Cleveland State -D1 Men’s Lacrosse
An article on Cleveland.com is reporting that Cleveland State University, an NCAA D1 institution, is considering the addition of a Division 1 men’s lacrosse team to their current offering of intercollegiate sports. Currently, Cleveland State has a club lacrosse team, run by students. The school is considering the addition of men’s lacrosse on an official varsity level.
Cleveland.com reports that the school would also add a new women’s varsity sport to coincide with the addition of men’s lacrosse. Both moves would be made to attract more highly qualified students to the state school.
The vote on the potential addition could take place within the next month. If that vote is for the addition of lacrosse, CSU could conceivably hire coaches, recruit players, and begin play in the spring of 2016, only one season away! It’s a rapid timeline, but it is manageable with the right people in place.
It has already been reported that Ohio Northern plans on adding men’s lacrosse, as well as women’s lacrosse, and that Dayton recently added women’s lacrosse. With the sport booming in Ohio, it actually makes a lot of sense as a tool to attract new students to the University.
Financially, at first glance, it also seems to work. The annual cost of running a D1 team is right under $1M, according to CSU sources. With 40-45 players on the team, this breaks down to an investment of approximately $25,000 per student. With only 12.5 scholarships available to D1 teams, many of the players would likely pay for their schooling. While adding D1 wouldn’t result in the school making a ton of money (few D1 lacrosse teams produce revenue), it could drive enrollment and application interest up, and that helps schools in rankings like the annual US News College Report. It could also boost the campus’ image nationwide, especially amongst lacrosse players.
The Athletic Director at CSU is John Parry. Parry has been involved for decades in collegiate sports administration, and before that he played lacrosse at Brown University. After graduating he got into the AD side of things, but also spent time as an assistant lacrosse coach at Brown.
It seems like Cleveland State University is very serious about adding D1 men’s lacrosse. We hope to see confirmation of the school’s decision shortly. Keep your eyes peeled for more info as it becomes available!
