CSUSM eyes move to big-time sports

By: COLLEEN MENSCHING - Staff Writer | Sunday, October 7, 2007 8:54 PM PDT ∞

SAN MARCOS ---- Four little letters could spell a big investment in the Cal State San Marcos athletics program.

The university wants to build its athletic program and make a move to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, but officials said last week that it's going to take at least two more teams, several new athletic facilities and many millions of dollars in private funding.

The Cougar athletics budget hovers at about $1.5 million per year, but ----- with 25 acres of dirt earmarked for facilities, a full-time staff member dedicated to athletic program development, and a lengthy list of suggestions from a former NCAA president ---- the university is building its case and its coffers to take the university's teams to Division II.

How fast new teams and facilities are assembled depends on how fast the university can get the money for them. Joining the association, which could help raise the school's profile, attract higher-caliber athletes and give students a stronger sports program to rally around, will take at least three years from the time a university applies, according to NCAA rules.

Size matters

Since establishing its sports program in 1998 with men's and women's golf, the university has been a nonconference member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, which has 280 smaller and mostly private colleges.

The NCAA, on the other hand, has approximately 1,200 schools.

"The NAIA was fine for us when we were a small little upstart program," athletic director Steve Nichols said last week. "Now, though, it's really not that good of a fit."

Nichols said that, geographically, it might have made sense for the university to be part of the NAIA's Golden State Athletic Conference, which includes San Diego Christian College, Point Loma Nazarene University and several other Southern California schools.

He said that not only is the conference comprised entirely of private Christian colleges, those 10 colleges have an average enrollment of fewer than 1,800 full-time undergraduate students ---- compared with the university, which now has at least three times that many.

"Every other Cal State University that's about our size ... is in NCAA Division II," Nichols said.

Playing time

Golden State Athletic Conference teams have no obligation to play the Cougars. The men's soccer team, for example, has just four matches in October, only one of which is at home.

"We are basically at our opponents' discretion as to where we play and when we play," coach Ron Pulvers said.

Pulvers said one of the benefits of being an NCAA school is the opportunity for the Cougars to join the association's 12-member California Collegiate Athletic Association conference, which includes the University of California, UC San Diego, Cal State Los Angeles, and San Francisco State University.

The conference has an opening, since Cal State Bakersfield was granted Division I status, and Pulvers said he hopes the Cougars can help fill in the schedule.

"It's a foot in the door, for sure," Pulvers said. "I think once we can prove we're a reputable program, and we run things the right way, there'll be more interest in having us on the schedule."

Meanwhile, said associate athletic director Jennifer Milo, the NAIA's Golden State conference schools may have less interest in competing with San Marcos teams in the future.

The Cougar programs that have been around for a nearly a decade, individual sports such as golf and cross country, have been nationally ranked. But the baseball and softball teams threw their first pitches this January. The soccer teams started in 2006.

"The minute we start beating the smaller private schools, it's going to get interesting," Milo said. "Not being in a conference, they don't have to play us. We might have trouble finding teams to play if we start beating (Golden State schools) and affecting their rankings."

Money matters

Cougar sports will never be profitable, Nichols said.

He said the overwhelming majority of college sports programs are founded for the same reason academic programs are ---- to enrich the student experience.

"That'd be almost like expecting the psychology program to be a moneymaker," Nichols said.

State money and tuition can't be used for sports, so in 2005, the student body voted to impose an athletic fee on themselves ---- $80 per student annually.

Officials say that money provides about half of the department's budget and is used to hire coaches, pay for uniforms and cover team travel and other miscellaneous expenses.

In September, the university announced the creation of the Cougar Athletic Club. Annual contributions of $100 or more net club members VIP access to coaches and sporting events. The school's first "Diploma Dash" 5-kilometer race is also scheduled for this academic year and the annual gala, held in April, was themed "Field of Dreams" and raised more than $300,000 for Cougar sports.

"These types of events help us survive day to day," said Milo, who recently stepped down from coaching to take an administrative position. "Then we've got our much larger ticket items."

Now, as the associate athletic director overseeing program development, Milo is at the forefront of fundraising for facilities and scholarships, and building a volunteer base.

Officials hope to someday have tennis courts, an aquatic center and a basketball arena on campus ---- but those improvements are likely many years away, Milo said.

