As the winter sports season begins, athletic director Andy Ewald said preparations for next fall season begin with the scheduling of competitions for fall sports.

“Each sport gets a conference schedule that they have to play, but after there is room to schedule non-conference contests,” Ewald said. “Some coaches decide to play a lot of non-conference games and some do not.”

According to Ewald, he feels responsible for overseeing the process of creating schedules for sports. He said coaches must decide whether they want to have a say in the process or not.

“It’s really my job to set up with other schools the schedule if they want to play us in a sport,” Ewald said. “Either coaches just let me do the non-conference schedule, or they make a list with 10-15 schools that they give to me so I can try to schedule them, or they schedule the games themselves.”

Ewald said he often leaves it up to the coaches because they are the most knowledgeable about their sport.

“The coaches know their team and their sport the best, so giving them the option to make their schedule is healthy,” Ewald said.

Senior Daniel Lee said giving coaches the ability to choose their non-conference competitions allows for a balanced schedule during the season.

“I liked the teams we played outside of the conference, because they were not teams we normally would play,” Lee said. “Coaches ought to determine the games they play because they know the level of their team.”