When it comes to the future of Olympic sports on college campuses, the most common refrain is “There’s got to be a better way.”
Concerns over the rising cost of travel, geographically disparate conferences and the financial focus on football and basketball have left Olympic sports in a vulnerable position.
“When you look at it sport by sport, there is a sense that we need to go back to the drawing board and determine what’s right for every sport,” said Oliver Luck, the former athletic director at West Virginia who joined the NCAA in January as executive vice president over regulatory affairs. “When we’re flying the volleyball team, for example, three hours each way to play a 90-minute match, you look at that and say, ‘Is there a better way?’
“A lot of the ways in which the NCAA and our championships were organized came out of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. I think there’s a willingness to look at these issues.”
Luck sat in the noisy lobby of the Orlando Marriott last week during the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics annual convention and contemplated a busy last six months, which also have been his first six months as an NCAA executive. He’s spent much of that time traveling to visit with schools and conferences outside of the power five. He was the AD at a power five school from 2010 through the end of 2014, so he understands the issues at that level, he said. But he’s been curious to learn more about schools at the lower levels.
He went to spring meetings for the Ohio Valley Conference, Horizon League and Mid-American Conference, visiting with ADs and presidents. He met with administrators on campuses at Texas-San Antonio, Incarnate Word, Cleveland State, San Jose State and the University of San Francisco, just to name a few. During a trip to Boston, he met with America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen.
Two themes emerged, Luck said. Schools at the levels below the power five conferences are most worried about continued access to Division I championships and the future of Olympic sports.
“A lot of those schools don’t have a bell cow with football to support the Olympic sports,” he said.
A number of new ideas have been discussed, such as modified seasons and more regional competition to reduce costs and missed class time. Luck has been beating the drum, going back to his West Virginia days, for fewer midweek games so athletes can focus on their studies throughout the week.
“There have been discussions about different federated models we could look at, but I don’t know if there’s been a real deep dive yet,” Luck said. “I do think the next two years are going to be crucial.
The [U.S. Olympic Committee] has the same interests. We’ve just got to get the right people in the room.”
Alan Ashley from the USOC was one of the speakers at NACDA last week. He was there to stress the importance of the relationship between the USOC and the colleges that feed so many athletes to the Olympics.
The NCAA also recently created a Division I Competition Oversight Committee that will focus on sports outside of football and basketball. Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart is the committee’s chairman.
Luck also said Duke AD Kevin White will play an instrumental role in any future changes. White was appointed to the USOC board of directors in March.
“Any time you have change, there are ripple effects,” Luck said. “But I think we are at a stage where we need to tear issues apart and look at their upsides and downsides.”
