’s team currently has 20 players and Lynch is looking to gain a few more key players to fill in the spaces. He is expecting to sign six or seven players for the fall squad.

The switch to NCAA, according to Lynch, is exciting because the NCAA is more recognizable than NAIA and will help get more recognition for the talented players within the program.

Lynch says he is looking for players who are left-footed with strong defensive abilities, along with trying to find a defensive center midfielder capable of winning balls in the air and on the ground.
The biggest change that will occur concerning recruiting with the switch to NCAA is Flagler coaches will no longer have to search a player’s background to confirm eligibility. In NCAA, before a player can commit to a program they must first be cleared through the NCAA clearinghouse, a process that helps NCAA ensure that a player is eligible to play, and honest about their athletic and academic background.

While the men that will be joining the team next year do have to be cleared, current players are grandfathered into NCAA without worrying about going through the process.

Lynch says the men’s team is already stronger this spring than it was this past fall. With four Div. I teams on the schedule for next year he is excited to see the team grow and mature.

“With the move we will get stronger as a program,” he said.