NAIA Lacrosse
Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 10:59 pmI have noticed a recent trend in college lacrosse and I wanted to know people's thoughts. Several NAIA athletics affiliated colleges and universities have been adding men's lacrosse as a varsity intercollegiate sport.
A few recent examples include:
Tennessee Wesleyan, Davenport University, Dominican University of California
I know that SCAD and Westminster (UT) have teams and are in the MCLA, however I do not know if they are considered "varsity" programs even though their athletics websites do not distinguish the lacrosse teams from the other teams. Lindenwood some issues with this distinction a few years ago, but I can't recall the specifics of the case.
I believe that a few of the mentioned schools are planning to enter MCLA conferences for play in perhaps 2008. While I think this is great to have more men's programs recognized and run by their athletics programs, does the MCLA wish to become the NAIA's lacrosse league? As it stands now the NAIA has little incentive to add lacrosse as a sponsored sport because (besides the fact that there are few current programs...just thinking about the future) its members could run a lacrosse program that competes in the MCLA and plays "big-time" opponents.
I personally do not have a problem with this because first there are very few NAIA Lacrosse teams out west (only the the Biola Club Team and Dominican come to mind in California) and second I like the idea of varsity men's lacrosse (even if expansion is only happening at the NAIA level) and I support anything that helps its growth.
A few recent examples include:
Tennessee Wesleyan, Davenport University, Dominican University of California
I know that SCAD and Westminster (UT) have teams and are in the MCLA, however I do not know if they are considered "varsity" programs even though their athletics websites do not distinguish the lacrosse teams from the other teams. Lindenwood some issues with this distinction a few years ago, but I can't recall the specifics of the case.
I believe that a few of the mentioned schools are planning to enter MCLA conferences for play in perhaps 2008. While I think this is great to have more men's programs recognized and run by their athletics programs, does the MCLA wish to become the NAIA's lacrosse league? As it stands now the NAIA has little incentive to add lacrosse as a sponsored sport because (besides the fact that there are few current programs...just thinking about the future) its members could run a lacrosse program that competes in the MCLA and plays "big-time" opponents.
I personally do not have a problem with this because first there are very few NAIA Lacrosse teams out west (only the the Biola Club Team and Dominican come to mind in California) and second I like the idea of varsity men's lacrosse (even if expansion is only happening at the NAIA level) and I support anything that helps its growth.