The addition of a new sport program could come with the new plan for compliance toward the Education Act of 1972 at Ball State University.
A plan was drafted in 2001 but expired at the end of 2006. Ball State hopes to have a new five-year plan in place by the end of this summer. The Education Act of 1972 is most famous for-¡ - and more commonly known as - Title IX.
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said the first thing Ball State must do is investigate whether there is a sport Ball State currently doesn't have that enough people at the school are interested in playing.
"What you ask yourself is, 'If you add the sport, where are you going to get the athletes from?'" Collins said.
If the Ball State athletic department decides to add a sport, they have to decide not only what sport would be best to add, but also whether to add a male or female sport.
However, it is unlikely Ball State would be able to add a male sport, Collins said.
"I would say because of gender equity and Title IX, we wouldn't be able to add any male sport right now," he said.
Since Title IX was created, Ball State has actually eliminated multiple male sports. Ball State had men's soccer until 1982 and men's track/cross country until 2004.
The cuts of men's track and cross country eliminated 54 student-athletes who were on the team along with two coaches, according to a WISH-TV report.
The cuts were made when Bubba Cunningham was the athletic director for Ball State. Collins was not hired until January 2006.
Many other colleges and universities have chosen to eliminate different male sports. James Madison University announced last September it will eliminate 10 - seven being male - of the school's 28 athletic teams, placing the blame on Title IX, according to a James Madison press release from Sept. 29.
"With so many teams, we faced an insurmountable challenge coming into compliance with Title IX," the press release said. "Fundamentally, that is why the Board [of Visitors] voted today for this plan."
Myles Brand, president of the NCAA since 2003, said in a live chat on the Chronicle of Higher Education on March 8 that the elimination of male sports is an important issue.
"Title IX encourages participation and in no way requires or even suggests that programs should be cut," Brand said.
The choices for what female sport to add are vast. Many colleges and universities have been adding sports such as crew, soccer and lacrosse. Ball State added women's soccer in 1999.
Nona Richardson, associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at Ball State, said no sport will be added without confirmed interest for the sport.
"We're not going to add bowling if no one has interest in bowling," Richardson said. "It can't just be a sport to add a sport."
Collins, previously a senior associate athletic director at Arizona State University, said there are other factors Ball State must consider. He explained, while at Arizona State the athletic department looked into adding crew due to a nearby lake, but found out the nearest place to compete was close to 800 miles away.
Cost is a major component of what sport, if any, Ball State will add, Collins said. He said adding lacrosse could be an option.
"The hottest sport right now across the country is women's lacrosse," Collins said. "I don't know if there's interest here. I don't know if there's anyone [at Ball State] who played it in high school."
If anyone voices interest in a sport from intramurals Ball State would do a survey, which the university has done before.
"What we are in discussion on right now is creating our own survey to see if we are covering the sports [students] are interested in," Richardson said.
Don't expect a decision whether Ball State will add a new sport for at least another year.
"We are hoping to send [the survey] out no later than Spring '08," Richardson said.
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