Overtime has Left Iowa High School Soccer

A surprising change has officially been made for IHSAA (Iowa High School Athletic Association) and IGHSAU (Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union) soccer. Now, during the regular season of high school soccer, there will be no overtime. Before this year, high school soccer games always ended in a win or a loss, there were no ties. If it were a tie when the full 80 minutes were played, then the team would go into overtime which starts as one 10-minute period, then a halftime, and then another 10 minutes, given neither of the teams has scored. This is a sudden-death situation, so if either team scores one goal they win and the game ends. If neither team could score within those two 10-minute periods, then they would go into penalties. In penalties, five players from each team step up to take a shot from the penalty spot. Depending on which team makes more shots, they then win the game. However, for the 2025 season and years after, overtime will not happen and games will end in a tie. The only exception to this is in the postseason. Overtime will still occur in postseason games, for example during state.

This is a very controversial change to high school soccer, so let’s hear some opinions about this new and unexpected rule switch. Let’s hear what the girl’s side of soccer has to say. Sophomore Ansley Ransom said, “I don’t agree with this change because many games end in ties which is why overtime is there. So, eliminating overtime would mean that we wouldn’t know which teams are better. Penalty shootouts also demonstrate the level of the team and how they react under pressure.” Next, junior Hayden Beyer said, “I think a negative takeaway from this change in overtime is there will never be a definite winner if there is a tie.” Lastly, from a different perspective, senior Lauren Nidey said, “I am excited about this new rule. Soccer is an endurance-based sport, and having 2-3 games a week in a short season can be a lot. 2 seasons ago, we had 2 double overtime games back to back. It was a lot of stress and wore us out. Without having to go to overtime this year in the regular season, it helps protect the players from injuries due to overuse. I hope that it helps the full recovery period between games.” 

As a high school soccer player myself, I’m not very excited about this new rule. Similarly to Ansley and Hayden, I don’t like ties and think ending in a tie is pretty pointless. Getting points is important going into state and ties will result in fewer points all around. Going into overtime and penalties proves how a team handles the pressure and makes it so there will also be a definite winner. I’ve been on both the winning and losing end of overtime and it gives you a rush of adrenaline that was so exciting. However, I also see Lauren’s point of view and understand why they made things change. Preventing injury in youth sports is very important and if getting rid of overtime can help solve this problem, then I think it could be a great idea. 

As well as the overtime rule, there were some other new changes to Iowa high school soccer this year including taking away the five-minute sit-out for a yellow card. When a player gets a yellow card, they now have to go out of the game but can go back in or be replaced by a new player as soon as the next substitution opportunity opens up. Before this season, a player would have to sit out for five minutes before being allowed to return. Another change is in weather delays. During a postseason game, we will not be allowed to start/resume the game three hours after the original start time. For example, if the game starts at 7:00 and gets delayed until 10:00 the game will not resume. These changes will make some differences in high school soccer but should be fun to experience and see if the changes are positive or negative for our upcoming season. 

Graphic by Tori Bohnenkamp using Canva