By Matthew Woodland
When you”re filling out your brackets for the NCAA Tournament some day soon, you may be able to pick UVSC to upset a national power.
Effective Tuesday, July 1, UVSC”s sports programs will begin a process to move to the Division I level.
“We will now compete against schools like BYU, Utah and Colorado,” said Angie Miller, UVSC”s softball coach. “It”ll be a benefit to our program in many good ways.”
UVSC Athletic Director Michael Jacobsen said he feels sports act as a front porch to any institution. The porch to the house is what people see and judge the house by, he said.
Changing over to a Division I school isn”t easy, however. For the next year, UVSC will be under provisional status and considered a non-Division I program.
Starting in the 2004-2005 season, UVSC will be considered a Division I program. The school will then have another two years to comply with all NCAA regulations for recruiting, scheduling and academic eligibility for athletes.
School officials believe this process will be a great benefit to expanding the school as a whole. The change from a two-year junior college to a four-year institution was a beginning, and some feel the move to Division I status is the logical next step.
“We”re really excited,” said Megan Kennedy, UVSC”s senior woman athletic administrator. “Our biggest challenge now is getting schools to want to come here and compete against us.”
With the recent switch to a four-year college and offering so many other programs, the “house” is looking pretty good, Jacobsen said. The goal now for the “porch” will be to help improve the recruiting and overall image of UVSC as a legitimate NCAA competitor.
