February 27, 2006
Recently, Academic Directors and Presidents of most colleges and universities have sounded more like Referees and Umpires, as they tell their student-athletes to "Play ball!"
Fueled by a growing number of schools, increased funding of numerous athletic departments and a more passionate desire nationwide to compete athletically after high school, the number of collegiate student-athletes across America is at an all-time high.
According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, during the 2004-2005 season, a total of 219,744 men competed on NCAA athletic teams. This number represents almost a 2.3% increase over the previous high of 214,854 male student-athletes, which occurred just a season before, during the 2003-2004 season.
This dramatic increase wasn't just limited to the men, however, as women's sports saw a similar jump this past year, going from 160,997 to 164,998 student-athletes competing.
Though these numbers alone should give hope to high school athletes looking to continue playing at the collegiate level, the good news doesn't stop there. Over the past ten years, participation in men's sports has failed to increase just twice, dipping slightly in the '96-'97 and '01-'02 seasons.
On the other side, the women have seen a decrease in participation in just one year over the past ten. This was a slight drop during the '01-'02 season. Women's sports rebounded quite well from that, however, and have increased by nearly 10,000 student-athletes in the past three seasons.
While it probably doesn't come as a shock that men make up just over 57% of the total number of student-athletes, it may surprise you to learn that there are nearly 1,000 more women's teams involved in the NCAA. The participation numbers are swayed almost entirely by football, where more than 60,000 male student-athletes compete, compared to 21,126 women soccer players, which ranked as the top female sport based on number of participants.
In fact, women's sports have been booming over the past 15 years. Since 1990, there have been nearly 2,000 women's teams added to the NCAA, which amounts to 98% of all teams added. This increase landed the women at 8,991 total teams in 2005, which represents the most women's teams in the history of the NCAA. And this isn't just an isolated incident, as the number of women's teams has increased every season for 23 consecutive years. In fact, women's sports saw a net loss of only five teams last season, while sports such as soccer, basketball and golf increased teams. Of the now more than 17,000 athletic teams in the nation, women's teams represent over half of them, and that trend should continue.
While the numbers say that men's teams have been in decline in some recent years, posting negative gains for two of the past five years, the 8,016 total men's teams still hovers around the all-time high of 8,057, set in the 2000-2001 season. And the total number of male student-athletes continues to rise. In fact, one of the most important numbers of the study is the average number of student-athletes on each campus. Compared to the 1981-82 season, when the NCAA began tracking individual student-athlete participation, the average number of male student-athletes on each campus has decreased by 13. There were, however, over 52,500 more men competing in collegiate athletics this past season than in '81-'82. This shows that, through a huge increase in the number of campuses and a general increase in athletic teams, opportunities for men still abound, even though their numbers don't reflect the same sort of increases as the women.
Although these days it takes even more determination, sweat and hard work to enable yourself to play at the collegiate level, this study does, in fact, show that the outlook is even more promising than in years past. And, despite a small set-back during the season encompassing the terrorist attacks of 2001, the number of collegiate student-athletes is growing at a steady pace, and should continue to do so over the coming years. High school athletes should know that now, more than ever, there are opportunities out there to play collegiate athletics. So finish that homework, get outside and "Play ball!"
Download the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report @ http://www.ncaa.org/library/research/participation_rates/1982-2004/1982_2004_participation_rates.pdf
