Purpose of college level interscholastic sports?

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rdtindsm

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Jan 30, 2008
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Varsity level sports at a high level (FBS, FCS) are competitive at more than just a recreational level. I've been mulling over their purpose on campus.

Looking for comments re.

1. Providing an outlet for the elite athletes that need to expand beyond an intramural level to find significant competitiion.

2. Providing a practicum for those who may wish to pursue a coaching career, particularly at the secondary level.

3. et. al. ????

Why is swimming a scholarship sport and hockey a club sport 400 miles south of Bmidji?

Of course, hockey is very popular with our northern neighbors. I've been considering this more from the ISU situation of scholarship swimming, athletics (track and field), softball, golf, and others vs. club hockey. The answer that I am coming up with relates to point 2 above,
 

bsaltyman

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Sep 20, 2012
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3. Exploit "student" athletes to generate $$ for the athletic department. Of course that's mainly just football & basketball.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: dirtyninety

dirtyninety

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Oct 6, 2012
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Sweet.....a not boring thread! Good stuff. Yes, good questions. Why does Iowa have a field hockey team? Why did Missouri go to the SEC? Why does Josh Jackson as a freshman have so many tatoos already? Was it worth it Lane Kiffin? All good questions. I'm as guilty as anyone at idolizing these guys in football and basketball.....and sometimes, like after the Vanderbilt loss I ask myself "Why the hell do I care about these guys more than I would a ROTC student, who is a real hero"? We wonder about student athletes in our vicinity.....can you imagine what a thoughtful Ohio State student must think.....I mean, their "student athletes" on the football team are an entire different culture than other students....they might as well be Martians.
I would love to see less Texas sports, less Nick Sabin, and more old-Big-8 style commradarie amongst student athletes and fans.
 

SoapyCy

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Oct 10, 2012
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Sweet.....a not boring thread! Good stuff. Yes, good questions. Why does Iowa have a field hockey team? Why did Missouri go to the SEC? Why does Josh Jackson as a freshman have so many tatoos already? Was it worth it Lane Kiffin? All good questions. I'm as guilty as anyone at idolizing these guys in football and basketball.....and sometimes, like after the Vanderbilt loss I ask myself "Why the hell do I care about these guys more than I would a ROTC student, who is a real hero"? We wonder about student athletes in our vicinity.....can you imagine what a thoughtful Ohio State student must think.....I mean, their "student athletes" on the football team are an entire different culture than other students....they might as well be Martians.
I would love to see less Texas sports, less Nick Sabin, and more old-Big-8 style commradarie amongst student athletes and fans.

Can't tell if trolling or not...

Marketing for the university. A lot of students choose their college based on what team they grew up with. The scholarship sports are a mix of the interests locally/nationally and Title IX.

US colleges are often in rural areas. Go back 150 years and students wanted athletics keep sane. Too late to end them now.
 

dirtyninety

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Oct 6, 2012
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Can't tell if trolling or not...



US colleges are often in rural areas. Go back 150 years and students wanted athletics keep sane. Too late to end them now.
Not trolling...totally agree with your historial comment.....love to watch those history shows of sports at Iowa State on CycloneTV....I mean those guys playing 100 years ago really needed the scholarship or just loved the sport. Real question.....Was it worth it Lane Kiffin? Ha. The field hockey question at Iowa is true to....the lame, shallow answer is "all the Big Ten schools have one" or "Its good for women's sports" Is it?
 

Cybirdy

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Sep 10, 2009
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There are club teams for sports that also have a scholarship counterpart. We have a daughter who plays softball and at one time was thinking about playing at the collegiate level. For all that goes into being recruited (both time and money), she has decided she just wants to play for fun. Once she gets to Iowa State she could still play club softball as a way to continue doing something she has done since she was 5yrs old.
 

RealisticCy

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Nov 2, 2014
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Varsity level sports at a high level (FBS, FCS) are competitive at more than just a recreational level. I've been mulling over their purpose on campus.

Looking for comments re.

1. Providing an outlet for the elite athletes that need to expand beyond an intramural level to find significant competitiion.

2. Providing a practicum for those who may wish to pursue a coaching career, particularly at the secondary level.

3. et. al. ????

Why is swimming a scholarship sport and hockey a club sport 400 miles south of Bmidji?

Of course, hockey is very popular with our northern neighbors. I've been considering this more from the ISU situation of scholarship swimming, athletics (track and field), softball, golf, and others vs. club hockey. The answer that I am coming up with relates to point 2 above,

You can divide the scholarship sports into two groups of why they exist:

Football and men's basketball exist because in general they make money and provide exposure for the larger university's, which also translates to money from advertising, merchandise sales, enrollment to some extent, etc. At a lot of smaller universities, those 2 sports don't make money. Select sports at certain institutions (wrestling, volleyball, hockey) that are consistent national powers also provide the department with net revenue.

Essentially all other sports exist due to some combination of 4 things: NCAA regulations requiring a certain number of athletic programs (at least 16 for FBS status), conference requirements, Title IX requirements, and at least some thought to the economics/logistics of providing that sport. A university has to have at least 14 other sports programs other than football and men's basketball for their football team to compete in an FBS conference. Title IX requires that women's/men's athletic scholarship ratios mirror that of the student body. Why do you think so many schools have women's rowing teams? The NCAA allows 20 scholarships for rowing, so it helps offset the 85 men's scholarships that football takes up.

Long story short: Money. If football had never become profitable and didn't bring exposure to the university, college athletics would look drastically different.