USA TRIATHLON NCAA INITIATIVE
USA Triathlon is working diligently alongside its NCAA Triathlon Advisory Group with the aim of helping establish the sport as an NCAA emerging sport for women. Triathlon is thriving on college campuses as a club sport, and NCAA inclusion would be beneficial for the sport of triathlon, aspiring student-athletes and collegiate athletic programs alike.
The following frequently asked questions address a number of topics related to the exciting possibility of NCAA triathlon as an emerging sport for women.
What is the current state of collegiate triathlon in the United States?
With more than 120 collegiate clubs, triathlon is thriving as a club sport on college campuses around the United States. 2013 USA Triathlon Collegiate Nationals is expected to draw nearly 2,000 athletes to Tempe, Ariz., in April to compete in Olympic-distance, draft-legal and mixed team relay events. Many current elite and Olympic-hopeful triathletes got their start competing with collegiate clubs.
How could NCAA inclusion help the sport of triathlon as a whole?
By gaining NCAA emerging sport status, we establish a legitimate progression of growth for competitive triathletes in the United States from the youth level, to juniors, to collegiate and to the Olympic/ professional level. NCAA institutions will begin to allocate valuable resources and create high quality competitive opportunities for the sport. With this development, triathlon would receive added interest and mainstream media exposure. More fitness-minded individuals would be exposed to the sport, and participation numbers would grow. This growth means more athletes, coaches, races, etc. for the sport.
How could NCAA triathlon help USA Triathlon identify the next crop of Olympic hopefuls? With the scholarship opportunities gained by NCAA inclusion, up-and-coming triathletes will not be forced to compete as runners and swimmers on the collegiate level to gain access to scholarship dollars. The elite competitive and developmental gap that triathlon currently experiences between the junior level and the elite/Olympic level will be bridged.
Talented, well-rounded triathletes will begin to surface as potential elite triathletes because of the attractive training and competition opportunities being created at the collegiate level. Competing at the collegiate level, while earning a degree, would be tremendous motivation for pre-collegiate youth and junior athletes to continue with the sport. Identifying exceptional talent would be done on a large scale across the nation through collegiate programs. Cultivating that talent with professional, full-time, varsity-level coaches at prestigious academic institutions would advance USA Triathlon’s goal of building a stronger elite program to challenge for the podium at the Olympic Games and beyond.
What is the NCAA emerging sport for women program?
An emerging sport is a sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to explore new sports and grow participation opportunities for female student-athletes. Institutions are allowed to use emerging sports to help meet the NCAA minimum sports sponsorship requirements, minimum financial aid award requirements, and gender equity standards. To use other sports as a gauge, four emerging sports have grown in sponsorship and been approved as NCAA championship sports — water polo, bowling, ice hockey and rowing.
The process for achieving emerging sport status includes a full proposal and obtaining 10 letters of commitment for triathlon as an NCAA emerging sport for women before it can be considered for adoption by the NCAA membership.
USA TRIATHLON YOUTH GUIDE 27
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