NCAA Plan to Increase Scholarships in Women's Sports Is Jeopardized by Opposition of Some Colleges
By Brad Wolverton

A controversial rule passed this spring by the National Collegiate Athletic Association promises more scholarships for female athletes, but now the measure is in jeopardy after more than 100 Division I colleges voted to override it.

The rule would allow institutions to offer a total of seven more scholarships, or about 13 percent more than they can now, in women's gymnastics, soccer, track and field, and volleyball, beginning on August 1, 2006.

But many college officials oppose the change, in part because they think it could disturb the already shaky competitive balance in those women's sports and would cost too much money to put in place.

Two months after Division I members narrowly passed the legislation, in April, 118 Division I colleges, or nearly one-third of them all, voted to override it. It is the first time since 1997, when the NCAA established new governance guidelines, that a faction of members has overridden an action taken by the full membership.

The move leaves hundreds of college coaches in limbo in the middle of the recruiting season and could require some coaches to renege on scholarship offers they made on the assumption that the change was irreversible.

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