Why don't we add new sports? I understand Title IX requires a certain balance between men's and women's teams, but it seems like there are quite a few sports that we could participate in. Possible examples include men's and women's gymnastics, men's soccer, wrestling and lacrosse to name a few. I am not declaring any preference for any team sport, but we do have the money and TAMU is big enough to provide the necessary participation. It seems like the number of sports has changed very little in the last 40 years.i understand some sports do not have nearby competition, but several SEC schools have other sports like gymnastics.

Our track team still doesn't have an outdoor facility, softball has a pretty outdated facility, we are already talking about updating our baseball facility again.

I'm not opposed to adding sports but do we really have the money to add sports and completely commit to them and our current sports. A good chunk of our football and basketball board want us to be buying out our current coaches' contracts.

rgleml said:

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Why don't we add new sports? I understand Title IX requires a certain balance between men's and women's teams, but it seems like there are quite a few sports that we could participate in. Possible examples include men's and women's gymnastics, men's soccer, wrestling and lacrosse to name a few. I am not declaring any preference for any team sport, but we do have the money and TAMU is big enough to provide the necessary participation. It seems like the number of sports has changed very little in the last 40 years.i understand some sports do not have nearby competition, but several SEC schools have other sports like gymnastics.

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"We do have the money..." Where do 'we' have this money? Do you mean the athletic department, because the rest of the university certainly doesn't have the money. Given what the other poster stated regarding current facilities, I don't think the athletic department can afford to start up other sports unless there was overwhelming demand combined with significant donor support.

Gymnastics sell out !

What sports would you add?

You would have to think about the rest of our conference and the sports they have... a gymnastics team would fit in fine.

Missouri has a wrestling team. Alabama has Rowing.

It also comes down to money.

We were perennial archery national champs and they got rid of it.

To be fair, there were only like three schools that officially sponsored archery as a sport at the time (and we were one of them). If we are going to add any more sports, they should compete at the NCAA Championship level.

I agree, Gymnastics and Lacrosse would be sports I would add. Men's soccer just doesn't have a foothold in the SEC

There isn't any D1 lacrosse near us.

For the men the closest would be Mercer (GA), Air Force, and Jacksonville
For the women the closest would be Vanderbilt, Louisville, Denver, and Florida.

With men's soccer at least you have 4 other D1 schools in Texas, 2 in Oklahoma, 1 in Arkansas.

Soccer makes sense but you have to add a female sport, Lacrosse would work but gymnastics would be a monetary drain due to fees and injuries. Waterpolo?

Having schools that sponsor a sport near us is important, but you also have to think of what we have to recruit from. If we are going to add more sports it should be ones we can compete in.

Water polo is hardly played in Texas. We would be a perennial bottom feeder constantly trying to recruit kids out of California.

Gymnastics makes sense (teams in SEC; teams near us like OU, Arkansas, and LSU; and Texas has a lot of quality gymnastics) but it is really expensive. Men's soccer makes less sense (the schools sponsoring around us aren't the same level athletically as TAMU) but at least there are some teams around us and we should have a good base to recruit athletes as there is quite a bit of soccer played in Texas.

The other option is to just not add sports. We don't have to add anything and there isn't any point in diluting our resources to stretch for a sport that doesn't make sense.

Which sports do you want to take money away from to add these new sports?

Women's Basketball and Football

Any $$ taken from those two should be given to Track & Field--when it counts, they bring it.

Gymnastics would be a great addition. Texas has some of the best gymnasts in the nation coming out of gyms in Houston and Dallas. Currently there isn't a single division I program in the state and gymnastics is big in the SEC. All this talent is heading out of state to LSU, Alabama, florida, etc. You could have a national champion team in a couple years.

Beach volleyball would be a great women's sport. It is a shame the NCAA does not sponsor weight lifting for women. We have power lifting at the high school level and the Olympics also have weight lifting. The different weight classes and disciplines could help raise women's numbers. There would be little start up cost other than scholarships and it is one of the few sports that attracts interests across racial lines. Sports like equestrian do not. I like gymnastics but it is expensive relative to some other options. As for the men, soccer should be first. It is a sport we could potentially dominate.

Athletics has debts to service first.

Athletic department will not add Gymnastics to our school. The liability costs are on par with Football.

It's a no-brainer. Shooting.

Easiest & Cheapest.

They need to build the indoor tennis courts before they add another sport. Both teams are competitive but need the ability to train year-round to push both programs to the top level. So long as there is the potential for lost training days due to the lack of indoor facilities, the programs will lag behind the very best in terms of recruiting and on-court performance. Denton said during last summer's camp that they need $3 million to get it done.

Some SEC teams play men's soccer already and SMU plays here in Texas.

I would love to see water polo but unfortunately, almost all of the NCAA teams are in the New England and California.