It seems so schools have dropped their Triathlon team and they likely are back under 40. What happens now?
It seems so schools have dropped their Triathlon team and they likely are back under 40. What happens now?
I had not seen that any had dropped. That stinks. Do you happen to know who or how many?
I agree with Tim Yount’s assessment that once it gets over the hump and is voted in as a championship sport there will be a lot of schools that will add it. Hopefully there are schools in the pipeline now to elevate club teams to varsity status to offset any that have been dropped.
Also, I think there are only 3 Power 5 colleges with a triathlon team. So, it is mostly lower-tier D1 and D2/3 schools with programs. So, it still needs some momentum to gain traction at larger and more prominent schools.
As cool as it would be to see P5 Tri - anyone paying attention to the state of the NCAA at that level realizes it ain’t going to happen. No way are UCLA and USC going to add more varsity athletes they have to pay to travel to State College for a race for example. We’re going to see reductions in opportunities at the highest (largest) level, not increases.
And if anything, there’d likely be a bigger push for more Lacrosse teams than Triathlon.
Which ones that you know have dropped recently?
I saw Arizona came on board recently, that should be really good momentum wise.
I believe “we’re” at 41 schools. It then goes back to the NCAA for review which takes time. Earliest the NCAA takes over the championship(s) is probably 2024.
USAT has a “hot” list of over 100 schools that are sitting on the sidelines waiting for NCAA approval (they are not early adopters). Triathlon really doesn’t need USC or UCLA.
I think Daemen dropped their program…they arent listed as a team anymore…coach left in december
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the problem is lack of quality coaches with DL experience.
The small schools pay like 40k - they want you on campus for office hours…then running the training sessions.
at 40k, most folks need a SECOND job to get by. So thus, they pick up the “scraps” left behind and end up with a dude who doesnt need the money, has done a few sprint tri’s and is now an NCAA coach.
It’s in a tough spot, for sure.
I think it needs to get to a steady 45 number to feel safe, as it seems it’s going to lose an school here or there for various reasons each year.
I think it’ll stick, excited to see Queens race in the D1 ranks. Fun to see that battle vs ASU this year.
As cool as it would be to see P5 Tri - anyone paying attention to the state of the NCAA at that level realizes it ain’t going to happen. No way are UCLA and USC going to add more varsity athletes they have to pay to travel to State College for a race for example. We’re going to see reductions in opportunities at the highest (largest) level, not increases.Power 5 school TCU added triathlon this fall. They hired a former pro and a proven coach, three DIII national titles and 2019 DIII coach of the year, to run their program.
I am actually encouraged about the prospects for triathlon at the college level. TCU has made the choice to increase opportunities for women instead of reducing the number of men’s sports. I expect that there will be other schools that will do the same. I think the number of college triathlon teams will continue to grow.
It seems so schools have dropped their Triathlon team and they likely are back under 40. What happens now?
Still under 40 schools. But over 40 schools have signed up. But need 40 schools to actually compete before the vote for acceptance happens.
What are the current numbers of competing schools?
What was the rationale initially for NCAA Tri being women’s only? Was it as simple as a Title 9 thing? It seems like a death knell for an emerging varsity sport to remove the economy of scale the comes with doubling the size of the team by going co-ed.
I thought this was a good, optimistic article. TCU was a big gain for the sport, and now they expect to see SEC and PAC12 and other P5 programs.
https://www.triathlete.com/culture/news/triathlon-hits-mark-to-become-next-ncaa-sport/
My take on the why only women is that they are starting with a small target that they can build on. It takes an initial investment from USA Triathlon along with the individual school commitments. If it becomes a full NCAA sport in 2024, then I bet men’s programs follow.
I believe around 38-42 Several schools have no coach etc,
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No mens won’t follow. Mens club will only be club.
What small schools are doing is basically using the “club” side of the programs (mens and womens side) to fund the whole program.
So it basically means the whole team behaves as an “ncaa” sport even if only a certain segment of the team is actually ncaa. Obviously some ncaa guidelines have to follow etc, and ncaa athletes can’t race within the club structure once they are ncaa designated, etc.
Title IX was/is a consideration. We’re 50 years into Title IX and some schools are still not in compliance (based on three-prong test). Adding men’s triathlon would exacerbate the present situation. There is nothing stopping institutions from creating a parallel men’s club program in conjunction with an NCAA women’s program.
The D1 schools have more of an compliance issue than the smaller schools. ASU picked it up because men’s ice hockey was being started and 1 family paid ASU $2million to fund tri and I believe beach volleyball or bowling. Can’t remember the other sport.
Small schools are taking it on as a way to increase enrollment. Lots of these schools even with an academic discount is $40k a year. You suddenly add 15-30 kids a yea and you just raised a lot of money for the school. And also if you don’t recruit 15-30 kids your program will get cut. So it’s a double edged sword especially for tri coaches who may lack that “non coaching” skills. That’s why ncaa schools drop tri. The coaches simply don’t get enough athlete on campus to continue to fund the program.
The D1 schools have more of an compliance issue than the smaller schools. ASU picked it up because men’s ice hockey was being started and 1 family paid ASU $2million to fund tri and I believe beach volleyball or bowling. Can’t remember the other sport.
Small schools are taking it on as a way to increase enrollment. Lots of these schools even with an academic discount is $40k a year. You suddenly add 15-30 kids a yea and you just raised a lot of money for the school. And also if you don’t recruit 15-30 kids your program will get cut. So it’s a double edged sword especially for tri coaches who may lack that “non coaching” skills. That’s why ncaa schools drop tri. The coaches simply don’t get enough athlete on campus to continue to fund the program.
Self funding your job by being able to recruit athletes at the NCAA level is hard, especially if you’re a smaller program and a small liberal arts school. How much revenue can you really generate for your school/job if you’ve got only 5 girls on the program and don’t have a club? I’ve looked at some of the smaller schools programs and thought 1 injury and you’re down 20-30% of your program.
I see why a lot of schools give it 2-3y then say whoa, this is costing us a lot more than we thought it would/not generating the revenue we thought it would. They probably need to give it 5-6 years to get the program developed/established