Adding More Sports to Valpo

[VUFan2021]

Valpo should think outside of the box, and offer more D1 sports instead of less. Cutting athletic programs creates so much bad press for the school. Why not add D1 sports in an effort to bring in students? How is it possible that most Patriot League institutions with less students offer 25+ D1 varsity sports including scholarship football, while Valpo offers minimum athletics in comparison? Bring back men's soccer and tennis, add lacrosse and field hockey as well. You will attract better quality students for admissions, and raise the profile of the school at the same time. There are so many top academic institutions across the country that have followed this model. Valpo needs to stop looking at MVC schools for direction and embrace what institutions on the West Coast and East Coast have done in order to stay "financially stable" during these trying times. The Valpo athletic department needs to give up on tying all of its assets into men's basketball, and increase the number of student-athletes at the school. The school needs athletic department leadership from a higher academic tier in order to gain a better perspective as to how athletic programs in 2021 can lead to higher student enrollment and higher selectivity rates which influence national rankings. With all of this said, I appreciate everyone's efforts in keeping Valpo afloat during these trying times. Let's think outside of the box in order to keep Valpo safe for decades to come!

[VUSupport]

Lacrosse would be a great addition as there are great powerhouse HS programs in close proximity (Chicago, Indianapolis, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin). With the popularity growing and Midwest DI programs not too far (ND, Detroit Mercy, Marquette, Bellarmine, Michigan, Cleveland State, and Ohio State) would make perfect sense.

[usc4valpo]

Sorry to rain on your suggestion, but it Wont  happpen with NIL in the loop. In fact, you will likely see less sports supported by Valpo.I think many non revenue sports will be available through clubs or other organizations and not suppotered by universities. Last year Stanford cancelled several sports, some that had great success. It this happened at a well endowed university like Stanford, it will happen elsewhere.

[IndyValpo]

Sorry to rain on your suggestion, but it Wont  happpen with NIL in the loop. In fact, you will likely see less sports supported by Valpo.I think many non revenue sports will be available through clubs or other organizations and not suppotered by universities. Last year Stanford cancelled several sports, some that had great success. It this happened at a well endowed university like Stanford, it will happen elsewhere.

I agree with the point but didn't Stanford back off the eliminations?

[VUSupport]

Stanford back tracked and reinstated those sports

[usc4valpo]

My bad on sports for the Tree and thanks for the correction.
It will never be a reality because of the expense, but if Valpo could add a sport I would love to see hockey. The student engagement would be a game changer

[VUSupport]

If you think lacrosse is expensive, hockey is worse