By Donna Lopiano
Published: August 1, 1997
Title IX athletic participation requirements have been an impetus for many collegiate institutions to consider the expansion of their women's sports programs. Following is a list of criteria and issues which should be considered.
If Your Institution Does Not Currently Have a Women's Varsity Athletic Program
1. At what level do you want your athletic program to compete? There are approximately three levels of competition to consider. Division I competition requires a significant financial commitment to afford the acquisition of the best coaches and athletes (salaries, recruiting budgets, athletic scholarship assistance and significant travel funds to enable the team to compete on a national schedule). Division II requires good coaches and scholarship funds but salaries are lower and numbers of permissible scholarships are restricted. Division III is the most financially affordable competitive level. Coaches are part-time or coaching in addition to regular faculty responsibilities and no scholarships are awarded. Competition is usually regional or statewide. This philosophical decision is the most important first step. The emphasis afforded athletics must be perfectly congruent with the way the institution balances other student activities and expectations. The institution may wish to hire a consultant to answer the questions of a study committee or task force considering this issue or ask for the voluntary consultant of a local athletic director at another college or university.
2. Write to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and ask for two publications: The NCAA Manual (rules and regulations dealing with the number of scholarships, coaches and other restrictions by level of program) and Revenues and Expenses in Intercollegiate Athletics (to give you an idea of average program costs).
3. It is desirable for institutions to compete against ""like"" institutions with regard to their emphasis on athletics programs and the academic environments experienced by student-athletes. A ""level playing field"" with regard to the athletic ability of recruited student-athletes, financial support for the program and general emphasis on athletics is essential for the scheduling of fair competitions where teams and individuals are meeting opponents of like ability. Therefore, it is important to identify whether there are schools within an affordable geographical area with similar level athletic programs against which your institution can compete.
4. Investigate whether ""like"" institutions identified are members of an athletic conference, a structure in which ""like"" institutions formalize relationships and schedules and promulgate rules to govern intercollegiate competition.
5. Your institution should apply to belong to the same athletic conference and national athletic governance organization of the closest (geographically) institutions against which your institution wishes to compete.
6. Address all the questions and issues raised in the following section for institutions that have already established women's varsity athletic programs.
If Your Institution Does Have a Women's Varsity Athletic Program
Given your budgetary constraints and the assumption you are going to treat the new women's sport to the same benefits and financial support as a corresponding men's sport:
1. If you are a member of a conference, are there sports that other institutions have that are not offered at your institution that would be appropriate? This would give your institution ready access to comparable competition within a reasonable geographical area. If not, assess whether all the institutions in your conference would be willing to plan to add the same sport at the same time so you can help each other expand opportunities for women to play in the most financially efficient way.
2. In what sports do you have existing facilities or coaching expertise which would make it easier and more financially feasible for you to offer the sport?
3. Are there budgetary limitations that would eliminate the consideration of any sports (i.e., no swimming pool and no dollars to build one)?
4. Do you have strong club or intramurals sport programs in any sport so you can simply elevate their status to ""varsity"" (with appropriate additional financial support)?
5. Most institutions ""recruit"" athletes from high school senior classes. Is your institution willing and financially able to recruit nationally to acquire athletes? If not, what are the most popular girls' sports in your state (check with your state high school federation)? If you have no recruiting budget, what sports are of most interest to your current student body (do a survey)?
6. Once you have decided the sports that you could possibly add and the most likely candidates for schools against which you could compete, ask those institutions to send you their competive schedules and operating budgets so you can develop an estimate of costs to establish the various sports.
7. Identify internal and external revenue sources that might be available to help support the new program. Do you have wealthy alumni or corporate support with an interest in any sport on your list of most feasible sports?
8. Consider the utilization of a consultant to perform the above due diligence rather than a working group or task force. There are numerous hidden costs and issues often not considered by groups without athletics expertise.