There are fifteen Division I sports programs for the university. Eight are women’s and seven are men’s. The university joined the Southland Conference in the 1997-98 season and since then the Lions have won 15 conference championships and more than 170 athletes earned conference honors. The Lions have won two national championships: men’s outdoor track (1975) and women’s basketball (1976-77). The only team to have been cut by the university is the men’s tennis team, which was suspended in 2009 due to decreasing government funding and adjustments made to the budget.
The Lion's Roar/File Photo
The university has fifteen sports teams with some of them being the same sport, but different genders. The university must have a set number of male and female sports that appeal to the students and the community. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 states:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
The university had other sports than the ones currently on the lineup not long ago.
“Currently we have had this lineup of sports since 2009,” said Athletic Director Jay Artigues. “In 2009 the university dropped men’s tennis due to budget reasons. As for men’s soccer, no university in the state of Louisiana has men’s soccer as far as I am aware. Very few NCAA Division I schools in our region have men’s soccer. The main reason for this is Title IX and gender equity as well as funding for some schools.”
The Lions men’s tennis team was suspended under former Director of Athletics Dr. Joel Erdmann to help deal with consistent loss of funding and to ease the strain on the other athletic programs. Women’s tennis Head Coach Jason Hayes was the dual coach of the men’s and women’s tennis team.
“I enjoyed coaching the men’s team,” said Hayes. “We had a lot of fun together and I had the pleasure of coaching several outstanding young men. The biggest difference is style of play, and I think that my coaching style and my tactics better suit women’s tennis.”
It is still possible for the suspension on men’s tennis to be lifted so the team can come back.
“It’s possible, although I don’t believe it would happen anytime soon,” said Hayes.
Dr. Michelle Hall, Office of Institutional Research, distributes surveys to all incoming students to find out what sports students are particularly interested in.
“The university does a survey with the incoming students each year to gauge the interest in different sports for those students,” said Artigues. “If the interest is high, then we look into whether it is feasible for the university to have that particular sport. As everyone is aware, the university has experienced severe state budget cuts over the last few years which obviously comes into play.”
Unfortunately, budget cuts are the main reason why the sports teams lineup will stay the same for the next few years.
“As the allocation of state funds to the university has been cut in recent years, the internal allocation of operating funds in support of athletics has been reduced accordingly,” said university President Dr. John L. Crain.
There are fifteen Division I sports programs for the university. Eight are women’s and seven are men’s. The university joined the Southland Conference in the 1997-98 season and since then the Lions have won 15 conference championships and more than 170 athletes earned conference honors. The Lions have won two national championships: men’s outdoor track (1975) and women’s basketball (1976-77). The only team to have been cut by the university is the men’s tennis team, which was suspended in 2009 due to decreasing government funding and adjustments made to the budget.
The Lion's Roar/File Photo
There are fifteen Division I sports programs for the university. Eight are women’s and seven are men’s. The university joined the Southland Conference in the 1997-98 season and since then the Lions have won 15 conference championships and more than 170 athletes earned conference honors. The Lions have won two national championships: men’s outdoor track (1975) and women’s basketball (1976-77). The only team to have been cut by the university is the men’s tennis team, which was suspended in 2009 due to decreasing government funding and adjustments made to the budget.
The Lion's Roar/File Photo