Although it has tried, a team on the Ball State University campus will not gain membership into the athletics department anytime soon.
The Ball State lacrosse team, which is a club sport at the university, petitioned the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics to add it to its list of teams. However, the future does not look bright for the team or any other team wanting to join the ranks of NCAA recognized squads.
"Ball State could not financially support another team right now, especially in this economy," Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said.
There are many factors to consider when deciding to add another intercollegiate team to the NCAA such as funding, scholarships, an interest in the sport and the sustainability of the sport.
With a growing popularity in the East Coast, the interest in the sport has also grown in the Midwest.
"I believe the school can make lacrosse into an NCAA team," men's lacrosse player Nick Dunning said. "It's the biggest sport growing at the moment and, if given the chance, I believe that we could hold it as a NCAA team. It could have a name if given the chance and have a very long-lasting team in the future."
Funding would not be the only thing standing in the way of a new sport being added to Ball State athletics. With Title IX - which regulates equity between men and women at educational institutions - weighing over the heads of the department, it is not likely Ball State would add another men's team, Collins said.
"Before I started working at Ball State they had cut men's track and field and added more women's teams to the program," Collins said. "To add another men's team I don't think that would fit into our future goals."
The athletics department is facing a gender equity complaint that said Ball State does not provide women's teams with the same opportunities as men's teams.
Coach Chris Berju, who joined the team at the beginning of the season, said Ball State has never given the team false hope that it would become an NCAA-sanctioned sport. It would be a smart move on the university's part to add lacrosse to the intercollegiate program because the sport is growing as both a women's and men's sport, he said.
"It would be a win-win situation for Ball State because it could bring more students from in-state as well as out of state," Berju said.
Ball State has competition in its own backyard if the club would be made an official NCAA team. With teams coming from schools such as Ohio State University, the University of Notre Dame and the University of Detroit Mercy, Ball State would be among Midwest schools with lacrosse.
Another Indiana school had a lacrosse team in its athletics program. Butler University cut its lacrosse program three years ago. Some of those athletes came to Ball State after leaving Butler because of the bigger campus and the fact that more students are willing to participate in the sport here.
Although the team won't be introduced to the NCAA at Ball State just yet, Dunning said he thinks the team this year is the foundation of their building blocks to the future.
"We are the first steps into making the program great," the freshman midfielder said. "We also have the best opportunity to do so, we have a very young team and some great players that are coming to the team next year and with our new coach that even makes it better."
Dunning said his personal goal is to make Ball State lacrosse have the best possible relationship with the school, Muncie, the student body and other programs and clubs. He just wants the best for the program, he said.
It means a lot to Dunning to put on his lacrosse jersey. To don a jersey that reads Ball State gives him an immense sense of pride and strength, he said.
It also leaves a mark on him, a mark that says he's part of something special. It gives him great pride when somebody asks him what else he does besides school, the first thing he's says is Ball State lacrosse.
"As a kid I always dreamed of being part of a team," Dunning said. "Now I am part of a team and that is Ball State lacrosse, that's what matters to me the most."
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