I have written this idea to Swimming World and USA Swimmer and now I want to share it with my Forum Friends to see if I can garner any support. I just read the report in the ASCA magazine on how the implementation of Title IX has hurt men's swimming. As a supporter of womens sports I think Title IX has done much more good than harm. As a fan of college swimming I think the NCAA has done more harm than good. I was searching for a solution that would get swimming out of being at the mercy of the NCAA.The solution seems to be to start a scholarship fund for swimmers to be administered by USA Swimming. Criteria would be set up,both athletic and academic,for deserving swimmers to earn college scholarships to the college of their choice. The swimmer would be free to swim for the college if they had a team if desired or for the appropriate club if they don't. If they earn a swimming scholarship from the college the extra funds could be recycled back into the program.In the interest of fairness the scholarships would go to an equal number of men and women. This program would not be a way to get around Title IX but to get around the NCAA. Yes,it would take a massive fund raising effort,but I think most swimmers,parents,Masters,and corporate sponsors would be interested in donating(I would.) It would give swimming great publicity and would be a great recruiting tool. What do Y'all think?
They are probably referring to the cost of maintaining a pool. I know a few years back our HS looked into putting a pool in, it was even in the plans of a new field house that did get put in. The money was there to build it, but when they traveled around the state and talked to schools that had pools, they found out every one of them operated in the red with the pool because pool operation is costly. A couple of years after the field house was built, the state drasticly cut funding, and many schools struggled with major deficits. Our school was one of them. Through careful budgeting, added fees to parents, no programs were cut, and the school is not in a deficit. It may not have been that way with a pool. I wish there was a pool, especially if they offered public lapswim(the field house is open for public hours), because it is 3 blocks away, but the cost would not have helped the financial crisis our district and many others have in this state.
Tell that to our school board and district administration. We've been trying to get high school swimming for several years. We're the only 4A school in the state that does not have a swim team. All we hear is how much it wil cost. Of course just about every one of the administrators are former football or basketball coaches so that is all they care about. It is so frustrating. :frustrated:
I was talking about universities with existing swimming pools. The high schools in my area without pools rent practice space at other pools.
I also recently read that Ohio State cut men's swimming and indoor and outdoor track.
I was answering Poolrat, because he was talking about High School.
Sigh another Big 10 school cutting swimming?
It would be impractical to try and rent space, because we are a smaller town, and the closest pools are in Champaign. Because pool space is at a premium, these pools are all booked up from 6am-10pm, so having outside towns try to come rent would not work. The U of I(when their main pool is open, been renovating for 2 years), does not rent to anyone, their mantra is that the pools belong to the students, and no outside sources can rent, although they will give non-premium hours(read 5am) to swim teams for 60.00 per hour.
I think most parents would be unhappy with the thought of their child driving into C-U everyday, twice a day for practice, and the cost of busses for this would be too much. There is no mass transit, only corn fields and wide open spaces.
I was talking about universities with existing swimming pools. The high schools in my area without pools rent practice space at other pools.
I also recently read that Ohio State cut men's swimming and indoor and outdoor track.
Leslie:
Are you sure you read that it was Ohio State that was going to cut Men's Swimming? I know of two high school boys from Michigan that were recently recruited to swim next year.
www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/.../14835.asp
Also Ohio State has just opened one the best facilities in the nation and its scheduled to host the 2008 NCAA Championship meet.
ohiostatebuckeyes.cstv.com/.../mccorkle-pavilion.html
I think in rereading many of these post, I have realized that there is a major reason why swimming isn't one of the most popular sports in this contry. We don't think of it as a sport that woula be open to all. In australia and mos tof the old eastern bloc, almost every child takes swimming lessons. what do we do for our children, why our national sports for children, baseball, football and soccer. Mahomet is a growing and wealthy town. If it were in either the south or the far west, it would have a pool and a powere age-group team. but because it is a small town in eastern Illinois, swimming pools are the major concern of the city rulers.
I bet mahomet has a kick-ass soccer program for young kids, extensive baseball and possibly a peewee football.
Just a few points.
Mens college basketball programs DO make money, almost all of them is my understanding.
. What scares the athletic establisment so much is the thought of non scholarship student athletes starting on the football team because of reduced scholarships. The scholarship limit for football is 85 players. The Indianapolis Colts managed to do a good job in the Super Bowl with a roster of 45 players.
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I bet mahomet has a kick-ass soccer program for young kids, extensive baseball and possibly a peewee football.
It has a great soccer program, good baseball, softball, vollyball and track. The swimmers go to Champaign. You have to realize, it is very easy and inexpensive to have soccer fields. Our youth soccer fields are down by the river in the flood plain. Land no one else wants because in the spring it is under water. But many years it is dry, so it works, and in the fall it is never under. Softball and baseball fields are easy to maintain. The all weather track was costly, but now the school hosts sectionals which helps.
But a pool's overhead is immense. People in this town already pay very high taxes, they won't pay more for a pool.
Craig and Dorothy's comments made me think of something... Swimming, (like track and field, gymnastics, ice skating and wrestling), is more an individual sport than a team sport. It requires a special facility as well.
Could it be that the team nature of the "favored" sports has something to do with the funding tendency in our public and private schools?
Our track team is quite good, and the school stands by it. But again, a track facility, even as nice of one as we have is not as costly as a pool to maintain. It took quite a bit of funds to put it in, but now that it is there, the maintance is not costly. A pool is costly to put in and costly to maintain.
