With affiliates, this sport is a MAC natural.

C Michigan
Kent St
Cleveland St
Detroit
Bellarmine

Buffalo and N Illinois have plenty of HS lax teams in the neighborhood. It's a perfect sport to balance Title IX. Buffalo should add men's ice hockey too, as women's lax would be the perfect balance.

That's five. Need six for an autobid, which is why just two conference members make it a bit of a shaky foundation for conference sponsorship.

Now, if two other MAC schools added the sport, that would be different. But Buffalo adding ice hockey and women's lax does run into the issue that adding ice hockey costs quite a bit of cash unless you already happen to have ice making facilities built into your arena ... and even then, if you share the arena with the BBall team, you need a place for the hockey team to practice.

(04-03-2016 09:27 PM)NoDak Wrote:  With affiliates, this sport is a MAC natural.

C Michigan
Kent St
Cleveland St
Detroit
Bellarmine

Buffalo and N Illinois have plenty of HS lax teams in the neighborhood. It's a perfect sport to balance Title IX. Buffalo should add men's ice hockey too, as women's lax would be the perfect balance.

Adding sports is great and all, but the money just isn't there. The concept makes sense, but the funding is nearly impossible. Remember UB already has 20 sports, which I think is the most in the league.

(04-03-2016 09:27 PM)NoDak Wrote:  With affiliates, this sport is a MAC natural.

C Michigan
Kent St
Cleveland St
Detroit
Bellarmine

Buffalo and N Illinois have plenty of HS lax teams in the neighborhood. It's a perfect sport to balance Title IX. Buffalo should add men's ice hockey too, as women's lax would be the perfect balance.

No... For the same reason that UB and EMU having Crew does not get the MAC to offer the sport..

(04-04-2016 10:29 AM)BullBoy Wrote:  

(04-03-2016 09:27 PM)NoDak Wrote:  With affiliates, this sport is a MAC natural.

C Michigan
Kent St
Cleveland St
Detroit
Bellarmine

Buffalo and N Illinois have plenty of HS lax teams in the neighborhood. It's a perfect sport to balance Title IX. Buffalo should add men's ice hockey too, as women's lax would be the perfect balance.

Adding sports is great and all, but the money just isn't there. The concept makes sense, but the funding is nearly impossible. Remember UB already has 20 sports, which I think is the most in the league.

Agree on the money. I think EMU has 22 sports.

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Ohio and Akron have cut sports recently. Unlikely to add anytime soon. Akron is having some real budgetary issues.

And women's lacrosse was one of the cut sports.

With the money situation in Illinois, I don't see NIU wanting to add any sports either.

(04-04-2016 09:35 PM)JSF Wrote:  And women's lacrosse was one of the cut sports.

Ohio was ahead of the times. Since Ohio dropped women's lax, the number of schools offering it has almost doubled. Used a be a good way to get eastern gals to pay full tuition as most lax players don't get athletic scholarships, but now it has expanded into most midwestern suburban HS.

(04-05-2016 04:58 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 09:35 PM)JSF Wrote:  And women's lacrosse was one of the cut sports.

Ohio was ahead of the times. Since Ohio dropped women's lax, the number of schools offering it has almost doubled. Used a be a good way to get eastern gals to pay full tuition as most lax players don't get athletic scholarships, but now it has expanded into most midwestern suburban HS.

And yet, after dropping the men's track and men's swim team in their deficit cutting move, OhioU was in a position to drop a women's team sport and still be in TitleIX compliance, and they picked women's lacrosse as the women's team sport they could most easily do without.

CMU picked up women's golf and lax for Title IX compliance. They can offer 6 and 12 scholarships, respectively. Still looking to add another women's sport or 2.

(04-05-2016 04:22 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  With the money situation in Illinois, I don't see NIU wanting to add any sports either.

Stupid budget crisis...

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(04-05-2016 06:53 PM)BruceMcF Wrote:  

(04-05-2016 04:58 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 09:35 PM)JSF Wrote:  And women's lacrosse was one of the cut sports.

Ohio was ahead of the times. Since Ohio dropped women's lax, the number of schools offering it has almost doubled. Used a be a good way to get eastern gals to pay full tuition as most lax players don't get athletic scholarships, but now it has expanded into most midwestern suburban HS.

And yet, after dropping the men's track and men's swim team in their deficit cutting move, OhioU was in a position to drop a women's team sport and still be in TitleIX compliance, and they picked women's lacrosse as the women's team sport they could most easily do without.

Women's lax was is the easiest female sport to drop as it didn't have much alumni or endowments associated with it as it was so new. Politically it was the easiest. Imagine the uproar among letter winners if their sport is dropped.

Butler dropped men's lax last decade and will start women's lax soon, both because of Title IX.

(04-05-2016 11:36 PM)NoDak Wrote:  Women's lax was is the easiest female sport to drop as it didn't have much alumni or endowments associated with it as it was so new. Politically it was the easiest. Imagine the uproar among letter winners if their sport is dropped.

We don't have to imagine it ... we see it all the time, when a long time sport is dropped. That doesn't prevent it from happening.

I would not be surprised if the primary reasons that Kent State is starting women's lax are Title IX ... endowed scholarships allowing them to offer more scholarships, but they are already at or near scholarship caps in their women's sports ... and facilities, since they are already working on a women's soccer pitch in the middle of the new outdoor track which can be used for lax in the spring.