Why don't the Shockers play soccer?

[WstateU]

On second thought; maybe women's soccer would suffice...

[ShockTalk]

On second thought; maybe women's soccer would suffice...

That #15 is one nasty b*t*h.

[1972Shocker]

UCONN has been Top 3 in attendance for over a decade. We average about 3500 per game. I love going to games.

I assume that is your attendance for the men. How do the Husky women do attendance-wise? And do they enjoy being called Husky women?

[1972Shocker]

I suppose FC Wichita might be a decent gauge to test the temperature. But you can count me as one family that would buy season tickets to WSU Soccer, but won't attend FC Wichita games.

The only soccer games I have ever attended were the grankids games. What's the issue with FC Wichita?

[UCONN_Husky]

I assume that is your attendance for the men. How do the Husky women do attendance-wise? And do they enjoy being called Husky women?

Not at all. We go by just "Huskies" in every sport...no Lady, no Women. Although we do have a good WSOC team, they draw flies. Our WBB program is the only ladies' sport that makes money. Attendance averages this past year at UCONN home games were:

1. Football: 26,800
2. MBB: 10,400
3. WBB: 9,000
4. Men's Hockey: 4,400
5. Men's Soccer: 3,500

Every other sport was under 1,000.

[Kung Wu]

The only soccer games I have ever attended were the grankids games. What's the issue with FC Wichita?

The organization lacks integrity.

[Dan]

You could add soccer and lacrosse for relatively low costs. The scholarship allocations are minimal and many of the kids come in and pay out of state tuition, helping to fund the sport. We should be looking at U of Denver as an example.

[1972Shocker]

You could add soccer and lacrosse for relatively low costs. The scholarship allocations are minimal and many of the kids come in and pay out of state tuition, helping to fund the sport. We should be looking at U of Denver as an example.

How does soccer team members paying out-of-state tuition helf fund the program? Are you suggesting that you use your scholarship allocation mostly for in-state kids in order to keep your scholarship funding at a minimum?

Of course students from the OKC, Tulsa, DFW and KC-Mo metro areas get in-state tuition plus students in Oklahoma and Texas who live outside of the counties included in the named metor areas get a 33% discount off of out-of-state tuition. So that is a lot of fertile area for recruiting at in-state or discounted non-resident tuition rates.

[Dan]

How does soccer team members paying out-of-state tuition helf fund the program? Are you suggesting that you use your scholarship allocation mostly for in-state kids in order to keep your scholarship funding at a minimum?

Of course students from the OKC, Tulsa, DFW and KC-Mo metro areas get in-state tuition plus students in Oklahoma and Texas who live outside of the counties included in the named metor areas get a 33% discount off of out-of-state tuition. So that is a lot of fertile area for recruiting at in-state or discounted non-resident tuition rates.

What I was getting at is that soccer and lacrosse scholarships are very small, basically cover books. Adding these 2 sports for both men and women adds approx 150 tuition paying students to WSU, many of whom would be from out of state paying higher rates. It's amazing what parents (mostly on the wealthier side) will do for their kids for a 3-4% scholarship if it means playing a D1 sport.

[Dan]

Not to mention the added revenue from ticket sales, concessions, etc, along with adding to the traditional college atmosphere by having more sports being played on campus.

[1972Shocker]

What I was getting at is that soccer and lacrosse scholarships are very small, basically cover books. Adding these 2 sports for both men and women adds approx 150 tuition paying students to WSU, many of whom would be from out of state paying higher rates. It's amazing what parents (mostly on the wealthier side) will do for their kids for a 3-4% scholarship if it means playing a D1 sport.

Yeah, so you are saying that the progams could have value to the University in drawing a few more tuition paying students. That makes sense.

So the men have 9.9 scholarships to divvy up and the women 14. I am guessing that would equate to an average 1/3rd full scholarship (tuition, books, room and board) for the men and an average of about a 1/2 full scholarship for the women plus I believe that WSU provided full cost of attendance stipends for all of its programs. A little better than basically covering books.

[1972Shocker]

Not to mention the added revenue from ticket sales, concessions, etc, along with adding to the traditional college atmosphere by having more sports being played on campus.

I don't think the revenues from soccer will cover the full cost at Wichita State would it? So there are no added net revenues to the athletic department. There are additional net costs to be covered. Not sure what kind of surplus, if any, the athletic department is currently running especially with the transition costs be incurred to join the AAC. I can see soccer eventually being added but unless soccer boosters materialize with adequate funding I don't think this will happen until Wichita State feels settled in the AAC and they see how their finances will play out in the AAC, perhaps after the next round of TV rights are negotiated.

[Dan]

There are 45 players on a lacrosse roster that share approx 12 scholarships. I'm not surprised this is getting analyzed to death though. My overall point is that soccer and lacrosse don't cost a lot to start or run and the scholarship cost is very minimal. I never said they are net positive income producers. If we are looking at adding any sports, these would be the easistest to add and both are high growth at the high school level and growing at the collegiate level.

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/whats-a-college-lacrosse-scholarship-really-worth

[1972Shocker]

There are 45 players on a lacrosse roster that share approx 12 scholarships. I'm not surprised this is getting analyzed to death though. My overall point is that soccer and lacrosse don't cost a lot to start or run and the scholarship cost is very minimal. I never said they are net positive income producers. If we are looking at adding any sports, these would be the easistest to add and both are high growth at the high school level and growing at the collegiate level.

http://usatodayhss.com/2015/whats-a-...p-really-worth

I've heard that lacrosse is fast growing and I think there is some club lacrosse being played in Wichita. Not sure the current budget woes will allow this to take off at the high school level for some time however. We do have Club Soccer at Wichita State for both the men and the women. We do not have Club Lacrosse. Also not sure who we would play in lacrosse since it is not a sport sponsored by the AAC. From what I can see is the vast majority of D-1 lacrosse teams are in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

I think if Wichita State is going to add anything down the line soccer seems like the most likely choice to me. I think lacrosse would be off the radar for the forseeable future.

[1972Shocker]

I would imagine since the consultant's report looked at adding football that the only other sports looked at would be women;s sports to offset the football scholarships.

That may be what actually happened although that is not what the public was being told. I would be curious what, if anyhting, may have been said about adding other sports sans football.

http://www.kansas.com/sports/college/wichita-state/article48764285.html

So are all aspects of his athletic department, which underlines the preliminary and all-encompassing nature of WSU’s look into football, conference affiliation, other sports and facilities.

“Everything is on the table,” Bardo said Tuesday. “The sports we offer, facilities, conferences. This is about the university, and its ability to support the community and support our students.”

“Maybe football’s an answer, maybe soccer’s an answer,” he said. “This is not about football. This is about who we are and what we can do.