We have been writing for months about imploding athletic budgets, the struggles complying with Title IX, funding non-revenue sports and general doom and gloom regarding any aspect of college athletics tied to finance. Many of the sports that have been hit the hardest are NCAA designated "Emerging Sports." However, amid the financial wreckage hope has emerged for a few sports. ESPN reports on the economic environment:
Rowing was the first emerging sport to earn NCAA championship status, in 1997, and has been the fastest-growing sport among the four successes. From the 1997-98 season to the 2007-08 season, 46 teams were added and more than 2,000 women joined teams. According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, which details athletic participation numbers through the 2007-08 season, rowing was sponsored by 144 schools and had 7,024 participants. That's about 5,000 more participants than women's ice hockey, which is second among the four in growth. Women's ice hockey and women's water polo both earned NCAA championship status in the 2000-01 season. Women's bowling became a championship sport in 2003-04. All four have experienced growth.
DeBoer said sand volleyball has the same kind of growth potential simply because court volleyball is the second-most-played NCAA women's sport in the country. According to the latest NCAA participation report, 1,014 of 1,070 NCAA schools sponsor volleyball, which is only 43 fewer schools than the number that sponsor women's basketball. Several court teams already spend their springs working out on the sand. The University of Nebraska, for example, has an indoor sand volleyball court.
"A lot of kids that I'm recruiting are currently playing in [sand volleyball] tournaments ... but just to get more competition, and they just want to be able to play their sport outside," said Kevin Maureen Campbell, volleyball coach for North Florida, who has been instrumental in pushing for sand volleyball as an emerging sport.
While some contend that sand volleyball will become a regional sport played in Florida and California, the push for its NCAA inclusion has come from places including Nebraska, Tennessee and the University of Denver. Professional volleyball's AVP Tour has been widely popular in southern states and in centrally located states such as Colorado. And with the success of the AVP Tour, players have professional opportunities after college.
But most importantly, the cost of fielding a sand volleyball team is minimal. Games could be played at local parks or beaches where courts already exist, or a court could easily be added to a campus at a low cost.
All of these sports will continue to face challenges in the upcoming years as budgets recover, but if they make it through the storm more scholarship opportunities will be created. Athletes participating in emerging sports will have to keep a close eye on each program to make sure they are aware of any possible change in recruiting opportunities.
