Takedown Report

Emerging Sports for Women program continuing to increase opportunities

3 sports nearing sponsorship mark to move toward championship
In a year where the celebration of Title IX’s 50th anniversary is front and center in college athletics, the Emerging Sports for Women Program continues to be a catalyst for increasing opportunities for female student-athletes. 
Since the program was established in 1994, based on a recomendation from the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force, five women’s sports have earned NCAA championship status: rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015). In the 2021-22 academic year, those sports collectively included more than 13,000 student-athletes, about 6% of the total student-athletes competing in NCAA women’s championship sports, according to the most recent NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data released in December by NCAA research. Women’s rowing accounted for more than 6,800 of those student-athletes, per the data.

“Since implementation of the Emerging Sports for Women program, we have seen an increase in opportunities for our young women to participate at the DI, DII and DIII levels,” said Ragean Hill, executive associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at Charlotte, who chairs the Committee on Women’s Athletics. “It also has provided institutions the opportunity to pick the best sports that fit within their athletic programs that are already being offered. The CWA has been and will continue to be committed to creating opportunities for our young women through the emerging sports process. Without the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women process, the membership misses out on athletic and academic talent for our universities.”

Kelley Kish, director of athletics at Wingate, said the Emerging Sports for Women program is a “helpful guide” for NCAA schools looking to add women’s sports. …
Women’s wrestling 
Women’s wrestling has rapidly grown since becoming an emerging sport in 2020-21, when 30 schools reported sponsoring it. In 2021-22, 39 schools sponsored women’s wrestling, with more than 550 student-athletes competing among them. Of the schools reporting women’s wrestling in 2021-22, 22 were from Division III, 15 from Division II and two from Division I. 
The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin became the first Division III conference to host a women’s wrestling championship in January. Conference Carolinas and the South Atlantic Conference in Division II plan to host their first combined women’s wrestling championship in 2023-24. … rest of story at … NWCAonline.com/news/2023/10/5/national-wrestling-coaches-association-emerging-sports-for-women-program-continuing-to-increase-opportunities

October 10, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized