Here’s why the start of fall practice is completely different for Auburn soccer this year — and why the coaches are ‘really, really happy’ with their starting point
The new “acclimation period” recently implemented by the NCAA allowed Auburn soccer to get started sooner than ever this fall.
The start of fall is totally different this year for Auburn soccer.
For one: It’s the beginning of Auburn’s second season under head coach James Armstrong, and whereas this time last year he was just getting Year 0 newcomers in the door for fall practice, this year the vast majority of this team’s newcomers were able to enroll in January and go through spring with him.
Secondly: Fall practices began sooner than ever this year across the NCAA.
Believe it or not, Auburn athletics activities for the 2026-27 schoolyear are already officially under way.
The NCAA this offseason approved for soccer the implementation of a 14-day “acclimation period” for each team before regular practice weeks begin, and Auburn soccer’s acclimation period began Wednesday.
From July 15 to July 29, Auburn’s athletes can work out with coaches 10 hours a week, though only in five of those hours can they work with soccer balls. Most players came back for Auburn’s Summer II mini-semester in June, and have been able to participate in voluntary workouts with the strength staff — but by NCAA rules the coaching staff isn’t allowed to watch to know anything about those conditioning workouts.
Wednesday, Armstong and the soccer coaches got their first chance to work with the players since the spring — and, even though they’re limited to five hours of practice with a ball, Armstrong and the staff aren’t waiting up: They’re trying to make the most of those five hours, and evaluate players as best they can, so by the time regular practice weeks begin, they’ll be able to hit the ground running.
“By the time that we start on the 29th and we start to really think tactically, we should have a good idea of personnel, which will allow us to figure out what formation we think we might be in,” Armstrong explained on Thursday in his office at the Auburn track and soccer facility.
“We’re evaluating now, 100-percent.”
Enter those newcomers: