Instead of Women's Bowling

[ADLER]

Assuming that we add men's baseball and fill it's 11.5 scholarships, to remain Title 9 compliant, we'll have to add a women's sport with a similar amount scholarships and funding.(actually a couple more scholarships since the campus is 55% female)

What if...........

instead of women's bowling.........

What if North Texas decided to have a NCAA Women's Division 1 Hockey program. The old Men's Gym could easily be converted into a first class hockey facility, and recent campus additions have made it increasingly obsolete as a gymnasium.

Would/could there be enough interest on campus and in the community to make women's hockey a revenue sport? Could a corporate sponsor be found?

With the rising popularity of hockey, would/could there be sufficient usage from intramurals and club sports for maintaining such a facility?

The biggest drawback that I see is that most of the NCAA Women's Division 1 hockey programs are in the Big Ten area.

It's just a thought, but if you're going to have to fund the scholarships, why not use them for a sport that would capture the attention of the campus and the market.

OHIO STATE WOMEN'S HOCKEY

[CMJ]

You nailed it when you said we wouldn't be close to another school that played the sport. It'd be a financial black hole.

Though it would be kinda cool.

[GrayEagle]

I believe that it would be a financial disaster. As you say, there are no other programs in the area. We've been bitching about travel expense? Not only that the preparation to make that a rink would be another big expense.

My sport of choice would be gymnastics. We even have the gym for it. There are enough meets in Texas and Oklahoma that travel would be minimal comparatively speaking.

[UNTX]

Why not women's gymnastics?

[ADLER]

There's no denying that travel would be expensive, but the cost of hockey may not seem so outrageous when comparing it to the cost of fielding a bowling team. The women's scholarships will have to be offered for North Texas to remain in Title IX compliance if Varsity Baseball is added.

The largest expense, scholarships would be the same either way. Bowling would have to lease facilities off campus, team travel would still be expensive because hotels and meals would cost the same as for a hockey team, and there is no chance of it becoming a revenue sport able to financially support itself. Bowling just isn't a spectator sport.

With hockey, we already have an ideal building in the old Men's Gym which could be converted to an ice rink by the Physical Education department for minimal costs. With the volleyball matches moving to the facilities at the former Liberty Christian School, and all the basketball courts that have been built at the PEB and the SRC, the Men's Gym has no real function remaining.

The arena could be used for PE classes, club sports as well as varsity women's hockey competition.

In Men's Hockey, North Texas already competes in the College Hockey South West conference, and has done so with great success. If their contests were held on campus, they would surely garner a strong following.

Schools Participating in the League

Baylor University

Oklahoma State University

Southern Methodist University

Texas A & M

Texas Tech

University of North Texas

University of Texas @ Austin

The women's hockey team would be key to getting the facilities built, and the combined gate for the women's NCAA games and the men's club games should easily offset any travel cost difference between a hockey team and a bowling team.

Edited July 17, 2004 by ADLER

[untbowler]

Women's Bowling only takes 5 scholarships. You would have 8 bowlers max go on a trip. Only 8-10 trips max a year, which many being close.

Facilities wise Varsity or some other center would cut a great deal.

Hockey probably 7-10 scholarships, plus buy equipment, travel to Upper Midwest and Northeast. Rent ice time which is not cheap at all. Pay coaches who would be hard to find in the south.

All in all Hockey would be much more expensive and I am sorry but I doubt many people want to see women play hockey or bowling.

So bowling would be much cheaper. CBUSA ran some numbers and a Bowling team can be up and running exclusive of Scholarships for 10,000 a year, while on the high end would be $44,000 a year.

[Greenblood94]

Adler,

I agree that a women's hockey team would be a great and unusual addition to NT's athletic program. Hockey is one of my all-time favorites sports, and the idea of being able to watch an NT team playing collegiate hockey (regardless of gender) is very appealing to me.

I think, however, it would take much more money than you think to convert the Men's Gym into an ice rink. That is a pretty old facility, and the air conditioning alone would have to be severely overhauled to be able to maintain the appropriate conditions (temperature, to keep the ice from melting in the Texas heat, and humidity, to keep from causing a permanent layer of fog from forming in the Gym) for good ice on a 24-hour basis, not to mention the added roof insulation, the windows, etc. It is always a challenge to keep the ice viable in the Dallas area...just ask the Dallas Stars organization about all the bells and whistles they put into the AAC to have an ice sheet that is vastly improved from Reunion Arena, but still deemed (even by Stars players) to be one of the worst in the NHL.

I know it doesn't necessarily have to be perfect ice all the time, but my point is the cost associated with such an on-campus facility alone could be prohibitive, especially when compared to the total cost of a women's bowling team or a women's gymnastics team (for which the Super Pit is a perfect fit, no major alterations needed). Throw in equipment and travel expenses for a hockey team (15 students) as opposed to bowling (7 or 8 tops) or gymnastics (15?, if even?) and it looks even less appealing, even given its higher chances for revenue generation.

Now, if the school can reach a lease agreement with one of the myriad ice centers in the Metroplex, that might work out better. The problem with that is that most of the rinks in this area are already open way early and way late with the league games and practice time they already have...it might not be practical for any of them to accomodate a collegiate team and all the ice time they would need without paying a princely sum of money.

From the standpoint of viability for our athletic department, I think gymnastics and bowling would be an easier way to stay in Title IX compliance if we added a baseball team.

But it's still a nice idea.

Edited July 13, 2004 by Greenblood94

[centex eagle]

If you want other schools to compete against, go the way the other Texas schools are going and add rowing or equestrian. This way you have natural rivals and shorter travel. Some of the equestrian and rowing teams are teaming up to help carry equipment.

[eagle60]

Any thoughts about Women's Wresting? It would draw crowds but only if we could find competition. The old Men's Gym would work fine and think of all the underclass males that would flock to every match!

[GreenBat]

Any thoughts about Women's Wresting?    It would draw crowds but only if we could find competition.    The old Men's Gym would work fine and think of all the underclass males that would flock to every match! 

Have You ever seen girl wrestlers????

We'd be lucky to get their girls friends to come!

[eagle60]

If intercollegiate opponents aren't available, why not enlist the sororities to each field a team! Charge admission and kick back 33% to the sorority.

[snowball]

They are adding womens bowling because it is the least expensive sport to add. Facility: they do not have to build one just use the bowling alley next to the mall.

Get hockey and gymnastics out of your head that would cost money.(equiptment/facility)