A higher priority is getting the baseball and softball teams off high school fields and onto university diamonds. The university has the space ---- the 25-acre "front yard" has already been earmarked for athletic facilities ---- but putting in those fields alone may cost between $5 million and $10 million, Milo said.

How soon any of the improvements can be made to campus depends on how quickly the university can raise money for them.

"If we had a donor come in and say, 'Hey, I want to donate $50 million because I want my name on those 25 acres,' we'd start the process," Milo said. "We'd have the finished project within hopefully three years."

Admission to the NCAA

Financial hurdles aside, the Cougars still have to vie for a spot in the NCAA.

According to the NCAA's Web site, it takes at least three years to complete the Division II membership process. The association's membership committee decides whether a prospective member is ready to join the NCAA.

In December, former NCAA President Cedric Dempsey and former athletic director for Cal Berkeley John Kasser were on campus for a full evaluation of the Cougar athletic program. The Cal State system hired them to consult with individual schools about their collegiate sports.

"They looked at every nuance," Nichols said.

The consultants' chief recommendation, Nichols said, was to join the NCAA.

Nichols called the draft of their report lengthy, filled with "outside-the-box" thinking.

The findings will be reviewed by the university's NCAA task force, made up of representatives from several departments.

Some recommendations, such as adding men's and women's basketball teams, have become part of the Cougar plan. Others, such as adding a women's crew team, aren't likely to make the cut, Nichols said.

 

A mix of sports and studies

The university, giving away only the interest of its $3 million athletic endowment, doesn't have the deep scholarship pockets of some schools, and it doesn't yet have the top-notch facilities of others.

Still, they've managed to recruit and retain athletes like softball pitcher Melissa Lerno, who administrators said had a NCAA Division I offer on the table when she chose to transfer from Palomar College.

When Trent Painter, senior co-captain of the men's soccer team, was first recruited from Orange Coast College, he said he was actually debating whether he wanted to continue to play soccer at all.

"Before I knew it, I was signing papers, and I was on my way over here," Painter said.

Plans to take Cougars sports to the next level helped convince him, he said.

"Not only soccer, but all these other sports that are coming in are going to be awesome," Painter said. "Looking back, it'll be nice to see a school that I was at doing so well."

Milo said she finds that academics ---- particularly small class sizes ---- are also a draw for recruits.

"You're almost getting a private education but you're paying state fees," Milo said.

Nichols said academics aren't frequently sacrificed for athletics at the NAIA and Division II levels.

"The financial pressure to compromise your academic standards or to cheat is just not there," he said. "Apart from (academic honesty) being the right thing intrinsically, there's just no incentive. "

Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.

Sports at Cal Sate San Marcos

Fall sports

Men's cross country

Program Start: 1999

Regional Championships: 3 (2000, 02-03); National Championship Appearances: 7 (1999, 2000-05); Highest National Finish: 4 (2003)

Women's cross country

Program Start: 1999

Regional Championships: 1 (2000); National Championship Appearances: 5 (1999, 2000, 02-03, 05); Highest National Finish: 3 (2003)

Men's soccer

Home Facility: Mangrum Track and Soccer Field

First year of program

Women's soccer

Home Facility: Mangrum Track and Soccer Field

First year of program

Winter sports

Men's and women's indoor track and field

Home Facility:

Mangrum Track and Soccer Field

Program Start: 1999

All-Americans (Outdoor, Men/Women Combined): 32; All-Americans (Indoor, Men/Women Combined): 2

Spring sports

Men's baseball

Home Facility: San Marcos High School

First year of program

Women's softball

Home Facility: Mission Hills High School

First year of program

Men's golf

Home Course: Lake San Marcos Country Club

Program Start: 1998

Regional Championships: 2 (2000-01); National Championship Appearances: 6 (2000-01, 03-06); Highest National Finish: 5 (2003-05)

Women's golf

Home Course: Lake San Marcos Country Club

Program Start: 1998

Regional Championships: 2 (2001, 06); National Championship Appearances: 6 (2001-06); Highest National Finish: 4 (2006)

Men's and women's outdoor track and field

Home Facility: Mangrum Track and Soccer Field

Program Start: 1999

All-Americans (Outdoor, Men/Women Combined): 32; All-Americans (Indoor, Men/Women Combined): 2