Good news for someone often brings bad news for somebody else. It's all a matter of perspective.

When Red Lion coach Ben Smith found out last week the PIAA decided to delay switching girls' soccer from a spring sport to a fall sport until after the 2012 spring season, the news definitely brought a mixed bag of emotions.

"With the two-year delay, I now have two field hockey players who know they can finish their varsity careers in both sports (by playing hockey in the fall and soccer in the spring)," Smith said. "But my daughter, Caitlin, will be a ninth-grader next season and she's not looking forward to it.

"She has an interest in other sports, so she could play another sport in the fall and soccer in the spring for one year, but then she would have to decide as a sophomore which direction she wanted to go. It's much harder to switch when you're older, so she's definitely not happy about it."

Back in the summer, the PIAA announced that girls' soccer state-wide would move from spring to fall in time for the 2010-11 school year. District 3 was primarily the only district left that played a spring season after District 1 decided it would switch to the fall in time for 2010.

"When District 1 opted for fall, we knew it was only a matter of time before the PIAA made the move," Smith said.

But after athletic directors in the area asked for more time to get budgets, playing fields, coaching staffs and officials lined up properly, the PIAA reconsidered. The

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decision was made that girls' soccer officially becomes a fall sport in 2012-13.

"I was open-minded about the original idea of switching from spring to fall, but I wasn't shocked to hear it got pushed back," said Eastern York coach Chrissy Crumling. "When you look at the whole picture from the kids' point of view, this gives them more time.

"Now, the younger kids can look ahead and anticipate the switch and make their choices about playing in the future, while the older kids who have invested three years of time in the sport can see it through. I believe when you look at it that way, (the delay) is a better thing."

Under the current regulations, girls' soccer is played in both seasons in Pennsylvania, with the WPIAL teams competing for a fall title in the west and the eastern and central schools playing for a spring championship.

The PIAA's two-year delay allows school districts to iron out some of the bumps that the transition from spring to fall will surely create.

"And now the kids don't have to decide right away whether they want to stick with soccer or another sport," said Central York coach Liz Critchfield. "They have a couple of years to make up their minds. The ninth-graders will have to choose between playing soccer, field hockey, volleyball and cross country.

"Sure, there's a lot of stuff going on in the fall, but with the recent addition of lacrosse, spring is busy, too, with softball and track."

There's plenty of work to be done on the transition. Some schools don't have enough fields for both boys' and girls' teams to practice and play games simultaneously. At other schools, the same person coaches both boys' and girls' varsity programs.

Make no mistake, there will be some short-term pain, but it's anticipated that the long-term gain will be worth it.

"I understand why they want to make the move from spring to fall," Smith said. "It will be good to have a common timeframe for both the boys' and the girls' game. It's good to crown one true state champion. And it certainly helps the college recruiting process for seniors, who will have more time to receive offers and make their college choices.

"But you can also understand how it will be hard for some girls to make a decision about which sport they want to play in the fall."
dave@ydr.com; 771-2063