Post by jaythomas on Feb 17, 2024 13:07:10 GMT -5
What is the purpose of adding football?
Chicago State is a small, predominantly black institution on the south side of the city with an enrollment of around 3,000 students, many of whom commute. Adding football and more women’s sports could increase enrollment by adding 210 student-athletes and expanding the school’s reach, which furthers the university’s goal of growing its student body, athletic director Dr. Monique Carroll told The Athletic.
The hope is that a football program would help entice student-athletes, helping the school reach its mission. “The number of kids that play in the city that have to leave because it’s not an option (is a lot). Especially in today’s climate with the transfer portal when kids want to get closer to home, now they’d have an option to play Division I football at home,” Carroll said.
Football could also help Chicago State find a conference. The school is an athletic independent in 10 of its 15 sports, including basketball. Three sports play in the Ohio Valley Conference and two play in the football-less Horizon League. Carroll said the school can’t afford to be a football independent, so the hope is adding football will open more FCS conference doors. The OVC and Missouri Valley Football Conference overlap in the region. (So does the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, but CSU will be a scholarship team).
The last school to create a Division I football program was Kennesaw State in 2015. That program, just outside Atlanta, immediately found success and will move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision next year. Texas Rio Grande Valley is also in the process of creating an FCS program that will begin play in 2025.
Chicago State moves closer to adding FCS football program after fundraising proposal approved
By Chris Vannini
Sep 21, 2023
theathletic.com/4886233/2023/09/21/chicago-state-football-fcs/
Chicago State is a small, predominantly black institution on the south side of the city with an enrollment of around 3,000 students, many of whom commute. Adding football and more women’s sports could increase enrollment by adding 210 student-athletes and expanding the school’s reach, which furthers the university’s goal of growing its student body, athletic director Dr. Monique Carroll told The Athletic.
The hope is that a football program would help entice student-athletes, helping the school reach its mission. “The number of kids that play in the city that have to leave because it’s not an option (is a lot). Especially in today’s climate with the transfer portal when kids want to get closer to home, now they’d have an option to play Division I football at home,” Carroll said.
Football could also help Chicago State find a conference. The school is an athletic independent in 10 of its 15 sports, including basketball. Three sports play in the Ohio Valley Conference and two play in the football-less Horizon League. Carroll said the school can’t afford to be a football independent, so the hope is adding football will open more FCS conference doors. The OVC and Missouri Valley Football Conference overlap in the region. (So does the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, but CSU will be a scholarship team).
The last school to create a Division I football program was Kennesaw State in 2015. That program, just outside Atlanta, immediately found success and will move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision next year. Texas Rio Grande Valley is also in the process of creating an FCS program that will begin play in 2025.
Chicago State moves closer to adding FCS football program after fundraising proposal approved
By Chris Vannini
Sep 21, 2023
theathletic.com/4886233/2023/09/21/chicago-state-football-fcs/
