De-flated: With soccer popular among boys, why only one NCAA-sanctioned men's team in Utah?

Upon graduating from Jordan High, Clay Christenson had a resume rivaling any soccer player in Utah. Christenson earned 5A MVP honors in 2002 while leading the Beetdiggers to a state title. He also earned all-state selections three consecutive years and helped lead his club team, the Utah Rangers, to five state championships.

But options for Christenson were limited when it came to continuing competitive soccer in college. Several out-of-state schools he looked at did not offer enough scholarship money to adequately cover tuition and other expenses.

Staying in Utah, on the other hand, meant playing club soccer with no scholarship. The whole situation left Christenson feeling more than a little frustrated.

"To play for 17 years and not be rewarded by getting a scholarship was not in my plans," Christenson said. "You work so hard to earn a scholarship."

Christenson eventually latched onto a club team at BYU before joining the Premier Development League franchise that replaced it. But others have been far less successful in their efforts to continue playing beyond high school.

In a time where soccer is experiencing growth at the youth levels and the professional level with Real Salt Lake, the near total absence of NCAA men's soccer programs in Utah raises new levels of frustration in the sport's fan base.

Dixie State is the only in-state school with a scholarship men's soccer program in any of the three NCAA divisions. The Rebels will play soccer in the PacWest Conference — a league which sponsors men's soccer — starting in the fall.

Among the remaining schools, Westminster College sponsors a nonscholarship program at the NAIA level. BYU supports a PDL franchise. Utah, Utah Valley, Utah State, Weber State and Southern Utah all feature student-led club teams.

Title IX laws are usually seen as the instant culprit behind the dearth of collegiate men's soccer teams. Under Title IX, gender equity is mandated in all areas of academics and athletics. It means the numbers of athletic scholarships and sports offered to men must be matched for women.

But while such restrictions have led some schools to offer fewer men's sports in recent years, plenty of other determining factors help decide which nonrevenue sports a school offers.

"To say Title IX is the reason wouldn't be fair to the sports you have," said University of Utah athletic director Chris Hill. "That's one factor, but all factors need to be considered — what your league does, what the interest in (the sport) is, what you can afford to do."

One thing hindering the growth of men's soccer at the collegiate level is few conferences sponsor the sport. Several Division I NCAA conferences — including the Big 12 and SEC — do not offer men's soccer at all. And a majority of schools in others who sponsor it — such as the Pac-10 — do not have a men's soccer team.

Recent comments