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Big West
Prioritizes Men's & Women's Soccer Feb. 1, 2002 – Irvine, Calif. The Big West Conference Council approved the addition of men's and women's soccer as priority championship sports at its annual winter meeting this week in Los Angeles. Schools sponsoring a Big West priority sport are required to fund at least 80 percent of the maximum number of scholarships allowable under NCAA rules. The NCAA allows a maximum of 9.9 scholarships for men1s soccer and 12 for women1s soccer. Men's and women's soccer increase the number of Big West priority sports to seven. The conference also assigns priority status to men's and women's basketball, women's volleyball, baseball and softball. In addition, the Council stipulated that any school adding men's soccer would be permitted a four-year period to comply with the 80 percent scholarship baseline. Presently, all 10 conference members participate in women's soccer while six sponsor men's soccer. "The Council's decision to elevate men's and women's soccer to priority sport status reflects the dedication of all our schools to achieve the long-term goal of being the nation's most successful Division I-AAA conference," said Commissioner Dennis Farrell. "The Council feels this is a move in the right direction to attain that goal." The Council also voted to switch the playing of women's basketball conference games from a Friday-Sunday to a Thursday-Saturday format, starting with the 2002-03 season. Big West men's basketball schools currently play their conference games on Thursdays and Saturdays. The Council's decision reflected a desire to allow women's basketball student-athletes an opportunity to have a day off on the weekend for study and rest purposes.
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