SMU’s women’s soccer team will join the American Athletic Conference this fall, but not all players are on board with the university’s Power Five promotion.
Some players say they are not too eager to play tougher teams and have more rigorous training which will come with the transition.
“I think that because the ACC is such a powerhouse in women’s sports or women’s soccer specifically, that it intimidates a lot of our players,” said Maura Yumul, a sophomore on the team. “We didn’t expect to jump to such a high level, especially because the teams that are in the ACC are all consistently top 10.”
Representatives from SMU Athletics, including athletics director Rick Hart and women’s soccer head coach Nicole Nelson, did not respond to requests for comment about players’ concerns.
Joining the ACC was lauded as a major win for SMU Athletics, the end of a yearslong process to move the school into a “power five” conference. SMU raised more than $100 million as part of its bid to join the ACC.
But with this big announcement came other consequences. SMU gave up any possible revenue that would be earned from their Tier 1 media rights for the next nine years. This means they will be losing millions media advertising dollars during this time.
Because SMU has put large amounts of money into joining the ACC, the women’s soccer team expects major publicity. Members of the team anticipate larger crowds at their games due to the hype around the big schools they will be playing next season.
“Hopefully, we get a lot more people out at the games, because maybe there are fans around here that are Stanford fans or Duke fans or whatever team we might be playing at that time of year,” said Eliana Salama, a sophomore on the team.
Some players said they feel happy about the new conference, while others are indifferent. The pros and cons list is growing as they are unsure how to feel about the news, Yumul said.
“I think our team was kind of split,” she said “There are those that were intimidated by the ACC and stressed out about it, then there are those that were excited about getting a bigger name and getting to play at a higher level. And so I think it’s like 50/50 there.”
Some athletes who chose SMU did so because of the level of competition in the ACC, where the Mustangs have played since the conference was founded in 2013, Yumul added.
“The ACC is so drastically different from the AAC,” she said. “It just kind of changes everyone’s whole perspective.”
The worry, she said, is that some players did not commit to SMU to play at such a high level, and now they have to make drastic changes on and off the field. Because of this, some players like Yumul are worried about getting a shot at a championship game again in the future.
“It’s really scary, but it’s exciting at the same time,” Salama said “So I’m happy about it, but I’m also a little worried, just because we’re kind of like guinea pigs for the next couple of years.”
Samantha Estrada, a senior on the team, may be graduating, but she said she has her faith in the team remaining successful in the upcoming season. Keeping up team morale and reminding the team of their capabilities will be the biggest challenge for the coaches, she added.
“They are going to be playing against big-time soccer players and teams, so they are probably going to lose some games 5-0, or 3-0, and that’s really hard on a team, especially in soccer,” Estrada said. “I think for the team, believing in themselves that they can compete at this level is important because they are all capable of it. I truly believe that.”
The move also raises concerns for some incoming freshmen committing to SMU.
SMU’s women’s soccer team has already signed five new commits, but Yumul said she is concerned about making sure current players and new players do not enter the NCAA transfer portal before the new season begins.
There was talk of SMU joining the ACC before the recruits committed, but nothing was set in stone when they did. Yumul said she was initially worried that because of this, the team could lose those athletes.
Now, she is confident that maintaining their current freshman recruits will be simple.
“I think that it’ll be easy to get some good recruits, because SMU has really good facilities and helps with athlete academics,” Yumul said. “The only thing that was missing in the recruiting process was the conference. I think that having the name of a bigger conference will definitely help with recruitment.”
Sadie Paul is a 2024 SMU commit who currently attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Paul plays as an outside forward and is eager for the new opportunity to be in the ACC.
“I think it’s going to do nothing but benefit us. For me, I will be put into higher competition from the very beginning so I think it’s going to help me develop ten times faster than I would have,” Paul said.
The recruits will have a different experience during the upcoming season compared to current members as they are diving headfirst into the deep end of the Power Five conference. The team will need to work together and find their flow quickly with the new members stepping in, Salama said.
“It will be a whole new experience moving into the ACC for sure,” Paul said. “It’s a lot better competition, but I think it will make us better as a whole.”
