Dixie State University has many activities to be a part of, including sports, academics and clubs.
As the school is growing opportunities, are growing as well. This may include new sport programs. The athletic department is currently working on adding new sports to our school, Athletic Director Jason Boothe said.
Dixie is a part of the Pacific West Conference. This conference includes many sports such as basketball, baseball, softball, cross-country, soccer, golf, tennis, track and field and volleyball.
Dixie does not offer some sports that are a part of this conference. If DSU wanted to add a sport, track and field for example, it could add it without a long process because it is already part of the PacWest conference, Boothe said.
If Dixie wanted to add a sport that was not a part of this conference, there is a little bit more of a process.
There must be a need for participation, and DSU must have the facilities in order for a sport to work; there also must be equal opportunities for male and female athletes, Boothe said.
The school must have as many opportunities for female sports as it does with male sports, which is one of the reasons our school might decide add a new sport.
Once a sport is announced there must be a hiring process for the coach and a recruitment process for the athletes. Boothe said a proper amount of time is required in order for the team to be ready and for the money given to the team to not be wasted.
Boothe said DSU would gain a lot by adding a new sport.
“A new sport will provide for more exposure for the university with the team’s efforts,” Boothe said.
“Not only do sports benefit athletes but also friends of athletes and sport enthusiasts” Boothe said. “Small sports such as swimming and lacrosse do not bring a big fan base, but they still benefit our school ... It will also bring a good number of new students to campus, but not just student-athletes, but their friends may also come.”
Athletic programs bring in students and also tuition dollars.
“For every 300 hundred athletes, we’re probably going to have an additional 350 or 400 students because they bring their friends, cousins, sisters, boyfriends,” Boothe said.
Even if every athlete was to have full tuition coverage, their friends and family bring in just as much or more tuition dollars to our campus.
Some sports that other universities have that DSU doesn’t are lacrosse, gymnastics, wrestling, water polo, swimming and diving and track and field. DSU does have students who participate in some of these sports by being part of a club, but they are not considered part of the athletic department.
These club sports such as women’s lacrosse are part of the NCAA and may have opportunities to become a actual sport after the required process is completed. Other teams such as rugby do not have the same opportunities because they are not an NCAA sport, and it is not a part of the athletic department’s mission, Boothe said.
With as many students that DSU has on campus, there is a wide variety of sports that students would like to see become more than just a club.
Jessica Hunt, a junior psychology major from St. George, has a lot of friends who participate in the wrestling club.
“I would like to see wrestling become and actual team, and for it to be co-ed rather than just males,” Hunt said.
Because this sport is at a club level there is no recruitment required. These club sports are not as organized as it is at the NCAA levels and they have wide participation opportunities for students.
The Dixie State Athletic Department is actively working to announce a new sport by the end of the semester. Boothe said this new sport will help the university grow.
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