By Gracie Ozburn | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
When it comes to Baylor’s athletic programs, the university provides a variety of opportunities for students. Many of both the men’s and women’s sports are very successful, but what Baylor lacks is a men’s soccer team.
Baylor’s men’s club soccer team is already very competitive, putting in two-hour practices three times a week and playing big named schools, but without the scholarships.
According to Baylor’s website, the club team plays big schools like the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. They are also part of the Texas Collegiate Soccer League and play in the Lone Star North Conference. Some other major schools they play include the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri at the regional tournament.
Not only do these men deserve to get at least a partial scholarship for their commitment and skill, having a men’s team would just bring in more money to Baylor.
According to the website College Factual, men’s sports at Baylor brought in a revenue of over $32 million compared to women’s sports bringing in around $16 million.
The Baylor women’s soccer team also has equipment and fields already put in place. With these accessibilities there would not be much to add for the men’s team. Not only is there a women’s team, but there are also more women’s sports than men’s overall.
According to the Baylor athletics website, there are 10 different options of women’s sports and only seven for men. Many people fight for equality for women’s sports, which in some aspects I do support, but this cannot be used as an excuse for why there is no men’s team.
Even though there is a difference in the number of sports, Title IX requires that men’s and women’s sports have an equal amount of scholarship money allocated. Adding those scholarships for men’s soccer would require an additional equal amount for women’s sports, but with the variety of sports for women, there would be many options of those women to give scholarships to.
Lastly, Texas is filled with big schools that do have a soccer team and could be an easy adjustment for Baylor to join. The list includes schools like Houston Baptist University, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Southern Methodist University as well as surrounding states.
According to the NCSA Sports website, there are 205 NCAA Division I men’s soccer colleges across the country.
This variety gives opportunity, and with Baylor’s popular reputation in sports and academics, it would attract students to Baylor and give it another reason for being such a highly ranked school.
