“We’ll have a
lot more money
available and get
more media attention.
It will give a
different side of
Bakersfield.”

 - Taylar Sklar
CSUB women’s soccer
team member
 

“Our Division II
competition is
strong, but we
would be able to
compete at the
Division I level.
The men would
have a good
name.”

- Simon Tobin
CSUB soccer coach

By Jaclyn Loveless

It’s a whole new ball game. Well, sort of.

CSUB has entered its exploratory year, the first of a five-year reclassification process to move to NCAA Division I athletics, and that means change is on the horizon for coaches and their athletes. Think money, eligibility, recruiting, and the prospect of the Big West Conference.

The athletics department will start to see additional funding this fall thanks to the student fee increase voted on in May. It will receive about $840,000 contingent on registration.

Tyler Hair, CSUB senior and guard for the men’s basketball team, won’t be affected by the move, but he’s still excited. “It’ll be good to see what happens to athletics now that it will get more money,” he said.

Taylar Sklar has also been getting positive feedback from her teammates. “We’ll have a lot more money available and get more media attention,” said the forward for the CSUB women’s soccer team. “It will give a different side of Bakersfield.”

Division I also means student athletes will be able to receive full scholarships. “Our program will be better funded,” said Simon Tobin, CSUB head soccer coach.

Tim La Kose, CSUB women’s basketball coach, said his program would be able to offer 15 full-time scholarships compared to less than half that amount currently available. La Kose said in addition to focusing on academics and athletics, many of his students must worry about a job to make ends meet. “It’s a big challenge for a student (athlete) having to juggle those things,” he said.

Gillian Lillich, a CSUB senior and shooting guard for the women’s basketball team, has felt the strain. “It’s hard to depend on just financial aid and working,” she said.

In the past some coaches have had to spread what scholarship money they do get to various players. “From a recruiting standpoint it’s a very awkward feeling,” said John Price, CSUB women’s volleyball coach. “I feel like I’m a used car salesman when I’m talking with parents and students. …I can’t wait to sit in someone’s living room and money isn’t an issue.”

Tobin said many prospective students and their parents are usually anxious to sign up with CSUB, but not having money to offer sometimes causes them to move on.

In addition, eligibility requirements will also change which will have an effect on recruiting.

Students will have to be academically qualified and have to complete four years of athletic eligibility in five consecutive years. “(Our student athletes) will improve more on the academic side,” said Henry Clark, CSUB men’s basketball coach. “We’ll have the same type of athlete, but a different type of student.”

Transfer students must also have completed their associate’s degree before coming to a Division I school. “A transfer kid is going to have a tough time making the transition (in the beginning),” Price added.

Tobin added it might be a challenge to recruit students during the period when CSUB won’t be eligible for championships. However, “That’s something that you have to do if you want to make that change,” he said.

And what about the Big West Conference?

The conference, which includes some former CSUB rivals, is comprised of nine California institutions: UC Riverside, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, University of the Pacific, UC Irvine and UC Davis. Davis is also in the process of reclassifying to Division I; it becomes a full-fledged member in 2007-08.

Administrators feel the Big West is the right spot because it would be easy to travel to those institutions and others in the all-California conference and that means less time spent away from the classroom. “…These are all our former rivals from the CCAA conference,” said Rudy Carvajal, CSUB athletic director. “They moved to a different conference and if you want to maintain those relationships you need to go where they went.”

How would CSUB match up against the Big West?

Officials said sports including track and field and volleyball perform at the top of their division and already recruit Division I level student athletes.

Tobin said he has been doing just that. “Our Division II competition is strong,” he said. “But we would be able to compete at the Division I level.” Tobin added the men’s soccer team has been playing Division I opposition for years and has beaten them. “The men would have a good name.”

The ladies aren’t intimidated either. “It’ll be fun,” Lillich added. “We may not be able to beat them by 50 points, but we’ll be able to give them a challenge.”