Varsityedge.com Newsletter Nov/Dec 2007

Provided by www.varsityedge.com and sponsored by www.athletesadvisor.com

ARTICLES

COLUMBIA — A list of records displaying the best times in the history of the Stephens College swimming program is posted on the wall of the Stars’ natatorium. All but four of the 20 records come after 2004 — the first year Stephens began swimming as a NAIA program. In the water below the sign, the Stars battle in-state foe Lindenwood University. Many of the races are tight, but Stephens can’t manage to pull out the win, losing 111-75. According to coach Laura Wacker, that score would have been much worse four years ago. READ ARTICLE

The Island Packet has run a series of good articles on athletic recruiting researched over a 4-month period. READ ARTICLE

Looking to make a continued splash in the world of college athletics, Converse announced Monday that it is adding a swim team. Swimming will be the school's sixth sport, joining basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis and volleyball. READ ARTICLE

This is a multi-part series on what college recruiters are looking for in prospective football players. I'm basically going to discuss this from the perspective of what NCAA Division I-A coaches are looking for, and the requirements for size and speed may be a bit less each step down -- I-AA, Division II and NAIA and then Division III. READ ARTICLE

Article on technology and its global effect on recruiting. READ ARTICLE

Article on Division II Athletics. READ ARTICLE

NEWS ON INDIVIDUAL COLLEGES
A new building for athletes broke ground today on the University of Tennessee of Chattanooga Campus. The Brenda Lawson Student Athletes Success Center will provide resources for athletes to achieve success in every area, on the field or in the classroom. Lawson has donated time and money to UTC. The center is comprised of two facilities: the Wolford Strength and Conditioning Facility and the Chattem Basketball Practice Facility.

Alumni are rallying to save Northeastern University’s (Boston, MA) 1AA football program.

The University of New Orleans will reinstate its men’s and women’s tennis and men’s swimming and diving teams in fall 2008. All three programs were suspended after Hurricane Katrina and have not played since the 2004-05 academic year.

La Salle University announced November 19 it will eliminate its football program, which had been reinstated in 1997 after a 56-year hiatus.

The University of New Haven announced it will reinstate football as a varsity sport effective in 2009 and compete as a member of the Northeast-10 Conference. The Chargers will compete as a member of the Northeast-10 in all sports, except men’s volleyball, beginning in fall 2008. New Haven currently fields 17 varsity athletics teams and football will become the 18th when it begins play in 2009.

Colorado State University at Pueblo’s reinstated football program will be playing its first games in 2008 in a newly constructed stadium.Wilkes University is reinstating men’s and women’s cross country, 13 years after the programs were discontinued due to lack of participants.