Passage of CSUSM athletic fee to increase opportunities for local athletes

The passage of an advisory vote for a student fee increase to fund Cal State University San Marcos athletics will benefit local athletes seeking to continue their playing careers after high school or community college.

“We knew there was demand out there for another intercollegiate opportunity in San Diego County,” said Dr. Steve Nichols, the interim athletic director at Cal State San Marcos. “The demand we thought was there is coming forward.”

During the March 21-24 voting period, the CSUSM student body voted overwhelmingly to support a $40 student fee increase to fund athletics at the university. The student vote is officially advisory to inform the university president, who will make a recommendation to the Chancellor’s office. However, both the president and the Chancellor have indicated support for the fee and the expansion of the athletic program. “The vote was the main thing,” Nichols said.

The current enrollment of Cal State San Marcos equates to approximately $600,000 being raised annually from the fee. “As we grow, the fee revenue will grow likewise,” Nichols said.

Cal State San Marcos is currently affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The school currently offers six NAIA sports: men’s cross-country, women’s cross-country, men’s golf, women’s golf, men’s track and field, and women’s track and field. The approval of the student fee will lead to the addition of men’s baseball and women’s softball programs for the spring 2006 seasons and men’s soccer, women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball for the fall 2006 seasons. Nichols warns, however, that the athletic program relies on general fund money as well as fee revenue and that cuts in general fund money from the state might delay one of the fall 2006 programs.

Men’s and women’s basketball were not added after a review of that possibility led to recommendations by respected college basketball coaches against a basketball program until the school has an on-site arena. “It would be a logistical nightmare trying to get court time for practices and games,” Nichols said.

The school has a half-court gym that is large enough for collegiate volleyball, and the soccer teams can play in the infield of the school’s rack.

The baseball and softball teams will initially play home games at an off-site facility. “Building those facilities is one of my top priorities,” Nichols said.

Cal State San Marcos plays to stay affiliated with the NAIA for the near future. The minimum number of men’s and women’s sports for NCAA Division II affiliation would exist with the athletic program expansion, although NCAA Division II membership also requires a men’s and women’s Winter sport which would be fulfilled by indoor track. After the sports are in place, the university would petition to the NCAA for membership which would be followed by a four-year transition process.

Nichols is in no hurry for NCAA affiliation. “In the interim the NAIA’s a great athletic association,” Nichols said.

Three other local universities — Alliant, Point Loma Nazarene, and Christian Heritage College — are NAIA members. The University of California, San Diego is an NCAA Division II school, and San Diego State University and the University of San Diego are NCAA Division I members.

Title IX regulations require at least an equal number of women’s sports, and the expansion brings the school’s offerings to six women’s sports and five men’s sports. Because many West Coast colleges have dropped men’s volleyball due to Title IX constrictions, that sport is played on the club level at most of the nearby schools. Nichols indicated that the school would likely add a men’s sport in the future, and since Palomar Community College has a men’s wrestling team that sport would be a strong candidate to be added to the athletics program. “It would make a whole lot of sense to have a men’s wrestling team here,” Nichols said.

Since the student approval of the fees, Nichols has been receiving telephone calls and electronic mails from local athletes and coaches about the possibility of playing at Cal State San Marcos. “They know it,” Nichols said of the increased opportunities for local athletes.

The school does not have a letter of intent scholarship process for athletes. “It will be more walk-ons and tryouts,” Nichols said.

The deadline for fall admission for the 2005-06 year has passed, while the deadline for 2006-07 fall admission will be in November 2005. While the normal application process doesn’t provide for spring admissions, the special admission process may be used on a case-by-case basis and students who have completed at least 60 community college units may also be admitted beginning with a spring semester.

The fall semester ends in December while the spring semester begins in late January, creating the possibility of special admissions for baseball and softball players who would play for the Cougars in the spring 2006 seasons after being admitted for the spring 2006 semester. The school also has club baseball and softball programs that are managed and funded by the athletes themselves rather than by the athletic department. “There is some talent here in those sports,” Nichols said.